Interactive Icons Activity

To facilitate flexible, user-friendly, and 'hands-on' community interaction in an online engagement format

Icons are a simple and effective tool for representing design ideas at nearly any phase of the design process!
Image credit: Joshua Goeden

PURPOSE:

Interactive Icons aims to replicate the hands-on aspect of traditional design games in an online engagement format. It can be used to quickly gather participant's opinions of design elements, programming, or site experiences in an interactive virtual environment. The results can then be used by the designer to better understand a community's wants and needs for the specified project.

DESIGN PHASE:

(highlighted in bold are the phase or phases most applicable)

Vision and goals
Site exploration
Program development
Co-design
Design evaluation
Implementation

MATERIALS NEEDED:

List of design aspects (elements, programming, experiences) to be explored.
Icons / images to represent these aspects.
An easily-accessible online platform.
A set of how-to instructions for participants to follow.

PREFERRED FORMAT:

Any workshop, focus group, community meeting, or other engagement format that requires online participation.

SUGGESTIONS:

Do utilize this activity as a substitute to traditional open-response surveys or lengthy online meetings if participant schedules are a concern.
Do use simple icons / images and always include a descriptive label or legend.
Do select an engagement platform that is free, easy-to-use, and accessible to the general public.
Do provide participants with a walkthrough of how to use the icons and engagement platform, as well as the activity intent, before implementation.
Do include additional space for notes / clarifications within the activity layout.

Overview

One of the key elements of successful community engagement is the hands-on involvement in the design process. Interactive Icons is an activity that can help replicate this in an online engagement format. This activity involves the use of a series of icons or small images that participants can quickly arrange on a site plan to convey design opinions. These icons can be used to represent nearly anything-- proposed design elements, programming, or even intangible site experiences. Because of this, the Interactive Icons activity can be adapted for almost any phase of the design process where community input must be collected virtually.

The aim is simply to present the often complicated aspects of the design process in a tangible, interactive manner that will in turn give the designer insight on the community's wants and needs. In this way, it is similar to many of the existing design games such as Hou's 'Design Buffet' (de la Pena et. al. 2017, pg. 178), Roja's 'Place It Workshop' (de la Pena et. al. 2017, pg. 182), or Toker's icon kits (Toker 2012, pgs. 102-103). The only difference is that their hands are replaced with a mouse and keyboard!

Organization and Process

1. Brainstorm the Engagement Process

First, determine which phase of design is being explored and what design aspects (elements, programming, experiences) need feedback. Each phase and aspect may require slightly different icon styles and supporting information. However, multiple aspects may be explored within one phase!

2. Create the Icons

Find or make icons that represent the design aspects you're looking to explore. For example, if you're exploring opinions on programming, icons could include aspects such as 'active recreation', 'gathering space', or 'planting area'. If using this for later design phases, you can also use this method to explore alternatives between previously-generated design elements.

Icons can be created using programs such as Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, downloaded from websites such as The Noun Project, or be as simple as cropped images from Google. The important thing is that they clearly represent what they are meant to represent!

3. Label Your Icons!

After creating your icons, be sure to add labels or a legend. Though the icons themselves do visually represent the intended design aspects, they can be hard to interpret as stand alone graphics -- icons have slightly different meanings for everyone! Thus, utilize accompanying text to give a description of what each icon represents somewhere within the activity format.

What does this icon represent? Oh, now I get it!
Image credit: Joshua Goeden

4. Select an Engagement Platform

The next step is to select the virtual platform to host your Interactive Icon activity. Be sure to keep in mind your intended audience's ability to access this platform. Unlike in-person engagement where everyone can use a sticky note and pen, not everyone has access or knows how to use the Adobe suite!

Some friendly alternatives include web programs such as Google Forms and Slides, common downloadable softwares such as Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, or the up-and-coming virtual workspaces such as Google Jamboard, Microsoft Whiteboard, and Padlet. Whatever platform you choose, be sure to provide a set of general how-to-use instructions for the participants to follow!

5. Set Up the Activity Layout

Once a platform is selected, upload your site plan and any other design graphics you wish to use as the backdrop for participant feedback. If possible within the platform, lock these into place so that they can't be accidentally moved around by participants during engagement. Finally, add your icons with their appropriate descriptions to a blank space off to the side of these graphics-- almost like a painter's palette that the participants can choose from.

Example of a platform layout with space for the site plan, notes, and palette of labeled icons.
Image credit: Joshua Goeden

6. Distribute the Activity

After the workspace is set up, distribute it to your participants along with any associated instruction and prompts for what you'd like to discover from the engagement process. Much like in-person engagement, this virtual activity can be completed by individuals or in groups as. If group input is desired, be sure that these participants can either physically meet to complete the activity or utilize one of the virtual workspaces where multiple participants can work collaboratively.

7. Engage the Participants

Once distributed, participants will be able to copy/paste or move the icons from the included palette and place them on the site plan as they see fit. It may also be beneficial to provide them with text boxes or response spaces to add additional comments about why they arranged the icons the way they did. Again, icons provide a great visual representation, but intent is also important in the designer's interpretation of a community's wants and needs!

