Flexome

Reimagining the Ark

FLEXOME

A puzzle based zoo hunt Diploma project documentation Aayushi Satiya July-December,2014 Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology

Typeface used Calibiri, 11 point Bebas, 16 point

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INDEX 1.Project Brief.............................................................................. 10 2.Why zoos.................................................................................. 12 3.Initial visits to Banerghatta and Mysore.................................. 14 4.Primary Research..................................................................... 17 5.Bandipur................................................................................... 22 6.Visitors v/s zoos.......................................................................

7.Preliminary Problem Statements............................................

8.Delhi Visit................................................................................

9.Cee Proposal............................................................................

25 27 32 34

10.Design Principles................................................................... 42 11.Diving In................................................................................ 43 12.Form exploration...................................................................

13.Final content..........................................................................

14.Visual Exploration.................................................................

15.Material Exploration.............................................................

16.Ergonomic considerations....................................................

46 53 57 69 70

17.Final product......................................................................... 72 18.User testing............................................................................ 76 19.Reflection.............................................................................. 79 20. Acknowledgement................................................................ 81 21.Bibliography.......................................................................... 82

ARTIST STATEMENT My artistic journey has been one that somehow always wound up in a multidisciplinary space. I am interested in human psychology, body and body language. I find inspiration in people and their daily interactions. My design decisions are centered around user experiences and I hope to integrate my products/services seamlessly into the users existing environment.

This project was an interesting choice for me as having no background with animals I noticed an interesting space to study human behavior around non-human species.

What came next was a journey full of surprises.

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PROJECT BRIEF Zoos appeal to a wide cross-section of society, and their educational goal should be to provide educational experiences for all visitors. Zoo education is much more than providing information. It covers a wide spectrum - from inspiration to positive action. According to the World Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Strategy the educational aims of zoos and aquariums should include the following: To excite, enthuse and interest people about the natural world; To encourage understanding of conservation issues and visitor’s individual roles in them; To provide a range of experiences, materials and resources for the diversity of visitors, to enable them to make informed choices in their daily lives, which benefit the environment and wildlife; To develop a sense of place as humans in the natural world and an understanding of the relevance of conservation to everyday life.

Several educational and interpretive facilities could be provided in zoos to enhance, sensitize, educate and enrich the visitors’ experience. In zoos, such programmes help visitors understand the uniqueness of each animal and its relationship to its surrounding.

Zoos around the world are using a variety of interpretive techniques to achieve one or more of the following: 10

• connect with visitors • provide intimate experiences that create emotional connections with animals • communicate more about wildlife, natural world•create awareness, and talk about an issue • create a memorable experience • to rouse the curiosity and sensibility of the visitor Design Development Students design an array of interpretive tools, techniques and facilities on the above mentioned concepts/themes that can be explained to the visitors to a zoo.

Analysis Identify the zoo visitors, recognize their characteristics.

Use front-end analysis techniques to determine audience needs. Examine case studies.

Design Develop goals, objectives and outcomes, analyse available resources, determine age- and audience-appropriate content, outline the steps of instruction. Apply these concepts to the design of exhibits and graphics.

Evaluation Designing, fabrication and installing signages and exhibits is not the main objective of interpretation.

What is key, is to know whether these are able to achieve the planned educational objectives. Thus evaluation is an integral part of the process.

Effective evaluation goes beyond simply asking whether visitors enjoyed their experience. It is achieved by addressing questions such as: • Do visitors understand the principle messages and themes?

• What are visitors learning from this sign/exhibit (knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviour)?

• Are visitors interested in the content/format of this display?

• What do visitors particularly like or dislike?

• Are there any design improvements that would facilitate the learning, enjoyment and repeat visitation of target audiences?

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WHY ZOOS? Walking into this project I wasn’t very sure of my position on Zoos. But I was sure that it would be an exciting space to design for irrespective of my eventual take on it. I started off my journey by understanding the history of zoos and its evolution through the years.

The one thing that struck me the most was my ignorance towards the various roles that zoos play today. Breeding is one such example.

From menageries that were for the mere purpose of collection of animals as a status symbol we have reached zoos today that in my view are more of refugee centres for animals. I see them as places of importance for the animals welfare to a certain extent but also an opportunity to use them as centres that can educate humans on the subject to ensure such spaces do not exist in the future.

Reasons why zoos are the best place for this form of education: • Visited by 50million visitors across 170 zoos in India and 600million across the globe.(11% of the world population) • Visitors get to experience wildlife first-hand • Opportunity to engage visitors in a multisensory learning experience

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As humans we all learnin different ways. Some of us are visual learners while others learn from text.

Some learn from physically making and working with their hands while another may be more perceptive to sound. A zoo provides a space for all the above engagements hence the possibilities are endless.

Extent of deforestation in Borneo 1950-2005, and projection towards 2020. Forests are burned, logged and cleared, and commonly repla-

ced with agricultural land, built-up areas or palm oil plantations.

These areas represent habitat orangutan and elephants.

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INITIAL VISITS We visited the Bannerghatta and Mysore zoo for our Primary research. There were some very obvious differences between the ways both the zoos were managed. While Mysore was clean and well maintained the Bannerghatta Zoo was the exact opposite.

The first few visits I just walked around, explored and tried to understand my field of interest within the zoo space. I pondered over many thoughts questions around the area of what it meant to be a human and an animal. Is there a specific lens we need to put on to understand animals and is it just enough to anthropomorphize the zoo space.

After my first few visits I was convinced that designing for an enhanced visitor experience was of prime importance to me.I first made a context map after which I used various tools to further understand them in the next few visits.

