1) TRECC- analysing the brief

Hi, this is our week 1 blog for the project “Standardising ‘statements of community consultation’ for major housing schemes”, which is being done by Cara, Ellie, Cindy, Rory and Thomas.

Project Brief

Within the first week, before meeting with the clients in the seminar on Wednesday, we met as a group to analyse the brief we had been given. We can establish from the brief that the overall goal of the project is to improve the communication between developers and local residents to formulate the ‘statement of community involvement’ developers are required to complete in the ‘pre-application’ stage of a major housing scheme, as set out by Newcastle City Council. The brief lays out the long-term goal of delivering a model ‘community involvement app’. For the project, the key stakeholders identified are the developer, the city council, and the public/community groups.

Questions for the client

We discussed, as a group, potential questions we had from breaking down the brief and so listed them to ask in the upcoming client meeting.

  • What is the current process for community consultation? How could it be improved? What is currently good about it?
  • Have there been any previous attempts to improve communication between developers and the community?
  • Do you have any prior ideas about what you would like the app to include?
  • What are the main issues normally raised from community consultations? Are there similarities that can be drawn between certain types of schemes or certain areas in the city?
  • Demographics? Who are the people that generally respond to community consultation? Who are the people that don’t? Do certain areas of the city always respond more than other areas?
  • Are there any users involved, other than the listed stakeholders?
  • Are there any tensions between the stakeholders? Why do those tensions arise?
  • Contact details for social groups or community groups, to get their opinion on how to improve communication
  • What goals do each stakeholder have for the future, in terms of developing major housing schemes?

We are looking forward to meeting with the client on 11th October to ask these questions, in order to establish exactly what they want from the project- what processes there are now and how they want it to change.

 

 

1) Cycle stakeholders forum

Our team consists of 4 members : Aymeric, Ellen, Isaac and Jordy. We are from different countries and have therefore different planning backgrounds which we think could be an advantage for us in this project since we can benefit from our differences and come up with a good solution to the project.

Digital civics is a way of coming up with a solution to a specific issue through understanding the needs and requirements of a set of users through working with them. Nowadays, people use technology in their everyday life and is the most common way to receive and distribute new information in an interactive way. This is also why digital civics has become so important over the last years and is an helpful tool to get people more engaged and more involved in important questions that involves them and the area they are living in. By talking to different stakeholders and other people through a contextual enquiry in the concerned area we would get a wider perspective on the issue which would probably make us come up with a better solution to the issue.

This project includes working with Newcastle cycling stakeholder forum in order to come up with some sort of solution of how to display and allow discussions of the ideas and the issues of the forum meetings. Our goals for the meeting with our client are to understand the functioning of the forum and gather a greater understanding of its members and their experience of cycling in the city, how it could be improved and the issues they face. During this client meeting, it is also important to comprehend our client’s favourable method of displaying the information. We also need to identify the users who are going to be involved in our project as we need to cater to their individual needs. For example some individuals may not have access or be familiar with new technologies.

A issue we could face while talking to the client is that we will only receive one person’s   perspective on the issues raised. If we were able to get the chance to talk to different people from different groups of the forum and various areas around the city we would get a wider perspective of the actual issue which would give us a better chance to come up with the best solution for every part of the project, therefore resulting in a greater overall uptake in the numbers of our selected civic grouping using our project.

Week 1, NUDC: JRA neighbourhood engagement

Hi there,

We call ourselves Newcastle University’s Digital Civics or NUDC for short and are a group of four students: Frida, Ed, Sara and Catherine. Our project aims to help the Jesmond Residents Association (JRA) to gather a more widespread response from the public about how the area might evolve. As it is now, there is a program called Streets for people (or S4P) going on all over Newcastle which focuses on making the streets more amiable for walkers and especially cyclists. So far they’ve pinpointed some places in Jesmond that are in need of change due to a lot of traffic and unsafe conditions for cyclists and pedestrians. In these areas they have come up with possible solutions that they now want to know the residents’ opinions on. However, a lot of the residents in the area are unfamiliar with the program and how to share their opinion on plans. This is why the JRA choose to take part in this module, what they as clients want to receive is a digital solution to their problem. By modifying cycle lanes, roads and aiming to reducing traffic, they plan to create a more accessible, lively and safe green environment. Therefore, they need a product that can inform the locals on what the potential plans look like and also gather feedback from them together with other possible solutions, suggestions or ideas.

As a team, we need to deliver a prototype which is easy to understand, interactive and informative. One possible way to display our idea is via a storyboard. In order to carry this out, first we must research by speaking to stakeholders such as members of Streets for People, Jesmond Residents Association and the local community. This phase should be completed within the following couple of weeks.

