The context
Cycling in the city of Newcastle takes an increasing role for commuters. More recently, a large investment program, “Streets for People”, has seen a renewed attention to mobility and accessibility of key road networks in Arthurs Hill, Jesmond, and the Ouseburn areas. In each of these areas, schemes are identified that can support mobility by foot or bike.
At the level of the City Council of Newcastle, a regular gathering known as the “Cycling Stakeholder Forum” plays an important role in discussions with cyclists to voice concerns to officials and planners. Agenda meetings for the group reach back to the year 2000, providing a rich account of the issues raised in the forum since then.
Over the years, the forum has faced criticism from some cycling groups. For example, after active involvement between 2010 and 2014, the Newcastle Cycling campaign group disengaged from the forum. This campaign group was perhaps one of the more vocal groups. Your question for this project would therefore look into how the forum could possibly enhance its capacity to capture concerns raised, and enable members to discuss those over time (in or outside of the meeting).
Your challenge
In this project, your challenge will be to work with a small number of representatives from the forum to study the communication of the forum; and make sensible suggestions how any deficits you identified might be addressed in the interest of efficiency, transparency, engagement of the wider public beyond, etc. To be successful, you will listen to the concerns of your stakeholders, gather requirements for a potential response to the challenge. Based on what you learn, your task will be to conceptualise a potential method for the forum to keep track of issues raised; and outline how this should work. You will respond to the brief by the design of a creative, implementable, and visually-engaging resolution.
Your deliverables
The exact design of the deliverables will be up to you. However, the project will broadly result in the following:
- An easy-to-understand, implementable concept, explained via a ‘story board’
- A review of common issues raised in the forum and expression how those are accounted for in your design
- An interactive prototype of your design concept
- As part of this, outline of user or device interfaces.
- A report reflecting on your project, that could be shared with the group.