This weekend I went to the Umm Al Emarat Park to picnic. Surrounded by plenty of plants, stones, and water, the park claims to be a resting place with modern designs for families. We had a lot of fun and had a nice view of the beautiful scenery. But something happened while I was walking around, which made me pay attention to the design of this public space.
Figure 1 https://blog.raynatours.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/umm-al-emarat-park.jpg
I was at the place where the trees were in the middle of the water, and some asymmetrical geometric slates were scattered in the water. What a wonderful view! I thought that it would be nice if I stood on one of these slates and took a photo of me surrounded by the water.
So I did what I thought. However, when I stepped on it, the security guard came over and said to me helplessly “No, you can not do that.” I stepped out with little embarrassment. I stood aside for a while, and I observed that all this security guard did was walk around the space and stop the visitors from stepping on the slates in the water. Isn’t this the same as the scene where people put their elbows on the exhibition platforms in the Louvre?
Figure 2
It is the affordance of the slates in the water that allows people to stand on it. It is the way it is designed that allowed this behavior. The size of the slate is just enough for an adult to stand. The slate is just placed where an adult can easily step on it. The color and material of the slate are the same as the normal road. It is these properties of the environment that provide the conditions for people to do so. It implies and allures people to do so.
Figure 3
One possibility is that the designer was intended to allow people to step on the slates, but later the park managers prevented this for some unknown reasons. But if this is not the designer’s intention, the designer should have designed it in other ways. The designer should have perceived from the user’s point of view. People come to the park on weekend afternoons, enjoying the natural plants and the sunshine, having fun like children. Of course, they want to step onto the slate in the water because why not? Isn’t it cool? Kids who come to the park are more willing to jump on the slate. What’s more, I even found this beautifully rendered promotional photo online where kids are jumping from one slate to another (Figure 4). However, the reality is that security will come and stop it. I think this contradiction may be related to the communication between the management department and the advertising department of the park.
Figure 4 https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTEQQCAoEVI6dsSOU5igtqX-OM46jv9U1VSXw&usqp=CAU
Another place I want to discuss is the park’s main road. The Water and fountains built in the middle of the road add beauty and atmosphere to the park. But it also prevents people from moving freely from the left to the right side of the road. This may not be a problem. But it becomes a problem if the ripe market is located on the main road. There were booths on both sides of the road. When I walked on the right side of the road, I was attracted by the goods on the left. But the water in the middle got in my way.
What many people did was to find the narrowest part of the pool and step over (Figure 6) (I don’t know if this is intentional that the narrowest part of the pool is just one step span for an adult) However, children, elderly people with limited mobility, and disabled people can not step over. They can only bypass the pool in the middle (a pool is about 10-15m long I guess), which definitely is not their desire path.
Figure 6 Figure 7
There are also some raised parts in the pool that makes me confused (Figure 7). If it’s a path for people to go across the pool, it’s not reasonable as it’s actually about 2cm below the water surface. You can still get your feet wet passing it if you’re not careful or if you’re wearing thin-soled slippers. If it’s not a road, I wonder what its purpose is. In fact, some people do use it as a path because of its affordance (though it is not the most ideal road). But the consequence of using this path is that you will encounter a more embarrassing path (Figure 8).
Figure 8
By analyzing examples of suboptimal design in parks, I learned how affordance in environments affects people’s behavior. I learned the importance of affordance and user experience in wayfinding design with my personal experiences. This motivates me to continue to observe the environment around me from the perspective of a designer and learn from the examples around me.
This is so interesting! I love the irony about what was on their website and what the security said to you. Why would they market the park with that image if you are not even permitted to do what is advertised? I love how you were able to apply the idea of affordance to a real life scenario 🙂
I remember reading your blogpost 2 days after I visited Umm Al Emarat park for the first time and it made me really happy because I had the exact same discussion with my friends when we were there. As there was no other way in sight to get to the other side, we had to take run-ups to cross the stream of water! Really makes me wonder if the designers really did not notice that or was that their purpose so people explore more of the park. Similarly, it was also really interesting to read your thoughts about the properties of the slates that create this affordance and that it may have originally been designed to actually allow people to step on it.
I really like how you connected principles we studied in class like affordance to your real-life experiences. So interesting! It also doesn’t make sense how they still have the image of kids playing and running over slates while in reality they don’t allow that.
I believe this might be due to, maybe, “safety precautions” or some incident that might’ve happened before in the past—like someone falling for example—so they don’t allow it anymore. There must be a reason, I believe. Anyways, thanks for sharing your experience!
You visited one of the gem place of Abu Dhabi. This Umm Al Emarat Park is very much greenery that we cant find out anywhere in Dubai. There is one such place in Dubai where i visited with the help of https://www.efficienttourism.com/ during my last tour, it was Love Lake. Man made lake with moon shape area. I am amazed to see that how they are able to convert the desert area into lush green kind of forest.