Park City Center Mall

Critique of Public Space

The public space I chose to visit was the local mall, Park City Center, in Lancaster. Whoever designed this mall was clearly not thinking of the average shopper, the speed shopper, or even a shopper who has a lot of time on their hands. This is one of the worst layouts of any building I have ever seen and that’s why I immediately chose it for this critique.

 

Online Directory: 

This is the map that is available on the malls website. Online, the designer did a great job at displaying the different sections of the mall by the use of color. The designer also used a legend to display where mall entrances, restrooms, customer service, ATM’s and mail offices are.  The directory and map online are visually easy to understand and interpret.

Mall Directory:

The design and layout of the mall directory itself is very easy to understand due to the individual decisions the designer made. Firstly, the designer used color to separate the different zones of the mall.

They also used a unified sans-serif font throughout the map that kept the store directory simple. The font size was only changed and made bold for the headings of the different categories of the store listings, to emphasize the category and make it stand out from all the store listings. 

Under each category there is a list of stores with a ZONE – (_). For example, lets say a shopper was looking for Sephora, they would browse the Health & Beauty category, and locate Sephora on the listing, for examples sake we will say Sephora is located at Zone - D.  Once the shopper locates the wing they are looking for, they can head to their destination. 

At the Mall: 

These directories are so hard to locate. I’ve only seen two haphazardly placed throughout the mall. Aside from the few directories located in random locations in the mall, there are no other visuals to guide the shopper through the building except for the Logos of the major brand department stores at the end of each major wing.

During the holiday times and quite often, they use the center of the building (where the wings meet) as a place to hold events. There are a few small coffee shops and food stands in this center as well, with chairs and tables scattered around the stands, which makes walking from wing to wing awkward and inconvenient.

The overall design of this building is not in anyway cohesive or united. The directories are not easy to locate and the wings of the buildings are not connected at the ends, which makes walking up and down each separate wing irritating and problematic for the shopper. There is also a wing that has stores that are only accessible through the outside of the building, which is also really inconvenient. I didn’t realize those outdoor stores existed until one day I parked in a different wing than usual. The only component of this place that makes sense and is easy to navigate due to road signs and signs for the different stores are the parking lots.

Areas of Improvement:

Some differences I would definitely make as a designer would be to add the directories to the online map, so users could easily locate them when they do enter the mall. Jacobsen writes, “The urban and architectural environment has also grown more perplexing; just finding our way around our built environment, a trivial task in the past, is now a distinct challenge. Thus the design of information and its efficient communication are more critical than ever (Information Design 84). So, I would also put a directory at the end of each wing of the mall, making them easy to find and close no matter what wing of the building you are in.

Another one of the issue with the layout of this mall is how all of the wings meet in the center circle where there are food stands, kiosks, and coffee stands with tables. As a designer I would create barriers between these areas to sit or purchase food so that shoppers could still easily maneuver through the center of the mall. Jacobsen writes, “as designers, we need to be conscious of, accept, and embrace the notion of unique perceptual abilities and respond generously to the needs it implies” (ID 128). 

The most major issue with the layout of this mall is not so much the signage or visual markers as it is with the actual accessibility and layout of the building itself. To better direct people where to go, I would recommend the above suggestions. However, taking it to another level, the actual building itself needs improvement in order for the building, the stores, and information in general inside this building to be as easily accessed as possible by its customers.

Something I think about every time I go to this mall is how I hate that every wing is a dead end. If the store I want to go to is all the way at the end of the wing, I have to walk all the way back up to the center and then turn the corner to a different wing and the process repeats itself. This may seem trivial but if there are 8 major wings of the building and two outside and you decide you want to go back and get that item you thought about, all the way down another wing, it's frustrating and certainly deters most people from actually going all the way back.

The simple graphic I created on Photoshop is supposed to represent all of the main entrances to the building being at the 4 major department store wings. I’d also include 4 other separate entrances between the 4 major department stores. From there, I would basically make a circle connecting the all the wings of the structure. This way, when the customer gets to the end of one wing, they can turn down the hall and walk up the next wing instead of going up and down. I would also leave the department stores separated from the hallway by also having their own entrances because if the circle was connected to the department stores, the customers would have to walk through the department stores to get to the desired wing, which wouldn’t help too much.

