The New York Department of Design and Construction (DDC) coordinates communication between public city departments to build and maintain civic spaces and subterranean infrastructure. Additionally they work with community outreach to keep the public informed about infrastructure projects.
The DDC came to the Center for Digital Experiences at Pratt Institute seeking insight on how to communicate information about the city’s ongoing subsurface construction projects to those who interact with it daily.
Through ethnographic research methods our team of researchers were able to identify findings and provide recommendations to help the DDC solve their communication issues.
The New York Department of Design and Construction (DDC) wanted to understand how to provide knowledge to New York residents about the subsurface construction projects that occur everyday, around all five boroughs.
Through three phases of research, we dug to understand the ecosystem surrounding subsurface infrastructure projects. We investigated who was being affected, what their issues were, and awareness and attitude surrounding DDC projects. The goal was to help the DDC understand effective communication methods to inform the public about subsurface infrastructure projects.
Onsite observations take a deeper look at Place, Artifacts and People.
Place helps us understand the big picture of a space - what movements are occurring, what activities are happening and what design features exist there?
Artifacts allow us to understand the objects that people value, identify, or interact with. These could be artifacts related to everyday habits or artifacts that are used in atypical ways.
Finally we observe people - what they do, say and express. This can take the form of actions they take, words they use and body language.
Additionally we recorded these observations with Thick Descriptions. This left a little interpretation up to us as researchers as to the context and subtext of what we observed.
Diary studies allowed us to observe behavior over a prolonged period of time, revealing behaviors that cannot be observed in a single encounter. For example, repeated behaviors, sensitive issues, key moments over time, or atypical behaviors. They also help remove the influence a researcher might have on a participant's behavior.
Beyond gathering data and designing for users, co - design workshops invite people in to design with a researcher or designer. These workshops can help ideate new ideas by working creatively with the information you already gathered.
Our observations were unstructured because we did not know what to expect once we arrived at the construction site on York Ave. We simply grabbed a pen and pad of paper and began taking notes on what we were seeing, hearing, feeling and even smelling.
The second component to being on location at the construction site was to chat with passersby who were walking, working or living near the site and gain insights by conducting short interviews.
Our interview goals were to understand how people think and feel about construction sites in order to gain insight into user behavior and experience. Questions asked centered around signage, communication, daily disruptions and commuting.
We spoke with whoever was willing to stop and chat. This included residence at the park playing pickleball, a parks department employee, a hotel concierge and more. We also had the opportunity to speak with one of the District Managers of Manhattan.
We used the data collected from our onsite observations and interviews to inform the second phase of our research. One of our big findings from the onsite observations and interviews was that residents local to construction sites cared a great deal more about the construction sites, than those who were not local and just passing by the site.
We wanted to reach those who were less interested in the sites, but still affected by them. We felt reaching out to those disinterested in the sites was the real crux of the challenge for the DDC to keep the public informed about construction sites.
Our goal was to have our diary study participants empathize with the construction site's ecosystem. We did this to understand the perspective of the people who are disinterested in the sites. Using this information we could better identify long term pain points and misconceptions around construction sites.
We recruited participants who currently lived or passed by construction sites 3 or more times a week.
We attempted to elicit empathy by asking participants to put themselves in someone else's shoes.
We ask our participants to take 5 minutes each day to reflect on a different person they might find near a construction site.
Using a FigJam worksheet, we supplied a bank of images from real NYC construction sites and asked our participants to paste a location into the day that was laid out. We then asked them to paste a figure from the provided bank of images and assign the figure a role.
Lastly we asked them to draw in the scene or write some phrases that came to mind in the provided speech bubbles when that figure’s role is interacting with the construction site.
In our diary study, generally, our participants felt that people who interact with construction sites had negative feelings towards them. We decided to build empathy for the people that our participants felt were causing these issues.
We wanted to better understand communication between the general public and DDC. We felt that by analyzing the language used when the public spoke to the DDC and vice versa we could uncover the testy relationship between the public and the DDC. We accomplished this through letter writing.
Our participants were our fellow researchers. We did not have incentives for this workshop and it would be impossible to recruit “true” participants based on that limitation. Regardless, our fellow researchers were an ideal group as each one of them had discovered their own insights experienced at construction sites and could add a new layer of richness.
Our workshop had 4 phases. We started off with an ice break. Our goal was to have our participants feel comfortable and share something they may not have felt was attainable on a normal day.
For the first phase of the letter writing we asked our participants to make a persona card of a person they might find at a construction site, including their name, title and a quote they might say or something they might encounter at a construction site.
Next we had everyone choose a persona they did not create and imagine they were that person. We then asked them to write a short letter to the DDC telling them about their experience or issues with the construction.
Finally, we asked our participants to trade places and imagine they were the DDC and had received a letter from the public. They chose a letter from the second phase and had to respond to that letter as the DDC.
At the end of each phase of research, we identified big ideas and began to see themes arising from our on-site observation and interviews, diary study and co-design workshops. We identified three findings woven across our research that we felt were important for the DDC to address.
Small business owners are unaware of how and where to find information about the construction and are unable to keep their customers updated. When stores are hidden away and made to look like they are not open for business, the small business suffers and so does the community.
"We don’t really know when it’s going to end, I think it’s always been this way for the past few years." - Receptionist at Medical Building
We found this issue arising during our interviews, diary study and workshop.
Construction blocks sidewalks, making businesses inaccessible to customers and creates a negative relationship between small businesses and the DDC. Business owners feel like they have no control and communities feel disconnected from their local spots.
We found that unexpected changes to a routine day was upsetting to the people who passed by the construction site.
Our participants empathized with people who were commuting. Especially people who were running late and becoming upset by the extra inconvenience the construction had caused them.
"I really wish I didn’t have to park so far away from the houses I make deliveries to - the traffic has gotten so much worse too" - UPS Delivery Driver
We can clearly see that people want information, but the lack of it is a sore spot. Getting ahead of upset residents requires keeping the public informed about how the construction is going to affect their day to day travels.
If the DDC is able to communicate and be transparent with the public, we feel this would help residents feel like they can rely on and trust the DDC.
During the diary study we were able to understand our participants' negative impressions and biases. We also found that construction sites were affecting participants' emotional and physical wellbeing.
Our diary study and workshops participants all brought up issues surrounding noises, smells, and the general unpleasant look of the construction sites. This issue came up in five different places across our six diary study participants. On the days participants mentioned these issues, they rated their emotions as generally negative.
While people do acknowledge that it's hard to achieve, they do wish the construction sites they pass by were clean and nice to look at. We feel that creating safe and pleasant construction sites shows care for the public on behalf of the city and can contribute to building a good relationship between the DDC and the residences of NY.
In order to help the public of NYC receive travel updates we recommend integrating construction updates with Google Maps, or Apple Maps. This solution provides a live view of what is happening and where. The option can help commuters plan their routes better and feel less upset because they no longer encounter an unexpected change to their otherwise typical day of commuting.
Additionally, the DDC could take a note from the MTA and create a live map site for construction site. MTA live map provides real time data on where trains are traveling. This live map for the DDC could give real time information on where construction is occurring. This map can assist with route planning for those looking to avoid loud noises, construction smells and allergy causing dust.
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In order to address information feeling inaccessible to the public, we recommend creating a digital space for open dialogue. By creating a DDC chatbot, residents have a place to ask questions and get answers quickly, alleviating frustrations.
While receiving quick answers to information the public is concerned about (road closures, active construction times, timelines, etc.) the DDC can have a space to reach out directly to the public and educate them about subsurface projects and their benefits.
While the DDC is searching for a digital solution, we feel it is still important to recommend a non-digital route as many residents share information about construction through word of mouth.
We feel it is important to build attractive, eye catching barriers around construction sites. The barriers could act as an instagram worthy attraction and worth taking a moment to look at. These barriers could include snippets of vital information about the site - what is being improved on, when it will be done, who to contact with questions, etc.
Creating something closer to an educational interactive installation will enhance the neighborhoods where construction is occurring as well as educating the public about the subsurface work being done.
An area we recommend continuing research on is how to help small businesses that are affected by construction sites. We witnessed concern for this group, but we were unable to gather significant data about their issues and needs to provide an adequate solution.
The very last step in our process was to hand our research over to the product design team. They will learn from our discoveries and take inspiration from our recommendations to create a product for the DDC that will match the need to educate the public about the subsurface projects occurring all around the New York’s boroughs.
Though we were unable to present our final findings to the client due to scheduling conflicts, we were able to gather data that will inform the product the DDC aspires to create.
Taking into account our research on citizens' needs, we feel confident the product design team will be able to create something that educates the public with the information they want and need surrounding construction sites and how those sites will affect their day to day lives.
This can be accomplished through methods such as map integration, live maps, chat box and even non-digital, but eye catching installations around construction sites. We look forward to seeing this research come to life in the future.
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