The number of places you must create to reach an audience efficiently is increasing every day. Where we used to be satisfied with simple site maps and flow diagrams, we now need to map the "experience of a user" with consideration of the many places they might interact in and contexts they might be in when doing so. Placemaking is a term that began to be used in the 1970s by architects and planners to describe the process of creating places like squares, plazas, and parks, within cities, counties and townships.
The concept behind it is pretty basic: the meaning of the place we are making changes slightly with each object we place within it, and the location we give to those objects relative to one another. There is a tendency to think: I am just working on the mobile site or I’m just doing a search feature or I’m just redesigning this one form. And I am not saying we need to overly complicate design. But I do think in this world of increasing connections across channels and contexts, we need to start talking about what place it is that we are working on as it relates to the rest of the ecosystem we are within.
When it comes to place making we are lacking a taxonomy for discussing and planning at the various and interconnected levels of place that we see across the digital and physical divide. We need to be able to discuss the places that exist between the objects and the ecosystem.
In this keynote presentation, I outline a controlled vocabulary and taxonomic approach to talking about the concept of placemaking.
4. Skeletons in My closet
•
•
I cut placemaking from my
Parsons IA class last year
because I worried it was over
their heads
Until last year, I had never
discussed placemaking with my
clients for the same reason
(sorry Andrea resmini)
5. “If you can’t say something that is
clear, don’t say anything at all”
- Me
10. How do we
make sense of
the places we
work on and
within?
11. on Today’s Agenda:
Make sense of “Place”
1. Share how I *now* teach the considerations for
place in my Information Architecture classes
2. Provide a framework for thinking about and
talking about the places we affect with our work
3. Ask for your help in convincing businesses and
organizations that place is an important
consideration set to have, especially in digital work
13. 5 ways that organizations
Can act like art students
1. Not good at setting meaningful goals and sticking to them
2. Don't want to talk about the problem, they want to solve it
3. Think scope grows on trees, even though they know
money doesn't
4. Fail to understand how one decision can affect the whole
ecosystem maybe even the world
5. Expect a ton from digital but are willing to do very little
towards that end
14. 2004
Users are interacting with our designs
in more places everyday
Consideration of place is more important in
our work now then ever before.
2013
34. Common Failures
in digital placeMaking
•
Adding signs to point out things that people don't see or
don’t understand
•
Providing functionality that is confusing or leads to results
that are out of line with what they want of their customers
•
Trying the same tactics for solving a problem over and
over and being surprised when it still doesn't work
•
Designing user experiences that aren't considerate of
those who work there
•
Not seeing the problem with this disconnected and out of
whack way of thinking
36. What is
Your Place?
•
•
•
•
What places are within your control?
Who controls the places that your places are within or connected to?
What places are likely to be affected directly? Which places indirectly?
What considerations need to be part of your process for affecting these
places?
39. “Since our technical systems are wholly mixed up
with our natural systems, that creates additional
levels of complexity. In order to design within these
confounding contexts, we need to be able to scale
up and scale down as we design: to consider both
the granularity of the things we are designing as
well as the much larger contexts within which they
exist.”
“The Eames have simply illustrated the
conundrum; it is our responsibility to figure out
what to do next.”
- Jamer Hunt, Director of Transdisciplinary Design at
Parsons the New School for Design
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1662461/how-to-apply-eamess-legendary-powers-of-10-to-real-life-problems
40. it is far too common to
focus on the spoon &
ignore the coffee shop
41. We need a controlled
vocabulary and
taxonomic Approach
for discussing “Place”
42. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
Ecosystem
A complex
collection of
systems
“A large
pharmaceutical
organization”
43. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
System
A set of
interacting
structures
“Providing
Information to
Patients”
44. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
Structure
A configuration
of objects
“Patient Website”
45. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
Journey
Traveling within
or between
locations
“Explore Website”
46. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
Location
A particular
position
“Request
Information”
47. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
Context
circumstances
that form the
setting for an
interaction
“Using an iPad to
view a website
while making list of
action steps to take”
48. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
User
a person who
interacts with
an object
“Anxious, newly
prescribed, already
confused”
49. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
Interface
a point where
interaction
occurs between
user and object
“Request
Information
Form”
50. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
Interaction
the way in
which user and
object affect
one another
“Clicking a
button”
51. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
Object
Something that
can be seen
and touched
“a button”
62. Help us all by
Facilitating the
Understanding of the
levels between the
object and the
ecosystem
63. Explain the
role of your
frameworks
and tools
Level
Appropriate Framework
Ecosystem =
Controlled Vocabulary, Venn Diagram
System =
Swim Lane Diagram, Gantt Charts
Structure =
Hierarchy Maps, Site Map
Journey =
Journey Maps
Location =
Flow Diagrams, Block Diagrams
Context =
Scenarios
User =
Personas
Interface =
Wireframes, Schematics
Interaction =
Specifications
Object =
Screens, Templates, Style Guides
64. Ask:
“who is
tending to
the other
levels?”
Ecosystem =
Controlled Vocabulary, Org Chart
System =
System Diagram
Structure =
Site Map
Journey =
Journey Maps
Location =
Flow Diagrams
Context =
Scenarios
User =
Personas
Interface =
Wireframes
Interaction =
Specifications
Object =
Visually Designed Screens
66. 5 Lessons in Place-making
1. People prefer the easy road, watch for worn
grass.
2. There are many ways to do anything and
discovery involved in finding the right ways
3. Low-level decisions can have high-level
consequences
4. Know your place, and the levels above and
below
5. Affect what you can, respect what you can’t