This project was a result of the user research class in the undergrad HCDE program at the UW. The topic I chose to focus on was the behaviors of parents and other adults at playgrounds while their children play.
I went through a series of steps for this project. First was a field study of my focus park, the second was in-depth interviews with users and finally an online survey of a large number of users.
FIELD STUDY
Approach
I used the method of pure observation because I felt that I would be able to get the most detailed notes. The observations were done during three thirty minute weekend sessions; two on Saturday April 8th at 9:30 AM and 2:15 PM and one on Sunday April 9th at 10:00 AM. The location the observations were done at is the Ravenna Public Park in the University District. The weather during these sessions was overall pretty similar, being mostly sunny. However, there was some very light rain Saturday afternoon and it was slightly windy Saturday morning. I did my observations in a notebook while sitting on one of the benches near the playground. I chose the park bench I sat at because it is in a part of the park that is slightly raised above the rest and is placed in a location that allows me to see a majority of the park without moving. A drawback of this location is that it is far enough from the play areas that I was unable to overhear the content of conversations. I could merely tell if the people I was observing were talking. In the setting I was in, a public park, it is not unusual for people to be sitting and writing in a notebook so I was not overly concerned with altering the behavior of those I was observing. In addition, as the observations 1 were done in a public park, permission from a management group was not necessary to obtain. I recorded my observations using pen and paper and recording the time. Immediately after I finished my observations I rewrote them, adding additional details, into an excel spreadsheet. With the low volume of visitors to the park during my observation I was able to take notes on all the adults present at a given time. I analysed the data collected using frequency counts and highlighting common behaviors to find patterns in the activity of the adults I observed. Ethically, I was concerned with observing behavior related to and near children. Research involving children is tricky because people are understandably protective of their children and are wary of observations done involving them. I accounted for this by focusing my research on the adults and by being careful to be subtle in my observations as well as collecting no identifying information.
Results
Adults only talk to others within their group
Single adults are more likely to play with their children
Children’s age has an impact on parental focus
Cell phone use is uncommon
INTERVIEWS
In researching the behaviors of adults with children at the Ravenna park playground I had found that parents’ behavior was largely impacted by outside factors of who else they were at the park with and the age of their children. Through my observations I found that adults typically only interacted with others in their group, adults were more likely to play with their children if they were not there with other adults and children’s age has an impact on the level of attention given to them by adults. In contradiction with common habits of today it appeared that phone use was uncommon in parks. To build on the findings of the observational research I conducted three interviews of parents who frequently visit the park with their kids. I wanted to further explore the whys behind my observations in order to give design recommendations on areas to improve the park for all those who use it, both adults and children.
Results
Phone use is more complex than found in observations
Sense of responsibility is central to adult behavior
Importance of the natural ravine
SURVEY
While interviewing parents about their use of Ravenna park, I found a few surprising results and I was interested in investigating them further. Some of the findings of the interviews contradicted the findings of the observations, such as the prevalence of cell phone use. From my observations it appeared to be very uncommon for an adult to use their phone in the park, but my interviewees all reported that they used their phones. I was also surprised in my interviews about the use of the ravine as an additional play space that parents go to with their kids. I wanted to further explore these ideas in my survey work. My research will hopefully be used to inform the direction and design of improvements to the park, possibly to improve the experience for adults with children.
Results
No strong correlation between phone use and interaction with children
Medium (3.36 out of 5) safety ranking of park
Natural ravine is popular play space
The documents containing the full findings, discussion and design recommendations are available on request.
Σχόλια