In preparation for the upcoming meeting with our client, we all deconstructed the brief and brainstormed questions to bring forward as well as various ideas that might provide a solution to the issues raised. We made sure to consider what information he may or may not know as chair of the JRA. We even decided to ask him questions the brief answered for us to make sure that we had the correct perspective. For example, we planned to ask about challenges that Jesmond faces and what previous efforts had been attempted.

It’s been a great time

It has been our great honour to have the opportunity to work on this project and we think it’s time to look back on the many things we’ve achieved, together.

When we were first assigned the project, we had no idea how to start. We didn’t know what the young people were after. Our team had to come together to explore and think about all possible options to set out a basic framework.

Comparing with other teams, we’ve come a long way before we finally made the decision of what we were gonna do – an educational app. It was late and so we were pushing the time limit a bit, too. With the invaluable input we received from our project partners, we’ve learnt, we’ve grown, we’ve refined, together.

New look
The bright new look!

This is the final interface update we expect for now and it is based on the feedback we’ve got from our project partner. We’ve given it a bit more of character, we’ve got the street view and we’ve revamped the way it looks. We’re loving it and we hope you love it as much as we do.

Another reason for us to celebrate the finish of this final Plan A Lot prototype is that it responses to our original intention naturally and successfully. It looks good and it is helping young people to learn about planning. We haven’t gone for the ‘hard-sell’ tactics to get the idea of urban planning across, but it is working even better than using the ‘hard-sell’ tactics. So yes, it really is something to celebrate.

To us, we’ve given our best shot to this project. As much as we want to continue bringing this project further, we’re afraid it has to come to a close at this stage. We’re committed and we still firmly believe that this project will really make a difference to the young people and we hope further developments would be considered by the relevant parties, but we regret to say that this might not be something that’s within our ability today. Please allow us to say a massive ‘thank you’ to you for being part of our journey on Plan A Lot in the past three months.

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Presentation visual
P.S. Just before we go, we’d like to let you know that we’ve actually done a presentation plus a write up that chronicles the processes we’ve gone through to produce Plan A Lot. If you’re one of our project partners, you should have received these items electronically already through Teresa, our very charming coordinator whom you really should have known by now. If you’ve never worked with us before but would still like an electronic copy as well as for all other enquiries, please email us at T[dot]Ho1[at]newcastle[dot]ac[dot]uk.

Week 8: User Test Preparation

As we are going to do 2 user tests in the coming week, everything needs to be well prepared to achieve a smooth run through. The Marvel App prototype must be completed and tested before we show to the users to avoid any technical problems during the test. During the testing workshop section, we assigned team members roles for the user testing day. While one of us is introducing the app to the users, the others are demonstrating the using of the app from tablets and other devices. Good time management is a necessity.

Our first User Prototype Test was scheduled on 9th December from 10-11am at Kids Kabin with Will and Gerrard, with the second test scheduled at 12pm in Walker Learning Hive with Heather. We have been to those two places for client interviews before so there should not be a problem.

We based our interview around the five-step interview guide:

  1. Give an introduction
    Allow the user clients to have a brief self-introduction and ask why are they interested on the project. Our project aimed to served the local community, therefore we must have better understanding with our users.
  1. Run the application in Marvel App and introducing the details and functions of the prototype.
  2. Tasks
    Give the users to have a taste of using the app at first hand experience. Ask them to navigate and execute tasks on different sections on the app to see if they can handle the functions and put to real life practise.
  1. Observe their reaction
    Document and capture their instant reaction when navigating the app. Observe and listen to what they say.
  1. Collect general feedback
    Ask them how, why and what they feel worked well or didn’t worked well. Can request more detailed feedback, such as “what should be done here on the page?”, or “what do you wish we had included but didn’t include?”
  1. Conclude with a Debrief
    Set up a set of questions other than those from feedbacks in order to collect more data from the future users to modify the app to be more appealing and user friendly. (e.g How useful did you find this app for the use of the local community?)

We aimed to test what we have done throughout the project, how the prototype works and does it meet the demands of our users in Walker local community. Moreover, Users responses in Testing section it very important  for designing the prototype. During the testing progress, we need to make sure they know how to use our app and solve any confusion by explaining thoroughly.  With positive and negative responses from the users, we can improve the prototype to a better future app for community.

