Final Book

Final book
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This was such a fun experience making. I loved doing the research part of it and compiling the data into a book. It was really fun talking to everyone from the hiking group. I'm proud of the book Bethany and I made. We tried to capture the hikers in the book and I think we achieved it as best as we could. I liked doing all the diagrams and figuring out how to simplify the information for people so that was one of my strengths. I'm still a little weak on the aesthetics of things and working with photos and that is something I took away from working with Bethany. Overall, I'm glad for this experience and hopefully I'll get to bring the research aspect into future projects.

Book Making

After our research phase, we started to design the book. Bethany's blog has most of what was done between us. First round we did a lot of analog:

Second round we made translated it into digital:

And from there, we put them into our book layout (grid by Bethany) and fixed things around many times

We also put another section in, maps, to show trails around KS and MO that are famous.

There was a lot more work in between but these were kind of the main phases.

Research Insights

From the interviews, the self-reporting, and the hike Bethany and I did, there are some patterns happening in terms of who hikers are as people. I did some analysis in my notes post down below but I'll summarize it here as well. The hikers all seemed laid back and very outgoing and talkative. They were all easy to talk to and very nice. Their motivation for hiking seems to be the same as well. Many did it for health while others find that its calming, peaceful, and spiritual. The ladies that I talked to all had various trail stories and how there isn't just one that they can choose as their favorite. The hikers also remember spots that are striking, either by something there that was special or the colors that were present. They all are very respectful. They love love love the outdoors and would much rather be outside than inside. They are an active group because even in summer, they find other outdoor activities to do. Of course, this is only from my point of view and I'm sure there's more that I haven't thought of yet.

Avid Hikers

My sub-culture was outdoor enthusiasts focusing on hikers but then we (Bethany and me) limited it down to just hikers. For last Friday, we had some secondary research about the gears they wear, their language, etc. We also had interviews set up, our leave behind determined, and an idea for a field research. We contacted a group to see if we can join them on their hike, but according to them, it would've been too "strenuous" for us so they didn't let us come. At the end of that class though, we found another group that allowed us to hike with them at Leawood Park on Saturday. So in the end, everything worked out pretty nicely. We also had an interview scheduled for 4 on Friday with Julie Cirlincuina. Some notes on that interview:

• Doesn't have a favorite trail because each one has its own characteristic but if she had to pick one, it'd be Konza Prairie in Manhattan, KS. It's a 6 mile hike with beautiful scenery.
• She started hiking because she needed another hobby. She doesn't like shopping anymore because after a while, they stop making cute things for you. (now I'm assuming she's in her 40s because she sounded like it and I didn't want to ask)
• Her mindset while hiking is to forget everyday life and just focus on the surrounding - sound, hear, smell, etc.
• She doesn't think about life while on a hike. The stress and everything just goes away.
• She finds hiking to be therapeutic.
• Indoors, her mind is not worried about intrusions whereas outdoors, she's more focused. Her senses are heightened and she needs to be more aware of her surroundings.
• There's a better sense of self because she's more focused inward instead of mundane things. It's also more spiritual for her.
• Hiking has improved her health and vascular stamina. She also stated again that there's a better sense of self.
• "A good day on the trail is a good day in the office."

I wanted to keep the interview short since it was a phone interview and her time seemed precious so I only asked the more "important" question. She seemed pretty open and okay with talking about everything. There were some questions that I asked her and I remember her saying, "You're actually making me think." I guess she hasn't really thought about how hiking has impacted her so that was interesting to hear. 

So Bethany and me went on a hike with Julie's group, Women's Outdoor Recreation, without knowing about it. They were actually hiking with another group as well but it was coincidental that we got to talk to more ladies from the WOR group. Some notes I took of this hike:

