So I guess i’ll start with everything thats happened up until this point, then start detailing the weekly events as things happen within the project.
Firstly, the Project im working on is to design a viewing platform for Highbury Park in Birmingham. To kick off the project we went down to the park to view the site, take pictures and have a tour with a bit of a historical background.
After the site visit we compiled a list of key terms that would be important in what design we produced, for example – Vandalism, easy to repair, low budget and using materials from the site.
Over the next couple of week we started to individually produce concept designs, look at and present precedents that could help back up our designs.
On a second trip to the site, myself a several others conducted a tree survey, that involved us mapping the native trees on the site as well as other key features such as life belts. Later we took the information we gathered and created a tree survey map. At this time the group split into two, one created the tree survey map and the second started production on a date base of wildlife in the area including plants and animals (insects included).
The last Task set for before the christmas holiday was to create a presentation that we would have to give infront of several other groups and the clients of the project. As a group we decided to split the the presentation up into sections, each of us taking a section and completing it, then later present that area of our research, we also decided to incorporate several of the design to show a small glimpse of what we had individually been conceiving. From my perspective the presentation seemed to go well, we received a lot of positive feed back and seemed to be taking things in the right direction.
Finally i’ll just do a quick run through of what my design idea is. Considering that vandalism and lack of funds are two of the biggest factors on the site I had the idea to create a mobile App that would run on mobile and tablet divises. The biggest advantage of the App lies in its ability to be easily brought and taken away from the site, removing the possibility of vandalism and maintenance costs, also enabling a greater level of interaction with the site. The key criticism/question iv had is that would it exclude the older generations? and thinking about it id honestly now have to say no, statistics show around 90% of the population has a smart phone or tablet at there disposal. Now obviously a key consideration of mine is to create the App that is as easy to use as possible, to not deter any user.
Pages on the App include:
• Interactive map – This allows you to input where and when you saw a specific piece of wildlife and has the option to search and show you where others have seen interesting things. This data is also sent to the RSPB to store on there database to detail the numbers of a species.
• History – this is a expanding time line that shows the history of the site.
• Info page – Has general information on the site e.g. location
• Animal and plant info – this can be used on and off site to look at information of the animal and plant life on the site.
• Equipment list – A equipment check list that can be set up before you leave home to make sure you take the necessary equipment e.g. magnifying glass, towel and boots.
• Bottons that connect direct to you facebook and twitter accounts that allow you to update on new finds and sightings.
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