One Park: Building a Holistic Visitor Experience at Washington Park
Since its founding in 1871 as one of Portland Oregon’s first public parks, Washington Park has grown to include several of the region’s most beloved and unique gardens, memorials and cultural institutions including the International Rose Test Garden, the Portland Japanese Garden, Hoyt Arboretum, the World Forestry Center and the Oregon Zoo. “One Park” became the project motto and was the mental and operational shift from neighboring institutions to one holistic park serving the Portland region. The subsequent workshops and plans approached all the work through this lens.
The Challenge
From the beginning, access to the Park was a challenge and continues to be so because of its location in Portland’s hills, adjacent to downtown.
Further, many Portlanders are more familiar with specific institutions within the Park than the overall Park itself and lack a clear understanding of what the Park offers and where it is located.
Project Vision
Human-centered research set the stage for the project.
Methods included interviews with Park visitors (and non-visitors), studying the history and development of the Park, analyzing visitor data, surveying stakeholders, field observations, creating a detailed analysis of visitor journeys, interviewing peer Park leaders, and examining case studies and analogous places including universities, theme parks and food cart pods. Insights from the research set the stage for next steps.
Human-centered research set the stage for the project. Methods ranged from interviewing Park visitors (and non-visitors) to examining case studies and analogous places.
One Park became the project motto and was the mental and operational shift from neighboring institutions to one holistic park serving the Portland region.
Micah Fischer
Working during COVID, the team designed shared experiences for the many internal team members to safely participate in the process.
Design & Execution
“One Park” became the project motto and was the mental and operational shift from neighboring institutions to one holistic park serving the Portland region. The subsequent workshops and plans approached all the work through this lens.
The key components of the action plan include identity, marketing and communications, access and circulation, visitor services and internal organization. Together, the team tied them back to a user journey diagram that we created during the research phase—so that the project stakeholders could see how action relates to needs. Within each action area, we identified specific projects and next steps for the Park to undertake.
Micah Fischer
The team designed a workshop-exhibit placed inside the Park. The immersive workshop used QR codes for participants to listen to interviews and read research articles.
Micah Fischer
Participants voted, commented, drew ideas and engaged in written discussions over the course of a day.
Collaboratively as One Team, they articulated the Park’s purpose, five core principles and role as a signature park serving the Portland region.
Through the research, we identified insights and opportunities. These opportunities turned to action in an operations plan prioritizing projects for the next decade.
Slideshow
One Park: Building a Holistic Visitor Experience at Washington Park
Micah Fischer
One Park stakeholder workshop: Building a holistic visitor experience at Washington Park
Human-centered research set the stage for the project. Methods ranged from interviewing Park visitors (and non-visitors) to examining case studies and analogous places.
One Park became the project motto and was the mental and operational shift from neighboring institutions to one holistic park serving the Portland region.
Micah Fischer
Working during COVID, the team designed shared experiences for the many internal team members to safely participate in the process.
Micah Fischer
The team designed a workshop-exhibit placed inside the Park. The immersive workshop used QR codes for participants to listen to interviews and read research articles.
Micah Fischer
Participants voted, commented, drew ideas and engaged in written discussions over the course of a day.
Collaboratively as One Team, they articulated the Park’s purpose, five core principles and role as a signature park serving the Portland region.
Through the research, we identified insights and opportunities. These opportunities turned to action in an operations plan prioritizing projects for the next decade.