VanUE World Usability Day 2009

Agenda✴ About  World  Usability  Day

✴ What  is  Sustainability?

✴ The  Design  Challenge:  Pine  St  Garden

✴ Our  Goals

✴ The  Team

✴ Timeline  /  Process

✴ ObservaAons

✴ Problem  Areas

✴ Design  ImplicaAons

✴ Possible  Strategies

✴ Conclusion

How  do  usability  people  tackle  this?

Designing for a Sustainable World

Sustainability“Use  and  development  that  meets  the  needs  of  the  present  without  compromising  the  ability  of  future  genera9ons  to  meet  their  own  needs.”  

Brundtland  Commission  1987

  Don’t  do  things  today  that  make  tomorrow  worse.  

! Nathan  ShedroffDesign  is  the  Problem:  The  Future  of  Design  Must  be  Sustainable  (2009)

Design ChallengeHow  can  we  use  our  professional  exper=se  as  usability  and  user  experience  prac==oners  to  improve  the  Pine  St  Community  Garden?  *

And  do  it  in  12  hours  on  Nov  12/09  for  World  Usability  Day?  

Pine Street Community Garden

Team Members (pictures)Katja

Gord

Theresa

Gagan Barb

Ben

Chris

*not  shown:  Cat,  Selma

Roles✴ Liaison

✴ Project  Manager

✴ Observer  /  Ethnographer

✴ Photographer  /  Videographer  /  Scribe

✴ Interviewer

✴ Online  Surveyor

✴ Online  Researcher

✴ InformaEon  Designer

✴ Visual  Designer

✴ Prototyper

✴ PresentaEon  Producer

✴ Curator

8AM 12PM 7PM

Timeline

VanUE GoalsApply  our  professional  exper=se  as  usability  and  user  experience  pracAAoners  to  improve  the  quality  of  human  life  (the  fundamental  goal  of  usability),  while  living  within  the  capacity  and  constraints  of  our  environmental,  social,  and  economic  systems  (sustainability  defined).

Why Pine St?✴ Support  urban  agriculture  

✴ Foster  community  

✴ EducaEonal  opportunity  about  how  we  interact  with  the  environment.

Educate

Advocate

Volunteer

Deliver

VanUE Outcomes

Research Methods

Observational Research

Comparative Research

Online Survey to Members

Phone & In-person member interviews

Online Research: City Guidelines & Policies

Inspiration, Ideation, Implementation

Observations

Problem Areas✴ DemarcaEon  of  space

✴ CommunicaEon

✴ Managing  waiEng  expectaEons

✴ Funding

✴ Volunteer  Time  Constraints

✴ EducaEon

✴ AestheEcs

Focus → Community

What is Community?Where do we start?

Our Answer:We start with one person

Foster the conditions to createThe “Engaged” Member

Our Goal:

Meet PatriciaThe “Engaged” Member

✴ 66  year  old  woman.  ReEred  city  worker

✴ Lives  in  an  apartment.  Downsized  when  her  husband  died

✴ Wants  community  garden  to  flourish

✴ Trades  stuff.  Shares  tools  and  seeds  with  community

✴ Gardens  3  Emes/week  during  good  weather

✴ Likes  teaching.  Knows  gardening  neighbours.

✴ Takes  pride  and  aUends  social  acEviEes  

The Engaged Member

If everyone was like Patricia they would...✴ Love  their  garden  and  have  pride  in  it

✴ Care  for  the  community  garden  as  a  whole

✴ Care  for  their  neighbour.  Teach  them,  help  them,  not  encroach  in  their  area

✴ Clean  up  and  do  addiEonal  duEes  as  needed

The Engagement Model(Not  everyone  is  Patricia)

✴ 23  year  old  UBC  Grad  in  Resource  Management

✴ Lives  in  an  apartment  with  a  small  balcony

✴ New  to  gardening

✴ Excited  to  be  “in”  with  the  garden

✴ Didn’t  realize  how  much  work  a  garden  needs

✴ RomanEc,  wants  to  impress  his  girlfriend

The New Member

✴ Mid  30’s.  Has  2  small  children

✴ Lives  in  a  townhouse  but  eventually  wants  a  house

✴ Garden  once  or  twice  per  week.  Kind  of  know  their  gardening  neighbours.

✴ Busy  life.  Wants  to  teach  children  how  to  garden

✴ Like  to  relax  and  gardening  is  a  good  way  to  do  that.

✴ Takes  pride  and  aUends  social  acEviEes

The Active Member

Pine St. Community Garden Engagement Model

Engaged MemberEnthusiast  and  an  acEve  member,  values  the  garden,  helps  regularly  on  the  board,  thinks  about  improvements,  communicates  with  other  members  regularly,  aUends  all  garden  related  events

Active MemberEnthusiast,  acEvely  contributes  to  common  areas,  openly  interacts  with  other  gardeners  at  events.  AUenEve  to  board  emails  and  google  group,  considers  volunteering,  aUends  garden  events

Participating Member (majority today)Uses  and  acEvely  tends  to  plot,  generally  is  aware  of  google  group  and  email  but  does  not  parEcipate/respond.  AUends  at  least  one  member  event  per  year

Member in Good StandingMinimally  uses/maintains  plot,  o_en  new  and  novice  members,  minimally  parEcipates  with  other  members,  does  not  make  an  effort  to  aUend  member  events

Inactive MemberDoes  not  acEvely  tend  plot  and  has/will  receive  a  noEce

How do we “design” an engaged member?

Better Signage, Wayfindingpromote ownership, pride and public awareness

1

show website, email etc anything we have

Signage

Demarcation of Space

Demarcation of Space

Plot Owner Info

Map

Better Communicationpolite, consistent, timely

2

Website IA

Website IA

Website IA

Website IA

Education & Trainingif I know better, I will do better

3

Bulletin Board

Bulletin Board

Signage

Summary✴ Foster  the  condiEons  for  community  to  happen,  engagement  to  emerge

✴ Start  with  the  user  and  the  “real  world”

✴ Small  things  can  make  a  big  difference

✴ Think  about  the  system:  online  and  offline

✴ Leave  things  beUer  than  you  found  them