Des 166 - Human-centered Design - Reimagining the Corner

Reimagining

the Corner Kendrick Chan, Rosie Cunningham, Pamela Isabel Munoz, Heather Wong December 2nd, 2018

C & 3rd Street Corner

-Lookbooks

pgs. 4-8

Thought Process

- Interviews - Brainstorming

pgs. 9-18

POV Analysis

pg. 19-20

Prototypes

- Test #1 - Test #2 - Test #3 - Future Development

pgs. 22-29 Graphics Standard

pg. 30-31

Lookbooks

Corner During the Day 2 December 2018 Kendrick, Pamela, Rosie, and Heather

5

Corner At Night 2 December 2018 Kendrick, Pamela, Rosie, and Heather

6

Other Inspiration 2 December 2018 Kendrick, Pamela, Rosie, and Heather

7

More Inspiration 2 December 2018 Kendrick, Pamela, Rosie, and Heather

8

Interviews

Interviews 2 December 2018 Kendrick, Pamela, Rosie, and Heather We approached two girls sitting on a bench near the gardens

Dave was the first person who accepted our interview af-

after interviewing Dave. These two girls are from Woodland

ter being rejected by the other people in the area. Dave is

and they don’t attend UC Davis. Today was their first time be-

around our age and attends UC Santa Cruz. He was born and

ing in this park and they also brought their dog, Selena, with

raised in Davis, California so he is very familiar with the park.

them. They loved that the park was more family friendly, quiet,

When asked about what he likes or dislikes about the park

lush/full of nature, and spacious. Teresa said, “It’s very tranquil

he mentioned that he enjoys how spacious and shady the

and peaceful here. I can see myself coming back again.” It’s

area is. It is a good place to sit down, relax, and enjoy a quiet

perfect for their dog to run around the park and grass. They

lunch, which happened to be what he was doing before we

did not have that many immediate dislikes about the park

interrupted him for an interview. He generally had nice things

area, but they wanted to see more accessible areas that are

to say about the park, but expressed that he wished there

suitable for dogs. They have only seen couples and other

could be something more going on in the corner. The tables

families wander around the area; no other dogs. Vidianna

at the corner “looked sad” and out of place. It did not look

suggested that there should be trash cans for dog wastes so

like an area where people would actually want to sit at for a

that it’s easier for the owner to clean up. Teresa mentioned,

long period of time, hence why he chose to sit at one of the

“Bringing more dogs to the park is not a bad idea… maybe

benches closer to the center of the park.

transform a section into a dog park?”

Jake is a student at UC Davis who comes to the park often

The next person we approached was Chase, a caucasian

with his group of friends. They would usually sit in the grass

young adult. Chase was very enthusiast in talking about

together since he there isn’t really an area to sit for a large

eco-friendly suggestions for the park. He stressed how im-

group of people. When asked about how he felt about the

portant recycling is and the tiny things we can do for the

park he said it felt like a safe place to be, but he also said “but

planet such as picking up our trash after eating. It also helps

I am a tall white male” implying that if he wasn’t he probably

the city of Davis appear cleaner and will give everyone a

wouldn’t have felt as safe. He said the corner was sort of awk-

nicer experience he said. When asked about what he thought

ward especially on the weekends when the farmers’ market

about the park’s cleanliness he said it is pretty clean, but he

is set up. He explained that he “did not know where it started

never noticed where the trash cans in the corner was at until

and ended”.

recently. He also showed disappointment at the fact that there was no recycling or compost bins in the area.

10

Interviews 2 December 2018 Kendrick, Pamela, Rosie, and Heather Alicia is a young woman. We noticed she was walking pretty

Noah is a freshman at UC Davis. I approached him when he

fast paced before we approached her. When we confronted

was sitting at a table, looking at his phone. Our interview was

her, Alicia said she generally felt pretty safe in this area, but

short, since he said he needed to get back to campus for

would not want to stay out too late alone. She said she felt

dinner. He mentioned that he had been on his way, but had

the safest walking on the sidewalk closer to the restaurants as

stopped in the park to respond to a text from his girlfriend. I

there is more people and light as opposed to cutting through

asked Noah if he spends time in the park often, and he said

the park which can get pretty dark at night. She also men-

that he has only been to the Farmer’s Market, and travels

tioned how the trash cans in this area were inconveniently

through the park on his way home from work. I asked if any-

placed so she does not use them often. They are deep in the

thing stuck out to him about the park that seemed lacking, or

corner and is a hassle to locate when she needs to quickly

if there was something unavailable that should be there. He

throw something away. This is an issue when she is rushing

said that it bothered him that there is not a clear bicycle path

to class on campus and happens to pass by the area on her

going through the park. He elaborated by saying that he usu-

way. It is inconvenient for her to go out of her pathway just to

ally goes up 3rd street to get back to campus from work, but

find a trash can.

with the construction on 3rd, he has had to change his route to going around the perimeter of the park. He wishes there was a direct path through the park, so that he could travel as straight of a route as possible from downtown to campus.

Jake is a student at UC Davis who comes to the park often

The next person we approached was Chase, a caucasian

with his group of friends. They would usually sit in the grass

young adult. Chase was very enthusiast in talking about

together since he there isn’t really an area to sit for a large

eco-friendly suggestions for the park. He stressed how im-

group of people. When asked about how he felt about the

portant recycling is and the tiny things we can do for the

park he said it felt like a safe place to be, but he also said “but

planet such as picking up our trash after eating. It also helps

I am a tall white male” implying that if he wasn’t he probably

the city of Davis appear cleaner and will give everyone a

wouldn’t have felt as safe. He said the corner was sort of awk-

nicer experience he said. When asked about what he thought

ward especially on the weekends when the farmers’ market

about the park’s cleanliness he said it is pretty clean, but he

is set up. He explained that he “did not know where it started

never noticed where the trash cans in the corner was at until

and ended”.

recently. He also showed disappointment at the fact that there was no recycling or compost bins in the area.

11

Interviews 2 December 2018 Kendrick, Pamela, Rosie, and Heather

Analisa is a sophomore, and was waiting for friends at one of the tables. Analisa says

Noelia is a student at ARC that lives in Woodland. She was sitting on the lawn of the park

that the park has been one of her favorite places to get together with friends since her

with her dog. Noelia has been coming to the park for the past two years. She told me the

freshman year. Her favorite time to come to the park is for the Farmer’s Market. She men-

story of the first time she visited the park, saying that she had been walking around Davis

tioned that she has never come to the park alone for an extended period of time. She has

on errands, and noticed it on her walk back to her car. Since then, she has been coming

been alone in the park, but only in instances such as this evening, when she is waiting for

every Monday, and often brings her camera or notebook to draw. She says she likes the

friends to come meet her. She says it is definitely an environment that she enjoys being

park because she can let her dog be off leash there, without worrying about other dogs

in with company, and does not enjoy being there alone. She said she wishes there was a

coming up to her. Aside from her Monday routine, Noelia also comes to the park to go

more central playground, with a swing set. When I asked her to tell me the most memora-

to the Farmer’s Market on Saturdays. She did not know that there is a Wednesday night

ble time she had in the park, she told me a story of when she was shopping at the Farm-

Farmer’s Market as well. Noelia mentioned one incident at the park that was negative.

er’s Market, and one of the fruit vendors recognized that she is Mexican from looking at

Last Monday, at around 3 pm she was in the park with a friend, and a man approached

her, and began speaking to her in Spanish. This stuck out in her memory, and made her

them and wouldn’t stop talking to them, despite their attempts to end the conversation.

happy because she is often mistaken for a different ethnicity, and is proud of her heritage.

They ended up leaving shortly after. During our conversation, Noelia mentioned that she

She said it gave her a sense of community.

is a law student, and is also trying to incorporate art into her studies somehow. She said that her time in the park is something that she looks forward to every week, because it provides her with a break from her hectic school schedule.

12

Interviews 2 December 2018 Kendrick, Pamela, Rosie, and Heather

Alexa and Stacey are two young women that were sitting on the

They noted that the bike racks seem to be placed randomly, and are not

lawn of the park, eating frozen yogurt. They are both sophomores at UC

central to the areas of the park where most people hang out. They also

Davis. They both had attended an event at a nearby frozen yogurt shop,

mentioned that the park seemed to be organized around the area that

and decided to stop by the park on their way home. They started coming

the Farmer’s Market takes place, which didn’t make much sense to them,

to the park when they were freshman, after Stacey heard about the Farm-

since that only happens twice a week.

er’s Market during her orientation and suggested that they go together.

Both Stacey and Alexa are from Los Angeles, and enjoy the small town

to which Stacey responded that she thought they were at the opposite

feel of Davis. They both commented on how Davis has a much slower

side of the park, but was unsure. Stacey also mentioned that the place-

pace, and how the people in Davis are remarkably friendly.

ment of the playgrounds seemed odd, since they were so spread apart.

She said that she can imagine that being an issue for parents with mul-

They both consider to the park to be one of their favorite parts

Alexa mentioned that she didn’t think there were any bathrooms,

about downtown Davis, and have brought friends visiting from home

tiple children, because if their children wanted to play at different play-

there when showing them around town. I asked them if they have ever

grounds, it would be difficult for the parents to keep their eyes on both

had an experience in the park in which they needed something that

children at the same time.

wasn’t available, they brought up the placement of the bike racks.

13

Thought Process

Thought Process 2 December 2018 Kendrick, Pamela, Rosie, and Heather

15

Thought Process 2 December 2018 Kendrick, Pamela, Rosie, and Heather

16

Thought Process 2 December 2018 Kendrick, Pamela, Rosie, and Heather

17

Thought Process 2 December 2018 Kendrick, Pamela, Rosie, and Heather

18

Point of View

POV 2 December 2018 Kendrick, Pamela, Rosie, and Heather

Alicia is a young woman. We noticed she was walking pretty fast paced before we approached her. When we confronted her, Alicia said she generally felt pretty safe in this area, but would not want to stay out too late alone. She said she felt the safest walking on the sidewalk closer to the restaurants as there is more people and light as opposed to cutting through the park which can get pretty dark at night.

She also mentioned how the trash cans in this area were inconveniently placed so she does not use them often. They are deep in the corner and is a hassle to locate when she needs to quickly throw something away. This is an issue when she is rushing to class on campus and happens to pass by the area on her way. It is inconvenient for her to go out of her pathway just to find a trash can.

We have a hunch that Alicia felt unsafe because she was passing through the park by herself.

It would be game-changing to create something that makes her feel as safe as if she were with her friends.

20

Prototypes

Prototype Test #1 2 December 2018 Rosie, and Heather The purpose of having such varied messages on each sign was to observe what type of message was most attractive, and evoked the strongest response. We hung each sign on the traffic sign poles around the corner of 3rd street and C street. We then sat at the picnic table on the corner, and observed people walking by to see if they had a visible reaction to any of the signs. If we noticed anyone stop to read the sign, we approached them and asked if we could interview them.

“Parks and playgrounds are the soul of a city.” – Marty Rubin “Stand here and think about your favorite place” “Every great story on the planet happened when someone decided not to give up, but kept going no matter what.” Spryte Loriano “Davis Population: 66,016 // Davis Student Population: 35,415” “Squirrel XING” “Wild Turkey XING” “Have a beautiful day.”

22

Prototype Test #1 2 December 2018 Rosie, and Heather

general area of focus for prototype #1

23

Prototype Test #1 2 December 2018 Rosie and Heather

Emily & Yan: Emily and Yan are a young man and woman, that appeared to be on a date.

As they were walking down 3rd street, Emily stopped to view the sign with a fact about the population of Davis. When we asked them about their reaction to the sign Emily said “That’s pretty cool that students make up more than half of the population” to which Yan added on “Yeah, we run this”, and they both laughed. From this reaction, we inferred that the awareness that they both belong to a group that makes up the majority of the town they live in gave them a sense of security, and belonging.

David: David is a middle aged man that was in the park prior to our arrival. David was sitting on the park bench 5 feet away from the picnic table we were observing from. David had a suitcase and plastic shopping bag with him, and was listening to music on his headphones. David saw us hanging the signs, and once we had been sitting at the table for 10 minutes, got up from the bench and walked around to each sign.

Once he looked at each sign, David approached us and asked if “we are in that class”.

We found out that he had been approached by other students in DES 166 during the interview phase, and that he spends a good amount of time in the park. When we asked David about his initial reactions to the signs, David commented that they are a creative way to enhance the space. David mentioned a tree that was previously standing in the corner we had hung the signs, and said that the space felt like it was missing something since the tree was cut down.

David said that the signs initially reminded him of stickers he had seen in other cities that had messages like “you are beautiful”. He said that the signs, especially the “have a beautiful day” sign were a good reminder of “joy, compassion, love, happiness, hope.”

David said that he appreciates these reminders given all of the things that are currently going on the world that are discouraging.

Gabe & Chandler: Gabe and Chandler are two young men that we had seen walking around the area, and eventually stopped in front of the “Davis population” sign. The two are in their early 20’s, and traveled here from their homes in Florida to visit friends at UC Davis. They both said that the population statistic stood out to to them most, because Davis seemed small to them and they did not think that many people lived here.

24

Prototype Test #1 2 December 2018 Rosie and Heather

James & Lucy: James and lucy are a middle aged couple from Sacramento. They had come to Davis for dinner, which is something that they tend to do often. They stopped in front of the pole that had two signs hanging on it. The two signs said “Parks and playgrounds are the soul of a city.” and “Stand here and think about your favorite place”. James said he initially noticed the signs because he is a visual person, and tends to take in details of his environment, such as signs. He also noticed our signs because they were nearby the park. They both said they with the quote about parks, and think that we should appreciate our parks more. James added that he has lived at places before that did not have public parks at all, which has made him appreciate them now. They concluded the interview by saying “We should think about stuff like that”, and saying that they like the signs because they make people stop and think.

Jerridan: Jerridan is a Sophomore at UC Berkeley, in town over the long weekend to visit his girlfriend. He has been coming to visit Davis since last year, when his girlfriend began her freshman year at UC Davis.

Jerridan and his girlfriend often spend time in the park together when he was here, and said it is one of their favorite spots to have a picnic in warm weather.

We noticed Jerridan looking at the population sign first, and observed him circling to look at the other signs shortly after. We approached him to ask him about his reaction, and he confirmed that the first sign that caught his attention was the sign on population. He said that this stood out to him because he felt people often “sold Davis short as a small town with not much going on” and said that the amount of people, and amount of students disproved that assumption. Jerridan said the animal signs made him smile, and were a good way of representing the unique and quirky side of the town.

Jerridan commented on the pole with two signs (“stand here and think about your favorite place” and “Parks and playgrounds are the soul of a city..”) by saying that he liked the combination of the quote and the instruction. He elaborated by saying that the quote made him look at the park in a favorable way, and the mention of thinking about his favorite place immediately brought up a good memory. He didn’t think that the quote about not giving up fit in with the other signs, although he thought the message was valuable.

Skylar: Skylar is a senior at UC Davis that we noticed looking at the Davis population sign. She said that sign stood out to her because it was surprising, and made her think. She had not thought that the population of Davis was that large, and did not realize how much of the population was comprised by students.

She also commented on how bold the letters of the sign were, saying that grabbed her attention. We asked her if any of the other signs stood out to her, and she said that she doesn’t typically take time to read signs other than traffic signs. She took a moment to look at the other signs, and said that many of them were “too wordy” and that “she wouldn’t look at them at all if she passed by them”. She was amused by the animal signs, saying that they are “very ‘Davis’”.

25

Prototype Test #2 2 December 2018 Kendrick, Pamela, Rosie, and Heather We tested our 2nd prototype in the MU indoors since there were weather complications, which involved friend and dog walks, putting positive post-it-notes on walkways and walls, passing out post-it notes. The purpose for this is prototype was to re-iterate our first prototype with the signs.

Post-it notes and some signs asked people to take it with them if they read and saw it so that we can see if our test was successful. We had about 10 post-it notes scattered across the MU, on walls, tables, chairs, or any walkway where people should notice them. Each post-it note had an inspiring quote, nice message, or simply emojis. As a result, only 4/10 of the post-it notes were taken, and others overlooked them after 2 hours.

Our third test involved Pamela and Rosie asking others if they wanted to walk with them outside of the MU. Not many people saw the dog or took notice because it was dark outside. Obi also kind of scared people away because of his hyperactivity We were not convinced with the results since most people did not interact much with the prototype.

With these results, we moved onto our final test.

26

Prototype Test #2 2 December 2018 Kendrick, Pamela, Rosie, and Heather

27

Prototype Test #3 2 December 2018 Heather and Pamela Having Alicia in mind, we proposed to create an interactive floor projection. Having an additional light source would make the space as inviting. When Alicia encounters this path again, she will go across it feeling confident that she is safe, as every step she takes it will produce relaxing music notes and light up floor. Heather and Pamela tested this at the International Center on campus and laid a long sheet of poster paper on the ground, held down by two stones (since it was pretty windy) and they asked each user to step on the post it notes, giving Heather the signal to play different sounds.

Because this was done during the day, we could not accurately test how it would work at night due to time constraints. Our prototype is supposed to have lights near the signals and will light up when a person walks near the area. We were inspired by this one graduate student’s project where she tried to make the tunnel and underpass in the downtown area more welcoming at night.

The picture on the bottom is a snapshot of how a user would interact with the sidewalk at night.

28

Future Development 2 December 2018 Rosie If the City of Davis were to implement our idea, it would like these two pictures. As people walk by, lights will dim on, and the flowers will slowly grow up to illuminate the pathway.

Music or some calming sounds will be played.

29

Graphics Standard

CMYK: 14, 1, 2, 0

Proxima Nova Light AaBbCcDdEeFfGgHhIiJjKkLlMmNnOoPpQqRrSsUuVvWwXxYyZz CMYK: 49, 9, 100, 0

Proxima Nova Regular AaBbCcDdEeFfGgHhIiJjKkLlMmNnOoPpQqRrSsUuVvWwXxYyZz Proxima Nova Condensed Regular AaBbCcDdEeFfGgHhIiJjKkLlMmNnOoPpQqRrSsUuVvWwXxYyZz

CMYK: 21, 0, 78, 0

Proxima Nova Condensed Medium AaBbCcDdEeFfGgHhIiJjKkLlMmNnOoPpQqRrSsUuVvWwXxYyZz Proxima Nova Condensed Semibold AaBbCcDdEeFfGgHhIiJjKkLlMmNnOoPpQqRrSsUuVvWwXxYyZz

CMYK: 29, 53, 100, 11

Entire Process Book designed and done

by Kendrick/Sky 31

32