Workshop on field prototypingUrban Square

Aditya Pawar!PhD Candidate Umea Institute of Design aditya.pawar@dh.umu.se

Square A metaphor for a space where social-material assemblies take shape

Field PrototypesThe keyword to describing the field-approach to design is ‘CONTEXT’

Design ethnography with an interventionist twist!!- Bodily involvement - Creating dialog with the people in the context - Time duration - Usually days - Understanding driven rather than data driven - Produces ‘local’ understanding that cannot be

applied uncritically to other contexts - Temporary rather than something long-standing

Alternative EconomiesPoststructuralist thinking takes into account and aims to unveil the multiplicity of economic relationships that are already present within the economic landscape.

Value creationUnderstanding value-creation from an alternative economy perspective

Gift economy Barter economy Pay it forward Trust/ honour/reputation systems Pay what you want (PWYW) Charities Collaborative consumption Sharing economy Commons Peer to peer (p2p) Alternative currencies Slow money Crowd work/funding

Bottom up processes: NichesBottom up innovation takes the form of niches or pilot- experiments.

Field AssignmentAct out mock services in the city square Engage the public in a dialogue around your service !

Reconnaissance (Scout)

Envision a service

Improvise, reiterate

Share, narrate

Process: The improvisation-learning loop

Reflect collectively

Document

Enact and engage

Field prototypingRequires performative engagements and use of mockups

Co-creation kits!

Locative media

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm9yu7bOsBc

Probes

Urban play

PreparationsEnvision a service (suggested theme - urban play) Create props you might need

1. Service Menu 2. Example service concept/prototype: Massage queue at the shopping counter

3. Strike a conversation, create a dialog around the activity

Learning outcome

1. Understanding value-creation:!Insights gained through deep conversations and interactions on the field can inspire and inform you on how to create value. !2. Understand fieldwork as an action-reflection

practice:!Action and reflection go hand in hand when engaging the audience in the field. !

?Questions

09:00h – 09:15!Introductions (at UID auditorium)!!09:15h – 09:45!Fieldwork introduction (at UID auditorium)!!09:45h – 10:10h!Brainstorm in groups (at UID, in front of the auditorium)!Brainstorm on ideas for services (for example games) and a few accompanying questions that you would like to ask to start a conversation.!!10:10h – 10:30h!Demo your idea to another group (at UID, in front of the auditorium. You can go outside the building if you need more space)!Improve your service-prototype based on feedback. !!10:30 – 11:00!Move to the city and select a good spot for your experiment!!11:00h - 14:30!Field-work (in and around the city square)!!Note: Please note that the maximum public activity in the square will be during lunch hour, hence plan your lunches in advance or postpone them to use this time to the maximum. Picnics and lunches on the spot are ideal to not be away from the field for too long. !!14:30h – 15:00h!Pack-up and start moving towards the design school. !We reconvene at the UID auditorium.!!15:00 to 15:30 !Break/ prepare for presentations (at UID, in front of the auditorium)!Take some time to sit in your groups and make a list of things you find worth mentioning from your fieldwork. !!15:00h – 16:00h!Class presentations (at UID auditorium)!Each group presents its experiences and learnings. !The presentations are oral narratives of what you did, how did the interactions play out, why did they work or did not work, discuss your assumptions and learnings. We will take approximately 5-7mins per group.!!16:00h – 17:00h!Developing themes (at UID auditorium)!Here we collectively brainstorm on themes that are interesting for us to work on during the rest of the course and also think of target groups that could potentially be taken up later in the project.!!!Note: Some paper and basic craft materials will be provided in the morning for you to mock-up some of your ideas. !

Agenda

Tips Working in a group!Assign one person on your group to document the interactions. His/her job is to observe the interactions from a third persons point of view between other members of the group as they are engaging the public. This is akin to keeping a logbook in ethnographic research. After running an experiment, reconvene in the group and discuss what went wrong, what went right and in general ideas to improve the service-prototype. !!Approaching the public!There is no best way to approach the public than to proactively do just that! Do not be afraid of being refused, for every 5 people you ask probably only one will respond. If things don’t go well or if people say things they should not, don’t take it personally.!Make sure you do not make the person feel cornered because you are too many or are blocking his/her path. It always makes people more comfortable if they know they have the option to opt out. Also pay attention to gender-norms i.e. approaching a stranger with a mix of guys & girls is preferable than only girls or only guys.!!How to prolong an interaction into an open conversation!You have to be appealing or meaningful to others if you want to catch their interest. Develop an elevator-pitch – A sentence or two in which you introduce yourself, your intentions and spark interest. It is always a good idea to ask them for their opinion on an issue, which can later be used to demonstrate your service-prototype. !!It is very important to prolong the interaction, as we are mostly interested in understanding the everyday lives of people and how they relate to urban (public) space and various transaction models. This can happen only if you can have an open conversation with them.!!If you have a good conversation going, make sure it is kept interesting. As soon as it starts getting repetitive, its time to bid the person goodbye!!!Open up some of the questions that your are asking yourself to your audience e.g. how would you renegotiate social contracts? or how would a time bank run? or open ended questions like what’s the best time to buy a certain food and where etc. !!Choosing site!Choose a site, which you won’t hate. A place, which is comfortable but also, gets good traffic of people. Parks, shopping centres, public seating areas, bus stops and in general waiting areas are all good areas. !Be sensitive to the site – businesses, enterprises, hanging youth or other vendors. Your service can very well take advantage of the site through a symbiotic relationship e.g. working for a vendor in the square!!Documentation!The ‘observant’ in your group can take notes simultaneous to the experiment being run. Pictures are encouraged if verbal permission of the people is taken.!!And lastly improvise and have fun!!

Further reading

Inventive Methods: The Happening of the Social!Edited by Celia Lury, Nina Wakefordhttp://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415574815/

Design Research Through Practice!From the Lab, Field, and Showroomhttp://designstudiesdiscourses.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/designresearchcomplete.pdf

Design Thingshttp://mitpress.mit.edu/books/design-things

Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries!http://amzn.to/1nLikXe

http://www.591photography.com/2011/12/591-exhibition-oregon-crop-festivals.html

Photo credits

http://kyradevreeze.nl/travel-urban-yoga-retreat-berlin-photo-report/

http://www.lvwp.nl/Beyond-the-Castle-event-1http://museumtwo.blogspot.se/2014/08/museumcamp-2014-experiments-in-social.htmlhttps://blatryk.wordpress.com/tag/cultural-probes/

http://weburbanist.com/2012/02/02/good-clean-fun-interactive-games-tidy-urban-spaces/

http://inhabitat.com/parking-day-2013-the-best-pop-up-parks-across-the-states-photos/

http://coop.partizaning.org/?p=338