Co-design

Co-design Understanding and involving users

In collaboration with DR Concept development for the digital archive

www.danskkulturarv.dk

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This paper is written by six students from the IT-University of Copenhagen in relation to the course Co-design - Understanding and Involving users in December 2012 under the supervision of Jonas Waaben.

The main perspective of this paper is to learn how to use methods of gathering data and to co-design with a specific target group. Another perspective is to come up with ideas and a concept for DR to use for the digital archive www.danskkulturarv.dk.

We would like to thank DR for the opportunity of working with a real client facing a real need for design and co-creation. We would also like to thank the haulier company M.Larsen and the garbage men for their collaboration and their valuable time.

This paper describes and elaborates upon the process of learning a target groups view on Danish culture. This has been done by working with four methods: observational studies, diary studies, interviews and a future workshop. The paper also provides a final concept and ideas for DR on how to use the archive with the content of cultural heritage.

Figure 1 (Golodnoff and Lerkenfeld, 2012)

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DR’S REQUIREMENTS We were asked by DR to examine the ways in which we can enhance the experience of Danish cultural heritage from their archive. We examined how to do this by working with a specific target group of our own choice. We were presented to the project - Dansk Kulturarv, which is a website that contains of pictures, audio and videos related to cultural heritage.

We were then asked to use different co-design, critical design and/or data gathering methods to attain creative outcomes, that would help DR make use of the material and also make it interesting to a wider audience.

WHAT DOES DR STAND FOR? DR is a Danish broadcasting corporation and an independent public institution founded in 1925 (DRs historie 1925-1929). Their network expands on different platforms such as radio, TV and web, along with collaborating with other cultural institutions. DR is about to digitize most of their material that they have produced through the years. The archive now consists of 520.000 hours of tv, radio and film (Golodnoff and Lerkenfeld, 2012).

TARGET GROUP Through the project we have worked with garbage men as our target group. We wanted to implement Danish culture to the streets and saw the garbage men as experts of this and thus found them to be a relevant target group to co-design with. When we met the garbage men for the first time we did not know if they preferred to be called waste collectors, renovation workers, garbage men or something else. However we became aware that they call themselves garbage men, which is why we have chosen to refer to them as garbage men throughout the paper.

FINAL CONCEPT In collaboration with the garbage men we came up with a concept that uses DR’s and other cultural institution’s digital material. The concept is to install screens on the side and in the back of the garbage truck that displays Danish heritage material from the archive. This concept should help solve one of the garbage men’s main problem, which is people being annoyed with the garbage trucks in the streets.

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Our methods have been chosen on the basis of our target group. We worked with data gathering and co-design methods to gain an understanding of our target group and to develop a concept that involves DR’s archive in collaboration with our target group. We have used the following methods: •

Observational studies

•

Diary studies

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Interviews

•

Future workshop

Initially we did not plan what methods we would use after the observational study. It has been an iterative process, where we planned the methods we would use based on the results we got from the previous conducted method. We carefully planned each method before performing it. This included using the DECIDE framework (see appendix A) (Sharp, Rogers and Preece, 2009).

GOALS This project has had two main goals:

•

As students:

learning perspective

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As consultants:

create ideas/concept

As students, our primary goal has been the learning perspective. As consultants working for DR, the primary goal was to create ideas for consuming the cultural heritage in their archive.

We must emphasize that our main perspective has been as students. Our focus for the project has been on learning how to plan and use the methods.

As stated, the framework was revised during the process, as it was not a finished framework from the beginning. For instance we did not take future workshops into consideration at first, but during the process we discovered that they would give us the insights we needed.

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From the beginning we wanted our project to involve the city of Copenhagen. Our initial idea was to work with new Danes, people who recently moved to Copenhagen, pedestrians or Danes in a specific age range, as our target group. But we found it hard to pick a group of people that had enough in common, besides walking on the streets for instance. We started out doing an observational study of people in Christianshavn. We had a hard time narrowing down the target group, and through quick and dirty interviews we experienced that the target group that we wanted to address was not interested in participating in further studies.

Instead we decided to involve people who know and work in the city. We chose garbage men as our target group as they know the city well and have the experience of following a specific route containing different buildings and landscapes. Based on this we thought that it would be interesting to learn how they could relate culture to their experiences at work. In addition to this, Danish heritage is something that every Dane inherits. In this project, we have given a voice to a group of people whom we thought could provide a new and different perspective to the project than our own. This is mainly why we chose the target group and why we find them an interesting group to investigate.

A total of ten garbage men participated in our research. Conducting the methods helped us learn more about the garbage men and explore what Danish culture is to garbage men? We experienced that getting in contact with the target group can be a difficult part of doing fieldwork (Halse, Brandt, Clark and Binder, 2010). Recruiting people who are accessible in a specific place is a lot easier than recruiting people passing by on the streets. We got in contact with a person working at M.Larsen (a garbage company in Copenhagen) who helped us with the recruitment of the garbage men.

The recruitment fell into three parts, the first part being the observational studies. Our contact person at M.Larsen found three garbage men who allowed us to observe them while working. For the second part, the diary study, the contact person was quite helpful once

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again. He gave us telephone numbers of two men who would like to participate. The men were given a thorough introduction as to what they should do (take pictures, write a short text, etc.). They both participated in a follow-up interview two days after sending the pictures. We had two meeting rooms to our disposal at the workplace. Being able to conduct the interviews and the workshop at their workplace has also been a great advantage to us, since the participants felt more comfortable in their natural environment (Blomberg, et al., 1993). Lastly, for the workshop we made a poster to recruit participants (see appendix B). We did not get any response from the poster so our contact person once again helped us. Finally seven men showed up and we were able to execute the workshop as planned.

Figure 2: One of the garbage men from our observational studies. Picture by Martin Emil Andersen.

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This section will describe why we chose to use observational studies as a data gathering method and why it is relevant to our project along with the results.

Figure 3: This picture shows how the garbage truck is blocking the road while the garbage men empty the trashcans. Picture by Martin Emil Andersen.

Observational study is a qualitative method used when collecting data about one particular target group and is used to observe how a target group acts. It is unlikely that people are able to explain what they do, since we are not always aware of our actions. Furthermore, people tend to have ideals, which can influence their answers. This is why interviews or questionnaires are not necessarily the best ways to collect data and why observational study can be a useful method when gathering data (Sharp, Rogers and Preece, 2009).

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We chose to do observational studies as our first method, since it is to be used in the early stages of a project (Raijmakers, Gaver and Bishay, 2006). By having this as our first method we could use our results in the following methods. It helped us understand the context, tasks and goal of our target group (Sharp, Rogers and Preece, 2009).

FIELD STUDY There are two main types of studies in observational studies according to Sharp, Rogers and Preece (2009). One is the laboratory study and the other is the field study. The laboratory study will not be explained, as we conducted a field study.

A field study is about observing the target group in its natural settings, doing their day-today activities (Sharp, Rogers and Preece, 2009). Since a priority of ours was to observe the garbage men in their natural settings, we decided to do a field study.

A disadvantage of the field study is that it “can be complicated and can result in a lot of data that is not very relevant if it is not planned and carried out carefully” (ibid, p.323). Thus we decided to make a structured plan for our observational studies in terms of a goal.

GOAL FOR THE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY Observational studies can be rather complex and it can thus be difficult to figure out what the focus of the observations should be without a structured framework (Sharp, Rogers and Preece, 2009, p.326). We articulated a goal because “all data gathering should have a clearly stated goal” (ibid, p.324). By doing an observational study we wanted to answer three questions: • • •

How are the garbage men’s daily work routines?

(How) do they use technology while working?

How much spare time do the garbage men have on their hands while working?

THE STUDY Our study of the garbage men took place in their garbage trucks one morning, as we wanted to get an inside perspective of their daily work routines. We thus wanted to be what Sharp, Rogers and Preece (2009) refer to as a passive observer, since we did not want to be

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interfering with the way they carried out their work. As the study went by, we quickly discovered that this was not possible. In order to get the best results from the observational study, we had to go into dialogue with the garbage men. We ended up talking to the men about their work routines and life, while they carried out their work. Hence, both observers and garbage men adapted to this situation, which made the men feel more comfortable with our presence. As we started out with a “fly on the wall” perspective (Raijmakers, Gaver and Bishay, 2006, p.230), we wanted to maintain a neutral role in the observational studies not to influence the outcome of the data gathering (ibid, 2006, p.232). As the observational studies progressed, we adapted to the new knowledge that we gained in the situation.

During the study the observers had the experience of what Sharp, Rogers and Preece (2009) suggests: that to “stop observing when you stop learning new things” (ibid, p.324). Although the study ended as the shift did, we think the above mentioned was true for our study.

After observing the garbage men we did a compilation documentary (see the compilation documentary on http://isabelaagaard.dk/?p=807, password: skrald). We did this to “facilitate reflection to the people that could not be present ‘in the field’” (Raijmakers, Gaver and Bishay, 2006, p.230). Another reason for why we did this is because it is “an easy way to make notes and share a moment of interest” (ibid, p.230) with people outside the project.