On discussions with Mr.B.P. Ravi, he highlighted his focus as childrens education and breeding. “If animals are breeding it’s the sign of a good zoo.”

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Visitor Context map

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PRIMARY RESEARCH Information required:Direct:-

Abstract:-

get a glimpse of what they look at. b]Did the zoo meet your expectations?

• Where do they get their information from

• Expectations

c]Was this your first time?

• Aspirations

d]What is the need for a zoo?(To see if the role of the zoo is better understood on exit)

• Accessibility of the zoo: to the zoo and within the zoo

• Reactions • Emotions

What I hope to get out of understanding this • Learn what preconceived notions influence the zoo experience

e]Why is a particular animal your favourite animal? f]How much time did you spend in the zoo?

• Use case Table • Ecology map • Shadowing

• What does a visitor take back from the zoo • How do we incorporate information distribution to align with natural habits/instincts of visitors.

Equipment used a]Voice recorders b]Camera-Video+Pictures

Tools

c]Book

• Personal meaning mapping

d]Zoo map

Entry:a]What is the need of a zoo? b]Are you here to see anything in particular? c]Why are you here?

Exit:a]Ask them to show the photographs that they took to 17

Use-Case Table:Mysore Zoo

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Facilities:

Behavior:

• Signage at everypoint of navigation

• Visitor throw stones whistle and make a lot of noise trying to attract the animal

People were able to navigate the space comfortably • First food stall after 2kms It is debatable if there were sufficient food stalls • Seating area available for approximately 5 cages Adequate resting place People were constantly using these spaces • Conservation and education boards fail to attract visitors Too much text on these boards These boards tend to be in places that are bushy • Free drinking water facilities kept unclean

There is a general belief that the animals are here for show.People travel long hours to see these animals and want to see them do something • Most people use mobile devices to capture and document their journey in the zoo. Only a few people carried digital cameras for this purpose.

• People like to extensively document their journey in the zoo • People took approximately 5-6 chances trying to pronounce the names and species name of certain animals

Meanwhile sale of plastic water bottles was doing well

• Older people (above 45) tend to take an interest in animal behavior

• Children tend to climb on railings to get a better view of the animals

• People take pictures of themselves mostly under constructed animal installations

• CCTV cameras installed in mammal enclosures

• The visitors mostly come to the zoo in groups / with family

To keep a check on theft To control vandalism • The zoo promotes avoiding plastic but plastic bottle and food packaged in plastic were sold inside the zoo premises

• Groups of young men tend to be loud Many of them may have been drinking.Ticket prices are cheap enough to keep them occupied for enough time •

While exiting the zoo a lot of people hadn’t heard/ read the word breeding.

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Follow Up Class Activity As a class we wrote words that we associate with the zoo space. After this we grouped them under bigger clusters. This helped us get a broader understanding of what we had all learnt about the zoo and other areas of importance.

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This helped us collectively think of what were the burning questions we had as a class.This was done by all of us selecting the most important words and then combining them to articulate our thoughts.

Burning Questions 1. What are the subconscious stereotypes we have of zoos?

2. Petting zoos can happen only for certain species,but is there a way to increase man+animal interaction.

3. Before coming up with the material or animals,how do we create a need to want to know.

4. Lack of access in resources in theory and practice. (diet of animals, kitchen) 5.A physical encounter to the enrichment methods used in India and the thinking that goes behind it 6. Enhancing education through better facilities and welfare through animal is a possibility 7.What are the best possible solutions already in action for zoo enhancement.

8.Why can’t the exhibit be more interactive and engaging.

9. Why is the government not taking necessary steps to improve the conditions of animals 10. Are we curtailing a bigger problem by fulfilling our needs by captive breeding.

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BANDIPUR

The visit was as expected a complete contrast from our first two visits in the zoo.The level of excitment and anticipation made the whole trip so much more satisfactory.

The word chance was something that stood out the most. The predictibitily of the zoo was highlighted in this space and explained why we usually left the zoo with more dissapointment than satisfaction.

We even met a wild life artist Sunita Dhairyam who spoke about the animal human conflict existing in the space. Even though she struggled she payed the people of the area whos cattle had been killed by a tiger a compensation, just to ensure that they do not go out and hunt the majestic animal whos numbers are already diminishing.This gave us a context to understand the space and view it from some lens. I feel this is what is lacking in zoos. Most people do not even know the reasons behing the spaces existance thus making it on par with any recreational place they visit.

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“If it wasn’t for animals, human nature would be even more incomprehensible” -Unknown

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What is the purpose of a zoo? Is it the meeting point of education and animals?

How do you stimulate a geographic space for travelling species?

Have animals become our client?

When a forest land is acquired and a community is compensated, how is wildlife compensated?

Does every Transformative experience need to be an educative one?

How do you preserve natural behaviour?

How do you increase behaviour of diversity?

How do you provide excitement for zoo visitors?

Can enrichment be afforded by everyone?

Is captive breeding the real answer to conserving biodiversity How can I make man see itself as a part of nature?

If the last tiger to live was in a cage, would that be enough?

What does one take back from a zoo?

How do you incorporate information distribution to align with natural habits of visitors?

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If zoos were pulled out of the world would here be a void left to fill?

How does one create awareness while creating empathy ?

How do you make people come back?

What does a visitor perceive as natural and where does that notion come from?

How do we preserve the mind of an animal?

What is the feeling zoos actually instigate?

What happens when the poor zoos become poorer while the rich become richer?

How many zoos do we need? do we hope for none?

If technology is the future for man then can it be for animals too?

What do we mean by coexistence?

How do we make spaces feel dependant too?

VISITORS v/s zoos THE VISITORS 1. What type of people come to zoo?

• About 50million visitors come across 150 zoos in India and 60million across the globe • All age groups with varying educational, social and ethnic backgrounds.

• Experience Seeker, Professional/ Hobbyist, Spiritual Pilgrim, Facilitator, or Explorer.

2. Why people visit zoos, (occasions)?

• Entertainment in their spare time • School trips • Research

4.Is there a match/mismatch between expectations and actual experience?

• Regular visitors are often disappointed when the animals aren’t active enough • Children especially often get restless when they aren’t able to spot the animal of their choice soon enough THE ZOOS 1.What are zoos?

Zoos are establishments that have a collection of wild animals for display and conservation. Today they are also recognized as spaces of education for conservation of wildlife and biodiversity.

• Places that permit us to transcend the stresses and strains of daily living

2.What do zoos do?

3. What do people expect to see/have in the zoos?

• Education

• Regular visitors

• Breeding

• Entertainment facilities

• Entertainment

• Active animals

3.What does a zoo contain?

• Interesting information

• Endangered species

• Researchers:

• Other species

• Research facilities

• Visitors

• Talks

Trained professionals (behaviour specialist,

• Conservation

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zookeepers, vets) • caretakers(sweepers etc.)

the process. But they don’t end up indulging in it with rigour.

• kitchen

Zoos want visitors to maintain order and silence but visitors who have come with an expectation of entertainment tend to disregard the animals perspective.

• transportation

Convergence

• transition spaces, resting spots

Zoos hope visitors experience emotions that will invoke empathy and awe for other species. Visitors come for an experience that is exciting and inspiring. Targeting emotions v/s more information based learning will be more easily adopted as a learning tool by visitors.

• research centres • veterinary hospital

• restaurants • public utility services 4. What are the zoos’ expectations of the visitors?

• To learn about conservation • To not disturb the animals • To go out and practice conservation • To draw in revenue to the zoo POTENTIAL PROBLEMS 1.Is there a divergence/contradiction between the answers for the first set of questions about visitors and the second set of questions about zoos?—however small this may be Divergence Visitors don’t come with a mind-set to learn necessarily, even though they do end up learning in

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preliminary problem statements Visitors:Who are they?

Insights that fed in:

• Explorers: seek to learn more • Facilitators: focused primarily on enabling the experience and learning of others • Professional/Hobbyists: feel a close tie with the zoo •

Experience Seekers: derive satisfaction from the fact of visiting this important site

Informative signages do not attract visitor attention

Visitors love documenting their experience

Visitors distract animals that fail to entertain them

Visitors are eager to know more information about animals

Visitors use human emotions to describe animals

Visitors usually visit the zoo in groups

• Spiritual Pilgrims: seeking a contemplative and/or restorative experience.

Overarching goals: • Curb unrealistic expectations of visitors from the animals.

• To engage visitors and tip them towards line of conservation and inquiry which last beyond the walls of a zoo.

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How could I provide a narrative experience in a zoo setting

by

creating a human-specie connect using storytelling as a tool

to describe a zoos identity and interconnectedness between other species and humans.

why human to value diversity in nature and view themselves as part of this diversity.

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How can I inspire empathy in visitors towards animals

by designing purposefull experiences in transition spaces

to provide a lens for the visitors to observe the animal through

why to convert a visitor from a spectator to an observer

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How can I create a platform for dialogue that starts within a zoo to continue beyond the exit point to increase public participation.

by

leveraging from existing technology in the zoo and habits practiced by visitors

to educate and empower the public towards taking actions for conservation

why

to sustain visitor interest long enough for them to embody conservation

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Once I got to these 3 areas of intervention I asked Anumapa Arun,my mentor read it. What came out was really interesting. She pointed out that all these 3 ideas held the capacity to be woven into one strong system.

They all targeted very important areas in the zoo that

need atention. Further dicussions with my jury panel led me to realize that it entry exit and transitional space could hold true for just one enclosure too. These discussions gave me quite a bit to reflect on for my future proposals and areas they were targetting.

Points of intervention Entry

Transition space

Exit

Narrative

Purposefull Experience

Virtual Platform

......

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DELHI VISIT We studied the space here form various different perspectives such as the layout of the zoo, navigation of people in the zoo, enclosure design as well as a walk with the education guide. What I found interesting was that the Delhi zoo has this one particular curve that has a crocodile followed by the Great Indian Hornbill followed by the Asiatic Lion. This spot seemed perfect for a comparative analysis studying. It was a mixture of land-water-air creatures with very differently designed enclosure as well as a mixture of charismatic and non-charismatic animals.

Asiatic Lion

Visitors

1.Not seen

1.Lying on a bench cuddling(couple)

2.Sleeping in the shade with all

2.“Sare sothe hi rehete

fours up.

hai,uthade?”Quietly walk away in less than a minute.

3.He’s awake,stands up after a while of looking around scratching its ear

3.”Jag gaya,Soch raha hai khana

with his paws and turns around

hai.”(bunch of boys). Click a picture

and rests with his tail towards the

of him as soon as he stands up.All

visitors.

of themm look into the camera and they move around to look for a

4.Continues sitting

I observed all enclosures and the transition areas between each enclosure for half an hour to study visitors for the following: • Reactions towards each animal.

• Time spent at each enclosure in relation to enclosure design.

• What they like about each animal.

• Discussions taking place after each enclosure

better picture.

-One man stands and watches for awhile without talking.

5.Got up and retreated

-GABBAR SHERRR!(2men) -Raja hai!

-Hathi aur sher ki dhar bahut majbut hoti hai.

-Around 20 people come running

4.”Behta hua hai,na so raha hai na uth raha hai.”

-”Bechara akela hi hai. do kyun nahi rakh sakte?”

5.CHEETAAH! -Chalo jhalak to mili -BABBAR SHER!

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Great Indian Hornbill

Visitors

Crocodile

Visitors

1.Sleeping and blinking

1.Look towards the cage and

1.Still

1.Bored man looking aorund asks

2.Chitter chatter from the Lion enclosure.

continue walking -Stare for a few seconds and leave without saying a word(couple)

3.Seven minutes later it is still sitting in the same place.

2.The crowd gets excited and

me if I click pictures proffesionally.

2.Moves two steps

-”So raha hai kya? Ankhe to khuli hai.”

3.Second one comes out of the

1111 1111 1111

water.

-”Pathar feinkh kar check kare kya?”

1111 11

continues starts brisk walking 4.Twelve minutes later it hops.

towards it.

2.”Real Hain!”(bunch of men) -Woh pehele bhi chal raha tha.

3.”Yeh wala meine gaav mein nahi dekha hai,Doora wala

Doosra hai woh uske upar chala.”(Old uncles talking)

dekha hai.”(2young men)Leave immediately.

3.”Woh dekho papa,pani se nikal

-Pronounce the name and

raha hai.”

leave(Family)

-People spend an average of

-People look upwards for the bird.

3-4minutes at this enclosure.

-Distant view is good enough

-Person playing music passes and

-”Itni badi beak hai uski!”

doesn’t stop.

(Children) -”Didi Sher, Hathi, Saap kaha hai?”

-A photographer tries to capture the moment.He had been waiting for 20 minutes there.

4.”Udne wali panchi ko andhar rakhenge to woh aur kya karega” -”Ajeeb sa hai.Batak ki tarah.”

-Soya,UTH GAYA!! (Children) -”Gusse mein dekh raha hain” -”Sher bhi soya hai yaar,yeh kaisa zoo hai.”

This study brought out no new insights for me. It helped me understand my users better with respect to their general attitude in a zoo and the various reasons they came there for.

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CEE PROPOSAL

Meeting with Delhi Zoo director He heard all our ideas and spoke about problems that he was facing. He mainly highlighted the problem of vandalism in the zoo and spoke about the issue of pricing tickets.

Feedback from Meena While she said my areas of interest were valid and the transition areas do hold alot of scope she asked me to start diving deeper at this point and start articulating one single idea.

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VISION To create curious visitors while making the zoo experience more cohesive and memorable MISSION To bind the experience of a zoo using natural ecosystems as a lens to draw attention to all animals big and small in an intuative manner.

TARGET AUDIENCE Children between the age of 8-12 years and their parents.

Waited for a minute and left when the crocodile didn’t move.

Lion!!!

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Yeh kya hai?

(Click a picture and leave)

Ummm...

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Channelize energy to avoid Vandalism Only attracted to big animals

Topics taught in School

Food Chain Introduction to micro organisms

ecosystems Love games

Explorers Children 8-12years + parents

Learn through interaction.

Use transitional areas

Parents struggle to answer questions asked by children Rarely engage with signages To show the macro while drawing attention to the micro Parents eager to teach the child something

VISUAL

INTERACTIVE

MEMORABLE

CONTEXTUAL

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I would like to create an artefact that would be strategically placed in a zoo and talks about a particular ecosystem. This could be in a form of a beautiful painting done in the style representative of that region.

For example the Sunderban tiger and in its ecosystem, done in the Patachitra style. So this would be drawing upon culture, ecosystem biodiversity present in a region.

This artefact would go hand in hand with a puzzle that would be built by the children with the help of an adult as they navigate in the zoo and interact with the signages. It could be a deck of cards/tiles that you keep pulling out as you reach and enclosure and choose which one would feed into the particular ecosystem you are assembling. At the end you would be able to compare the picture you have assembled to the painting and fill in the missing pieces as almost half the elements wouldn’t be present in the zoo. The joker piece would be a human whose placement can vary. This would be a good summary for the whole experience.

Both these elements could stand alone too. The puzzle could be used in a classroom setting for teachers to engage with students in this topic hence it would be an interesting puzzle to take back home too

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1

Card deck with animals that belong to the zoo and other micro organisms.

2

Watch where the smaller creatures fit in

Build one of the food chains as you walk through the zoo using the signboards

For the project I will select 4 ecosystems I would like to represent and convert 1-2 into large full scale artefacts and the others would be in a smaller stencil form for replication. -The puzzle that would be a conversion of the large artefact could take the form of tiles placed on a tray or an app.

Comments CEE was extremely excited by the idea of the paintings that drew upon Indian culture.The painting worked for me only if I managed to link it to the activity. Hence my next few steps were around trying to figure those out.

I soon realized that cards were too cumbersome a form to carry around in a zoo. I was still interested in the idea of illustrating a basic concept that children were already familiar with. Ecosystems and foodchains seemed like possible areas.

Lake Ecosystem:Wildlife resources Department

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EXPANDING CEE Proposal 2 In current zoo layouts each animal is placed in isolation to other species it would interact within its natural world. This kind of isolation leaves the visitor with very little to think about and eventually providing a very dry experience, hindering efforts of engaging a visitor’s attention and eventually sensitizing them towards conservation as the larger effort. Talking about isolation I feel like the zoo itself only has animals that you wouldn’t see in your daily life, thus the idea of seeing oneself as a part of the ecosystem or chances of thinking about the tiger in your daily life are bleak leaving the siting of the animal as a sufficient and the only experience a visitor seeks.

Intention: I would like to use a visitor’s daily visual spectrum as an ambassador of their nonvisual counterparts. Ants are present in our everyday life. Scientifically we are all aware that everything around us is connected but I would like to consciously take the visitor through the obviousness of the interrelationship a microorganism shares with a larger mammal. For example ants move the soil by their nest building activity and by collecting food, ants affect the level of nutrients in the soil. This can indirectly impact the local populations of many animal groups, from decomposers such to species much higher up the food chain. I am

currently visualizing the form of this idea around the words visual, interactive and at the same time the connections made obvious. For the sake of the time period of this project as well as ease of visitor understanding I would like to illustrate the interrelation between the daily microorganisms we see outside the zoo not with each animal but with a more general classification of herbivores and carnivores mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds.

A few forms I have been thinking about are making virtual microorganisms play the role of guides through the zoo. They will make one navigate in all sorts of complex directions mimicking an ecosystem. This idea could be realized through various forms but one of my options would lie in an interactive map design and signages in the space. These could be points of virtual representation of the voice of the microorganisms in the zoo. I noticed that visitors interacted with the map at the entrance of the Delhi zoo with excitement and for a longer period of time as opposed to a lot of other zoos purely because it was so visual even though it was complex to understand.

Other areas of form research for my intention currently are gamification in the space and taking inspiration from the complex rides in an amusement park to design a memorable trail which could also play around

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with vantage points.

Other areas of form research for my intention currently are gamification in the space and taking inspiration from the complex rides in an amusement park to design a memorable trail which could also play around with vantage points.

Value I recognize value in this project as it will help the visitors bring in a part of his every day in the form of interactions or memories of the microorganism they have seen inside, thus making them connect the outside with the inside. This will make the information provided more contextual, engaging and palatable. It would also act as a lens for the visitors to understand the space of the zoo and its inhabitants thus making the whole experience a lot more cohesive in turn memorable.

Comment It was a space to build on.

Design Principles Looking back at all my various ideas I tried to understand what the underlying intention behind all of them were.

Topic

Emotion

Ecosystem

Curiosity Excitment

I further did my secondary research on how to build curiosity in children, the insights to which led me to lay down certian design principles for my project.

Visitors want Zoo wants (children 8-12yrs)

I want

To learn Visitors to be something new engaged with the while having fun zoo displays and make an effort to understand animals.

People to understand and appreciate biodiversity by increasing familiarity

1.Start from a familar point to engage better with children and capture their curiosity.

2.Be direct: As children will be most interested when they understand the purpose.

3.Provide tangible objects that they can feel,smell,hear.

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DIVING IN 4.Use a narrative experience.

5. Use excitment and optimism as the driving emotion for interaction.

6.Make learning happen indirectly.

I started by just moving from thinking to making. I work best with my hands and that’s just what I needed to do. I began with coming up with a few narratives to run a small exercise with children to try out ways in which I could work with the concept of informal learning.

Each group of students takes the role of an apex predator in the zoo space and must now find its entire foodchain in order to leave the planet and save themselves from dying of starvation there. They must do this before any other group finishes as their are limited seats on the spaceship that will take them there. In order to get the other animals to come with them they must perform certain tasks to attract and lure them in.

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ANT

DEER

Task: Make any one feature you like of these animals to lure them to come with you.

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This was definately an interesting intimate time I spent with my target audience and it helped me further clear my thought process and focus. There needed to be enough happening to instigate children to be a part of it but not so much that it takes away from the zoo experience and the free learning space. The moment there is a teacher/authourity in power involved in the space there is always the question of right and wrong.

So I went ahead to make a dirty protoype of a puzzle that could give life to the micro-organisms of the ecosystem by paying attention to the ones present in the zoo.

Finish the foodchain puzzle to connect the lion to the deer and watch another elements like grass or a grasshopper emerge.

Puzzle worked as a first possible cohesive form. I needed to add more play into it. The other challange that layed in front of me was how I could sufficiently sustain the childs excitment for the entire length of the zoo. I felt that to get this idea across to children I needed an exciting form. I looked into origami for inspiration. What I was looking for ? Something that would involve movement and still be an ergonomical option for the zo space.

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FORM EXPLORATION

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Form one(L) and Form two(R) FLEXICUBES

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Form 1 analysis 8cubes x 6side = 48sides. All the sides weren’t getting exposed. (+)Make combinations (+)Compact shape and easily playable

C

A

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B

b

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Form 2 analysis (+)Eye catching shape (+)Magnets won’t be a problem (?)Can tell a story all four ways (?)Illustration may be a problem

D

a

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C

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b

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I soon decided to go with the first form as it is ergonomic and sturdy. I started playing around with it to see the different ways in which I could achieve my objective.

A few decisions -The tool will not be used as a navigation tool but as a toy to take home and play with.

-The intention of the toy is to make people aware of plants and animals(big and smalll). To potray biodiversity and the interdependance within it.

1.Multi-Ecosystem Puzzle The cube would contain 3 different ecosystems. Each one would be a painting of a particular ecosystem that would be drawn in the style belonging to that particular region. For example the Warli art style to represent the Tropical Rainforest ecosystem. A child would treat it as a puzzle and could form his own layers of the ecosystem and spread it across any surface he would like. No single painting will fit on 1 surface as it would have 13,13,12 pieces each. It was interesting to see that every childs cube would look different.

Negatives - There would be too many pieces which is not convenient for a zoo space.

-The current concept is more a puzzle to take back home than an activity in the zoo.

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-The current concept is more a puzzle to take back home than an activity in the zoo.