8. Analyze the Results

Collect the responses from each participant or group and compare the placement of the icons across the board. It may be helpful to transfer the responses to a final master layout for easier viewing. Use this information, along with any included comments, to help you as the designer narrow in on a best-fit solution that reflects the desires of the community. Overall, this type of feedback can be valuable for almost any phase of the design process as long as the activity is properly prepared and presented!

Case Example

Our first application of the Interactive Icons activity took place during the programming phase of our Kate's Club project. The goal of this project was to create an engaging, healing landscape for the Kate's Club organization -- a non-profit group that serves to empower children and young adults after the death of a parent or sibling. After an initial meeting to discuss the organization's vision and goals for the project, the Interactive Icons activity was employed so that our assembled steering committee could share their thoughts on where each type of programming would work best on the site. Since we were engaging with Kate's Club completely online due to COVID-19, this activity was put together as a way to simplify this process, allowing them to share their opinions virtually and on their own schedule.

To begin, our design team reviewed the results of our visioning session and worked to create a preliminary list of potential programming activities and site elements that were then sorted into broader categories (e.g. 'nature play', 'passive space', 'art installation', etc.). Once these categories were set, we utilized The Noun Project -- a website dedicated to icon generation-- to find icons to represent these categories. These were uploaded to Adobe Illustrator and edited to create a matching set. In addition, we drafted a simplified version of our site base map that would serve as the backdrop for these icons during our engagement session.

The Noun Project has icons for almost anything! In this case, we used a tree stump to represent areas for nature play.
Image credit: Joshua Goeden

Before employing our Interactive Icons activity, we presented a brief PowerPoint slide explaining the process and the meanings of each icon.
Image credit: Katherine Melcher

Initially, our intention was for our design team to utilize Photoshop during our engagement session to fill out a series of concept plans using these icons based on the steering committee's feedback. However, we were soon informed that our meeting had to be cut back to a 30 minute session due to a scheduling conflict. Knowing that our initial activity would not fit this window, we worked with the steering committee to create a revised version of the activity that they could fill out at their own convenience. Google Slides was chosen as our new platform, and with just a few quick edits to the original layout and base map (and the addition of icon labels!) we were able to have this ready for their feedback the same day!

Initial engagement layout using Photoshop. After learning about our shortened meeting availability, this was converted to Google Slides to be more accessible for Kate's Club.
Image credit: Katherine Melcher

In the end, our revised virtual approach was successful. We were able to gather four different programming concepts from Kate's Club each with slightly different icon arrangements and accompanying notes describing the intent. Our design team was then able to review these concepts, compare them to the initial vision and site analysis, and quickly construct a unified, best-fit concept plan. The only real setback we encountered aside from the initial revision to the activity format was the specificity of the desired programming. Since we already had a somewhat detailed list of potential site activities and elements, the use of the broader categories was somewhat of a step backwards in our design process. As we continued refining our designs, we did end up needing a bit more clarity for the more detailed site aspects. That said, this step back did help us to achieve better justification and intention for our proposed design elements moving forward, and once we paired the specific programming to our conceptual icons we came up with a final design that fit the initial vision well.

Using our Google Slides layout, the Kate's Club steering committee was able to quickly andeasily provide their feedback on desired site programming.
Image credit: Joshua Goeden

Lessons Learned

The major takeaway we had from using the Interactive Icons activity was a better understanding of the balance between the need for engagement, participant understanding, and time constraints within the virtual environment. As far as technology has come, Zoom and other video conferencing programs pale in comparison to the dynamic and personable environment of the traditional face-to-face workshop. However, that's not to say that there aren't innovative solutions that can work around these barriers. As both designers and clients are forced to adapt to the challenges of virtual engagement, we are likely to see even more creative solutions like this.

The Interactive Icons activity was successful in simulating the traditional hands-on design games in many aspects, and was a great solution to overcoming the time constraints and learning curve associated with the traditional design process while still receiving valuable feedback. Additionally, unlike typical open-response surveys (which tend to get quite lengthy and monotonous), the Interactive Icons activity provided a quick response method that was less strenuous for participant and designer-- a much more feasible activity to repeat across multiple design phases!

Overall, Interactive Icons can provide a flexible, user-friendly, and 'hands-on' engagement experience that can be utilized throughout the design process. It works well as an explorative tool or for gathering group consensus and can be applied to community projects, design workshops, and numerous other virtual formats. If a project needs an simple and efficient tool for online community engagement, Interactive Icons is the way to go!

Here are some tips for utilizing Interactive Icons:

Ensure your selected icons are simple and representative of the design aspects you wish to explore, and always include a label or legend to explain them.
Select an engagement platform that is free, easy-to-use, and accessible to the general public. Not everyone has access to or knows how to use the Adobe suite!
Be sure to engage your client in some form of direct conversation / walkthrough before implementing any online tool. This will ensure they fully understand how to use it and its intent before they begin the activity.
Always include additional space for notes / clarifications within your activity layout.

Sources:

de la Pena, David. 2017. "Design Buffet." In Design as Democracy: Techniques for Collective Creativity, edited by Jeff Hou, 178. Washington DC: Island Press

de la Pena, David. 2017. "Place It Workshop." In Design as Democracy: Techniques for Collective Creativity, edited by James Rojas, 182. Washington DC: Island Press

Toker, Umut. 2012. "Methods and Instruments for Community Design Activities." In Making Community Design Work: A Guide for Planners, 102-103. Abingdon UK: Routledge.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse