Design 302 Blog 4: Progress Update

For this week, I've finished my survey questions and sent the form out for my participants to complete and get some feedback and opinions, which will be helpful for the personas.

Ok, so for this blog, I will use the CARL framework from the Reflection Toolkit (because it's about what I learned from my survey)

Context

As I wrote in the intro, I'm trying to gather insights from my focus group before the Personas. I could do the Personas with the Secondary Research that I have in my hand now. Still, I want more accurate/specific opinions, so the survey is a necessary step to move on from the Inspiration phase to ideation...

Action

So, the first thing I did was plan and come up with some survey questions. So yeah, as you can see, here is what I got. I feel like the board is relatively self-explanatory. It is an online survey due to privacy and anonymity concerns (it is in my ethical considerations, and I want to comply with it!)

By the way, I have to inform people who are going to complete myself that their privacy is ensured and also, they don't have to answer some of the questions if they don't feel comfortable answering them:

Results

I sent the survey to my group chat and posted it on IG to spread the word. I waited a few days for people to complete it and get my results and data back. Generally, I'm happy and satisfied with what I got here; it is the insight I needed for the next step.

Learning

The survey responses shed light on several key areas:

• Diverse Needs: I learned the importance of considering many needs when designing public spaces, particularly for young women and gender minorities. The feedback highlighted that safety, inclusivity, and versatility in public spaces are not just preferences but necessities.

• Perceptions of Safety: The data revealed that many participants feel only moderately safe. This emphasizes the need for immediate and impactful changes in urban design to enhance safety and security.

• Engagement and Representation: The strong interest in participating in design workshops shows a community eager to be involved in the changes that affect their lives. This is a crucial takeaway for fostering collaborative and participatory design processes.

Would I Do Something Differently?

If I were to conduct the survey again, I would:

• Broaden the Demographic Scope: While the focus was on young women and gender minorities, expanding the survey to include more diverse age groups could provide additional insights that might affect intergenerational usage of these spaces.

• Deepen the Questions: Incorporating more detailed questions regarding specific safety features or inclusive elements could yield more granular insights based on the feedback received.

• Increase Reach: Engaging more participants could enhance the robustness of the data, providing a broader base to inform the design considerations.

How Is This Helpful for the Rest of the Project?

• Informed Design Decisions: The insights directly inform the design phase, ensuring the spaces are tailored to meet the needs and concerns of those who use them most.

• Prioritization of Features: Understanding the critical areas—safety, inclusivity, and sustainability—allows the project team to prioritize these in the upcoming design iterations.

• Community Engagement Strategy: Knowing the community's willingness to engage and the need for more inclusivity can shape a more effective engagement strategy in subsequent phases, ensuring ongoing participation and feedback.

• Foundational for Advocacy: This data provides a strong foundation for advocating for necessary changes with stakeholders and policymakers, backed by concrete community feedback.

• Cultural Sensitivity: The emphasis on cultural values, especially from the Māori community, will guide integrating these aspects into the design, ensuring respect and acknowledgment of indigenous perspectives.

Planning for the next time:

• Put the insights on the Miro board

• Make personas and stakeholders with the feedbacks from last Thursday

• Start the ideation phase (brainstorming and mashing-ups).

• Find existing cases and research based on Xin's suggestions (The websites are really helpful! I've looked at some of them and referenced some for the D300 proposal, but I'll take a closer look at the rest of them this time! Thanks!)

• Complete the value proposition graph.

• Planning for the co-design workshop(If I have enough time for that)