Assignment 5(b)

Over the past semester I have learnt various different types of research techniques that I had never used. It was intriguing to learn that observing people can lead you to developing your design ideas, interviews can also tell us so much about people and how they think. These research methods along with others will prove vital not only throughout my studies but also my whole future career as an Interior Designer. How can these research methods be used in a practical sense, would they work with a project that I have previously completed and how could these methods have helped my design?

Interior Design is about so much more than just what a building looks like on the inside, it is not simply about cushions and throws and in the main it is not all about Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen. Not that he is a discredit to Interior design but when explaining my degree to people they instantly think of ‘Changing Rooms’. Interior Design is much more about developing spaces that people experiences and understanding how people respond when they walk into a space. There are many different factors that can contribute to this experience such as sight, smell and sound, each of these can be designed to improve the experience of the space.

A recent studio group project gave me the opportunity to design a space and in turn create an experience. The brief was to design an interactive exhibition space on the theme of Juteopolis. Juteopolis otherwise known as Dundee was the jute capital of the world and was seen as an important industrial town. The Verdant Works in Dundee is an exhibition space and tribute to the Jute industry and the people that worked in the mills. The main part of the exhibition is the working machines that give visitors an insight into the processes that the Jute went through before being turned into sacking and carpet backing.

As a group we initially researched in to the industry and in were particularly interested in how people lived at the time. It became apparent that numerous people would live in the one house often sleeping eight to a room, fondly our group became known as ‘8 in a bed’. Although we were able to find lots of initial research on the Jute industry we struggled to understand the concept of exhibition design. This was an area that neither of us was particularly familiar with, however, we knew that we wanted the exhibition to be suitable for everyone and we did not want endless writing as we got the impression from talking to classmates that people generally do not read it. After developing my research methods this semester I can now reflect on areas of research that I would perhaps have done differently.

Observing people and how they react to a space would be an essential part of the research into exhibition design. Observing various exhibition spaces would allow me to monitor the positive and negative responses from the people visiting the exhibition.  As people move throughout spaces their behavioural patterns can become quite apparent, such as if they are comfortable or not and also whether they are enjoying themselves. Results that would come from analysing how people experience an exhibition would highlight areas of the exhibition that are of particular interest it may also indicate what type of exhibit people respond well too. Exhibits that are mainly text may evoke a different reaction to one that may encourage a more physical interaction. The use of computers and various interactive technologies throughout the exhibition space may exclude certain people that cannot use them or struggle to understand them. All of these problems and many more would be highlighted during observations, in turn, this would enable the design to take develop as ‘negative’ aspects of exhibits could be dropped and ‘positive’ areas may be adopted and manipulated into the Juteopolis design.

Along with observations it may be advantageous to conduct research by interviews. Interviewing is a successful way of getting a direct response however it is often important to ask questions that will evoke conversation. Simply asking “What did you like in the exhibition?”  would only prompt answers directly associated with the exhibition that the person being interviewed has just experienced. Instead questions such as “By which method would you get the latest news? “this question would perhaps give an indication as to whether someone prefers to read the news (paper), hear and see it (TV) or interact with it (Internet). This would also suggest whether that same person would rather interact with and exhibition, watch something about it, or read about it. Although interviewing can be a successful method of research, the interviewer must take into consideration the interviewee’s age, sex, social background and upbringing. These factors along with others could influence a person response to a question.

Whilst these methods of research would have helped the design of 8 in the bed, I would also find it important as a designer to experience a number of exhibitions to get a personal understanding of previous designs. Visiting a number of successful and unsuccessful exhibits would highlight the differences between them. I also feel that it is important to not let your personal opinions of the topic influence your design as it is not always the case that we are presented with a topic that we are passionate about.  Whist I would continue to research the theme of Juteopolis through reading and analysing the current exhibition at The Verdant Works, I would also interview certain members of the public that may have worked or lived at that time.

Particularly the method of observing people would uncover the most useful results as this would give me a true indication as to how and what people respond to. As this project evolved and once the exhibiton was opened I would find it essential to do a post develpomet analysis. This would enable me to analyse the design as it is used and if required further improvements may be made.

‘The key to successful exhibition design lies in selecting a range of techniques and technologies and applying them appropriately  so that the widest  possible audience can gain access to the objects and the stories behind them.’ Redman Design.

Bibliography

Redman Design, The Key to Successful Interpretation [Online]
Available at: http://www.redman-design.com/#/services/ [Accessed 09 April 2010].

With Thanks:

Verdant Works - http://www.rrsdiscovery.com/index.php?pageID=130

Rachel Laing - http://www.rachellaing.blogspot.com/

Fiona Sichi - http://www.fionasichi.blogspot.com/