#coursework1

[alexfcuthbert-blog]

1.3 Observation

Monday 22nd February, 9-10am

The first thing that I noticed when walking towards the observation spot was that the normally overflowing car park was almost empty apart for 10/12 cars. I can only assume the only cars there are for the residents of the flats next to the car park. Although the closer it got to 9.30 the busier the car park got with mums and children going into the gymnastics centre on the opposing side to the flats.

The tide was far out again allowing more room for all the dog walkers that were out on this sunny day. When I first sat down on the bench there were about 10 dog walkers out and about but they soon started to dissipate and then there were only a few. I think that people were out walking their dog before they had to go to work or start their days so from 9-9:15am there were much more dog walkers than 9:15-10am.

There didn’t look to be any people making their way to work, everyone looked as if they were just out for the leisure of it whether they were out running or walking (or power walking in a couple of ladies case).

Halfway through my observation I tried to make myself aware of the different areas of the observation spot that people could interact with; the beach, the benches and the car park. Like I said the car park filled up a little with people going to Tumbles and the only people that were on the sand this morning were dog walkers.

There was a space of around 7-8 minutes where no one passed by me and there was no one on the beach in front. Out of this observation and the ones done previously this was the longest period of time with no one around to observe. I think this is the reason most of the people who were down at the beach this time in the morning had braved the cold, for the peace. It was definitely nice even sitting on the bench for me with no traffic noise just the sound of the seagulls and dogs in the distance barking. It definitely felt like a serene seaside town this morning.

The only types of people that use the beach on a weekday morning were owners out with their dogs, people exercising and mothers taking their children on a walk. I think these are the people who the end intervention should be aimed at since these people are using the promenade constantly.

[evaverheugt]

Observation

15-03-2016, 16.45-17.45

Weather: rainy, cold, windy

I couldn’t make any pictures since my phone was out of battery.

Not many people

mainly tourists

not many people want to take selfies and pictures on the national monument because of the weather.

People walk around real quick, take some pictures and leave.

Some dog walkers. Mostly with throw sticks.

very cloudy, people can’t really have a good look over the city.

[stewartr7-blog]

Obs. 9 

How the bottom of the canal would look during a summers day. 

[jonettescomicsassignments]

There's a comic right here on the breakfast table.

[murraymcgrinder]

Responsive Environments

So today I will begin working on a university project as outlined below. Despite being obliged I am rather eager to work on this. I look forward to analysing the information gathered. I will choose a location in Glasgow (where, I am still pondering although not the West End, leaning towards Pollok) and spend a length of time there documenting social interaction within the space. 

Brief                                                                                                               Choose an area that you do not regularly frequent that is at least a 15-minute walk from your home. You will choose a specific spot, for example a bench, from which you will conduct your observation.

You must make at least 10 visits of one hour in length to your spot. Your visits will be undertaken at different times of the day and on different days.

The purpose of this study is for you to produce a true picture of how this public space is used. Consider the actions of people on their own, friends, couples and families. By visiting at different times on different days you will build a picture of the true use of the space. It is important that you attempt to ignore any preconceptions of how you think the space is used and look at actual use.

[alexfcuthbert-blog]

1.2 Second Visit

This second visit occurred on Monday 15th of February at approximately 12.30. When I first got to the spot the most notable thing was how busy it was compared to last week, especially with children which I thought was strange considering they should be in school. The tide was much farther out than last time and there were much more people out on the sand but again as normal the only people on the beach were dog walkers and parents with very young children who were probably forced by their children to take them to the waters edge considering how cold it was Almost all of the children that were going by me were either on scooters, roller blades or bikes with barely any of them walking. its a very popular place to ride bikes, even for adults as its flat and there're no cars and I must have seen at least 30 adults on bikes in the time I was sitting there. I took an instantaneous mental tally of how many dogs were in a 25-metre radius and there were 11. Quite a lot considering its a Monday. Sitting on the bench I started to realise that there was a lot of children and it wasn’t until much later on that I pieced it together that it might be half-term for the primary school and as it turned out it was. Halfway through my stint an old couple looking over the fence separating the sand and the promenade watching the dogs play and the children chase each other around whilst eating ice cream (which I thought was insane considering how cold it was). but then I began to wonder why they had the ice cream. was it some type of routine that they had, to go have a walk along the beach on nice days and get an ice cream? they could have been tourists thinking that because they were t the seaside they should participate in tradition by getting ice cream? maybe it's for nostalgia? can only wonder. I was thinking about some of the features that the interactive intervention for the design fiction should have and I came up with 2 mini-conclusions: 1. the intervention cannot take too long to interact with as the temperature at the promenade is not always very warm (especially on the day of this visit) and people would get cold quick 2. and that no one uses any technology down there. I noticed during my period sitting on the bench that not 1 person was looking down on their phone (apart from me when I was taking notes) because everyone is either occupied with children/dogs or taking in the beautiful scenery which can be seen in the time-lapse and picture posted after this post.

[evaverheugt]

27/03/2016 (easter), 10.30-11.30

weather: cloudy, drizzle

It’s quite busy despite the weather.

Only tourists, many different languages (German, Dutch, Asiatic language)

People take pictures, enjoy the view for a bit and move on. Nobody sits down.

a group of girls who are cold and take many pictures and laugh together.

Someone is taking pictures of the people at the National Monument.

I did the interviews today, I’ve heard some interesting things, people wanted tours or something else to get more information about Calton Hill and its monuments. Someone told me she thought it would be interesting to have some street art on good days.

[evaverheugt]

19/03/2016, 12.30-13.30

weather: Sunny, around 18 °C

My normal bench was taken because it was so busy with people sitting and enjoying the sun.

Very many people just sat down to enjoy the sun.

The National monument is by far the most popular again, though there were also many people at the other monuments. But it looks like at the national monument people don’t mind that there are other people on the pictures. At the other monuments though, people want to be on the picture without anyone else on it.

At the cannon people quickly take a picture and then go on to something else. At the National monument people also kind of play with it. And at the Dugald Stewart Monument people take a picture, and then they have a look around to enjoy the view of the city.

Nearly nobody pays attention to the observatory.

I’m thinking about either making something for the national monument, you could do something fun with it, for example with the pillars. But since the national monument is pretty popular already, maybe I should do something with one of the other monuments.

[evaverheugt]

11-03-2016, 10.00-11.00

Weather: windy, cold, rainy

Very quiet, not many people

people enjoying the views, but only have a quick look.

Leave as soon as they can

Tourists mostly

people take many pictures, mostly with their phones.

no-one is paying attention to the binocular, So maybe it should be at a different place?

young adults playing with the cannon

not many selfiesticks today

[alexfcuthbert-blog]

1.12 Observation 10

Friday 1st April, 11.15pm-12.15am

I decided to go down to the beach, the latest I would dare on a Friday night to see what is going on.   I could smell smoke which made me hesitant when turning the corner to get onto the promenade and on further inspection turned out to be a group of mid-teenagers lighting a fire further down the beach.

I took my seat to begin the evening’s observation.   When I first sat down no one passed by for 15/20 minutes.   In this time I got up to walk about and keep warm in the cold night wind and whilst doing this I counted to see how many lights were broken along the length of the prom that was visible and I counted what I thought to be 4 broken lampposts, including the lamppost that was broken next to me.   It was either that or there weren’t lampposts in the places I thought there to be but was too far away to tell.   This goes with what people were saying in my interviews about the beach needing better looked after.

The first person that passed me looked to be the same age as the kids lighting fires along the beach seemed to be.   He didn’t stop for any reason as I'm guessing he was just heading home.   

After the boy walked by no one walked by for another 20/25 minutes until a middle-aged couple looked to be returning home from a pub or something in portobello via the beach.   I only guess this because of what they were wearing and where they came from but maybe I’m wrong.   They weren’t walking particularly fast and were looking across up at the sky and over towards Fife.   After they went by no one went by until the end of the shift but I could hear the shouting down at the fire on the beach and the occasional drunk up on the high street.

[alexfcuthbert-blog]

1.11 Interview 3

Friday 29th March

What brings you to the beach this morning?

Sprints, I play American Football for the East Kilbride Pirates and I come here to train sometimes.

Why do you like training here?

Harder on the muscles.

Less strain on knee and ankle joints.

Helping to prevent injury as much as possible.

How often do you come here?

Once a week.

What do you like about the beach/promenade?

The sand for training.

Nothing really appeals to me to me, I use it purely for training.

What improvements would you like to see in order to make the beach seem appealing to you?

Hmm, maybe a nice wee water fountain but it still wouldn’t make me come here more than just for training.

[alexfcuthbert-blog]

1.10 Observation 9

Friday 29th March

I decided to go down as early as I could muster up one morning to see what was going on at this time of the day.   I arrived at 8.15am on a foggy morning. It was dry but according to the weather app on my phone it was meant to rain later on which I am guessing is why there was a hue over the water.

There was a man running sprints between two points on the sand and he came up from the beach after about 10 minutes.   I approached him and asked him if he would be okay with me interviewing him.   He didn’t come across as the nicest guy in the world but he agreed which was good as I wanted to interview someone who used the beach for exercise which could have been difficult as people who exercise don’t tend to stop.

The was an abundance of dog walkers in the last half an hour of the observation and a few dogs started to play fight together.   No one in the whole hour used the sand apart from the man doing sprints and the 9 or 10 dogs I saw going up and down the shore.

There was an elderly couple who looked to be out for a walk making the most of the weather before it was meant to deteriorate later on but the man wasn’t able to move at a very fast pace.

No one apart from the young girl from last observation had used the beach next to where I sat for these observations.   As I have been coming to the beach for a number of years now since living relatively close I expected to see more exciting things than I have.   In the past, I have seen people swimming in the sea or sailing but in all of these observations I haven’t seen any of that.   Hopefully the next (and final) observation will have something exciting in it to talk about!

[alexfcuthbert-blog]

1.9 Observation 8

Saturday 26th March, 6-7pm

The sun had just gone down but still illuminating the sky from beyond the horizon.   There were quite a few people buzzing about the area and, again, quite a few dog walkers and people out getting some exercise but as I sat down there were 3 people, a father and his son and daughter (I think), staring over the Firth of Forth looking at the pink/orange sky in the distance.   These people were there for around 5-10 minutes before they eventually wandered off further down the promenade.  There were 4 or 5 dogs on the sand around the same time, 2 of them running back and forth chasing a ball the owner was throwing for them whilst slowing making their way further along the beach.   One of the other dogs wouldn’t stop barking at its owner to throw the ball she was holding but for whatever reason she wouldn’t throw it.

For the first time during any of these observations, someone sat down on one of the benches where I sit during my observations.   A man sat his daughter on the bench to put on her rollerblades and then returned to his car to put her shoes in the boot.   He then returned and the girl started to skate down the prom in a very inelegant fashion.

2 runners went by chatting with one another on the way, not going at a particularly fast pace but just enjoying the nice evening.   There was a bike chained up that isn’t usually there, locked to a lamppost, but in the hour I was there no one came to unlock it.

There were quite a few people out for an evening walk on this night, no one stopping to use the area around the observation spot but all just passing through on their way to wherever they were going.   Only one group of people turned up to walk through the car park the rest of them stayed on the promenade.

[alexfcuthbert-blog]

1.8 End of the rainbow

Was out for a walk today at Portobello Beach with the family and over the Forth there was the beginning, and only beginning, of a rainbow

[alexfcuthbert-blog]

1.7.1 Second Interview

What brings you to the beach tonight?

I like to get away and walk my dog here when it isn’t too windy.

It’s good for a skate at this time of night.

Why do you like walking your dog here?

It’s usually quiet at this time of night and skate in peace and Neville (the dog) can run about as much as he wants and he likes the sea.

Are there any improvements you would like to see done to the beach/promenade? (especially at this area).

I would suggest, if anything, the ground should be smoother.   I think it should have been smooth in the first place and I don’t think they were thinking of skaters when they made it.

There should be more bins, I don’t feel like there is enough.

Keep it cleaner because it’s quite a mess at the moment.

Remember when they had the hovercraft at the beach that took people to Fife and back? I think they should bring that back too.