Western Ghat Rainforest Ecosystem-Warli

Sunderban Ecosystem-Patachitra

Gir forest Ecosystem-Madhubani

2. Pattern forming I next tried to see if I could use patterning as a medium to help them make connections. This too didn’t solve the problems I faced earlier and a better solution was still to come by. On discussions with my client and mentors I was suggested to design for an experience that weaved in with the zoo while also fixating on my content to find inspiration.

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1. You can buy the ecosystem cube that comes with stickers at the entrance. The cube will have 2 ecosystems and a few animals that belong to the zoo.

2. Once you enter you must find the 5 key animals of every ecosystem and map the relationship you would like to further explore via a sticker/magnet. The options available are on the signage.

3. The visitors own trail isn’t guided or altered in any way. Once they find all the animals and map their choice they can view all of it together on the last turn of their cube.

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4. At the exit point the visitor can unravel the story that links all the animals of a ecosystem depending on the option the wished to further explore.

Final content I went back and looked at my cube and re-joined them in a manner that exposed all sides and the movement of the cube was constant without any restrictions. I went back to my insights and looked at things that needed immediate attention.

1. To draw attention to non-charismatic animals in the zoo.

2. To economically re-design the zoo in order to give the visitors a more cohesive understanding of the animal world.

3. To continue to keep the zoo as an open learning space.

Trails are a really popular theme in all zoos around the world. Scavenger hunts lend as a very exciting way to get children interested in an activity. Combining the two seemed like an appropriate match via this cube. While exploring the cube further I realized an interesting pattern that would require less cognitive input to figure out the form while still keeping it exciting enough to keep looking for the right place thus making them spend a little more time with the content of the cube.

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Choice of animals From the very begining I have enjoyed studying the contrasts in the animal world. The big ferocious Lion and the tiny seemingly fragile ant. The similarities and differences amongst these creatures is what makes studying biodiversity so interesting.

Parrot

On deciding to represent the tropical rainforest ecosystem of India I studied the varying creatures there. I was initially interested in showing the relationship of the visible and the invisible in that space. For example the elephant and the dung beetle and how together they help the ecosystem flourish.

While I chose a charismatic animal like an elephant and a crocodile I also chose the Great Indian Hornbill that usually gets ignored in the zoo inspite of its eye catching shape and size. To highlight such creatures that visitors don’t look at is what guided my choice of animals.I ensured that I also gave them enough to satisfy their excitment of wanting to see the elephants, leopards and crocodile.

Leopard

King cobra

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Lion Tailed Macaque

Harpy Eagle Hoolock Gibbon

Slow Loris Civet

Crocodile

Dung Beetle Asiatic Elephant

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Final Cube layout The cube talks about the rainforest ecosystem and 8 animals that are common to the zoo and it.

It celeberates every animals special quality as well as speaks about the interactions between them in their natural world.

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VISUAL EXPLORATION Entering the zoos, one of the most uncomfortable feeling was to be in the midst of so many more species other than humans. This makes one question what makes us so superior that we no longer feel like we need to live in harmony with the rest of nature.

While speaking about foodchains and the ecosystemst how can we not have humans be a part of the diagram.

I considered painting the 2 sides which illustrated the layers of the Wertern Ghat rainforest ecosystem in the art form that belonged to the natives of the area it was found in.

The Warli art style belongs to the Warli tribe that live in the mountainous as well as coastal areas of Maharashtra-Gujarat border and surrounding areas.

They have their own specific animal belief and have adopten many Hindu customs. They use a very symbolic approach to their paintings which are usually done inside huts with a red mud background. They only paint with white using a chewed bamboo stick as a brush.I decided to start by doing an interpretive illustration style of it to make it more child friendly.

Hence I used colours and referred to the forms that occured in the Warli paintings.

Warli art style

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None of the variations I experimented with in trying to incorporate the warli style worked. They wouldn’t be able to attract a childs attention and they didn’t manage to depict the rainforest ecosystem with the density it requires. Hence I decided to choose a more realistic style.

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60 Canopy Layer

Great IndianHornbill Lion Tailed Macque

Hoolock Gibbon Harpy Eagle

Emergent Layer

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Indian Elephant Indian Civet Crocodile Leopard King cobrat Dung Beetle

Ground Layer

Parrot Slow Loris

Understory Layer

Story style exploration: I chose these colours as I was looking for a complete contrast from the painting so that the child can instantly notice the changes as he turns the cube around.

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I worked on this style keeping in mind the feedback from my previous illustration where I was asked to use more child friendly colours.However the colours held little context to the subject and was more a form requirement hence I was asked think about it a little more.

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The previous blue and pink illustrations could be a problem with children who have eye defects due to the colour intensity. Hence I chose to use my original illustrations which I feel grasp more attention.

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material EXPLORATION

Magnet -Fun material -Cost:Rs 100/per sheet -Heavy -Production cost: high -Durability:Good

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Wood -Good feel -Cost:Rs 35/per box -Light -Production Cost: Low -Durability-Good

Acrylic

Cardboard

-Good feel -Cost:Rs 50/per box -Light -Production Cost:

-Handmade feel -Cost:Rs 20/per box -Light -Production Cost:

Medium -Durability:Good

High -Durability:Average

Magnetic Sheet

Disc Mangents Cardboard:1.5mm

Acrylic Sheet

Pine Wood: 300gms/cube

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ERGONOMIC CONSIDERATION

10cm

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10cms was a little too big for children. I experimented with a few sizes and chose 8.9 cms as the final sizwe. It helped with the weight of the product as well.

Even though a size of 7.6cms would be ideal the illustrations needed some more surface area.

