Before investigating for the existence for a potential client group for an Internet Garden Design Service, an examination of the possible relationships to a ‘Traditional’ Garden Design Service client group was conducted. Four possible models were identified and are expressed as Venn diagrams shown below.
fig.1 Model 1
In ‘Model 1’, within a population of potential clients (expressed desire for Garden Design Service), all have expectations matching ‘Traditional’ Garden Design Service group of which a smaller population would be willing to use an ‘Internet’ Garden Design Service.
fig.2 Model 2
In ‘Model 2’, within a population of potential clients (expressed desire for Garden Design Service), all have expectations matching ‘Internet’ Garden Design Service group of which a smaller population would be willing to use an ‘Traditional’ Garden Design Service.
fig.3 Model 3
In ‘Model 3’, within a population of potential clients (expressed desire for Garden Design Service), both groups have completely separate and distinct expectations.
fig.4 Model 4
In ‘Model 4’, within a population of potential clients (expressed desire for Garden Design Service), both groups share common expectations but also have other expectations which are separate and distinct.
Exploratory pilot work as described by Oppenheim (1992) was carried out in order to determine an appropriate technique for conducting a survey suitable for determining the most analogous model. Amongst Landscape and Garden designers, a general consensus of opinion indicated that it would not be possible to provide an Internet Garden Design Service because;
A number of business people with experience of the Internet were also interviewed. Gipson (pers. comm) expressed an opinion that the technology was already in place for conducting secure commerce on the Internet and that the potential customer base was so large that even a small percentage take-up of a business service represents a viable market base. Although Gipson (pers. comm) was not of the opinion that there were any Internet Garden Design services currently available on the Internet, he stated that;
"Its’(sic. Garden Design Service) got to happen sooner or later. There is certainly enough evidence on the Internet that people are using it for garden-related goods and services. Its a case of ‘watch this space’."
In the absence of an existing ‘Internet’ Garden Design Service, current assessments as to the viability of providing such a service are problematic. Opinions expressed by interviewees, tended to be polarised between a pro-technology or an anti-technology viewpoint according to Collison (pers. comm) who cited ‘The Paperless Office’ as an example of a pro-technology group view. ‘The Paperless Office’ was the prediction that the widespread use of computers in the office environment would remove the need for paper, a prediction that has not shown to be true.
An example of an anti-technology viewpoint is an opinion expressed by Marley (1998) that the manual use of pen or pencil is an essential part of the creative process. There is an interesting parallel view to be found some years ago when the use of the word processor was seen as an inhibition to the creative process. As writers became more familiar with the technology, its’ use increased and today the majority of published work is created using word processor programs.
In order to make assessments as to the viability of providing an ‘Internet’ Garden Design Service, it was therefore decided to model such a service as a website and make quantitative and qualitative assessments of the feedback.
The methodology here is composed of two distinct stages. In the first stage, data is derived directly from the model website as an assessment of a potential client group.
For the purposes of this thesis, a quantitative assessment of a potential client group is achieved by taking a physical count of the number of visits to the model website by use of an automated electronic counter which registers the number of times a website is accessed through the Internet. The number of responses to a simple Enquiry Form which registers client group interest is also automated by an E-mail forwarding system as described in 2.2 E-mail Systems. A qualitative assessment of a potential client group is achieved by a short semi-structured questionnaire attached to the Enquiry Form and by a semi-structured questionnaire at the conclusion of the design process.
In the second stage, a sample population is chosen from the responses to the Enquiry form and three case studies are conducted in order to assess the survey information and design and the processes by which they are obtained. The diagram below describes the relationship between the components within each case study.
fig.5 Relationship between Client and Designer
In the possible absence of sufficient potential client response to the Enquiry Form from which a sample population can be derived for the design process, the secondary strategy is to obtain by other means a sample group for testing the design process. The parameters for selecting the sample group will be;
4.2 The Website
In order to allow a reasonable time for establishing a potential client group, a timetable for constructing the site was set with a launch date of 2nd October 1998. The early launch date was designed to maximise the exposure time of the Internet Design Service on the WWW.
An assessment of a number of websites was made as part of the design process in order to determine a set of parameters for the model website which would be both acceptable and achievable with a time constraint of one month. All Websites evaluated were ‘surfed’ for any attractive features and interesting links. In addition, a number of web authoring packages were examined and their recommendations for website design considered.