Although it is called a documentary, it is not really a documentary film in itself, as this film is edited to show only the necessary footage.

RESULTS The results from the observational studies can be accessed in appendix C. The results from the two observational studies were not that different. We observed the same truck route, but on different times a day. The garbage men go around Østerbro, which is their usual district. They have been driving around that route for years and are thus familiar with the locals. The garbage men frequently waved and smiled at the citizens. The relationship between the garbage men and the citizens seemed more positive than we had expected.

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Another observational study showed that people sometimes place treats like fruit and beer on top of their trashcans to make the garbage men if they have more trash than usual on that day. The garbage men mentioned that this interaction is a typical thing.

Figure 4: Documenting with a MMS that a garbage can is unable to reach. Picture by Martin Emil Andersen.

An interesting observation was the way garbage men used their mobile phone at work. We had not expect them to be particularly experienced users of technology, so it came as a surprise when we saw how they used the mobile phones to take pictures to document obstacles on the route.

When the garbage men go around the narrow streets of Copenhagen, they mentioned that bicycles are a major nuisance to them. They find it hard to look out for bicycles and maneuver the truck at the same time.

Drivers present a major issue to the garbage men as well. As observed, the truck stands still at a location for approximately three minutes and so the car drivers, getting impatient, honk and yell to make the truck move faster. This is a daily issue faced by the garbage men.

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Figure 5: It is important to look for bicycles when they drive around the city. Picture by Martin Emil Andersen.

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This section will describe how and why we used diary studies as one of the methods to collect data from our target group.

A diary study is a qualitative method for understanding participant behavior without having to observe them (Carter and Mankoff, 2005). This method is highly controlled by participants, which means that it is the participants that make the samples, not the researchers, since they are the experts of their own lives.

The method consists of capturing events as they happen, and focus on general attitudes and social trends rather than everyday interactions (ibid). By observing our target group, it became evident that garbage men are comfortable and familiar with taking pictures with their smartphones. At work they are asked to document obstacles regarding emptying garbage and send the pictures to their employer; an insight we did not have beforehand. We did not think that they would be involved with technology. But that knowledge gave us the opportunity to conduct an elicitation study during which the garbage men send pictures to us with a short text giving some details about the picture. Afterwards we conducted a follow-up interview asking the participants why they took the pictures that they did and how they should be interpreted.

We wanted to choose a method, which gave us insights with their words. We could have started the data gathering process by conducting a focus group or an interview, but we felt that our words, categorization and questions might influence the result too much. This is why we chose to do a diary study as we thought that it would influence the outcome as little as possible and the garbage men would have an opportunity to connect their own words and pictures to Danish culture.

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We asked the garbage men to add a short description for each picture so that they could remember why they took that particular picture at the follow-up interview and to help us prepare for the interview (Carter and Mankoff, 2005).

We could have asked the garbage men to take notes in a notebook or to record audio. But pictures seamed as the best option, as they were used to taking pictures at work - in our opinion it was their preferred tool (Brandt, Weiss and Klemmer, 2007). Also pictures prove to be the best memory triggers (Carter and Mankoff, 2005).

GOAL FOR THE DIARY STUDY Our main goal with this diary study was to understand Danish culture from the perspective of our target group. Our main goal was to figure out: What is Danish culture is to the garbage men?

Prior to the diary study, we carefully planned how to conduct it. We used the DECIDE framework (Sharp, Rogers and Preece, 2009), which is explained in the Process section, as a guideline to make sure we did not forget anything. This included preparation and thoughts on practical and ethical issues.

Initially, the participants were given a short but thorough introduction to the study in the form of a phone call, which gave them a chance to ask clarifying questions. Following up on our conversation, we put the task in writing for them to access it if needed (see appendix D).

We asked them to contact us if any questions arose. Prior to sending the text message we discussed how we could present the task without influencing the outcome. We deliberately avoided giving them any specific examples of what kind of pictures they should capture.

They were asked to capture five to six pictures (within 24 hours) showing what Danish culture is to them. We tried to make them realize that their participation was important (Carter and Mankoff, 2005). By mentioning DR, we emphasized the importance of the project. We decided to limit the number of images so that we had time to go into depth with each image at the follow-up interviews.

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The next day, we sent them a short text message to remind and motivate them to send us their pictures throughout the day. The reason why we did not give them a phone call was because we felt that a text message would be less intrusive to their private life.