Week 4: Revisiting Goals & Finding Examples

Our initial goals were to rebuild bridges between people in Walker and encouraging pro-community organisations to cooperate, by promoting activities and opportunities, increasing people’s awareness of what is being offered for them and encouraging businesses present in Walker to social reinvestment. We were to achieve this by creating a set of tools, both digital and non-digital, for the community to encourage volunteering and entrepreneurship and to share ideas and communicate

These goals received positive feedback at interviews of relevant parties and as such remain largely similar. However, encouraging businesses to reinvest in their communities is a side-track, although this may be a way in which the website can be partially funded. Similarly, it would be doing too much too soon to work on both digital and non-digital, as this can provide the greatest immediate benefit. We have decided that a greater emphasis on encouraging people to volunteer is also important, and as such this has taken on a greater focus. As such, our update project goals are:

  • Promote activities and opportunities for residents
  • Encourage pro-community organisations to cooperate with each other
  • Encourage local people to become more involved in volunteering with their local community groups

To ensure that we were on the right track with our ideas, we research three relevant projects that were related to some or all of our project goals.

Example 1: PeopleCan

  • An initiative in Bradford ran by the council that has the aim of encouraging community action and volunteering.
  • Provides links to apply for volunteering
  • It uses Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and YouTube to widen its scope
  • There is a volunteers’ section which includes a recruitment notice and advertising posters and videos
    • There are volunteering ‘awards’ available to the best performers / contributors
    • Advantages to CVs are mentioned as a benefit
  • ‘Community Action’ page aimed at prompting cooperating between communities and local government to deliver community projects, eg litter clears
  • Ongoing events are posted, and there is an option for people to suggest events

Example 2: Voluntary Norfolk

  • A group based in Norfolk that is creating a volunteering network across the county
  • Aims are to:
    • Encourage social inclusion by the engagement of local people in the community regeneration and development
    • Promote, support and develop volunteering and the work of voluntary organisation and groups
    • Enable people to contribute their time, skills and talents for community’s benefit
  • Offer training to help people into work and improve volunteering skills

Example 3: Erewash Partnership

I interviewed Ian Viles, the chief executive. This organisation is based in Derbyshire and aimed at delivering economic development projects and support for potential and existing businesses, and helping local people to access training

  1. If we were to build a community website targeted towards the Erewash borough what requirements would you include?

We currently have a website tailored to business participation & 2 town centre listings… A website aimed at including the community would have to be less technical. A list of business partners & event listings for the borough would be key. A good starting point for us would maybe be to build from our current Ilkeston & Long Eaton town centre websites.

  1. Out of the following features (map, event calendar, help into volunteering access, community noticeboard) would you consider the most important in a community website?

The map and event calendar… because our aim of community enterprise means we encourage the use and betterment of local business & a map would easily lay out where to find them. The calendar… would help promote our & other events in the borough aimed at attracting visitors & therefore business.

  1. In… Walker particularly, it may prove difficult to encourage the community to actually use the website. Have you any suggestions as to what may prompt their participation?

Keep the website easy to navigate… If users can access what they want by an easy route that isn’t too confusing / time consuming… Make it an enjoyable experience as much as a technical website.

This suggests that we are on the right track. Many of our suggested options are functions are suggested or used in the above examples. It is clear an event calendar is a popular function, evidenced by both PeopleCan using it and Erewash Partnership suggesting it. Voluntary Norfolk in particular provides lots of ideas on how to engage with and encourage new potential volunteers. CV support is evidently a worthwhile option.

Week 10: Where Next?

In terms of next steps to take the project forwards, the next immediate step would be to take it back to the community groups of Walker. As the proposal suggests the website should be self-reliant, it depends heavily on their input, which has already been positive. Something akin to a partnership of willing Walker community groups, who can then streamline ideas into a functional mock-up of the scheme. This would allow them to collectively apply for grant funding, increasing the chances of funding being approved.

Based off user test feedback, a ‘What’s New’ section would also be desirable to allow users to identify changes – such as new events, for example. Whilst not the main target audience, there is a wish to include features incentivising children to use the site. Businesses could be encouraged to advertise their activities and job training opportunities too. Comments on the noticeboard should be approved before being posted online as a safeguard against abuse of this feature.

Long-term, if we were to pursue this idea we would include a feedback system to encourage constructive criticism – both positive and negative – on events, which would allow the event creators to make changes going forwards. This can only be a positive as it allows community groups to improve what events, services and classes they offer and to make it more tailored around the needs of the community. If their offerings are more attractive, it will potentially attract more use and traffic, both to these and the website itself. A more efficient use of funding towards these services means that there is more available to improve elsewhere. Additionally, if they can be shown to be working this will potentially help towards further future funding.

Expanding on the volunteering scheme as the website becomes more well-known and established is also important as a method of encouraging further volunteering. A method of doing this would be to improve rewards as increased site usage and funding allows, possibly to include incentives such as shopping vouchers or vouchers towards education classes. Giving people a route into work at the end of volunteering would be a major advancement in improving the lives of people in Walker. Self-help is a key aspect of what our interviewees suggested would be successful motivation tool.

Branching out into a newsletter would allow for those without access to the internet – around 40% – to see information on the community groups, events and volunteering information organised into one place. It wouldn’t be as comprehensive as the website, but would remove the major problem of lack of total coverage from the website solution concept.

