People’s Pub Partnership (Pt. 7) | Micro UX
April 28 - June 16 (7 Weeks)
Brief: Design a way to materialise the community governance model of pub ownership
Group Members: Ava, Ella (Me), Effy, Fangxue, Jacob, Kristen, Parth, Ranga and Zhe
Week 7 (9th June - 16th June)
This final week was very busy, but everyone made sure to work together to get everything completed in time for the event. We started the week with a casual presentation discussing how all of our research and ideas throughout the term had finally combined to produce a range of tangible artefacts and probes as well as an exciting final event. We made sure to give everyone a flyer for our event in the hope that they would attend and be a part of our community pub experience.
The feedback from the class was abuzz with thoughts about our final event, they were excited to see the outcome of our project. Some questions arose about the positioning of the engagement cart structure within the event, however our response was for them to come and see for themselves on the 15th as we had already meticulously planned the event layout. The bottle workshop was also questioned as it seemed to be detached from the cart in our presentation, however it began to make more sense when we explained that we would be using the bottles from the beer tasting station at the event and repurposing them. Despite these comments, the project was coming together nicely and we were confident in the final outcome of the module.
As soon as the presentation had finished, half of the group returned to the 3D workshop to finish building the detachable elements of the cart including more malleable chairs and a better base plate for the structure. Meanwhile, others finished adding another coat of paint to the main frame of the structure, which interestingly grabbed the attention of our classmates. Our peers seemed to want to get involved with the project and a few of them even took turns painting with us. This meant that our structure was inadvertently gathering attention even though it was not completed, making us optimistic that the cart would become a successful engagement tool for community building and prompting group conversation.
Wanting to finalise some elements of the actual event, we had a call with Richard to review the floor plan we had sent previously and mentioned the beer tasting and food stations. The floor plan was accepted easily with a few minor comments about how Matt would like to arrange the beer tasting, however these were minor issues that could be solved on the day of the event. In relation, Richard reiterated to us that they unfortunately could not get an alcohol licence in time for the event so they had had to source non-alcoholic beer instead just in case we had not seen the email invite previously. However, this was not a problem to us as there were many people within the Walworth community which had mentioned that they did not drink alcohol when we were conducting our research before.
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Having only mere days left until the event we pressed on with the completion of each of the elements, we began to design the previously mentioned bingo activity cards which would ensure that the guests would be more likely to interact with all of the event stations. The designs were initially quite basic, but they were quickly redesigned using the branding and colour scheme present on the event posters. We made sure to name each of the event stations as well as include a prompt about pub snacks which Richard and Matt were both keen on discovering. We also included the Walworth Community Pub Spotify playlist QR code on the bingo card as we had not gotten many additions to the playlist via the email invite sent previously.
We also began to finish off the Ring toss game and Jenga by printing and sticking the previously determined prompt labels onto them. We made sure there were a range of questions and prompts which were exclusive to each game so as to not make them repetitive. When printing the game labels in the Design Lab, we also decided to print off some stickers using the Walworth logo that we had created during branding stages of the project. These looked great digitally and originally had a white border, however the colour bled during printing process so we had to cut the down. The stickers would then become an accompaniment to the bingo cards and be available for everyone to take if they wished.
With the structure now completed, the finishing touches were added through a final varnish of the chairs and the attaching of the pub plaque to the cart. With some time to spare in the 3D workshop, a simple sandwich board was created to use at the final event which could be placed outside the venue to attract people inside. And despite the wording on the sandwich board being related to the event, we also determined that the sandwich board could also be incorporated into the engagement structure afterwards. Jacob, wanting to demonstrate and test how the structure would assemble and dissemble when used took it to the local park to display. The resultant video could then be used as an educational set up video for those who use the cart after our event was completed.
Finally, the day of the event had arrived. The group met at LCC to make some finishing touches and then in the early afternoon we were ready move the structure to the event venue. Gathering all of the materials, tools and any extras we might need, we began transporting the structure from LCC to The Walworth Livingroom. With the addition of the wheels mounted to the bottom of the structure it made the journey relatively easy despite the heat, it also allowed us to walk the distance without any problems by using the public pathways along the way.
Upon arrival at the Walworth Livingroom, we spoke to Richard about whether there was anything that we were not allowed to alter or if he wanted to make any last minute adjustments, but he was satisfied with our proposed floor plan and gave us free reign over the space as long as we promised to put everything back how we found it afterwards. This allowed us to adjust the space as we desired, we cleared a lot of the tables and rearranged the furniture to create and open plan space which could be navigated freely. We set up each of the stations and adjusted the lounge areas to be around the edges of the room, leaving the centre of the room open for the engagement structure. This gave the guests an immediate visual of the cart as soon as they walked through the door into the event space. We also placed chairs and tables outside for greeting people before they walked in, making sure they got their bingo card and signed their photography consent form.
Overall, the event itself was a huge success! As the night progressed the number of people increased and a lively atmosphere was created. Our prompts worked as desired at all of the stations and conversations were facilitated between members of the public who did not necessarily know each other beforehand. As well as having materialised the community aspect of a pub, we were also able to collect a range of data about the community and their thoughts about community pubs. Beforehand, we had expected around 30 people to show up at the event, but more people attended than we had expected including members of the local community, members of the Walworth Community Pub group, students from LCC and even a couple of local MP’s. This was great for us, but even better for the Walworth Community Pub group as we had demonstrated that our outreach methods had worked and that our creations could help them in the future when we pass the structure over to them.
After the closing speech for the event made by us, Richard and Matt, we made sure all of the guests had left with a smile and started to place the room back to how it was before we had arrived. After returning the room to its original state and removing any rubbish, we packed the structure away into a storage room at The Walworth Livingroom before discussing any subsequent meetings with the Walworth Community Group to demonstrate how to use the cart. They were surprised by how well our project had turned out and were grateful for the information we had been able to gather. They were also excited to try out the engagement structure themselves with more members of the Walworth community in the near future.
The next day we had our final presentation, we were all very tired but were also excited to show everyone how our event had gone. The final presentation consisted of a series of images taken at the event and a couple of completed probes/artefacts from the event. We discussed how we felt the event had gone and how interactions had formed between people. We also discussed the value of community and connections in relation to the brief and thanked Mark for his knowledge and allowing us the opportunity to connect with the Walworth Community Pub group. We were all happy with the outcome of the project and felt that the module had ended on an exceptionally high note.
The feedback from our tutors, peers and collaborators was full of praise. They all enjoyed the event and felt that it held the same atmosphere as a pub without it being as oppressive. They felt that it encapsulated community in an inclusive well laid out manner and showed that a pub does not have to be a static corporation governed object. The resounding comments were that our event and the engagement structure encompassed our desire to facilitate conversation in a simple and meaningful way whilst highlighting the importance of community collaboration. Most importantly, whilst we had been extractive in our data collection and research, we had also been able to give back to the community as our project had become a part of a project bigger than the brief received.