RESULTS The results from the diary study consist of respectively five to six pictures from the participants. This was a satisfying result. The pictures and the included short text can be accessed in appendix D. Since the results from the diary study supports the interviews, the results will be discussed in depth in connection to the interviews in the next section.

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This section will describe the follow-up interview, which was a part of the diary study.

To understand the pictures from the diary study, it is important to conduct a follow-up interview (Carter and Mankoff, 2005). Our interview investigates why the participants took the pictures and how they should be interpreted. The results would have been different if we had analyzed the pictures without it.

PREPARATION OF FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW The pictures sent by the participants were examined prior to the interview to prepare an interview guide (see appendix D). By looking at the pictures that they sent us, we realized that some of the pictures could not have been taken on the present day and must have been from an archive - for instance a picture from a Christmas party taken during the previous year. This meant that both participants deliberately looked for existing photos, which reminded them of Danish culture. It was not anticipated because the study should help us understand where the garbage men saw and met Danish culture in their daily life and during work, but on the other hand it led to discussions on topics which would not have been possible to capture in the specific date we set - for instance Christmas.

THE DANISH LANGUAGE One of our considerations was whether to do the interviews in Danish or English. We decided to conduct the interviews in Danish because we thought the participants would feel more comfortable that way and their comfort was crucial in order to get most accurate results. We also considered that this target group might have difficulties speaking English at the level needed. We were positive that the final result would be better if we translated the condensed meaning. The opposite option was also considered but we feared that the participants would have a hard time expressing themselves in a foreign language, and for this reason the entire outcome of the interview would lack depth.

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INTERVIEW GUIDE Prior to conducting the interview, we made an interview guide (see appendix D), which had the following purposes: To work through the interview beforehand, to minimize bias, and to stay on the topic. It also provided a structure and a guideline that should ensure that we asked the two participants the same questions. We also wanted to ask open-ended questions (see appendix E), but this proved to be harder than anticipated.

GOAL The goal of the interview was to find out; what Danish culture is to garbage men?

To explore this, we looked at each picture with the participant and asked the questions: -

What does the picture show?

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Why did you take this picture?

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How do you associate the picture with Danish culture?

ANALYSIS Our analysis of the interviews is based on Kvale (1996), along side with this section. He introduces five methods of analysis, which consist of meaning condensation, meaning categorization, narrative structuring, meaning interpretation, and the ad-hoc method (Kvale, 1996, p.193-194).

These methods are used to analyze and interpret interviews and facilitate the researchers insight and understanding of the conducted interview. Furthermore the methods works as meaning condensers that help reduce the text into smaller condensed text interpretations.

We have chosen to analyze and interpret our interviews in relation to meaning condensation.

The main purpose was to systematically condense the meaning of our interview into smaller parts and create an overview of the meaning.

Meaning categorization was also considered but was not chosen as it involved using categories from previous studies or a pilot study. We did not want to make our own categories, as we might miss some important aspects of the Danish culture.

Meaning condensation includes five steps. First, we read through the entire interview.

Secondly, two students selected parts of interest and afterwards the original meanings are

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condensed into smaller parts that were stated as simple as possible (Kvale, 1996, p.194).

We kept in mind that we should read the interviews thoroughly without prejudiced opinions.

The fourth and fifth step is about interpreting the meanings of the text bits and to write them into a final descriptive statement (ibid, p.194). We interpreted the meanings as we condensed the text bids but we did not make one overall descriptive statement since it did not make sense in our study.

We applied the theory of meaning condensation to our transcribed data (see appendix E) from our one and a half hour long interviews. Two students condensed the data into 22 text bits (appendix E) that were further condensed into 23 descriptive meaning statements.

These statements were looked through again to make sure that the results were objective and informative and that the fundamental meaning of the interviews was retained.

To ensure that we did not misinterpret the meaning of the interviews, we got into dialog with our participants once more, to let them state if they shared the same understanding as we did. They both agreed, but unfortunately neither of the participants found time to do it.

RESULTS We here present some of the condensed meanings from interviews to give an impression of the results. The 23 condensed meanings are shown in appendix F. Our interpretation of the interviews, using Kvale’s (1996) meaning condensation, showed that the two participants had a different understanding of what represents Danish culture.

Participant 2 had particular focus on how Danish food and beer bring people together in our society: “Danish culture is a cold beer, something you share with your neighbor or anyone else. It brings people together across social barriers.” (Participant 2, 2012).

On the contrary, Participant 1 focuses more on how exercise has become a part of the culture in Denmark: “Running is a big part of Danish culture, there are different big runs around Denmark, for example Eremitageløbet in Dyrehaven north of Copenhagen.” (Participant 1, 2012).

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He also talked about buildings and places around the city of Copenhagen: “On Amager we don’t have a lot of culture - maybe Kløvermarken. Places like the Glyptotek and parts like Østerbro has culture but not Amager.” (Participant 1, 2012).

Participant 1 furthermore found the labor union part of Danish culture, while participant 2 showed interest in the Danish tax paying system: “Tax payment is a part of Danish culture.” (Participant 2, 2012).

Even though a lot of the themes were very different from each other, they found common ground on the Danish Christmas traditions: “A big part of culture is the things that you have been in touch with several times. That could for instance be the Danish singer Kim Larsen, or Christmas Eve. They are very different, but a part of the culture because you have listened/participated in several times.”

(Participant 1, 2012).

They found that the traditions about Christmas bring people together, and that these recurring traditions are a big part of Danish culture. In addition, they also paid special interest to what they described as ‘high browed culture’ and ‘culture for distinguished people’: “Fine culture is only consumed by noble people. It is theater and all the other fine stuff.”

(Participant 2, 2012).

They found that theatre, classical music and arts were only for a certain class of people, that they did not consider themselves a part of.

The interpretation of the interviews thus showed that Danish culture is a wide term, and it is difficult to make a final description on what it exactly represents: “Danish culture is a wide term, and it is interpreted differently from district to district.”

(Participant 2, 2012).

Culture is a subjective matter. It is difficult to make an overall conclusion of what culture is for garbage men, but we still obtained a better understanding of their views on Danish culture. The analysis showed themes we would never have thought of ourselves.

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The results of the diary study, including this follow-up interview, were thus satisfying, as our goal was fulfilled. We got a better understanding of what Danish culture is to the garbage men, but we cannot know for sure that they represent garbage men in general.

The next step was to bring these findings and DR’s archive together by co-designing with our target group.

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We have used the future workshop which is build on our previous conducted methods, to co-design with our target group, A future workshop is a qualitative co-designing method that helps a large group of people comes up with possible solutions to a problem or a situation that is unsatisfactory (Bødker, Kensing and Simonsen, 2004, p. 270). It builds on three phases: critique, fantasy and realization. It facilitates collective brainstorming and work in smaller groups, to help the users come up with possible ideas and solutions (ibid, p. 273). The method also consists of a preparation and a follow-up were the facilitators respectively prepare the workshop and make sure that the ideas or proposals that came out of the workshop are carried out.

We chose to do a future workshop because we wanted to co-design with the target group to come up with ideas of how to use DR’s archive. As mentioned above, future workshops facilitate both collective brainstorm and work in smaller groups. We did both in our workshop.

Before we started the workshop, we used “food as an icebreaker” (Sharp, Rogers and Preece, 2009, p. 329). In addition to this, we presented ourselves, our purpose and DR’s archive. The first part of the workshop consisted of a collective brainstorm during which we discussed how they could use DR’s archive in their work and in their spare time. We used the brainstorm to make sure that they understood what content DR’s archive consisted of so they could use it for the design games that we had planned for them. The collective brainstorm flourished a lot of ideas amongst the garbage men (see appendix G). Some of them were already existing ideas like applications for smartphones and others were combining existing things such as the television and radio and the archive.

One thing we realized while doing the brainstorm was that they were reluctant to write anything down, as they would much rather say it out loud. What worked well in the collective brainstorm was the critique element. Even though they did not like to write down what they

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said, they had an easier time critiquing DR’s archive, electronics, their work routines, etc.

This loosened up the atmosphere for the next phase, where we had prepared three design games for them.

Figure 6: Last preparation for the future workshop 30 minutes before the garbage men enter the room. Picture by Dorte Gro.

DESIGN GAMES A design game is a co-design method that is primarily used to provide input to a design problem (Bowles, 2011). It is a collection of team activities where participants are gathered to be involved in solving different scenarios or creating designs. Design games are creating a space for unexpected ideas (Bowles, 2011). The games are planned and well thought through, but at the same time they have to have room for surprises. The design games aimed to allow the garbage men to communicate in a creative and imaginative way.

We chose to work with three different games where we divided the garbage men up in smaller groups of two to three persons. The reason was that we hoped to give the more reluctant men more room to talk. We then put the most dominant men in the same group so that we could get a variety of answers from all of them. This worked well.

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Figure 7: Some of the results from the future workshops design games. Picture by Dorte Gro.

We were inspired by Bowles (2011) ‘Design the box’ and created two design games out of this. One we call, design the truck, where the participants were handed a piece of paper with an illustrated garbage truck alongside with the task: “Illustrate how you could change a negative situation into a positive situation by adding something physical on the truck”. In this exercise we tried to change the view of the concept and see if we could start a discussion about their problem based on something concrete. We also hoped to make them see through the eyes of the people around them on a work day (Bowles 2011). They understood the task, but some of them were not comfortable with drawing or even writing words.

Therefore, the exercise became more of a conversation (appendix G) while we drew what they said.

Another design game, inspired by Bowles (2011), was a shopping cart. We drew a shopping cart and placed a bunch of post-its alongside with the question “If you were to shop for Danish culture, what would you put in the shopping basket?” We hoped that this would open up to working with cultural heritage in a new, simple, and fun way (appendix G).

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Figure 8: Shopping cart design game. Picture by Griva Patel.

The third game, The Map, was a map where we drew a route and put pictures along the route, so they could visualize the streets better. The question here was: “What kind of cultural heritage could you as a garbage man or a private person experience on this route focusing on using DR’s archive?” They used the pictures on the map well to discuss how their ideas could work in the surroundings on the certain streets. For example, one of the men came up with the idea to project a movie from the archive on the surface of Søerne (Endnote 1) in Copenhagen (appendix G).

After the workshop we followed up on the ideas and solutions the garbage men came up with. It was the plan they should follow up on their ideas in plenary and pick out the best one(s). During the workshop we realized that most of the garbage men had never done a brainstorm or a group idea generation like this before and they seemed tired after doing the design games. A few started leaving to go home. We decided to skip the realization where they would have presented their ideas in plenary because we concluded that it would not have been possible to keep them focused any longer.

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RESULTS The future workshop resulted in many different ideas from the collective brainstorm and from the design games.

The collective brainstorm was focused on DR’s archive, which is reflected in the results.

They both discussed how they could use DR’s archive in their spare time and how they could use it at work. Some of the main topics were to apply the archive into their daily routines such as creating a channel on the TV or a radio program. They focused on the platform being mainly in the public sphere such as public transportation, transit areas and parks. Furthermore they talked about electronics and the interfaces concluding that DR’s archive needs a user-friendly interface.

Another topic was how they could use DR’s archive in or on their garbage truck, possibly implementing an iPad into the truck to pass time when waiting in line, but most of them were not interested in using the archive themselves while working (see appendix G).

In the design the truck game there was a general tendency amongst the garbage men to come up with solutions involving screens on the truck. On the drawing we see Jan from group 2’s solution, which shows a screen on the side and on the back (figure 9).

Figure 9: Jan drawing.

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The shopping cart game confirmed the findings that we got from the follow-up interviews.

The aim was not to create new ideas for a concept but to get the garbage men to brainstorm on what Danish culture was to them. The results of this design game were themes like Danish food, famous Danes, events and traditions, old places and sports (see appendix G).

The map game showed an interest in mobile phones and electronics. They liked the idea of going back in time seeing old places and classics, focusing in the social aspect. They find people to be very concentrated about moving from A to B having blinkers on oblivious to their surroundings. They wanted to capture the attention using sound and moving pictures displayed on screen from individual mobile phones, big screens, and even projected on lakes (see appendix G).

ANALYSIS We can draw many lines from the design games to the collective brainstorm, as some of the topics that they discussed were similar. The results from the different design games had similarities as well, which meant that some of the ideas were created or developed through more than one design game. There was a general enthusiasm for using DR’s archive to resolve their problem with honking citizens in form of using the streets and buildings around them.

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This section will sum up the results gained from the four methods that were conducted through the research.

In the observational study the results showed that the garbage men interact with the citizens in a different way than expected. On one hand we have the locals who know the garbage men and appreciate their work. On the other hand we have the citizens, mainly car drivers that find the garbage trucks to be an obstacle in the morning commute. This seems to be the main issue faced by the garbage men.

The observational study showed that the garbage men are familiar with using phones for taking pictures during work. This was a valuable finding that we used in the diary study for the target group to capture pictures to the study. The results from the elicitation study consist of 11 pictures and 11 captions.

After the diary study, follow-up interviews were conducted. They brought insights such as, how the understanding of what represents Danish culture is interpreted differently from district to district, according to the garbage men. One of the participants mentioned that Danish culture is about sports and labor unions, whereas the other participant discussed the Danish tax paying system. One of the participants also described culture as being something old, such as old buildings and places. Another view is that Danish culture is not only about food and beer but also about exercise, like running, which has become a big part of the life of Danes.

However the two participants did agree on some points: •

They found common ground in Christmas traditions, which they both mentioned are unique for Danes, and bring people together

•

They both mentioned that culture differs depending on one’s social class.

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Results from the diary study gave rise for the future workshop. Ideas about how to use the archive were generated through a collective brainstorm and the three design games that mainly build upon existing ideas. The design game shopping cart also provided more insights into what Danish culture was to the target group. There was a general interest for adding screens to the truck, which laid the foundation for the final concept.

The workshop changed the initial suggestion, that garbage men should be consumers of cultural heritage, into the idea that garbage men should be the ambassadors of Danish culture.

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It quickly came to our attention that the garbage men had a general problem. When they empty the trash, their truck blocks the streets and the car drivers that are waiting in line honk and yell at them. Our concept combines the garbage men’s problem with our initial goal for the workshop: How they could use DR’s archive?

The garbage men’s own idea for a concept that could solve their problem and use DR’s archive was to place large screens on each side of the truck and one on the back as well (see Figure 1). The screens would show film clips and pictures from DR’s archive for three minutes, while the garbage men emptied the trash. There would be a clock in the corner of the screen counting down to when the truck would be moved. This way they could communicate to the waiting drivers, that they would move the truck shortly and at the same time show them Danish culture. The part of the city would be reflected on the screens that would show content relevant the area. An example could be when they go around Østerbro, where a film clip of e.g. Søerne (1) could be displayed on the screens.

Figure 10: Final concept. Drawing by Isabel Aagaard

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The target group mentioned that no one would honk at a pølsevogn (Endnote 2) because it is a part of the Danish culture. By adding screens to the truck they discussed how this might have a positive effect, making them a part of culture rather than a nuisance. This concept is seen as a solution to the problem about the garbage men being in the way.

Figure 11: Hot dog stand. Picture by Peter Leth, 2010.

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In this section the results and the collaboration with DR will be discussed in this section.

TARGET GROUP When we conducted the observational study at Christianshavn we found that it was difficult to get people involved. The people that we interviewed were in the target group similar to ours i.e. students, and this is why we decided to go in a different direction to embrace DR’s wishes about not selecting the normal users as a target group. It can be discussed whether the garbage men were a risky target group to choose as this is not considered a common target group to relate Danish culture to. When DR brought this to our attention, we considered changing the target group. But as we continued working with the garbage men and started working with them, we found their view on what Danish culture is interesting as well as relevant to this project.

As we had a prior assumption about garbage men not being consumers of culture, our prejudices were brought to shame. They turned out to be not only a relevant target group but also possible ambassadors.

Since the garbage men are not familiar with the phrases we use when talking about our project, we had to consider our wording so that they would not misunderstand us. Although we were aware of this we failed to express ourselves clearly in a language that was understandable to the garbage men. This was clearly brought to our attention at the workshop, where they found words like ‘process’ and ‘brainstorm’ intimidating. Beforehand we had discussed being careful about using academic phrases with the garbage men, which we had in mind when we wrote the text message for the diary study (see appendix D). It is important to adapt your language to your target group, and this was a big priority for us in order to interact with the garbage men.

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METHODS When we started this project, our main goal was to get to know our target group. This is why we started out by conducting observational studies, as they could provide us with information about the garbage men’s working routines. As the results showed, we have gained a greater understanding of their work routines. However, we needed more information on what Danish culture is to them. This is why we decided to do a diary study as it could provide this. The following interviews helped us get an in depth understanding of the pictures that the garbage men took, which provided us with the perspective of what Danish cultural heritage is in their opinion.

Even though we had information about the garbage men in relation to their work and about their opinion on Danish culture, which was the goal, we were still not close to a concept for DR. As of this we decided to do a future workshop for us to co-design with the target group.

It turned out that this method was useful as it brought a lot of ideas and we were able to work towards a concept from these ideas.

It has been an iterative process where one method has led us to another. Especially the future workshop has been a useful method in this project, as it has opened up for designing and working further on the project. The methods have been equally important as they have facilitated information and set a frame for the future workshop where we developed a concept in collaboration with our target group.

COLLABORATION WITH DR The first meeting with DR was at the presentation of danskkulturarv.dk, where they asked us to find a new way to use their archive. They wanted us to focus on a target group that was not the obvious users. As stated above we chose to work with garbage men.