 

Interactive Concept Map

After completing the readings for this module, I am still building on my knowledge of the importance of the beginning stages of the design process. In my last blog posting, I wrote about concept mapping and its significance in the design process. Concept mapping is a useful tool for a designer to begin to organize and group their ideas into related and relevant categories. Not only does this allow the designer to generate more ideas, it allows them to visually see their design categories and options. 

After having a concept map drawn out and ideas displayed visually, the tools from this module’s readings come into play in regard to where and how to integrate interactivity with a user. Interactivity is an important tool with any type of information design as it keeps the user interested in the content. A concept map allows interactivity right from the start for both the user and designer. In order to make the content more interactive for a user, live links could be made from each concept’s “idea” that allow the user to view new pages of information. The map essentially could be turned into all live links, essentially allowing the user to browse different groups and information.

For example, I’ve built a simple concept map about social media. With links to different websites, videos, and tutorials, a user can learn more about each social networking tool through the map.

Concept Mapping

The use of a concept map is an important tool for any designer in the beginning of their design process. A concept map, or diagram, is essentially the brain storming process for a designer. By visually connecting related concepts to each other on a map, a designer can start to get a better sense of direction for their design. Whether it be for a company proposal or a website interface layout, using concept mapping allows the designer to more easily see the visual connections and possible problems or flaws in their design. Concept mapping can essentially be thought of the skeleton of a design; as the ideas grow and connect, the map allows the ideas to group together in an organized way in which the designer can continue to build upon.

 

"A concept map is a way of representing relationships between ideas, images, or words in the same way that a sentence diagram represents the grammar of a sentence, a road map represents the locations of highways and towns, and a circuit diagram represents the workings of an electrical appliance. In a concept map, each word or phrase is connected to another and linked back to the original idea, word or phrase. Concept maps are a way to develop logical thinking and study skills by revealing connections and helping students see how individual ideas form a larger whole."

"Concept maps were developed to enhance meaningful learning in the sciences. A well-made concept map grows within a context frame defined by an explicit "focus question", while a mind map often has only branches radiating out from a central picture. There is research evidence that knowledge is stored in the brain in the form of productions (situation-response conditionals) that act on declarative memory content which is also referred to as chunks or propositions.^[3][4] Because concept maps are constructed to reflect organization of the declarative memory system, they facilitate sense-making and meaningful learning on the part of individuals who make concept maps and those who use them. Concept maps are used to stimulate the generation of ideas, and are believed to aid creativity. For example, concept mapping is sometimes used for brain-storming. Although they are often personalized and idiosyncratic, concept maps can be used to communicate complex ideas."

Design Process

In this module’s reading assignments the importance of text and typography are discussed in the content guide. In the Information Design Workbook, chapters 2 and 3 discuss the importance of planning a project for and with a client and also the importance of a wireframe or map when first beginning an assignment for a client.

Since my focus in information design lies heavily in the area of graphic design, the use of text and typography in any environment has always been of importance to me. To be able to recognize what type of font, color, or format to use when designing for a client is always a significant factor to keep in mind, as every client demands a very different and unique use of typography. In any design, it is important to remember that the text, fonts, and colors used remain unified and complimentary of each other in order to attract an audience. Generally, a designer doesn’t want to use more than 3 text in one publication as it can confuse an audience or overwhelm them by making it confusing to understand what is important in a document or publication.

For website design and navigation, the type of font and design used is very important because that is the first thing a user will see. Color, typography, and font need to remain unified for navigation and on different pages. Obviously, different client needs will dictate these settings and that is something any designer needs to keep in mind when designing a website. It is always important to think of the audience in every step of the design process. For example, the typography for a children’s clothing website would differ greatly than the design used for a corporate business or government website intended for adult professionals.

Aside from the content guides in this module’s reading assignments, the Information Design Workbook chapters two and three discussed the importance of laying the foundation of a design that is uniquely tailored to each client. I was slightly surprised to see that Chapter 2 talked about the entire planning process and Chapter 3 talked mainly about the first step of the planning process, which is the wire framing. To me, it would make more sense to discuss the importance of brainstorming and the “blue print” of the design process before discussing the entire process. So if I were to change anything, it would be to reverse the orders of the two chapters. At the same time however, I can understand explaining the entire process first and then emphasizing the beginning stage afterward but still it makes more sense to me to discuss the importance of the beginning stage.

Chapter 3 discusses the importance of prototypes and testing. The beginning stage of any design is building an outline, or a blue print, for a client to visually see. Creating a simple wireframe prototype and then testing it allows the designer to see what needs to be changed and what works. This chapter also discussed the different types of testing subjects and surveys that could be used to best fit the designers budget and project plan. Chapter 3 mainly was about building a prototype and gaining feedback to see what works and doesn’t work and then based on that, how to make things better. The importance of keeping a beginning prototype simple was discussed because it is important that the focus remain on the design of an idea or prototype rather than the small details, such as color or font, of the design.

The second chapter of the Information Design workbook focused heavily on the entire design process that an information designer must consider. There was so much information in this chapter that I had never before thought of or considered, so I definitely couldn’t say I would change or add anything. This chapter brought to light so many issues that designers could typically tend to overlook or forget about. The emphasis on keeping the client involved in the entire design process was the most significant point for me as I was reading. In order to avoid mistakes or create more unnecessary work for myself, I learned that it is very important to constantly keep the client informed and make sure the client, design team, and myself are all on the same page at every step of the design process.

Chaos, Order, and Sense-Making

The theory I chose to talk about is Chaos, Order, and Sense-Making. Dervin says that there are two alternate views to this theory and that to “consider these fundamentals in detail, we must first start with an alternative assumption about information itself: that there is nothing natural about information. Information, no matter what it is called – data, knowledge, or fact, song, story, or metaphor – has always been designed” (Dervin 36).

Some of the most important pro’s discussed in this theory are that information describes ordered reality, information describes an ordered reality that varies across time and space, and information describes an ordered reality that varies from person to person.  To argue these pro’s Dervin says, “Nested within the narratives are a host of polarities that plague the design and implementation of information systems-not to mention the very construction of our societies” (Dervin 39). More importantly, he also argues that,

“Sometimes, this view assumes, information describes an orderly reality; sometimes it requires specialized observing skills and technologies; sometimes it varies across time and space and from culture to culture and person to person. Sometimes it represents the imposition of power; sometimes it opposes order in a chaotic way” (Dervin 39)

So although this theory very much emphasizes the importance of observation and technology, it also may generalize observations too much, which create chaos in their data that opposes some of their findings.  I think an example of this theory might be to observe many, many other bloggers to see what they are writing about and use their blogs to collect similar data or find common threads. This could also be chaotic because there are so many bloggers that it would overwhelming to try to accurately place a category on top of each type of blog. The focus should be taken a little less off the date and a little more on just the action of observation.

What is Information Design?

Information design has so many different definitions. In it’s simplest form, it is a type of design that people create to help other people. That’s pretty much as simple as I can put it. Of course, the subject itself is much more complex. There are so many subcategories of Information Design, some overlapping, and some having nothing to do with each other.

In the beginning chapters of the book Information Design by Robert Jacobson, I learned about the concept of information design, what different purposes it can serve, and why it is so important. I am also beginning to learn and see how information design is either successful or a failure, depending on its context. In the introduction, Jacobson states:

“Because the success of information design is so context-dependent, there is almost no way to predict scientifically for any particular setting what will work and what will not. Each design rises or falls according to factors that are difficult to replicate: the setting in which the transfer of knowledge occurs, the individuals involved, the medium or media employed, and the original and ultimate purposes of producers and consumers" (Jacobson, 5).

So far, I know what information design is, where it is used, and why it is so important. I also know the many different careers and groupings that are offered under this subject. In the Information Design Workbook, Kim Baer goes more in depth about the career aspect of information design by breaking down the different types of information design that designers are interested in. One of the categories was graphic design. Because I am an Art major with a concentration in Media Arts, I am particularly interested in this category. I knew for a long time I wanted to work in graphic design however I didn’t realize how many possibilities there truly are in this field.

Ergonomics is something I learned about and became interested in when I was actually really young, but as I grew up I became more interested in solely creating graphics for art’s sake, not really for any purpose. In taking this class, my interest in ergonomics has been sparked once again. To be able to put art and information together in a way to help people is something that appeals to me a lot now. I’m excited to continue reading and going more and more in depth on this very complex subject.