Better Burnet
By Gretchen Mihaly, Victoria Click, Caroline Herzog, and McKenna Becker
1. Goals — Approach to the problem
Our initial research involved sifting through Yelp Reviews that compared Burnet Woods to other Cincinnati parks. Through this research, we discovered that Burnet Woods has a lower star rating on Yelp in comparison to those other parks. From there, our goal for this project was to discover why Burnet has a lower rating.
Our target audience we wanted to interview was college students, because Burnet Woods is located so close to UC’s campus. The following is what we asked on our google survey that we sent to college students:
- Have you ever been to Burnet Woods?
- If Yes…
- When and where do you usually go?
- How did you first hear about Burnet Woods?
- Do you/would you park in Burnet Woods? Why and where, or why not?
- What do you usually do in Burnet and how often do you go?
- If you frequent some spots more than others, why?
- How did you find your usual spot? Was it originally easily to find?
- Have you had issues with trying to get around Burnet woods? If you go to other parks, does Burnet do a better job of pathfinding or do the other parks?
- Do you go to Burnet alone or with other people? Is there a reason for either answer?
- If No…
- Why not?
- Would you consider going?
Overall, our research problem statement was ‘Why don’t more college students utilize Burnet Woods?’ With this question, we are trying to compensate for the lack of information on students’ thoughts and perceptions on the park.
2. Method — User research
The research techniques we decided to use were surveys, observations, and emphatic design. Initially we created a survey using google forms to get as many college students feedback as we could, since our primary target was college students. We went the survey to multiple different groups of people including sororities, fraternities, other daap students, and people that aren’t involved in any outside clubs or organizations.
Our observations are based off of the survey that 27 people participated in. 74% of all of the college students that responded had never even been to Burnet Woods. Also a majority of the students that had been to Burnet went because they wanted to use the trails.
Empathic Design is design that is centered around emotional responses to the design. Most of the responses explaining why they did not visit Burnet Woods included some issue of safety. A majority of students said that they feel unsafe in Burnet Woods, and if one does not feel safe, the chances that they will visit the park decrease greatly. Also, many people said they do not know a lot about Burnet and that is a main reason they have not gone. If more people had access to resources and information regarding the park, those people might be more inclined to go.
3. Insights — Analyze the data
We created three personas based off our survey responses. The first persona we created was a female, third year UC student majoring in Philosophy. She walks through Burnet Woods everyday to get to class, her path through Burnet is dependent on where she parks. She walks through the park because she likes to appreciate the nature before the stress of classes starts. She knows the park from her childhood visits to UC. The scenario created for her takes places after her classes in McMicken Hall. She makes her way over to the campus rec to do her daily workout routine. When she reaches the rec, she notices big signs hanging from the rec with students underneath handing out flyers. Approaching them she asks what “Experience Burnet” is about and how she can get involved; she mentions her daily walks through the park and how she would constantly visit as a child. A week later she becomes part of the group and helps them encourage people to experience Burnet.
The second persona created was a male, first year UC student majoring in Biomedical Engineering. He is from out-of-town and is not acquainted with UC or the city of Cincinnati. With being new to the city he wants to take his first year to explore Cincinnati and the items and places it has to offer him. He has never heard of Burnet, and therefore has never been. When asked, he was enthusiastic about visiting — but only if he was invited or if there was a fun event going on. Walking back to his Scioto dorm, he notices some people in Sigma Sigma Commons handing out flyers with posters hanging from a kiosk about a park. Wanting to be more involved on campus, he asks what the group is about. The first persona explains what “Experience Burnet” is about and how they get students to go to Burnet; whether it’s for volunteering, exercise classes, or to visit a flea market. He takes a flyer and shows it to his roommate; later that day they walk to Burnet and attend a yoga class.
The last persona is a second year UC student majoring in Interior Design. She is from Cincinnati and her parents are UC alumni, however, she has never been to Burnet Woods. Her parents perception of Burnet is that it is dangerous and unsafe, thus she has never visited; keeping her parents promise of her to not go there. However, she would potentially consider going if she was not alone. After her studios, she’s walking out of the fifth floor entrance of DAAP with her friends. On their way out a student is putting up a sign in the hall with a picture of a park. She stops and assists the student in hanging the sign, when they’re done she mentions how her parents are UC alumni and their perception of Burnet Woods. The student explains what the group is about and how they want to increase the population of UC students that visit Burnet and how safe it is. She takes a flyer and her and her friends go to a flea market held in Burnet Woods later that semester.
4. Recommendations — Report your results
Based on our personas, a recommendation we would give to the Cincinnati Parks Board would be to make Burnet Woods seem more approachable and more student-friendly. There are many different types of students on campus including varying majors, hobbies, transportation, living situations, and financial situations; the personas made from our survey are only a few of the thousands of different types. Our recommendation would include forming an “Experience Burnet” club on campus, to get students more involved with the park and to attract more visitors. We want to basically make it as approachable and liked as Sigma Sigma Commons. This would include having and promoting different types of exercise classes, flea markets, live bands, and “A Taste of Cincinnati” event that brings food trucks from around Cincinnati to Burnet Woods. Along with the club, there would be large banners hanging in the most visited spots on campus and club members handing out flyers at kiosks on campus where students can come up and ask questions about Burnet and the club.
The information gained from our research led to this decision based off of how many students at UC have not visited Burnet Woods and that they have never heard of it, but most of them would be willing to go if there was an event going on there or if they were invited there. So, we decided to have UC and the Cincinnati Board of Park Commissioners team up to form a club at UC called “Experience Burnet” to persuade students to become more involved on campus and in Burnet Woods.
We learned that a majority of people that go to UC don’t even know what Burnet Woods is. Considering that Burnet is across the street from UC’s campus we found it surprising that a majority of the students don’t even know what it is or have never heard of it.
Things we would do differently would be to just prepare farther in advance. Meaning that we would start sooner and also just be more aware of the things we need to accomplish way beforehand so that we will be more ready when it comes to actually completing the assignment.
