responsiveenvironments

[responsiveenvironments]

Welcome to The Dome at Bristo Square, a space where families, friends and skaters can all come together. Make use of our sensory experience at any time, be transported across the world in one step.

[responsiveenvironments]

Observations 15th March 2pm

Overall the experience was different for this observation, Edinburgh University has announced that all classes will be cancelled due to the coronavirus and it showed in how empty the square was.

Performance

In the square today there was a group performing, they were dancing and filming their performance for the whole hour I was there. They seemed to use the openness of the square to their advantage and used the wide space to create an interesting background for their video.

Skaters

Some skaters were also in the square, they were performing tricks on the benches and stairs as seems to be standard however,   there were also some cones in the square that the skaters were trying to jump over. They were avoiding the perfomance as best they could. There wasn’t many skaters in their group.

Groups

There were a few groups hanging out in the square, watching the performance and the skaters. They occupied a few benches in the square and stayed for abou half an hour. There were also a few groups who crossed the square, mostly heading away from town.

Individuals

Individuals mostly crossed the square today, they crossed in both directions and seemed to take the long way around to avoid the performance. Some individuals did pay attention to the performance and skaters and occupied the space for about 10 minutes before moving on.

Unused resources

Most of the resources in the space were in use by different groups of people however, the wide open area was only partially used by the performers.

Appropriation of resources

The benches and stairs were being used by skaters to perform tricks, they had also found a cone and placed it in the open space to create an obstacle for themselves. The performers used the open area as a venue for their performance.

Interviews

During this visit I conducted 2 interviews to try and gather more information about who uses the space and why. I interviewed one of the skaters in the square and someone who was crossing the square.

These interviews generated some intriguing responses that help to back up the observations made during this session.

Conclusions

Saturday afternoons see the space used by a wide variety of individuals and groups and there wasn’t many skaters at this time. The space affords many uses at this time and it might prove challenging to design something that caters to everyone who uses it.

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Observations 14th March 6pm

During this observation the space felt very empty compared to the other times I visited. Only a few of the groups I am focusing on visiting the space during this time.

Skaters

Skaters were the main occupants of the square at this time, they had free reign over the entire square. 5 or 6 skaters were present in the space and they seemed to group in one corner of the square when not skating. They made use of the benches and stairs to perform tricks.

Groups

Not many groups occupied the space this late on in the day. A few groups did cross the square heading away from town. The groups who occupied the space only stayed for around 5 minutes. Usually, a group would pick a bench and stay there for their entire visit. The groups seemed to pay heavy attention to the skaters as some form of entertainment.

Individuals

Individuals were only seen to be crossing the square at this time, they seemed to take the longer route around to avoid the skaters. Some individuals would briefly stop to watch the skaters but never truly occupied the space.

Families

At this time of the day families did not occupy the space. They would still use the space as a shortcut, crossing in both directions. Families did not occupy the space at all for the length of this observation. 

Couples

No couples were observed to occupy the space during this visit. A few couples took slow walks across the space and looked to be admiring the buildings. Most couples seemed to cross from The Meadows towards the bridges.

Unused Resources

Due to the skaters, most resources in the square were heavily used at this time. There were a lot of free benches that skaters would occasionally use and this could contribute to them being left unused by other groups.

Appropriation of Resources

The resources in the square were heavily appropriated by the skaters to perform tricks. This included the benches and stairs in the square. The wide open area in the middle of the square was also used by the skaters as somewhere to practice tricks.

Interviews

I conducted one interview with an individual who was commuting across the square to gather insight on their use of the space. This data helped to back up the observations and will be used alongside them when designing the final intervention.

Conclusions

Due to the time, many groups did not use the space as much. This should be heavily considered in the final designs as the space can be heavily used by different groups at different times of the day. Skaters are the primary group who occupy the space at this time of the day.

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Observations 7th March 10am

Families

Early morning weekend starts seem to be the favourite of families, during the hour I was there I observed more families than I have seen in any other observations. A lot of the children love playing in the space on the various stairs and benches and love running across the square away from their group. A lot of these families were crossing the square either towards The Meadows or towards town. However, a few of them occupied the space and watched their children play in the space.

Couples

A lot of couples were also seen crossing the square, the majority of them were crossing towards the town and some were carrying luggage - perhaps travelling somewhere? Only a few occupied the space for longer to sit down, after around 5 minutes most of them continued their journey. 

Indivuduals

Individuals seemed to be the minority this time around, a handful of individuals traversed the space in the hour I was there and even less occupied the space and sat down - one in particular sat down with a laptop and occupied the space after I left. I would say equal amounts of indiviuals crossed the space in both directions during this time.

Skaters

At this early hour there were no skaters present in the square.

Unused Resources

At this time of the morning most resources in the square were being used, benches were well used the the open space was being used for commuting and play.

Appropriation of resources

The open space, stairs and benches in the square were all commonly appropriated by children at this time to create a game for themselves. Children commonly run up and down the stairs and jump around on the benches.

Conclusions

Once again it would seem that the best solution would be to develop an interactive experience targeted at one audience during the day and another audience later on in the day as there would be a lot of room to design something family based for the mornings to give more incentive to occupy the space for longer.

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Observations 6th March 5pm

Individuals

Later on in the day I noticed a lot more people commuting across the square, the majority of these people were just taking the shortest path across the square and ignoring everything going on around them. A few of them paid attention to the chalk artwork that was present on the floor and a lot of people were carrying bags or briefcases.

Skaters

Also at this time there was a few skaters present in the space, most of them made use of the stairs and benches to do tricks and frequently skater around and through the space. When not skating they occupied a space towards the Meadows and claimed a bench to store their belongings.

Groups

A lot of groups occupied the space at this time, mostly just sitting on benches and talking between themselves. However, I noticed a lot of groups would watch the skaters and look at the artwork on the floor. A lot of them would get up from their benches and wander through the space admiring the artwork and trying not to get in the skaters way. They also took a lot of photos of themselves and the chalk artwork.

Some groups also ate food whilst sitting in the square, this seems to be a common theme everytime I am in the square.

Couples & Families

There was a distinct lack of couple and family activity at this time, there was a few couples and families crossing the square and taking the quickest way across but other than that no activity.

Unused Resources

This has been the least wasteful use of resources from any of the observations, the large open space had been used as a chalk artboard and the stairs and benches were all mostly in use.

Appropriation of resources

The benches and stairs have all been appropriated by skaters at this time to do tricks, they also use the large open space to skate and commuters are more likely to traverse around the square instead of directly across it.

Conclusions

The chalk artwork in the square attracted a lot of attention to people who would normally not have stopped for a long period of time, this gives way to designing an interactive art experience for the square to draw more people in and get them to pay attention to other things in the environment. The skaters in the square were also a point of interest for passers by and this could be incorporated into the experience as a way of gamifying the skating experience and involving a crowd. Perhaps an experience could be designing for one audince in the day and other in the evning.

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Observation 25th February 9am

In my second visit to Bristo Square I wanted to get an idea of what goes on there during the morning rush. I assumed that this would be mostly students and business-people commuting with the odd family going for a day out.

Students

As per my assumptions, students were the most common users of the space at this time. I observed many individuals crossing the square towards Edinburgh university and a few coming away towards the various shops in the area. Most of the students were lonesome however a few also traversed the space in groups. I observed that groups were a lot more likely to stop and take pictures and mess around near the monument and individuals tended to just walk through listening to music and ignore the space around them.

Business-people

A lot of business-people also commuted across the square towards the Meadows, they passed by the monument mostly unaware and none of them stopped to observe it. Most of the business-people crossed the square alone however a few crossed in pairs. Both individuals and groups crossed the square without paying attention to the various building or the monument however, the groups tended to converse between themselves with the individuals opting to listen to music.

Families

Families were not that prevalent this early in the morning, there was a few groups who crossed the square - mostly towards the Meadows. They paid a lot more attention to the buildings and the statue with a few families stopping to read the plaques and explain to their children. A few families also took pictures whilst in the square.

Resources

The benches went highly unused this early in the morning as only a few people were seen to be using them. The wide area in the middle of the square was highly used as a shortcut for people crossing the square.

Conclusions

From what I observed there seems to be a lack of visual stimulation within the square which causes a lack of attention to the various buildings and the statue. A lot of the groups walked through the square whilst in conversation with another person meaning that they could be open to sound stimulus, this could be incorporated into the final design to draw users in who could have previously missed the installation. Families seem to interact with the space the most, this could mean they require less stimulation to be drawn in and this means the installation could primarily focus on attracting the other types of people.

[responsiveenvironments]

I’ve not been able to go out this week due to the weather :( Hopefully I can go out a few times next week for some more observations 

[responsiveenvironments]

In my first visit to Bristo Square, I set out to gain an understanding of the space's usage within the afternoon.

I chose a bench and began my observations, very quickly it became obvious that different groups have many uses for the space.

Families

Families were one of the main groups I observed using the space, most families tended to commute across the square and seemed to use it as a shortcut towards the Meadows. However, the children within these families had a much more interesting experience. These children used the stairs within the square as a game - many different children from different groups all tended to have the same interaction. They would run along the stairs and jump up and down them, I suspect this is common with anywhere with stairs but this still plays an interesting part in the usage of the space.

Couples

Couples hung around more within the square, often admiring the architecture and paying attention to the McEwen Lantern Pillar. On average they spent a lot more time in the square than families and individuals. A few couple also used the space to commute towards the Meadows and some entered the various University buildings surrounding the square. I often noted couples taking selfies and pictures of the space.

Groups

Many groups of people entered the space and quite often entered one of the university buildings. I also noted a lot of groups stopping to take photographs of the surrounding architecture. Some groups also took videos within the space and appeared to be vlogging. A group also sat on the steps next to the McEwen Lantern Pillar, they sat here for around half an hour and seemed to be using it as a hang out spot whilst also reading the plaques on the pillar.

Individuals

Individuals seemed to be the most prominent users of the space, I observed the majority of these individuals commuting across the square in both directions. A few stopped to take photographs of the buildings surrounding the square, with a few taking videos whilst in the space. One individual came through the space walking a dog and took the longer route around, opting to go around the stairs in the middle. A few people stopped to eat their lunch, occupying some of the benches in the square.

Resources

Most of the resources in the space were used at this time, benches and the open space were both used heavily and nothing went to waste.

[responsiveenvironments]

Responsive Environments Study

This blog will detail my journey in designing a solution to complement the use of a space within Edinburgh. Studies will be conducted at different times for an hour to discover the use of the space by different groups of people. These studies will be compiled into a report detailing how the actual use compares to my assumptions and how this can impact on the design of my solution. Studies can be found under #studies and observations can be found under #observations. I will also regularly post design fictions that I find inspirational under #inspirations.

I have chosen Bristo Square as my space. The McEwen Lantern Pillar is of interest as it is a key piece within the square. I believe this space will have a wide variance on the types of people who use it and their reasons for use. This will allow for a wider spectrum of designs to be created and will help to create a richer space for all who use it.