Quiz and Karaoke Fundraiser

Well it comes to a point when we all need to put in some effort in raising money for the 4^th year degree show. Unfortunately for us being 2^nd years and the only course in Dundee University having to raise the money for them.  Three of us got together and held a quiz and karaoke night on Saturday which ended up being a lot of fun and a good night to be had. With a little alcohol involved and an all round buffet to eat it became a good get together and not a spare seat to be sat in! From selling tickets for the night and raffle tickets we raised £235! 

Activity 4C – Piecing it together – Discussion and notes

The one thing I found was current through all my interviews was that everyone thought it was addictive. This was interesting as this was clearly the all round perception on going to bingo. Whether old or young the public seem to think the same thing. Even if the person had/hadn’t been to bingo. Some also agreed that it was to socialise with others as sort of a meeting place.

Is this just how its embedded into peoples minds? Or does everyone actually have the same views?

After my interviews I decided to discuss with some of my classmates my findings. Having listened to each others’ results and taking notes, we found that everyone had the something in common. This was there was a main answer from each participant linking up to the same result. For example, what people treasured the most always linked back to it belonging to a loved one. We then discussed whether maybe we were asking the wrong questions or even the right questions but in the wrong way.

We chatted to another group who were also discussing their findings and they found the same things. I found another person studying the bingo topic also coming up with the word addiction a lot. I decided look into some secondary research and I came across a book called An Unsafe Bet?: The Dangerous Rise of Gambling and the Debate We Should Be Having by Jim Orford. This book discusses how gambling is a danger to public health due to its addiction potential.

I felt this book was very useful as it also discusses the extent of gambling and its effects on society, which links back to my participants being most concerned about the thought of bingo being addictive.

Activity 4B – conduct the interviews

I used a semi-structured approach for this activity. This meant that I could have questions for the interview but also have room to add in more questions to get more details in specific areas if I needed to. I used a service design tool to help me with my interviews so that they were not just a passive conversation but also an active situation. The tool I used was affinity diagram, which is used for gathering and organising large amounts of information and data.

It used by starting with a statement of the problem, then the participants write down their ideas on small pieces of paper.  These then become the physical instrument to work with and arrange them into there correct groups. 

For each of my interviews I asked my participants to answer some questions and after discussing them I asked then to write their answers on sticky labels. I asked them to right there positive answers in green pen and their negative answers in red pen. Then organised then into the correct order and stuck them down onto a piece of paper.

I practised a trial run on my sister to see if the questions i was asking gave me the right results.

Here are the results from the three unknown people i interviewed……

First interview 

John Brough 

Painter and decorator 

John had not been to bingo before.

He thought that people enjoy going to the bingo to win and for the social aspect of it, however thought that people go because its a habit and its stereotyped and old fashioned.

Gathered that its a majority of older women that go because men are happy to have time to do there thing and in a n old fashion sense there was nothing else for women to do.

The desire to win money back entices people to keep playing. 

Second interview 

Charlotte Smith 

Primary teacher

Charlotte had been to the bingo before.

She also thought that people enjoy going to the bingo to win and for the social aspect of it, however thought that people go and also lose money.

Gathered that its a majority of older women that go because bingo was around long ago and has become a habit, now young people cant be bothered and have no money to play.

The plain thought of winning is the main reason for enticing people to continue to play and loose track of time.

People go to the bingo to meet other people and to go for a bite to eat.

Third and final interview 

Dayna Brindley 

Student 

Dayna had also been to the bingo.

She thought that people went because everyone has a chance of winning you don't need a certain skill to play it.

As the game is not physical or energetic Dayna thinks this is the reason its a majority of older women that attend and thinks that it would be boring for young people.

Again the thought of wining something is enough to entice people to keep playing, however it addictive and you end up wasting your money if you lose.

Also again people come to socialise and for something to do.

Assignment 4 : Interviews - but not as we know them

Activity 4A – choose a topic

In this assignment we are asked to interact directly with ordinary people in the form of interviews. I interviewed three people who I didn’t know and chose to investigate why people go to bingo. I began with making a mind map on my topic as this helped me decide which questions I was going to ask.

The questions I’m going to ask as a starting point are :

1. Have you been to bingo?
2. What is it that makes people want to go to bingo?
3. Why do you think the majority who play are older women?
4. Do you think there’s anything that would entice you to keep playing and loose track of time?
5. Do you think people go for other reasons than to win money?

Activity 3C: Observe and record

We were asked to choose a location where we have not been before.  This was our primary site and we had to choose a Bingo hall, Football match or Casino. We were then asked to choose another location that we would do it as part of our everyday activities. This was our secondary site and we could choose out of the list given (coffee shop, public library, bus or railway station etc) or one of our own choosing that we encounter regularly. This activity could be completed in a group or with a friend and it was not to be done alone.

Once our primary and secondary choices were made we had to spend some time in the different locations watching people going about there business and observing how they behaved. Also we had to think how we felt being put in a situation where we were made to feel uncomfortable.

Our primary site was the main focus of this assignment and the secondary site provided practise in observation, therefore we had to record our observations in both sites in a way that was appropriate, being careful not to annoy anyone or invade their privacy.

Here is my results…….

A group of us went to the Bingo as our primary site as none of us had been there before. After explaining we were students and as part of our course we were here to observe, the staff were very friendly and helpful. We just needed to sign up and didn’t pay to get in (which was good being a student !). 

We made our way through to the main hall passing through a small room with gambling machines. This room was very noisy with a very “casino like” feel to it. It was all lit up with bright lights flashes at you trying to entice you to play.

At this point I felt quite nervous to carry on into the bingo hall as I began to feel quite out of place.

We carried on into the bingo hall where there was already a game started. This made us very unsure of what to do/where to go/ where to sit. I felt quite threatened and scared to do something wrong as other people coming in seem to know exactly what to do.

There were two levels to the bingo hall therefore we decided to sit upstairs. This gave us a better view to observe and also gave us the chance to take some sneaky photos.

The staff interact with the players quite a lot however, not as much whilst the game is in play. They come round with change and to call out the callers’ numbers.  I got the feeling that their role is to encourage people to spend money but not in a pressurised way, more in a persuasive way as they are in an environment they are comfortable in.  It’s a very uniformed environment I suppose this makes it much easier for the customer to feel like they’re in an environment they understand. The seating layout is designed to be more personal for the customer rather than a very impersonal “church like” experience. The atmosphere is very repetitive as its noisy/friendly with chattering then when the game starts its deadly silent/serious and full of concentration. In between games its like a muttering of disappointment mixed with how close it was to winning/ getting ready for the next game starting. Almost like a circle of expectation, disappointment, daily life going round and round.

My secondary site I choose was a dance class, which I encounter very much as my daily activities. I didn’t manage to take any photos for this site as it wasn’t allowed due to children being in the class.

As this was a more social activity I found it very different to the bingo hall. The first thing I found was I wasn’t nervous at all about observing in this site as I was so familiar with being there. As the dance class is extremely busy if parents and there children are a little late they don’t have a choice where to sit its just where ever there is a space free. However you do get some groups of parents coming early enough to get “their table” and saving it for the rest. Also being a weekly class you start to see people not wanting to sit at a certain table because they know who normally sits there. Almost scared to take that table because they know it’s someone elses territory.  I found in some families the children now just get dropped of and then it’s a case of the children doing the same thing they keep seats for there friends coming in. The atmosphere it very noisy/friendly with parents chattering away over a coffee whilst there children are up dancing. The children behave very responsive to the teacher as they’re wanting to learn more steps and are enjoying themselves.

Activity 3D: Discussion

The primary site we easily discussed as a group finding out what others thought and felt. Most of the group felt the same on the way into the bingo hall (being nervous and scared). However one of my classmates felt quite excited to be going and ended up getting a free book and staying to play a game or too after we left. Another classmate felt the same as me almost, like an outsider. I think this was because the majority of people playing bingo were older ladies and as we are young people customers were obviously wondering why we were there sitting watching and not playing. I think also some people were curious as to why we were taking notes.

As a group we were more than enticed to go back as they came round with deals on other games and free games as we were new members.

The secondary site I discussed with my family. They were intrigued to know what I found out and I was surprised to find that they agreed with me but admitted that they would have never noticed themselves. This just shows you that majority of people don’t think to observe others. After this assignment I have found myself observing people without noticing im doing it, I suppose that is a good thing but I am going to start observing people and situations more thoroughly. Especially with being an interior designer I think it would really help me understand my clients needs better giving them a more suited design.

Activity 3B : Ethnography

Ethnography Primer

After reading the passage from the Ethnography Primer I understand that it is a research tool for designers letting them communicate with a target audience. Designers need to observe people in their environment before being able to design a product for them. As design connects with people designers need to have a better understanding of the clients needs for a better chance of designing something totally consumer friendly.

Assignment 3:Design Safari

Usually in design we seem to concentrate on objects and take no notice of how they are used or their effect on people. Therefore, in understanding design its important that we observe people rather than things. This assignment is intended to make us feel lost as we are asked to observe people in situations we haven’t been in ourselves.

Activity 3A

For the first task we have been asked to look at the website servicedesigntools.org. Then read through some examples and case studies trying to identify if any would have been useful on our studio projects from this year. Then right about the tool and how I would have applied it to a project.

The website lists lots of tools for doing design research, I found that some of the tools I have already been using throughout my projects i.e

Mind mapping -Starting with an idea in the middle with signs, lines, words and drawings then used to build a system of thoughts around the starting point. This tool allows the hand and minds work simultaneously.

After our first assignment through design studies and being taught how to use it properly I use this tool in all my studio projects. It helps me to put basic ideas down and then expand on them easily.

One tool that I found that I think would be useful to apply to my studio work is

Moodboard-A visual composition of pictures and materials that suggest an atmosphere by giving a broad perception of it. This helps to describe ideas that are to difficult to describe by words.

I would apply this to my studio work by preparing a mood board for presentations to clients. Giving them a better visual idea of colours and materials.

We were also asked to look at a tool called train ride and discuss it.

The train ride

A rough sketch of a train journey shows touch points to build the journey. The user experience is obtained by connecting the different touch points in a sequence.

This tool is used to give the customer a better idea of the journey both visually and physically. Being able to touch each point from start to end is more satisfying for the customer.

Being an interior designer I would apply this to a project by creating a simple visual journey through one of the interior spaces I have designed. This would allow the client to follow the touch points to get from one end of the space to the other with ease, giving a clear visual path.