Get in touch with me at ananyamanishdesigns@gmail.com
UX OF
PIGEONS
Design Brief
Design an embodied experience revealing our relationship with pigeons in the urban environment.
Designers
Binoy Thomas, Sean Dolan, Shreya Bafna, Ananya Manish
Research Methodologies
Love Breakup Letter, AEIOU
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Key Words
Embodied Experience, Power Dynamics, Design for Discomfort
Introduction
Pigeons and humans share the city of London. There are 1 pigeon to every 3 humans in the city. The number of pigeons in the city is increasing by the day and to some people it is a nuisance while to some people they are their daily companions.
The journey to design an embodied experience revealing our relationship with the pigeon has proven to be a fascinating exploration. In the first week we started off by unfolding the topic with 3 research questions.
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Embodied experience: How do we design an experience that is received by the body and invokes a reaction from the body?
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Relationship with pigeons: What research methods should we employ to unveil the intricacies of pigeon and human relationship?
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Urban environment: Is the urban environment complementing or supplementing or degrading the relationship between humans and pigeons?
To answer the same and understand our user, the pigeon, we employed two research methods; love and breakup letter and AEIOU.
Research methods: Unravelling the Urban Pigeon
We kicked off our exploration with an unconventional approach - the love breakup letter. Initially dismissing it as a seemingly silly exercise, its true potential shone through when we as a group narrated our letters, almost performing them. By personifying the pigeon, we outlined how we love the soft coos and constant gaze of the pigeon; however, subsequently we want to break up with them as we find them clingy, dirty and simply annoying. As designers, this method helped to foster a unique relationship with the pigeon that prompted us to think outside the box. It further served as an ingenious conversation starter, laying the foundation for a deeper understanding of our existing relationship. However, the research findings were inherently biassed and could not be considered to be universally applicable. To collect more data about our user (The Pigeon) we moved to a more structured research method.
The AEIOU method, initially attempted as a group led to surface level observations and left us yearning for more meaningful insights. Recognizing the need to dig deeper, we pivoted our approach. Dividing into smaller groups, we conducted individual AEIOU sessions at different locations and times of the day. It was challenging to uniquely define and distinguish the environment, activity and interaction of a pigeon, but it was rewarding. Observing these birds in different time frames unveiled a rich tapestry of interactions in our shared spaces. It provided us with a nuanced, layered perspective on the dynamics humans share with these urban birds.
When analysing all of the data uncovered though, we found some common themes in the language we used and the descriptions of Pigeons; loneliness. I was very interested in the aspect of perceiving pigeons as ‘lonely’ especially because our research indicated them to be social animals. So where did ‘lonely’ come from? Were we pitying the pigeon? Were we considering the pigeon to be inferior to us? This term led us to explore concepts of exchanged emotions and power dynamics between humans and pigeons in the shared spaces.
Post a discussion with the class and our facilitators we established that we should look into exploring pigeons and how they impact our emotions. We wanted to ask whether we can use pigeons to elicit an emotional response.
How many pigeons are too many pigeons?
The brainstorming led us to some really interesting ideas, however most of them had to be discarded due to time constraints. Eventually, we decided to design an experience asking users with the question, “How many pigeons are too many pigeons?”. Our focus remained on highlighting the prevailing power imbalance favouring humans in urban settings. In navigating this power dynamic we also wanted to probe into the evolving sensitivity towards pigeons in changing context. Can emotions towards pigeons shift as they occupy more space and increase in number? Our objective was to design for discomfort.
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We started by creating a block of space for our users and then engaged in a brainstorming session to devise concepts that would impart a sense of invasion by pigeons into their environment.
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For the representation of pigeons, we explored two avenues
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Origami pigeons were considered, but their inherent cuteness detracted from the intended sense of intrusion.
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Utilising coned cups to symbolise pigeons showed promise, but the impact fell short of our expectations.
Added pigeon interaction and experimented with different approaches
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Using pointed devices to simulate poking when the pigeon count increases. Although, it was making the user feel our presence overshadowing the pigeon’s presence.
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Employing layered pigeon sounds, intensifying as more pigeons entered the user's space. This emerged as a remarkably effective method, gradually invading the user's environment. Tests comparing speaker sounds and headphone use favoured the former for a more immersive experience.
Regarding human interaction
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Standing and walking in the designated space proved to be distracting from the pigeon sounds.
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Optimal impact was achieved when users sat still, abstaining from additional activities throughout the experiment.
Ending the experience
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In the designed experience when the user asks us to stop, we wanted to end the experience by asking the user to kill the last pigeon. To invoke a stronger emotional response we decided to ask the user to tear off the last pigeon
The Outcome: Pigeon Paradox
"This is your space - you will be adding pigeons to your space, their noise coming with them. When you no longer want to share this space, let us know and the experience will end." - The script
This exploration aimed not only to question the threshold of tolerance for pigeons but also to carefully construct an experiential narrative that is parsimonious and prompts a conversation about the complex interplay between humans and urban wildlife.
User Testing and Reflection
Our user testing involved a sample of five individuals, yielding reactions closely aligned with our expectations.
“It was like you were trying to make me reflect”
“I feel so guilty”
“The loudness was quite uncomfortable”
“A stampede of pigeons”
“I don't want to kill the pigeon - I’ll continue”
However, presenting our experience to the entire class revealed a critical oversight. All our user tests had taken place in an empty room with a controlled environment. The dynamics drastically shifted when 20 people were directly observing the participants, rendering the entire experience ineffective. Despite meticulous consideration of various variables, we had overlooked the impact of the external environment.
Another realisation surfaced regarding the potentially harsh aspect of making users kill the last pigeon. In hindsight, I acknowledge that this could have been denoted differently or managed by one of us taking on the role of concluding the scenario.
Additionally, we should have been more attentive to cultural sensitivities related to noise and the portrayal of animal harm, as these factors can vary significantly. This reflection underscores the importance of considering a broader spectrum of influences, ensuring a more comprehensive and culturally sensitive approach in future iterations of such experiences.
References
The promise of ‘bird-friendly’ cities - Q+A with professor Tim Beatley (no date) University of Virginia School of Architecture. Available at: https://www.arch.virginia.edu/news/the-promise-of-bird-friendly-cities-qa-with-professor-tim-beatley.
Taghvaee, A.A., Kamyar, M. and Moradi, A. (2017) ‘Human, nature, city: From oblivion to review’, Open Journal of Ecology, 07(07), pp. 433–446. doi:10.4236/oje.2017.77030.
X, S. (2022) New, clearest evidence yet that humans are a dominant force driving evolution, Phys.org. Available at: https://phys.org/news/2022-03-clearest-evidence-humans-dominant-evolution.html.
Workshop process for design education by using Aeiou Approach to ... Available at: https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2381&context=drs-conference-papers.