Bringing Out the “US” in User-centred Design
Isn’t it counter-intuitive that design is traditionally determined by a designer instead of users? Instead, onebite believes users are the most qualified to co-create user-centered designs that work.
The Challenge
Public facilities, especially objects as banal as playgrounds or public toilets, tend not to attract much attention. However, if we use them on a daily basis, shouldn’t designers pay more attention to how these facilities can create a positive experience?
The Outcome
By adopting a design-thinking mindset and incorporating engagement methods as part of our design strategy, onebite challenges cookie-cutter design for facilities like recycling centres, showflats, and toilets that are inclusive, intuitive, and innovative.
Co-Designing the Future
Participants from Toilet Tells, a design-thinking workshop series organised by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and Architectural Services Department, with onebite as Programme Partner, and Hong Kong Design Centre as Programme Advisor.
How often do you come across a public space or facilities and remark to yourself, “This place would be so much better if I could change…” If so, you are definitely not alone!
Although there is no definitive study on the satisfaction level of public facilities in Hong Kong, recent studies on the quality of sportsgrounds (Audit Commission, 2022), wheelchair access to public facilities such as toilets, bus terminals, and hospitals (Labour and Welfare Bureau, 2022), and the provision of public space and recreational facilities like country parks (Lands and Buildings departments 2008) all point to a significant shortfall between Hong Kong residents’ expectation for public facilities and their perceived standards. By no means are these studies an indication of faltering standards or bad services, but rather they point to ever-evolving user needs as the metropolitan city’s demographic changes and responses to societal and global trends.
Gone are the days a single designer is expected to plan, design, and execute the construction of public facilities and expect it to fulfil all, if not most users’ needs. Today, there is widespread acceptance for different forms of physical disabilities, and growing awareness of invisible barriers preventing access to public facilities, such as language, race, and gender. These days, design goes beyond offering standard hardware that fulfil the stipulated service requirements. It needs to understand the intangible needs of users, caretakers, and even government representatives, all of whom are essential to create positive user experiences.
If so, how might we better engage stakeholders and project proponents to co-create better public facilities?
Kneading out K.N.O.T.s
While onebite has developed and used the KNOT methodology for the past few years, we have recently made improvements and recently unveiled its latest iteration — KNOTIE!
While there are a number of design-thinking methods that systematically guide discussions and tackle complex problems, not many cater to the specific demands of architectural practices. To facilitate our placemaking and public space design projects, onebite developed the K.N.O.T Methodology which incorporates on-site observations, full-scale prototyping, and other spatial tools into design thinking exercises. Consisting of Knock, Need, Originate, and Trial, the four steps are conceived as an iterative process aimed at drawing out unique insights from participants of diverse backgrounds and experiences. This has since been improved and the new KNOTIE framework now incorporates a triple-diamond framework that places equal emphasis on prototyping ideas, and evaluating the effects of the ideation process.
The first letters of the four words forms the shorthand KNOT, which one might associate with a dead-knot problem that is impossible to resolve. On the contrary, designers at onebite embrace knots as the unavoidable pain points and tensions that arise during discussion between stakeholders. Design-thinking methods and skilful facilitation help to “knead out” these knots to achieve resolutions. We believe such consensus-building opportunities can bring different parties closer together to build empathy and forge stronger community ties!
One such opportunity was the design-thinking programme “Toilet Tells - Rediscover Public Toilet” organised in conjunction with the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and Architectural Services Department (ArchSD) in 2020. The programme brought together a group of participants for a series of eight hybrid workshops to revamp public toilet services and reshape the user experience of public toilets, consisting of wheelchair users, elderly, construction workers, hikers, pet owners, and parents amongst other user groups, as well as toilet attendants and maintenance agents. Onebite first interviewed the participants at length to understand their needs, and thereafter discussed selected views openly using design thinking methods such as “talk-mind-heart”. This offered a framework to analyse pain points from the perspective of users and workers, which subsequently formed the foundation to develop and adopt the “10 Human-centred Principles for Public Toilet Service Innovation”. Many comments raised by users came from the heart and resonated deeply with other participants. For example, a wheelchair user shared her wish to wear make-up and place her cosmetics in the toilet like any other users. Other participants instantly recognised the importance of having common amenities in both accessible and normal toilets, forming the basis for the service principle “Choose Inclusivity for People of all Capabilities”.