A month prior to the presentation, we had a meeting with DR where we presented our target group and talked about the angle we had chosen to work from. This meeting turned out to be very important as DR was more interested in our target group as ambassadors than as users, which was an angle that we had not considered. Taken this new perspective into consideration we adjusted our study to allow the possibility for the garbage men to be users,

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ambassadors, or both. Taking this into consideration we facilitated a discussion allowing both possibilities in the workshop, and found that the garbage men were interested in being ambassadors.

The meeting with DR showed that we had different ideas of how the task should be solved.

Therefore it was important to include DR in our process. Unfortunately did we not have a chance to meet with them more than once before our presentation of the final concept.

Since we only sparred with DR once after the project presentation, it meant that we chose a direction for our project that might not have been what DR wanted. We worked closer with the garbage men than with DR, who thereby have had a greater influence on how the concept turned out.

When we presented our concept to DR we got some useful feedback. One thing that we noticed was that they were concerned that the clock (see appendix H) might take people’s attention away from the media displayed on the screens, and instead the focus would be on the countdown. They further questioned whether the citizens would pay attention to the culture displayed in stressful situations such as morning traffic.

DR suggested that we made a pilot test of the concept to test the above stated issues. We shared the same opinion, as this was something that we had discussed in the group beforehand. As students our primary goal has been a learning perspective, therefore our focus has been on conducting the methods and working with our target group rather than working with DR. This focus has changed since the beginning where we focused on creating a concept for DR, but as the communication with the garbage men increased and the interaction with DR decreased, our aim shifted.

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In this paper we have been co-designing with our target group, garbage men, to create a concept that makes use of DR’s archive. To answer our research question we have conducted four methods being observational study, diary study, interviews and a future workshop. Through our conducted methods we have gained general knowledge about our target group and gotten an insight to the obstacles they face in their daily work routines. Car drivers often become frustrated while waiting for them to move their truck, which is a big issue for the garbage men. As their workplace is the streets of Copenhagen, we could use their knowledge to create a solution combining the cultural heritage from DR’s archive and their problem. Our iterative process has created a concept that has been developed by working with DR, but mostly inspired and created by co-designing with the garbage men.

The final project has been focused on the learning perspective rather than working as consultants for DR. Through observational studies, we have learned that the garbage men face two kinds of citizens; the ones that appreciate their work and the ones that feel that garbage men are an obstacle in their daily commute.

By conducting diary studies we gained an insight to who our target group is and their view on Danish cultural heritage which we especially got into depth with in the follow-up interviews. We found that they thought that culture is a wide term and an individual matter, and that many old places and traditional occasions were linked to culture as well. We conducted a future workshop, through a combination of collaborative brainstorming and design games. There was created open discussions that flourished ideas, which became the basis for our concept. Design games are often a co-design method that one uses in the design phase, which means our results were open.

The concept consists of a large screen on each side of the truck and one in the back. The screens shows film clips from DR’s archive. A clock on the screen shows when the truck will be moved. Our concept can hopefully help decrease the number of honking and yelling car drivers as the screens will allow the garbage men to communicate with the citizens.

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We have the assumption that our concept might have taken another direction than what DR had in mind for the project. DR and the garbage men have played a big role in creating the concept and especially when conducting the co-design method. Our most turning event in our process was inspired by our meeting with DR, where we decided to open up the possibility for our target group being ambassadors as well as users. Our project has gained great insights into what Danish culture is to the target group and created ideas for DR to work further on.

If we had focused more on being consultants for DR and not as students, the process would have been different and thereby the results. This could have been determined in a closer collaboration with DR, where the results from each method would have been discussed thoroughly and the next step in the process would have been decided in collaboration with DR. By doing this, the process and the methods might have affected the output and concept to be more in line with DR’s wishes. However, we still believe that DR will be able to use this paper for further work with danskkulturarv.dk. It brings insights from a target group that DR normally would not have considered important in this context.

Through this entire process we gained experience with data gathering and co-design methods. We have adapted our process through the findings of each method, which has made it difficult to stop doing more research. We still see a big potential in gaining new knowledge and understandings by conducting further methods. For instance a survey could be executed, asking the citizens of Copenhagen if they have a problem with the truck being in the way. This would give us an idea of how big a problem we are facing. By this we could adjust our concept further.

Taking the circumstances into consideration, we find the current concept satisfying.

Especially with our iterative process using the methods in connection and support of each other. We were pleased to work with the garbage men, and were positively surprised about their commitment in developing ideas for a concept.

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