• 6.0 Discussion

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    6.1 Stage 1 - Internet Survey

    In contemporary usage, the term ‘virtual reality’ has come to connote any sort of computer phenomenon , from ‘virtual mail’ , ‘virtual libraries’ to ‘virtual workgroups’ on computer networks. According to Heim (1990), the term virtual reality has its’ roots in medieval Europe when Duns Scotus (died 1308) described the concept of a thing containing empirical attributes not in a formal way (as if it were knowable apart from empirical observations) but virualiter or virtually. Nowadays we use the term to describe things which, whilst not occupying natural bodily space nevertheless contain the informational equivalent of things. For example, Bouton (1997) describes the Adobe Photoshop software as being a ‘creative environment’ rich in ‘visual metaphors’. Similarly, in contemporary usage the Internet has come to resemble a virtual world with myriad virtual spaces visited by participants for the purposes of discourse, research, entertainment and commerce Porter (1997).

    Unlike a piece of software which can be closely controlled by the user to operate within defined parameters, the virtuality of the Internet as an ‘information superhighway’ is constantly evolving, both technically (computer hardware and software development) and culturally in the number of participants and the ways in which they use it. In June 1998, a search of websites using the altavista search engine and the search phrase "garden design" revealed only four UK based garden design services advertising on the Internet Thomas (1998). By January 1999, a similar search according to Bahadur (1999) reveals a website listing of over 8000 websites.

    The model website was registered on the following search engines as recommended by Taylor (1996);

    Model Website Listing on Search Engines

    Excite

    Hotbot

    Lycos

    Altavista

    Infoseek

    Netfind

    Webcrawler

    Businesseek

    Yellow pages

    Yahoo

    		   

    Table 4

    In addition, the model website was registered on free search engine registration services as recommended by Raggett (pers. com.). Failure of the model website to report qualitative data in the form of completed Enquiry Forms may be due to a number of limiting factors including;

    Although a published website may be viewed by anyone with access to the Internet, the methods by which a visitor arrives at the website are limited to;

    It was not possible within the time constraints of the research to launch a broadly based marketing campaign to raise awareness of the site to a potential global client group because of time constraints. Whilst this may not have been necessary in early 1998, the number of Webpages now available on the Internet are reconned by Gipson (pers. Comm) to outnumber the population of people in the world. This flooding of the Internet with information reduces the effectiveness of generalized search engines as they become more automated and less discerning in assessing the relevance of listings. An example of this may be found in the repetition of listings and listings which had no relevance to the query ‘garden design’ other than the occurrence of the word ‘garden’ or ‘design’ somewhere in the text. Thus, a query for garden design using the Yahoo search engine will include amongst the results a number of listings for kitchen design.

    In Australia where use of the Internet is far more pervasive than in the UK, marketing of a business website is conducted through the use of more conventional methods such as poster, newspaper and television campaigns.

      6.2 Stage 2 - Case Studies

        6.2.1 Survey Data

          The sample clients were given no external prompting as to content or style of responses beyond that which was published as part of the model website. Consequently, each case study may be seen to contain unique attributes both in the content and style of the survey data submitted.

          The York family composed a survey drawing electronically using a ‘pixel’ based program as described in 3. Computer Hardware and Software and used imperial measurements. There was more information given about the surrounding gardens than the other case studies but the garden area for design had less features to be retained. A subsequent communication amended the length of the garden as 45’ and not 85’.The completed Brief (Appendix 4) contains the most additional notes of the three studies and indicates that the client was comfortable and familiar with the human-computer interface (at least for written communication) as described by Thomas (1997).

          The Hoogstad family sent photos and a survey plan which had been hand drawn and then scanned into the computer and sent electronically as E-mail attachments as described in 2.2.1 E-mail Systems. Two examples of the photos sent are shown below.

          fig 9 View looking towards House

          fig 10 View looking away from House

          Some of the photos had little contrast and were difficult to read. Also, the photos were taken at different times of the year, with the garden in various stages of construction, and two of the images were delivered as inverted images. The drawing appeared at first glance to have been drafted to scale but closer examination revealed that a shortening of the innercourt may have been affected in order to fit the plan on the page. Trees were identified and positioned on the site drawing but the size of the canopies drawn was obviously not to scale and photographic data indicated that the garden was well shaded. All of these factors made the task of completing the survey /evaluation process more difficult.

          The Monagle family in Australia sent supplimentary data by post which included a written description of some of the existing vegetation (some of which was not located on the survey drawing).
        6.2.2 Client Perceptions of Survey

    In each of the Case Studies there were limitations placed on the degree and type of contact maintained for the survey part of the experiment. Under different circumstances, the designer may have included one or several stages of contact between the parties in order to clarify and expand on the survey data. For the purposes of this experiment, the contact was limited to that provided on the website in order to assess and evaluate the range and quality of data provided. The York family and the Hoogstad family expressed a lack of confidence whilst inputting the survey data.