• A lot of the members were wearing similar gears like some sort of hat (knitted and caps), a thick outdoors coat, thick gloves, hiking shoes (mainly boots of sorts), backpack, cargo pants or sweats, some had hiking sticks (the older ones), fanny packs, etc.
• They are very sociable and talkative, but not in the sense of gossiping, they were just genuinely interested in many topics.
• There were clear leaders who led the group through the trails. 
• Very open people and very nice, respectful, sweet, caring. They seemed worry about Bethany and me hiking with them but they were all for it.
• There were more ladies there than men (but I'm assuming that's because they are also a part of the WOR group).
• Very relaxed group, they stopped occasionally to take pictures of the scenery. They were also really excited to be hiking and being outdoors and being a part of nature.
• They were also very funny, cracking jokes whenever possible.
• They liked challenges on the trail like trekking through the snow or crossing water.
• The whole group consisted of 20 people or so. Most of them in their 40s to 70s. They are at that age where their kids are settled down and they don't have to worry so much.
• Not even halfway through the trail yet, people were taking off their thick coats already, revealing that they wore more than one layer underneath.
• Many of the ladies were talking about their families and trips they took or ones they are planning to take. The trips seem to be to colder climates like Wisconsin, Alaska, and Colorado. This hints that they really like being outdoors and doing winter activities.
• They seemed to be animal lovers since many talked about bringing their dogs with them, but because of the snow, it was a bit difficult. Leawood Park also require dogs to be on leashes at certain areas, otherwise they would've brought their dogs.
• People walked in single file when we were on the horse trails but then they walked in groups when we were on bike trails.
• "All it takes is will."
• When someone passes them on a bike on the bike trail, they all yell "BIKE!" so that people behind them know to walk to the side.
• They plan out which trail they hike but they don't walk it before the big hike with everyone so obstacles comes as a surprise.
• The trail we went on is getting more difficult because of the creek coming up.

During the hike, I also talked to a lady named Jackie. She coordinates most of the hike with Julie (the lady I interviewed) and was super nice. I had no idea that she knew Julie so that was cool. But a few stories/facts she told me while we were walking back:

• There's usually only 6 or 7 people that comes out to a hike. The one we joined in had a really good turn out with 20 people or so.
• Every year they do a hike on the last weekend of January. Every year they hike somewhere different. Last year, it was in Michigan where the temperature was below 30.
• There's a project happening that is working towards joining all the trails around KC into a group.
• They get funding from the government to get more people into hiking since it doesn't cost a lot and it doesn't take much training to get involved.
• They don't hike much in the summer because of the hot weather. They like to hike at cooler temperature like what it was on Saturday. So in the summer, they would hike really early in the morning or go canoeing, ice skating, kayaking, etc. during the day.
• The group sometimes plans trips to take together to go hiking in another state.
• One year, they had a New Years Day hike where they all got together and hiked with really cold temperatures and then headed over to a person's house where everyone cooked different kinds of soups to share.
• They get together every year to clean up the trails. There's other groups, like the biking group and another hiking group, that takes care of different trails. The horse trail we went on wasn't taken very good care of because people stopped having horses to ride through so it's become a bit disheveled.
• There was a story she told me about them marking a trail with paint so that people knew and by the end of it, the guy was covered in blue paint and it was the type that is permanent so it was hard to get off.
• The group is trying to get younger people involved but realizes that they are busy and some find it boring. The younger people get more involved when things are indoors, like ice skating in the summer.
• The group we went with is a lot more relaxed and chill than most others. This one likes to stop and rest, whereas other groups hike continuously. She told me a story about how a few of them went hiking with the super avid hikers and couldn't keep up.
• Reasons why people were hiking involved keeping up their health and to keep their bones healthy.

A lot of information! There's more on Bethany's blog about our leave behind and our other interview.

Design Research Readings

Section One Introduction: "Qualitative design research enjoys a controversial existence." This was interesting to read since it came from a first person's point of view. Christopher Ireland did a really nice job explaining what works and what doesn't when he went and researched people. Qualitative design research is learning about the people by listening to them, watching them, or experiencing their lives first hand. It was also nice to read about his experience with researching for Disney and how much positive feedback he got back from it.

Ethnology and Critical Design Practice: Ethnography, a research technique thats rooted in anthropology, is important when designing for people. It tells about the people through various factors and it's important to involve those findings into your design. Adding field studies to your design makes it more successful because you have a better understanding of the target audience and you're aiming the design at them. This whole section was mainly about the background of ethnography and how it can benefit us as designers.

Peachpit: Design research is investigating a product's or service's potential or existing users and the context of use. It uses many methods drawn from anthropology, scientific and sociological research, theatre, and design itself. It's more of a qualitative research that focuses on how and why questions more than quantitative research, which focuses more on numbers and what questions. Design research has three "rules" for conducting it: you go to them, you talk to them, and you write stuff down. There's things to not do as well as some other stuff to follow like getting consent and telling them what you are doing. There were also tips on patterns and when to detect it. A lot of the research, it seems, is about reading people and understand them through getting to know them.