Week 9 – Prototype User Tests

Users reacted to our prototype mostly highly positively, with notice board idea being the most appreciated by all users. Every user put high emphasis on improving feedback system, which would encourage constructive criticism and that there should be a follow-up for feedback from organisations receiving it. Bud and Will agreed that regular newsfeed on social media, especially Facebook, but possibly also twitter should be present to keep younger Walker residents informed and, over time, convince them to use the website more often. Heather insisted on creating an introduction guide for new users. This could be solved by an overlay on the home page, adding new, separate subpage for this or just having the guidance on the main page. Overlay seems to be most effective, as it allows for user interaction, instead of only having passive information somewhere on the page. For all users it was highly important that the whole initiative, including the website will stay in hands of the people, and/or the organisations present in Walker, as it is a matter of distrust to the local council or ‘outsiders’. Unfortunately our idea of having achievements and volunteer points systems  was not well received, user’s reason for this was that it would rather confuse the general public, rather than helping them to be more committed for the local causes, but they did not exclude a possibility of adding it later, as the wide user group gets used to the website.

 

The user tests went mostly as expected, with an exception of our idea of volunteering points and achievements (a reward for activity system), which wasn’t accepted very enthusiastically by the users. Nevertheless, users ‘rejected’ this system, not because it is bad, wrong, etc., but rather than that it would simply confuse the general public, so they advised implementing the system later on, after most website users get used to it.

User testing with Will and Gerrard were quite informal and pleasant for both sides, as we have already spent significant amount of time talking together before. User test with Heather was also alright, but a little bit more tense, as Heather was very focused on constructive criticism of our prototype and after-test discussion regarding the prototype.

The process was fairly easy to understand for everyone, even for Will, who self-declares himself as ‘techno sceptic’. Heather raised the need for an introductory guide for the website, bearing in mind wider public’s computer literacy levels.

I think the user interviews went very well and that there isn’t much, if anything, that could be changed for better, perhaps maybe organising the user test for all users at the same time and providing each user with a device for testing. Unfortunately this was not possible at the time.

Blog 11: Jesmond Energy Production Platform- What’s next?

 

We’re now here to conclude the design sprint project and to discuss what we feel would be best for the project in terms of progression. It will just be a shorter blog today than normal as there isn’t as much to discuss as there has been in the past.

Much like every single project going the next step is always where they’re looking to go so it’s only right we do so with this one too. We believe that the next and right step for this project would be to develop the prototype further by addressing the feedback we got from Peter and Steve, then to go out and test the project with real life residents of the Jesmond area and show it to them see how they would react to potentially becoming a member of this social/community energy dashboard and working towards the principles of an energy cooperative in the area.

Coming up for the team now we have our final presentations to our client Tony and hopefully all of our findings and results was what he was hoping to find and that we have aided his cause of helping the Jesmond community!

With the feedback we got from the user tests and discussed below we feel that a lot more research is needed of the local area, people that live there, who would really use the dashboard, feasibility, scouting out local businesses to use them and promote them have a fool proof plan that it really would become successful.

That is all for now!

Team JEPP signing out…

Air Quality Group Week 7

Approaching the set methods to create our prototype we first faced which prototyping resources would be the most effective form of communication with the User Groups conveying the set message of air quality activism in an easy approachable format.

A Prototyping model is built, tested, and then reworked as necessary until an acceptable prototype is finally achieved from which the complete system or product can now be developed. (SearchCIO)

As outlined our approach to prototyping our concept would have to convey effectively our concept while being open to change depending on the user’s feedback, for this Marvel seemed an appropriate resource for prototyping allowing a visual and easy to use fundamental app dashboard concept façade to be displayed and tested by the user groups hopefully allowing easy understanding and honest feedback, to fully display our concept Marvel provided a good displaying platform however to fully depict our concept Adobe Photoshop is also a reliable and efficient prototyping tool to allow concept images to be displayed in a real world image environment to further engage the audience.

To create our prototype our team had to decide on a format that is accessible to a wider audience of pedestrians and commuter of various ages, to effectively target both a pedestrian and commuter audience the prototype would be in two part with two member primarily in each while also working and assisting the other part of the prototype. A Marvel App is to be designed on edition for pedestrians and one for commuters displayed on the adverting space already existing on current bus tops.

To promote air quality activism displaying of accessible information is crucial in engaging the user audience along Gosforth high street both pedestrian and commuter. This is to educate and promote community matters such as air quality pollution in the surrounding neighborhood by creating a need to talk and address these issues which are held back due to the current difficulty of interputating the existing data generated by the air pollution censors already fitted along Gosforth high street and projected by Newcastle’s Urban Observatory.