Peter Thomas & Associates Garden Design
'The Electronic Client'
Designing and delivering Garden Designs on the Internet
In 1995, 2% of UK homes possessed a PC with a modem; 20% in the U.S. and 6% in Australia.
‘By the year 2000, Keynote expects that 2.6 million homes in the UK will have Internet access representing a household penetration of 12%’
The size and power of both the Internet and its associated software and hardware is growing at such a phenomenal rate that it is hard to make any predictions that do not become inadequate almost overnight. What is beyond doubt is the fact that the Internet is sure to permeate through our lives to a much greater extent than was predicted only a few years ago. Current estimates for the growth rate of the Internet by NUA Online (1999) as shown below show no decrease in the rate of growth expected up to 2005.
fig.1 Online Internet Users Worldwide
The Internet’s impact on industries, consumers and society in general will ultimately be substantial and far reaching (Thomas, 1998). Research carried out by Find/SVP Inc. Emerging Technologies Research Group in 1997 in U.S.A found that one in ten households with access to the Internet has purchased online rising to nearly 40% among households that bank online.
fig 2 Shopping/Banking Profile
The hypothesis which this thesis seeks to evaluate may be paraphrased as;
It is possible to deliver a garden design service on the Internet using the existing range of computer equipment and software currently available to the domestic market.
Oppenheim(1992)indicates that where knowledge and understanding of a new product (or service) is incomplete, the presence of confounded variables can produce serious misinterpretations. Nevertheless, it is possible to identify some characteristics of a ‘Traditional’ and an ‘Internet’ service. The table below is a summary of a number of informal brainstorming sessions with Garden Designers and students of garden design.
Table 1. Characteristics of a Traditional and an Internet Garden Design Service
|
Traditional Service |
Internet Service |
|
|
It is known that a group of clients exists for the ‘Traditional’ Garden Design Service but no existing client group for an ‘Internet’ Garden Design Service could be identified. Exploratory pilot work as described by Oppenheim(1992) was carried out in the form of unstructured interviews with a number of ‘Internet Users’ in order to form a conceptualisation of the research problem.
The principle aims of this thesis are;
The principle objectives of the thesis are;
In the following two chapters, a description of the Internet is followed by a brief evaluation of the currently available hardware and software.
The methodology for researching and testing the hypothesis has two distinct stages. The first stage is a survey conducted on the Internet using a model website of an Internet Garden Design Service. The second stage of the research strategy is to set up a sample population and test a set of procedures for providing an Internet Garden Design Service.
The term Internet, as used in this thesis will refer to the network of computers around the world which are able to communicate with one another through the use of telecommunications equipment such as telephone lines, specialised cables and satellites. Porter (1997) states that the Internet "..provides a technological infrastructure for computer-mediated communication."
A computer may be described as ‘online’ when it is being used to connect to another computer (Weiss 1995). The number of computers actually ‘online’ at any time varies and for this reason, Weiss (1995) sees the Internet as "..not a static, unchanging thing" but as "..continually dynamic, reflecting the network of computers connected together at any one time."
There are a number of other terms such as ‘The Net’, ‘World Wide Web’, ‘Information Highway’, and ‘Information Super-Highway’, all of which are used to describe either the physical nature or the functionality of the Internet.
Concepts such as Cyberspace’, ‘Cybermarketing, and ‘Virtual Reality’, refer to the unique cultural interface popularised in literature by the works of William Gibson (Sterling, 1988).
The origins of the myriad E-mail systems available today can be traced back to researchers use of the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency NET) to share news and personal messages, according to Oliver and Kantaris (1997). The ARPANET was a global network of computers developed for defensive purposes by the military of the USA. The computer language developed in order to facilitate the transfer of messages between computers was called ‘Network Computer Protocol’ (NCP) which was soon superseded by the TCP/IP (Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol).
Although in its simplest form an E-mail system may be described as one which sends text messages from one computer to another, the developments in technology in this area necessitate the use of a broad definition. Fatah (1994) defines an E-mail System thus;
E-mail is the technology that transports electronic objects from a wide variety of applications, including messaging, across heterogeneous computers, applications, and mail systems with store and forward capabilities.
In order to communicate via E-mail one must know the E-mail address of the message’s intended recipient. Several ‘White Pages’ (E-mail directories) exist but are considered to be inadequate and incomplete by Vaughan-Nichols (1993) who posits that the best technique for finding someone’s E-mail address is to simply ask them or have them send a message to your address.
All E-mail systems include at least basic messaging functions for sending and receiving text messages and there are features common to most systems which could be considered as ‘Standard Features’. They are;
There are features which are not common to many E-mail systems and are regarded as ‘advanced features’ by Fatah (1994). They are;
More advanced features provided by an E-mail system rapidly become standard features in the computer industry which is undergoing some incredible changes in both hardware and software according to Fatah (1994) who postulates that "the introduction of new technologies is quickly changing the very nature of E-mail’. Fatah (1994) observes that features such as multimedia E-mail and workflow automation are having "a profound effect on the nature of information exchanged."
Some E-mail systems are developed for a specific and specialised type of communication such as BBS (Bulletin Board System) and IRC (Internet Relay Chat).
A BBS is a specialised E-mail system which acts as a storage facility for the posting and retrieval of messages, files and programs. The first BBS software was developed in 1978 by Ward Christensen and Randy Suess and was designed to have a similar appearance to the kind of cork bulletin board found in a school or office Hedtke (1995). BBSs’ frequently focus on a particular theme or topic. Participants on a BBS firstly subscribe to a particular group and then use their access to the BBS to observe and/or participate in that group. Many BBSs’ are used for the free exchange of technical information and files.
Using IRC enables participants to engage in real-time conversations with one or more people who may be located anywhere in the world. According to Rose (1995), the first IRC which enabled three or more users to converse at the same time was written by Jarkko Oikarinen and became available in 1988. An IRC service is most commonly included as a feature when accessing the Internet via a shell account such as Compuserve, America Online and U-net.
IRC systems gained international fame during the Persian Gulf War in 1991 and the coup against Mikhael Gorbachev in the summer of 1991 when the fast, multi-serve nature of the media was considered to be an uncensored, nearly unbiased source of information.
The World Wide Web (WWW) began in 1989 at CERN (Consseil Europeen pour la Recherché Nucleaire) as a means for allowing scientists to collaborate on projects across vast geographical distances. One of the scientists, Tim Berners-Lee, widely credited as being the inventor of the Web (Bracken, 1998), outlined two phases of the project which Zeltser summarises as;
Today the WWW, or the Web is distinguished from other related and overlapping Internet media by Gilster (1996) as being that collection of interlinked multimedia documents which are searchable through tools like Web Crawler, Lychos and World Wide Web Worm. These documents are viewed using a ‘browser’ program. There are many different browser programs available. The first browser program written was called Mosaic and is still available. The most popular browser programs are Microsoft Explorer and Netscape Navigator.
The ease of publishing documents as web pages on the WWW has led to a plethora of subject matter which can be ‘browsed’. Personal webpages, entertainment, education, and E-commerce (Electronic commerce) web documents can all be accessed from any computer which has access to the Internet.
Taylor (1996) states that the WWW is becoming increasingly popular for businesses as a forum for advertising their products and services due to the increasing number of people using the Internet as their main source for gathering information.
Marc Phillips, who established the specialist Online Research Division at Australia’s leading market research company, AC Nielsen.Mcnair, emphasises the need for companies to;
...evaluate the Internet as a business opportunity, as a distribution channel for products, information or services, a way to generate leads, or as a mechanism to help reduce the cost of doing business.
A diverse range of businesses have integrated the Internet into their business strategies. Taylor (1996) identifies some of the many benefits that a company can realise with a website;
The number of businesses becoming involved in E-commerce is increasing dramatically. One example of this involvement can be found in The Commonwealth Banks’ Netbank in Australia which, according to Phillips (1998), is designed to be a viable alternate banking service with accounts management services as well as shares brokerage services. Online banking services are becoming available in more countries including the UK and the USA where significant use of Internet services has been recorded.
Other businesses such as Amazon Books conduct all of their business including sales through their Internet website as a means of minimising the cost of selling books. Online sales are most common in businesses which have a product line of either books, music, or computer equipment and software according to Raggett (pers. comm) who suggests that this may have something to do with the nature of quality assessment being less tactile than for assessing for example the value of an item of clothing. Nevertheless, the development of interactive websites and online graphical product portfolios enables a wide range of product and services to be demonstrated on the Internet.