Growing empathy through co-creation
Participants and hiking experts participating in “Hide and Seek”, a journey mapping process organised by the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) and Sustainable Lantau Office, with onebite on board as the programme partner.
The most important, yet one of the most underrated, superpower a designer can acquire is the ability to empathise and design from the perspective of users. This is a challenge as designers may lead very different lifestyles in terms of age, culture, and physical abilities from whom they design for.
While we may not be able to walk a mile in every user’s shoes, inviting them to co-create together allows designers to walk in tandem and understand their needs. Onebite had quite literally “walk the talk” when it organised a design-thinking programme in 2021 - 2022 aimed at learning about and improving Lantau Island’s hiking trails. 22 hiking enthusiasts and Lantau residents, as well as several invited hiking experts, joined us in a 6-month long journey to propose hardware and software improvements to six hiking trails on Hong Kong’s largest offshore island. Titled “Hike and Seek”, the journey mapping process commissioned by Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) and Sustainable Lantau Office was conducted in a hybrid format during the Covid-19 pandemic with on-site hiking surveys, in-person discussions, and online brainstorming sessions. This resulted in several fantastic and feasible ideas proposed by hikers and residents that were refined over six workshops with inputs from onebite’s design team.
In another innovative project, onebite collaborated with Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS), the first non-government housing organisation in Hong Kong established in 1948. With Hong Kong’s society fast ageing, the society is leading efforts to promote the adoption of friendly home designs for people with dementia and age-related ailments to reduce pressure on caregivers and to encourage ageing in place. In conjunction with the renovation of HKHS’s Elderly Resources Centre in 2019, onebite invited members from the elderly organisation “Nutcrackers” to participate in an ideation exercise, with the aim of creating an elderly-friendly living space within the confines of a real-life public housing environment. Many participants noted the usefulness of placing actual furniture within a stimulated apartment to help them configure and navigate their living space. It was also helpful for onebite designers to observe and design ways to solve some of the difficulties elderly residents encounter at home. For example, wheelchair users needed more free space to turn around in bedrooms, while those with weaker arm strength preferred sliding doors to conventional hinged doors.
Accessible design doesn’t have to be boring
One of the recycling stores under the the Environmental Protection Department’s GREEN@COMMUNITY community recycling network.
The community recycling network “Green@Community”, managed by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD), was rebranded at the end of 2020. It features a stylistic monogram which resembles the letter 6 and G, set against an emerald green background. In Cantonese, the letter 6 is a homonym for green. The simplicity and cultural relevance of the rebranding exercise instantly caught the attention of the public, and was credited with raising awareness and motivation for recycling.
Concurrent with the rebranding exercise, onebite and CoDesign were commissioned to redesign EPD recycling stores across Hong Kong, implementing a unified identity across the network of 32 recycling stores. As the appointed interior designer for the stores, onebite gathered feedback on several users’ past experiences with recycling and found values such as cleanliness, safety, and convenience ranked most highly. As such, the refreshed recycling stores are designed to be bright and airy with a minimal yet refined design that accentuate the revamped brand identity of Green@Community. Onebite adopted a consistent design for the reception area, sorting table, wash basin, and other facilities that reinforces the new brand identity and establishes a recognisable interior design associated with efforts to encourage recycling. Recycling cabinets are built in fibreglass, a robust and durable material, with different accent colors on openings to identify and sort out the eight types of recyclable materials accepted at the stores. The openings are both designed to fit the average size of the recycled materials, but also operable such that they can be pulled out to drop bulky items in easily. Taking in feedback from users, cabinet and stores designs are also constantly refined to improve functionality, such as improving the explanation for recycling materials on the cabinets, and considering how to improve the store’s overall hygiene with the addition of UV disinfection lights and paints capable of purifying air.
By adopting a design-thinking mindset and incorporating engagement methods as part of our design strategy, onebite constantly challenges conventional cookie-cutter designs for public facilities such as recycling centres, show flats, hiking trails, and toilets. While aesthetics remain key to onebite’s practice, we believe good design must also strive to be inclusive, intuitive, and innovative.