Although a wide range of information is available regarding website design, most advice is personal, based on a limited number of projects. The paucity of empirical data to validate such information means that some guidelines may be misleading. Phillips (1995) for example, discourages the use of background images and textures in webpage design because he states that it makes a page more difficult to read. The design of the model website was planned upon the principles as set out by Lynch (1995) who states;
Proper World Wide Web design is largely a matter of balancing the structure and relationship of menu or "home" pages and individual content pages or other linked graphics or documents. The goal is to build a heirachy of menus and pages that feel natural and well structured to the user and doesn’t interfere with their use of the website or mislead them.
The parameters for the model website are based upon the principles set out by Lynch (1995)and may be summarised thus;
A hierarchy of information was established in order to limit the layer depth of the website as recommended by Shneiderman (1998). The diagram shown below indicates the information as it is arranged into ‘chunks’ on the website.
fig.6 Hierarchy of model website
The intention is to give an explanation of the Internet Garden Design Service together with a range of examples of each level of service which can be easily changed to maintain a freshness to the site and encourage repeat visits. Each level progressing from the Homepage is more specific than the last. For example, a visitor progresses from the Homepage to a choice of Current Work, and from specific projects with thumbnail size images through to single enlarged image from a project.
The means of navigation through the site is achieved with the use of a navigation bar set in a separate frame. Each button choice causes the right hand frame to download a fresh page. The use of frames reduces download time by removing the need to download the navigation bar with each choice. Although not all ‘browsers’ support frames, the advantages gained by the use of frames as a navigation aid and the high probabilities of a potential client using a ‘browser’ which supports frames are substantial.
The overall appearance of the site (as shown below) is designed to reflect a professional business capable of delivering the advertised design services. (Authors Note: Since the publication of this site a number of minor changes have taken place. The business name has been changed to PTA Design and the examples shown for 'Current Work' are in fact the resulting designs from the test case studies in this dissertation)
fig.7 Homepage for Peter Thomas Associates
The Homepage image and business name ‘Peter Thomas & Associates’ is designed to create a prestige image and the use of a personal name in the business title is to create an image of integrity and trust. Each page is designed in such a way as to minimise the need for text in order to reduce the cognitive load required of the user as recommended by Shneiderman (1998)
It was decided that the use of a college mark or other indication of student work on the site may discourage potential client response through the online Enquiry Form. However, all enquirers would be sent an E-mail outlining the authors intent.
The online Enquiry Form (appendix 2) is designed to elicit primary data in the form of E-mail responses. The type of questionnaire included in the form is semi-structured as defined by Hague and Jackson (1995). The sub-heading ‘I am interested in having my garden designed professionally’ establishes the intent of the enquirer. Following the request for contact information is one behavioural question and one attitudinal question. The brevity of the questionnaire is in order to attain the maximum response from a potential client population by minimising the input time as recommended by Gipson (pers. comm) who has worked as a government consultant on conducting business on the Internet.
The behavioural question is designed as a choice of radio buttons, only one of which may be chosen.
A text box allows the enquirer to express any perceived constraints to receiving a Garden Design Service on the Internet.
A reset button and submit button at the bottom of the Enquiry Form allows the user to either delete entries and restart the process of completing the form or forward the information to a special area in the server (which is U-net) where another miniprogram reprocesses the information and forwards it to the required E-mail address. The E-mail message arrives with the entries coded according to the values given them at the time of composition.
The sample population is directed towards the online Brief (Appendix 3) which has a similar technical architecture to the Enquiry Form. The explanatory notes are designed to encourage the client to make as much input in whatever media are most convenient to the client.
The Brief begins with name and address to establish the identity of the client.
The survey questions are limited to 13 but additional space are given with many questions so that the client can add any relevant information not sufficiently answered in the multi choice sections.
Design of the questionnaire is based upon a model client Brief form devised by Marley (1997). Exploratory pilot work as described by Oppenheim (1992) was carried out in order to check that the questionnaire appeared logical and complete to a potential client.
The multi-choice frames are used in question 2, 3, and 4 to stimulate the client to consider features and styles. In a personal Brief meeting with a client, it is common for the designer to use oral or visual stimuli as a means to draw the client either towards or away from a particular range of design solutions.
At the completion of the design process and upon delivery of the design service, the client group will be interviewed in order to gain feedback as their perception of the service and any observations they may wish to make. This feedback will take the form of a semi-structured interview as described by Hague and Jackson (1995). These interviews are being conducted verbally in order to avoid any confounded variables as described by Oppenheim (1992) which may have arisen through the use of the Internet as the primary medium for communication.