Ahuja (1997) states that "Perhaps the biggest technical challenge for online commerce pertains to securing transactions over the Internet" and identifies four basic types of security issues for online commerce which may be paraphrased thus;
The potential for development of the WWW as a world-wide low-cost marketplace is discussed by Ryans (1996) who asserts that the issue of secure transmissions has already been successfully tackled with the advent of modern encryption technology. However, modern encryption technology is only one tool to be used within a comprehensive strategy which a business needs to employ in order to maximise security.
For a business operating on the WWW, the risk of attacks to its’ data need to be kept within acceptable parameters. The motives commonly found behind security breaches are: industrial espionage, financial gains, or publicity.
The types of security breaches which a business may experience are discussed by Ahuja (1997) and may be summarised thus;
Dyson (1997) believes that as the amount of information used and the amount of business conducted on the Internet increases, so does the importance of developing a kind of electronic identity verification which has similar portability to the credit card.
The average specification for a P.C. (Personal computer - ‘Windows’ operating system) and ‘Applemac’ currently available to the domestic market is sufficient to run all of the software discussed here. Professional users enhance their systems with larger and better quality monitors, more RAM (Readily Accessible Memory), and faster CPU’s (Computer Processing Unit).
Whilst most professional design and graphics software is available for both the ‘Windows’ system and the ‘Applemac’ system, a far greater range of software overall is available for ‘Windows’ systems only and generally at a lower price.
Getting the finished design to the client may be achieved in a number of ways. The most common form is the printed design which may be outputted from the computer using a printer or a plotter. A plotter is a drawing machine which operates by picking drafting from a carousel and mechanically drawing lines on paper or velum. This machine is well suited to the task of producing technical drawings but has very limited rendering uses. The inkjet type printer is more versatile and particularly good for exhibiting rendered images. The quality of the rendered image is dependant upon the resolution capabilities of the printer expressed in DPI (Dots per Inch).
Images and models may also be recorded using Zip drives, DVD’s (Digital Versatile Disc) and CD-writers and sent to the client but each requires the client to have the appropriate peice of hardware in order to read or view the finished product. At the time of writing, only the CD-writer has an complementary piece of hardware (CD-Rom Drive) which is capable of reading the finished image and is common to most machines.
An further alternative is provided by means of the internet. Design images and information may be sent electronically either directly to the client or to a server from where the client may either view or download the data. In each case, the designers computer must have a modem which is capable of transferring the data over the telephone line. Here again, a number of different products are available. The main factor for consideration is the speed capability of the machine for transferring data.
The range of software available to the user is dependant upon the operating system which the computer uses. Whilst the various ‘Windows’ operating systems produced by Microsoft dominate the market overall, the rival ‘Applemac’ operating system produced by Apple still dominates the professional printing and graphics market according to Jansen (1999) who is the Art Director for De Limburger Dagblad (the main regional newspaper for the province) in The Netherlands. Jansen believes that the continuing dominance of the ‘Applemac’ system in this sector of the market is due to a more user friendly design which Thomas (1995) describes as the human-computer interface.
The type of software available which may be used within the design process will be a personal choice of the Garden Designer limited by;
Adams (1998) categorizes drawing programs according to whether they are ‘vector’ which he describes as being based on mathematical defined points and lines, or ‘raster’ or ‘pixel’ based which he describes as being based on a series of pixels or coloured dots.
Hybrid modellers as described by Jackson (1998) are able to store vector information which defines points, lines, areas and volumes and at the same time apply pixel based information in the form of bitmaps to the stored ‘virtual’ planes. The following table lists some examples of each type software.
Examples of Design Software ‘Types’
|
‘Vector’ based Software |
‘Pixel’ based Software |
Hybrid Modellers |
|
Autocad LT 98 |
Corel Draw 7 |
3D Studio MAX |
|
Intellicad |
Photoshop 4 |
LightWave 3D |
|
Turbocad Pro |
Satori FX64 |
Bryce 3D |
Table 2
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
At the conclusion of each case study, feedback will be obtained through an informal interview with each client in order to obtain answers to the following questions;
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;
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.
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.
The total number of visitors to the model website during the survey period (2nd Oct. 1998 - 30th Mar. 1999) was 302 excluding visits made by the author in order to check and maintain the site. The graph below illustrates how the visits are distributed over the survey period.
fig.8 Visitors to model website
There were no responses recorded to the online Enquiry Form and so a sample Client Group was assembled according to the parameters set out in 4.1 Survey Strategy. The Client Group was composed of the Hoogstad Family in Holland, the York Family in England and the Monagle family in Australia. The Client Group was instructed to complete the online Enquiry Form. The case studies proceeded according to the Internet model website and the Design Service provided was composed of;
A copy of each Design Proposal is contained within Appendices 3,4 and 5. The clients responses and comments to the feedback interview are summarised below. The York family and the Hoogstad family were interviewed in person. The interview with the Monagle family was conducted by telephone.
Case study 1 - York Family
|
Question |
Response Summary |
|
1. Did you feel that you were able to give sufficient survey information to describe your garden site and what your preferences were for the design? |
Yes |
|
2. How did you feel about the process for giving survey information? |
Awkward but not a two way thing so no elaboration of wants but also not influenced by the designer |
|
3. Did you feel that you received a satisfactory design service? |
Yes because the content of the report shows that their wants were actually used to produce an individual design and not simply some standardised design out of a box |
|
4. How did you feel about the process/method for describing your garden? |
Preferable because you can evaluate the design in your own time without the sales patter of the designer |
Case Study 2 - Hoogstad Family
|
Question |
Response Summary |
|
1. Did you feel that you were able to give sufficient survey information to describe your garden site and what your preferences were for the design? |
No. The spaces in the brief for additional notes were not noticed and as a consequence the carport area was not described sufficiently |
|
2. How did you feel about the process for giving survey information? |
Would have liked some helpful hints as to the best way of recording information and how to draw a plan of the garden |
|
3. Did you feel that you received a satisfactory design service? |
Yes because the content of the report shows that the design is tailored to their needs and has taken time to produce |
|
4. How did you feel about the process/method for describing your garden? |
It took a while to get used to the conceptual nature of the images and although there were explanations, they were more difficult to understand because of unfamiliarity with the english language |
Case Study 3 - Monagle Family
|
Question |
Response Summary |
|
1. Did you feel that you were able to give sufficient survey information to describe your garden site and what your preferences were for the design? |
Yes but forgot to mention the presence of standard roses up the side of the house |
|
2. How did you feel about the process for giving survey information? |
Yes because the house and garden plans were available so it was not necessary to measure anything |
|
3. Did you feel that you received a satisfactory design service? |
Yes - thought the sketches were excellent and use of colour was informative and much more than expected |
|
4. How did you feel about the process/method for describing your garden? |
They felt quite comfortable with the process because the drawings had sufficient labelling to explain all of the features |
At the conclusion of each interview, the sample clients were invited to make any additional comments regarding their experiences. The York Family stated they they would not use a Traditional Garden Design Service because of a perceived ‘hard sell element’ which they believe a designer would subject them to. Mr. York stated that they would be interested in using an Internet Garden Design Service.
The Hoogstad family live in a house which is more than 100 years old. They had recently built large double glazed doors opening out onto the innercourt as part of major renovation work proceeding in the house. They were particularly pleased with how the steps and garden would appear from this doorway.
The Monagle family were pleased to have a design which they felt could be implemented in stages in order to spread the cost over a longer period of time. Mrs. Monagle stated that she would be happy to use either an Internet Garden Design Service or a traditional Garden Design Service.
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.
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).
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;
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.
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.
The three case studies illustrate that it is possible to deliver a garden design service on the Internet using the existing range of computer equipment and software currently available to the domestic market.
The evidence of the data produced in the website survey indicates that in the absence of a broadly based marketing strategy, an Internet Design Service is unlikely to attract a potential client group in a six month period. However, where an appropriate marketing strategy has been employed, there is evidence in the form of the feedback interviews of the case studies to establish that it is possible to provide a satisfactory Internet Garden Design Service.
Further improvements could be made to the quality of an Internet Garden Design Service by using existing communications technology including the telephone and emerging technology such as video conferencing in order to support and broaden the range of communication. Similarly, the traditional Garden Design Service could be supplemented by the use of the Internet as a means to;
The York family described themselves as potential Internet Garden Design Service clients but stated that they would not consider a traditional Garden Design Service. The Monagle family stated that they would consider using either a traditional Garden Design Service or an Internet Garden Design Service. These statements invalidate model1 and model 3 in 4.1 Survey Strategy for describing a potential client group. Further investigation of a potential client group for an Internet Garden Design Service would need to account for the existence of potential clients who would not consider a traditional Garden Design Service. A suitable research strategy would include parameters for obtaining quantitative data froma number of sources including existing clients of Internet services and existing clients of traditional Garden Design services.
Ahuja, V. (1997) Secure Commerce on the Internet London, Academic Press Ltd.
Angel, D. and Heslop, B. (1996) The Internet Business Companion Massachusetts, Addison Wesley Publishing Company
Benedikt, M. and others (1994) Cyberspace. Massachusetts, The MIT Press
Bouton, G. D. (1997) Inside Adobe Photoshop 4, Limited Edition Indianapolis, New Riders Publishing
Fatah, B. (1994) Electronic Mail Systems - A Network Managers Guide USA, McGraw-Hill Inc.
Foster, D. (1997) Community and Identity in the Electronic Village . In Internet Culture edited by D.Porter. New York, Routledge
Gilster, P. (1997) Digital Literacy New York, Wiley Computer Publishing
Gilster, P. (1996) Finding it on the Internet New York, Wiley Computer Publishing
Hague, P. (1993) Questionnaire Design London, Kogan Page
Hague, P. and Jackson, P (1995) Questionnaire Design London, Kogan Page
Hedtke, J. (1995) Using Computer Bulletin Boards New York, MIS Press
Kearns, S.(ed.),(1996) Inside the World Wide Web Indianapolis, New Riders Publishing
Knight, J. (1995) Personal Computing for Business. London, Pitman Publishing
Kyas, O. (1997) Internet Security London, International Computer Press
Larijani,L. C. (1993) The Virtual Reality Primer New York, McGraw-Hill,Inc
Oliver, P.R.M. and Kantaris, N. (1997) E-mail on the Internet London, Bernard Babani (publishing ) Ltd.
Oppenheim, A.N. (1992) Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude London, Pinter Publishers
Phillips, M. (1998) Behind Australia’s Most Successful Websites Melbourne, Bookman
Porter, D. and others (1997) Internet Culture New York, Routledge
Rose, D. (1995) Internet C H A T Quick Tour - Real-time Conversations & Communications Online USA, Ventana Press
Settles, C. (1995) Cybermarketing Essentials for Success. California, Ziff-Davis Press.
Shneiderman, B. (1998) Designing the User Interface - Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction USA, Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.
Sinclair, I. (1997) Essentials of Computer Security London, Bernard Babani (publishing) Ltd.
Sterling, B. (1986). Preface in William Gibson Burning Chrome ix-xii. New York, Ace Books
Stern,N and Stern,R.A. (1996) Computing In The Information Age. New York, John Wiley and Sons
Tiley, E. (1996) Personal Computer Security California, IDG Books World-wide Inc.
Thomas, P. J. (1995) Introduction: The Social and Interactional Dimensions of Human-Computer Interfaces in Thomas, P. J. (ed.) The Social and Interactional Dimensions of Human-Computer Interfaces Cambrige, Cambridge University Press
Weiss, A. (1995) The Complete Idiots Guide to Protecting Yourself on the Internet Indianapolis, Que
Bracken, M. (1998) Mr Logic , Internet Magazine, 43, pp22-26
Stewart,D. and McNab,A. (1996) The Internet - A New Tool for the Landscaper Horticulture Week, Mar 21, pp.28-31
Jackson, K. (1998) New Developments in CAD Landscape Design, October, pp43-45
Adams, S. (1998) A Brave New Colourful World Landscape Design, pp39-42
Thompstone, G. (1999) CAD For Beginners Garden Design Journal, pp34-36
Lynch, P.J. (1995 University C\AIM WWW Style Guide [Online]. Available. Http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/StyleManual_Top.HTML
Zeltser, L. (1995) The World Wide Web: Origins and Beyond [Online]. Available: http://homepage.seas.upenn.edu/~lzeltser/WWW/