Preferred Use Map Activity

To determine client's preferences of different design elements and their locations

Master Gardeners listening to presentation before completing the exercise

PURPOSE:

give participants the opportunity to select design elements and place them on a site map. This gives insight to what elements are prioritized by stakeholders and to what areas they want to see the most change in.

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:

Printed basemaps with listed design elements
Writing utensils
Clipboards if needed

PREFERRED FORMAT:

workshop, focus group, online meeting

This engagement activity is useful at the beginning of the design process to gauge the priorities of the stakeholders. For this activity to be fully effective, it is better to have at least 10-15 participants. If there are less it may become difficult to notice any trends, particularly if there is a larger amount of design elements. This type of engagement activity is also more effective in conjunction with another activity that familiarizes the participants to the different design elements. This could be something as simple as a PowerPoint overview or through another engagement activity such as a dot exercise. It is better suited for smaller scale projects where the number of possible design elements is not too great; 20 or less is probably ideal. Larger projects will probably either present an overwhelming amount of options. This could be amended for by breaking larger designs down into more manageable parts or using more general design elements as options.

Organization and Process

Create a basemap of the design site that is simple and easy to read
Create a list of design elements; their level of detail depends on your level of knowledge about the client and their preferences
Create a sheet including the basemap, a list of the selected design elements, and an area for additional comments. If you are distributing this exercise digitally the layout may differ since it may make sense to make each its own slide.
After those participating have completed the exercise, you can analyze the responses to determine what elements were most popular and at what locations they were preferred.

Case Example

The Robert S. Train Center is being restored to become the future home of the Bibb County UGA Cooperative Extension. The site, with its new use, will help serve the mission of the UGA Extension to deliver lifelong learning through science-based programs and education in agriculture and the environment, family, well-being, and 4H youth. The project goal is to establish a sustainable moderate- to low-maintenance landscape plan that complements the architecture of the Historic Train Center, optimizes aesthetic and utilitarian use of the limited space, and supports the mission of the Macon-Bibb Cooperative Extension Service. The preferred use map activity provided insight on what the Extension’s priorities were and what design elements were most important to their vision.

The preferred use map activity was applied early in the design process. Master gardeners were each given a map with a list of design elements. They each selected which elements they thought were important and placed them on the map. Space of the sheet was left for any additional comments the master gardens had. Afterwards, the responses were used to select and prioritize design elements in latter stages of the project.

Overall the exercise was useful for getting a gauge on what stakeholders wanted out of the project. The most popular design elements were the outdoor classroom, amphitheater, demonstration gardens, pollinator garden, and pollinator habitat. The most common priorities and concerns raised in the additional comment section were maintenance considerations, flexible use of space, and safety. However, the exercise was not particularly useful for determining preferences for the more fine details of design elements, as it was focused more on larger scale design element selection and placement. Administering the exercise through an online survey also might make analyzing the responses easier. Some of the design elements were placed in a wide range of locations on the map and having the results recorded digitally could make it easier perceive any patterns or trends. This would be especially true if this exercise is used for a group with significantly more people than the 14 that participated.

Lessons Learned

An area for additional comments is useful for why participants chose certain elements
The exercise works best with medium sized groups (10-50). Additional comments can become difficult to handle if the group size is too big, although not impossible, and patterns and trends become difficult to find if the group size is too small
Since they are placing elements on a map, it is helpful for participants to have at least a basic understanding of the site layout before completing the exercise.

Sources:

List all citations (and links, if applicable), here.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse