Improving Hiking in Burnet Woods
By Sarah Hammond, Sam Brockman, Amber McCarthy, and Stephanie Snyder
Getting to know the Problem
We began our research by exploring the Burnet Woods website to see what information it had to offer. A downloadable map was easy to find on both the desktop and mobile sites, as shown below.
Some of the downfalls that we identified with this map included a lack of trail length indicators, so hikers cannot gauge how long they should be on the trail. In addition, this map included a lack of different trail indicators, so the hikers would know which trail they are on if trails crossover. There is also no indication of available parking, or the roads that you cannot drive upon. The map was reasonably simple to read and process, and yet Burnet Woods is notorious for being easy to get lost within. We hypothesized that the problems may arise from there not being enough linkage between the map and the physical trails, as well as other signage and physical problems with the trail.
We also analyzed Burnet Woods’ website in the context of user experience, using Sugarcreek Park in Bellbrook, Ohio as a comparison.
From a user experience standpoint, there are a few key successes of Sugarcreek’s website that Burnet Wood’s website does not employ. There are significantly less images showing how one might interact with the park. Also, the website does not promote their trails and features visually as Sugarcreek does, a key mistake. There are no images or descriptions about features or trails to entice hikers to come explore the park.
Before we began more concrete, physical research to explore our hypothesis that there is not enough physical linkage between the online map and the physical trails, we delved into how other park systems have addressed similar renovation problems. In 2016, NYC initiative Parks Without Borders turned to crowdsourcing solutions to improve the public’s most beloved parks by setting up a website for the community to voice their opinions about possible improvements. The goal of these renovations was to better connect the borders and entrances of the parks to the surrounding neighborhoods. “More open park edges allow better views into the park. They make nearby streets feel connected to the park and park spaces accessible to the neighborhood,” states the New York Parks Department website. Burnet Woods certainly has problems with this. Many of its entrances are hidden in deep, shady overgrowth, or are unwelcoming to pedestrians.
User Research
For the next stage of research, we put ourselves into our user’s position and hiked Burnet Woods for approximately an hour.
Although there are trail markers, they are not consistently placed at entrances to each trail. These markers were often far from the actual entrance into the wood and only directed the user with a nondescript arrow. We found trail markers so covered in graffiti they could hardly be read, others blended into the overgrowth. Additionally, these markers only appear at the start and intersections of the trails.
We also conducted a few user interviews. First, we spoke to Ben Bailey, a DAAP Urban Planning student and a frequent walker of Burnet Woods.
Ben felt many of the issues surrounding Burnet Woods came from its lack of maintenance. The trails and signage were in disrepair, hard to notice as most of them were rotting wood, blending into the wooded background. He could not even recall if there were any posted maps at all, a clear sign that if there were any, they were not well placed or frequent enough to be of use.
Even though he liked wandering the heavily wooded trails, he has become lost many times in the park, with winding trails that let out unexpectedly in secluded areas on the other side of the park. Admittedly, he normally does not know where he will end up when he chooses a trail to wander at Burnet.
Also, there is not a clear central gathering point. The gazebo is difficult to get to on foot, as the only clear way to it is an uphill drive with no sidewalk. The entryways to the park are typically overgrown, or extremely car oriented.
We also interviewed Nick Snyder, a DAAP alum and avid trail runner about his experiences with different parks in general to get a better sense of what creates a positive trail running experience.
He explained that the best trails were always cleared of debris and easily accessible. In addition, when it came to his workouts, it was vital that the trails were marked so he knew his splits while working out. When we spoke about the signage, he explained that it must be simple and easy to understand. In his favorite park, Sugarcreek Park, each trail on the map is marked with a different color. In addition, the trails have multiple trail posts with corresponding colors letting you know where you are. Along with the trail posts, there are larger posts throughout the park that have a map on display.
Also, while hiking in Burnet Woods, we noticed two elderly women sitting on a bench at the Ludlow Avenue entrance. As we approached, we heard they were actually speaking about their thoughts on the updates to the Ludlow entrance. We took a moment to speak to them about this. To summarize, they had always thought walking in Burnet was very scary. They liked the new, updated entrance and fountain area, though, even if the metal benches were a bit cold on a chilly day. It felt very welcoming, but the rest of the park did not.
Potential Concept Solutions
In beginning the solution ideation process, we brainstormed and synthesized possible solutions from the information gathered in interviews.
Going forward, we decided to focus upon color coordinated, clear, and continuous trail signage as one of our concepts. Our second concept involves creating more open, inviting entrances that make the intended flow of pedestrian traffic clear.
In terms of signage, The current trail markers are a start. Their form is standard among parks with trails and could simply be relocated and touched up. We propose painting the markers with bright colors to distinguish one trail from another and increase the visibility from a distance. These markers will only appear at the start and intersections of the trails. Spray painted colored dots on trees at regular intervals consistently along the trail that correspond to the trail marker’s color will also ensure one stays on course.
The existing trails are a great escape from urban life, but they are in disarray with fallen trees and overgrown paths. To the casual passerby, these trails look uninviting and potentially insurmountable. Cleaning up the trails, particularly the starts of the trails, would greatly improve the accessibility of taking a stress free afternoon hike.
Many entrances of the park are uninviting and frankly unsightly. We propose creating entrances that are warm and welcoming these points. According to the elderly women’s assessment, the north west corner of the park already accomplishes this quite well. It is a grand and habitable location. In other locations, a simple archway proudly stating Burnet Woods would help draw passersby into the park and encourage hiking.
Similarly, many of the entrances are not ideal for foot traffic with no sidewalks. These entrances are also intimidating and do not communicate that there are peaceful hiking trails within. Welcoming structures and sidewalks at the drives that indicate that you are in fact in the correct place would encourage people to enter. Maps of the full park at all these entrances would indicate where to go from the moment a pedestrian enters. Having printed maps at these points would also help to navigate the winding trails. These map stands should also be placed at points of traffic within the bounds of the park to ensure that people feel comfortable navigating the park.
User Testing Method
To test our colored trail signage proposal, we would have a test group try to navigate a few Burnet trails as they exist now, interviewing all of them afterward to assess ease of navigation, problems, and successes. We then would attach colored paper circles to trees at a regular interval to indicate you are on the correct path, standing in as a temporary solution for our permanent spray paint solution. We would also install simple painted wood trail markers. Trail maps, with corresponding colored trails, would be mounted to temporary wood posts along the path at key intersections. This method would be effective for a test run, because the materials are inexpensive and non-permanent. With these in place, another test group would be sent into the trails and the same interviewing process would take place afterwards, collecting information about its effectiveness.
The results of this test would be able to determine if the markings help navigation on the trails, and also how we could improve these markings even further to a more permanent and durable solution.
To test the our welcoming entrance hypothesis, we would use wood to make a prototype of our proposed structures. We would conduct surveys on the effectiveness of these structures, as well as conduct interviews of frequenters of Burnet Woods.
Takeaways
As a group, we learned how to step outside of our rigid point of view to empathize with the users of the park and understand their frustrations more clearly. In hiking around Burnet Woods to see problems users may be encountering, we also learned that it is important to gain a physical, personal understanding of the problem at hand, so that we can find better possible solutions.
We ventured from making changes to the website to actually brainstorming ideas to physically implement into the park, because it became clear those solutions would be more accessible. If we were to do this project again, we would conduct more interviews to have a more diverse perspective of the problem. In all, we would honestly grade our group ten out of ten for process. We truly enjoyed the process of allowing our users and research guide us to the solutions that were most applicable and needed.
Inspiration/Resources