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Final product Dimension: 3.5x3.5x3.5�

Weight: 305gms Material: Pine Wood Assembly: Wood,Industrial Tape,Sticker Components: Stickers,Cube,Map Age Group: 7yrs+,(Family experience) Cost: Material:Rs35/Print 1 A3 size sticker paper:Rs14/Assembling and adhesive:Variable Final Approx cost: Rs65/Flow Map: Sold at the entrance Use map to locate animals Match animals to clues on loacating Put sticker on Do the same for all eight animals Read the narrative at the end

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USER TESTING To user test the product I contacted the educational officer of Mysore zoo to give me a date when an English Medium school was visiting the zoo as my product wasn’t bilingual as yet. I described the product to him and asked for a focus group for which he would need to speak to the teachers in advance.

On reaching the zoo I realized that due to some circumstances the school couldn’t make it because of which I had to approach families and other schools who had no specific agenda in mind. But this did not work very well as the signage’s weren’t installed in the zoo hence the product couldn’t be left alone.

The presence of an unknown person on their day out made families and other students very conscious and uncomfortable. I still managed to draw some initial insights.

Insights: 1.With only 8 animals on the cube people often tend to forget about the cube after the first few animals. The product probably needs to have more visual presence/ motivation/complexity in the clue for the general audience. The current format this is in, it would work best for school groups or families highly motivated to teach their children something v/s families coming in for just a leisure time.

-Lots of families that we approached thought this would be a time consuming process and were unwilling to try it out.

-The school teachers were excited to make their children use this object as a learning tool. The children who were initially excited and drawn to the look of the product soon lost interest when they saw their other friends who weren’t part of the user testing move ahead and drift away.

2. Packaging: The current paper box is unnecessary.

This could be replaced by some sort of a bag/pouch that could add to the feel of the treasure hunt the children are being a part of. This packaging must incorporate the fact that the cube will go in and come out several times. I said bag here only because the children need a place to put the box as most of them don’t already carry bags with them.

3. The ease of understanding the cube: a)Where to place the sticker: Children could tell where to put it and did not find it hard. A girl who spent almost 5 minutes with the cube progressed from initially having a tough time with trying to stick the sticker in awkward positions on the cube to understanding how the cube folded and bringing it into a more friendly shape to aid the ease in sticking he sticker. b) Understanding the narrative: I was unable to test

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that out in a robust manner with the children due to failure of any child sticking long enough with me to see the end result but the educational officer immediately understood the product and could point out the 2 narratives. It would be interesting to take 2 different styles to children (natural colours/contrasting colours) to see if it helped in better understanding the cube. c) Layers that illustrate where the animal belongs: Not many people noticed them. I feel that adding the names of the layers would help give them some information and context and would help in better understanding of the rainforest once they further interact with it at home/school.

4. The complexity of the clues could be enhanced to give a more satisfying feeling of solving it.

5. The weight was just fine and people enjoyed playing with it. The sticker was still something that could be worked on for a longer life of the product.

Feedback from the Educational officer of Mysore Zoo 1. This would be a great way to document all the different ecosystems present in the zoo.

2. It would be an activity that the youth club would enjoy as well as aid the tours he takes school children on. It would be a way of documenting and taking back some of the information the zoo signboards provide.

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3. The product looks different from other workshops they carry out in the zoo. It would be a great element of surprise.

He suggested I try it out on a Sunday when the youth club comes in, so as to carry out the user testing in a more contained manner. He was doubtful about it successfully reaching the general masses but when he heard about the cost price of it he was eager to put up a stall and see if maybe the price could be an attractive factor for the audience.

On the whole I currently feel like the cube is lacking that extra emotional connect with audience. The possible ways of getting it would be through the language of the clues and the packaging.

REFLECTIon Projects like these demand immersion in a manner that is easy to get lost within. Most days on my field visit it was hard to remember that I was going in as a designer and not as a biologist or as an activist. I found myself getting caught with very philosophical questions such as what does it really mean to be human? And why do we as humans assume the power to kill or even be responsible for other species? Do they feel responsible for our death?

It took me a very long time to break free from the little epiphanies I encountered along this journey and actually be able to pick and choose one small aspect to design for which could relate with my audience. During this process I feel like a lot of times I found myself trying to touch upon too many ideas and too many skill levels that I wasn’t very comfortable with. For example the graphic part of this project is something I do not consider my forte and hence I often wondered what it would be like if I had collaborated with a graphic designer so both us could together work on aspects that we were good at. Standing here today at the end of this project I still stand by this. This project could have been so much more had I not spent so much time on the graphics which were a really big element of the product. Mediocre graphics would not serve the purpose which justifies the time I spent on them.

often felt like there were a lot of assumptions and decisions that were taken by gut feelings. The reason was that we never had enough data numbers to back our insights as we all went in as individuals, where it was impossible for us to get the number required.

Looking at all of the above problems I have come to realize I enjoy working as part of a team and that’s where my immediate practice will lie. I see myself working in companies that take a multi-disciplinary approach and believe in process as an integral part of the project timeline.

The parts that I found interesting in the process that we went through in the past four months was the manner in which we constantly worked individually and then at regular intervals we were asked to regroup as a class and help refuel each other’s minds. This helped with taking a step back from our project and being forced to hear other opinions. Constant feedback was an integral part of this journey. This is one aspect I hope to be able to constantly remind myself in the future. This project has helped me expand my opportunities and areas of interest. I hope to continue my practice as a drawing compass, constantly stretching and expanding.

A lot of times while doing primary research I even

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AKNOWLEDGEMENT This project has definitely had its highs and lows and I would like to thank the people who have been there to celebrate them as well as pull me up when things got overwhelming. I would like to start with my Nani,Nana,Mama and Mami who’s relentless support and constant worrying got me to finish my work.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mom and Dad. Their faith in my abilities and my vision was a spring I could keep bouncing back on.

