A Case for Design: Exploring the Vision Plan for Zilker Park

In this blog post, I make a case for the design process and explain how it aids anyone looking to create a product, community space or program. The objectives are to understand the phases of the design thinking process, how it can cultivate deep trust and empathy with the community and how it is beneficial to the community and the people funding the project.

Below is a diagram representing the design thinking process, demonstrating that it is a non linear process.

To explain this process in detail, I am using a relatable example for people living in metropolitan areas. In Austin, there has been a lot of discussion about a vision plan for the future of Zilker Park (a well loved park in Austin). “Zilker Metropolitan Park Vision Plan is a community-driven planning process to establish a guiding framework for the restoration and future development of Zilker Metropolitan Park.” Below, I will run through the phases of design thinking related to creating the future of Zilker Park and explain why this process is beneficial.

In this phase, it is important to engage and empathize with the community who is at the center of what you are designing and understand people’s needs, challenges and desires related to the experience. The designers working on the future of Zilker focused on learning what prevented people from going to the park or fully enjoying their time there. This was done through surveys, meetings, and discussions with people in the community. In these forums, members of the public were able to share their thoughts.

Next, designers needed to define the problem the community is facing when trying to enjoy Zilker Park. What are common challenges, needs, desires that people are experiencing? The problems should always be focused on the community. Designers found that one common problem people faced was the lack of parking and difficulty getting to the park due to traffic.

Here it is beneficial to come up with as many possible solutions as possible for the defined problem. Designers working on the Zilker Vision came up with ideas for increasing parking, bike lanes, pedestrian bridges, shuttles etc.

In the prototyping phase, it is helpful to initially create a version of the solution that is inexpensive and easy to test with the community, something that can be iterated with feedback. The designers for the Zilker Vision created a map of the park with a detailed description of their proposals.

Here the prototype is tested with the community in order to get feedback. An important part of this step is finding out if the solution is actually what people want. You will likely need to repeat previous steps in the process, to come up with the best possible solution. The prototype for the Zilker Vision was shared online with the community with an attached survey and section to make comments. They were able to find out what solutions people liked, what people would not want to see for the park and why.

The design team working on this vision of Zilker Park are now in the process of iterating this design proposal with feedback from the community. The benefits of going through the design thinking process and repeating steps as needed is that you will get an end result that the community wants and will use. People feel listened to in the process and it fosters trust between the community and institutions. It also is beneficial to the organization funding the process because they are not wasting excess time and resources on solutions that people don’t want. Spending more time in the design process, will minimize problems you may face in the future.

In summary, the design thinking process helps solve problems benefit both the community and the organizations. It is an important tool in defining and achieving our goals.