What is the goal of the design intervention?
The goal of the design intervention is to help the user find their way around the courthouse easier. The intervention will be a resource for all visitors to discover where they need to go, where that location is within the building, and how to get from their current location to their destination. Our intervention will provide clocks in the central atrium space, where you can find the time from every floor.
What problem[s] does this design intervention address?
This design intervention addresses two major problems of the courthouse: the lack of clocks and the difficulty of finding where rooms are located and how to get there. Being so time-oriented, the courthouse severely lacks clocks and access to timing throughout the building. With so many different floors and program spaces throughout the building, the courthouse lacks a way for the visitor to find out how to get from point a to point b without getting lost or having to ask a security guard. This intervention addresses the issue of wayfinding and will provide the user with easy to read and interpret directions.
What is the design intervention?
The design intervention can be broken down into to parts: clocks and paper handouts. The clocks will be projections hanging off the railing along the atrium. The projects will be within the large atrium space, allowing visibility from every floor. The paper handouts will provide an easy to understand graphic of the courthouse, allowing the user to understand where each room is and how to access them. On the back of the handout, we will provide access to the available resources, frequently asked questions, the eviction and court process, as well as a QR code and link to further resources. This will make the individual’s courthouse experience easier, as well as making them aware of the already available resources.
How will this design intervention be evaluated for success/failure?
The success or failure of this project will be measured by polling staff and visitors of the court alike, in understanding how helpful the interventions work. The two interventions will be evaluated differently for their successes and failures. The clock projections will be be evaluated based on polling of people in the courthouse, from lawyers of the day, to regular staff, to the general public. It will also be evaluated based on how well the projections can be seen in the atrium space, and the installation of the clocks, whether they can be easily installed without any destruction to the existing conditions.
The evaluation for the paper handouts are based on how well people can move through the space. They will also be determined by information collected from staff who have previously experienced people asking for directions, such as the security. It can also be evaluated based on feedback from people who have used the handout. If the handouts are printed and provided inside of the courthouse, they can be evaluated based on the amount or lack thereof, of handouts available.
How will you collect data on how this design intervention actually worked/didn't work in the field?
The data can be collected from polling and understanding the user experience. Data regarding the projections would be collected based on polling, otherwise there is no true to way to understand how successful the clocks are in the space. The handouts can be evaluated by polls as well as data collected about how many people showed up on time for their hearings vs. those that are not able to make their way there on time. Due to these being based on user experience, the data collected would have to be coming from said user.