I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to my mentors Anupama Arun, Pitamber Polsani and Padmini Nagaraja. Their involvement and presence in my

project has been of great contribution. Their active feedback and interest has helped bring perspective to this project.

All the people and zoo officials who willingly shared their experience with me, this project took shape because of your enthusiasm and passion.

At the end of it all my friends who have stayed up with me sipping cups of lemon tea and changing songs to suit the mood, thank you. The pre-seminar pep talks as well as post seminar get-togethers have made these last few months memorable.

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Zoos and Visitors

pid-8750-dt-content-rid-42010_1/courses/INT-PR-P1-S1-14-08/

-Enhancing the zoo visitor’s experience by public animal training

Adding%20Value%20to%20Zoos%20-%20an%20Idea%20

and oral interpretation at an otter exhibition. Environment

Sourcebook.pdf”

And Behavior, Vol. 35 No. 6, November 2003 826-841 DOI: 10.1177/0013916503254746 © 2003 Sage Publication

-Zoo Education master plan. “http://study.srishti.ac.in/ bbcswebdav/pid-8750-dt-content-rid-42294_1/courses/

-Public Perceptions of Behavioral Enrichment: M.E. McPhee,1*

INT-PR-P1-S1-14-08/Zoo%20Education%20Master%20Plan.pdf”

J.S. Foster,2 M. Sevenich,3 and C.D. Saunders4 1 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 2 Seneca Zoo Society, Rochester,

-http://www.academia.edu/1705120/Enhancing_the_Zoo_Visitor_

New York 3 Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Lake Buena Vista, Florida 4

Experience

Brookfield Zoo, Brookfield, Illinois Future of human animal relationships -Design and Architecture,Third generation conservation, post

-http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/06/animal-

immersion and beyond,Future of zoos symposium 10-11feb 2012

behaviorist-well-soon-have-devices-that-let-us-talk-with-ourpets/276532/

-Public perception of conservation work by UK zoos. “http://www. iccs.org.uk/wp-content/thesis/consci/2011/Shaw.pdf” -Master plan 2012-2032-33, :” http://study.srishti.ac.in/ bbcswebdav/pid-8750-dt-content-rid-39977_1/courses/ INT-PR-P1-S1-14-08/Master-Plan-of-Mysore-Zoo.pdf” -Zoos,A philisophical Tour, http: “//study.srishti.ac.in/bbcswebdav/ pid-8750-dt-content-rid-40389_1/courses/INT-PR-P1-S1-14-08/ Zoos%20-%20A%20Philosophical%20Tour.pdf” -Animal Passions,Gillian Ark, “http://study.srishti.ac.in/ bbcswebdav/pid-8750-dt-content-rid-39979_1/courses/ INT-PR-P1-S1-14-08/Animal_Passions.pdf” -Why Zoos, “http://study.srishti.ac.in/bbcswebdav/pid-

-http://islandwood.us/eec/files/clancyw/Elementary%20 Science%20Methods/zoos-aquaria/Zoo%20Experiences%20 Conversations,%20Connections,%20and%20Concern%20for%20 Animals.pdf -http://www.dcourier.com/main. asp?SectionID=74&SubSectionID=114&ArticleID=115518 -http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2013/03/30/should-makeanimals-smarter/zbW4LTWkP8TZgB93Mqw7QJ/story.html -http://io9.com/5780020/if-humanity-went-extinct-what-specieswould-replace-us Curiosity

8750-dt-content-rid-41952_1/courses/INT-PR-P1-S1-14-08/

-http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120618-why-are-we-so-

WhyZoos%281%29.pdf

curious

-Adding Value to Zoo Visits. “http://study.srishti.ac.in/bbcswebdav/

-http://education.purduecal.edu/Vockell/EdPsyBook/Edpsy5/

Edpsy5_curiosity.htm

-Crocodile “http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/8831754/ -Crocodile-facts-ten-things-you-didnt-know-about-crocodiles.html”

-http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fscience.

-Civet. “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Indian_civet” -Civet. “http://www.animalstown.com/animals/c/civet/civet.php” -Civet. “http://a-z-animals.com/animals/asian-palm-civet/”

howstuffworks.com%2Flife%2Fevolution%2Fcuriosity4. htm&h=VAQHpxYGr -http://www.vtaide.com/png/ERIC/Instructional-Design-n-Curiosity. htm Food Chain Games -http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/ games/foodchaingame.htm

-Leopard. “http://www.kidsplayandcreate.com/fun-leopard-factsfor-kids/” -Hornbill. “http://www.durrell.org/kids/fun-factsheets/ hornbill-factsheet/” -King Cobras. “http://www.cobras.org/report.htm” -Gibbon. “http://www.findfast.org/facts-about-gibbons.htm”

-http://www.gould.edu.au/foodwebs/augrasslandsC.htm -http://www.vtaide.com/png/habitats/rules.htm Books -Wildlife: fact File -A zoo in my luggage -Learning elementary Biology: class 5,6,7 Western Ghat Animals -http://www.arkive.org/eco-regions/western-ghats/ -http://www.walkthroughindia.com/wildlife/7-species-of-fauna-inwestern-ghats-of-india/ -Mongoose and Hornbill. “http://link.springer.com/ article/10.1007%2FBF00290770” -Elephants “http://www.factslides.com/s-Elephants” -LTM “http://www.detroitzoo.org/animals/lion-tailed-macaque”

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This book is a part of a larger project by Aayushi Satiya produced as a diploma for Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology guided by CEE(Centre for Enviornment Education).

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