    This lack of confidence expressed by the sample clients may be viewed in a number of ways. The interactive nature of the designer/client relationship in a Traditional Garden Design Service allows the designer to build a sense of confidence with the client. A more interactive approach with the Internet Garden Design Service could be achieved through the use of;
        6.2.3 The Design Report

          All of the sample clients reported satisfaction with the design service and the ‘professional’ appearance of the Design Report. The York Family felt that the revue of their survey data together with an evaluation encouraged them in the belief that they were receiving a special service tailored to their needs and not something "...out of a box" as Mr. York suspected he would be getting. Although they realised that they had omitted some survey information (a step down from the patio), the design did not suffer as a result. The design and views were felt to be innovative and original with interesting features. Mr York was particularly fascinated with the techniques employed in the rendering of the images as he perceived them to include both conceptual and photo-realistic elements.

          The Hoogstad Family were also impressed by the imagery but said that it took a little while to adjust to the conceptual nature of some of the images because they found the english language difficult to understand and consequently could not easily understand the accompanying explanations. An Internet Garden Design Service which is limited to english as the only language will not be available to a proportion of the potential client group. The designers knowledge of other languages would be helpful both in reaching the potential client group and in the survey and design interpretation stages. In this case study, the sample clients’ level of understanding of english was not known to the designer. An E-mail system which includes multi-lingual support of the type described in 2.2.1 E-mail Systems would allow communication between client and designer where there is no common language.

          The Monagle family were pleased with the way that the internal atrium and garden were linked visually. In the course of the telephone interview, supplementary information emerged regarding the content and description of the garden at present including the construction of the existing canopy outside the back door (plumbers pipes). Although in this case, none of the supplementary information would cause to invalidate the design proposal, additional service in this case could have been provided by designing a more appropriate canopy.

          The design service did not include a planting plan but some species were identified on the Design Layouts in order to give an example of the kind of qualities which would be desirable in particular places. The choice of species was based on the designers knowledge of the climate of each region together with local plant catalogues but may also have been obtained from the Internet. In the USA where integration of the Internet into mainstream usage is further advanced than in other countries, there are a number of garden supply services which offer plant database information including suitability factors for the different regions in the country. An example of one such site is provided by Garden.com (1999) which uses a BBS system as described in 2.2.1 E-mail Systems. A planting plan may be composed and even ordered and paid for using this Internet website. In Melbourne, Australia at least one company ‘Victorian Landscapes’ is known to be developing a similar service.

          The Monagle family expressed more interest in the horticultural content of the Design Layout than the other Case Studies and were satisfied with the level of content provided. During the telephone interview, Mrs. Monagle enquired as to the local availability of some of the species which the designer was able to provide because a local plant catalogue had been used. This information may be unavailable or at least more difficult to obtain in some countries and would therefore be a limiting factor in the provision of an Internet Design Service.

          Climatic information for the region of a particular site may also be available on the Internet. An example of one such website which gives relevant information to the Australian case study is provided by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (Appendix 6). More refined information regarding the microclimate of a particular site could be obtained by a more detailed Brief or by making available a helpful checklist for the client to use in conjunction with the Brief.

           
        6.2.4 Delivery of Garden Design Service

    All of the sample clients received their Design Reports by post. A summary of the reports is available on the model website in the section ‘Current Work’. Because of time constraints, it was not possible to publish the entire Design Reports on the model website but it would be possible with development to evolve a system whereby this could be accomplished in less time and with less cost (in postage and printing) than the more conventional form which was used here. The advantages of having the Design Report in an electronic form are in the versatility of uses including;

    The York Family felt that by receiving the Design Report in the post, it allowed them to assess the value of the contents without feeling under pressure to show approval. Mr York said that if the designer delivered the Design Report personally they would have felt they were getting ‘the hard sell’. Although they appreciated the opportunity to discuss the contents during the subsequent interview, they appreciated the absence of the designer during their period of evaluation. Mr. York said that he would have been happy to discuss the Design Report using an E-mail system. The York Family stated they they would not use a Traditional Garden Design Service because of a perceived ‘hard sell element’ which he believes a designer would subject them to.

    The Hoogstad Family also appreciated having the Design Report to evaluate without the presence of the designer but because of the problems with language, had more difficulty initially understanding the descriptions. This difficulty could have been avoided with a more interactive approach to the survey stage where any problems with language could have been identified and resolved. It became apparent during the course of the interview that although the sample clients were familiar with the model website, they were not regular users of the Internet and found it slightly unsettling to communicate exclusively in this way.