Mappings: Green Lake, Seattle
Final Map
November 20, 2018
For the final version of the map, I incorporated feedback from the previous iteration to strengthen the communication of the forces at play. I simplified the movement into walking and running, and added the dimension of most-frequented paths. The noise level was illustrated over a threshold so only the loudest areas were represented. I also represented these as circles that radiate outward from the center, as sound travels in the real world. Trees are separated from grass and shrubbery. Finally, the entire map was vectorized which simplified the image and communicated the forces more directly.
If I took this map myself, I might use it if I wanted to know popular running routes along the lake or be compelled to investigate areas where the noise level is high. There is probably a lot of activity there. Or perhaps I’d want peace and solitude and go where the noise level is low. I’d know to look at the popular photo spots for scenic views.
Part 3: Combined Map
Version: Nov 13, 2018
Part 2: Five Forces, Five Maps
Force 1: Tree Cover and Shade
Force 2: Noise Level
Force 3: Amateur Photographers
Force 4: Foot Traffic
Force 5: People Sitting 
Part 1: Description of Five Forces
Force 1: Noisiness vs solitude
One of the things that makes Green Lake a great park is the diversity of activities that happen there. I noticed the sounds change a lot depending on where you’re placed in the park. If you’re near the playground, there are the excited yelps of kids. Standing near the tennis courte you hear the thwop of the tennis ball being hit back and forth. Other parts of the park are more serene with the lake water gently lapping at the lake and the ducks calling over the water.
Force 2: Wheel-based mobility (vs feet)
During my observation I saw the following types of transportation around Green Lake: walking, driving, rollerblading, skateboarding (both manual and electric), biking, and pushing baby buggies.
Force 3: Cellphone Photographers
Every time I am at Green Lake I always witness amateur photographers taking photos. Usually it’s of the lake. It would be interesting to map which areas photographers are naturally drawn to. One of my observations I found a lady stooped over some mushrooms on the ground.
Force 4: Open vs Canopied Spaces
The multitude of trees is a prominent feature of Green Lake Park. The density and placement of the trees naturally creates some spaces that are covered in a canopy of trees, whereas other places—the sports field for example—are wide open.
Force 5: Sedentary vs Active
The many benches around Green Lake offered people an opportunity to sit and be still. But it wasn’t just the benches where people decided to sit. The sports field had people running around as part of a soccer game, but also had people sitting quietly on a blanket.
(3.1.1: Partner Assignment)
Hi Ken!
Looking over your map, here’s a couple of details I really liked:
Your forces are pretty interesting, there’s a good juxtaposition between movement speeds and noise levels. I think it’s pretty smart to use opacity as measurement of one, and gradient for the other. In addition, though there were some initial confusion over some of the color, it was clear what the camera icon meant, as well as the chaos in the forest, and that the pier is a high traffic area. Even though a lot was discussion in office hours, your map overall was fairly clear in what it wanted to communicate.
I did go to office hours so here were some of the comments made on your map:
– the lower opacity isn’t as clear when higher opacity is layered on top
– it might be valuable to show direction in movement – are people going a specific direction in a specific area? Is there increased direction around a certain time?
– look ways to add “richer” layer between the different gradients and textures of greens – like trees, forest, grass, etc
– the blue for water and the blue for no movement seemed similar enough – maybe change one of them to be another color?
– gradient between blue and yellow isn’t suuuuper clear since there seems to be only 3 colors used for line flows
Hi Ken!
Awesome forces! I like how you identified the opposite forces at play in each, showing how they can all live in harmony in this space! Reiterating – the yellow is a little hard to see. I like how you describe the Noise Level with the pink, I interpret the more opaque areas as areas where there is more noise?
Hi Ken,
I really like the colors you used to depict the different forces on your maps. I also really like your base map, I felt like I could see everything but it was still neutral enough to not overshadow the forces. I wonder if there is a way to better show the photographers and people sitting to make them more visible. I can’t wait to see your final map!
Thanks, Tiffany.
Good point on making the photographers more visible. A light yellow may have not been the best choice ha!
Hello Ken!
I really enjoyed your post, as your forces were much different from other forces I saw with this project. Once your final map is done, it will be interesting to see the correlation between open/canopied spaces and sedentary/active people.
The one critique I have is for the “Amateur Photographers” force map. The yellow blends in a bit with the background… maybe you can chose a larger/more prominent icon to display the spots, or change the color. That would help with readability!
Hey Alexa!
Thanks for your kind words about the choice of forces.
I agree Amateur Photographers don’t show up enough. I like your suggested solutions – and I hadn’t considered using an icon but I rather like that idea. I’ll have to experiment with it.
Ken I really enjoyed your take on the park, especially your juxtaposition of the elements at play! I’m a little confused on the forces of your maps, only because the numbering is off between the written post, and the map you created. Is there a way that you can have those two in sync? For example, Force 4 is foot traffic for the map and canopies for the written part. However, reiterating what others have said, I really enjoyed how you did the versus (e.g., sedentary vs active). I also enjoyed your take on the amateur photographers and how you mapped them. Looking forward to seeing your combined map!!
Thanks, Joseph! That makes sense – that synch-up issue would drive me crazy and I didn’t realize it. I’ll reconcile it for the final product.
Hi Ken, I enjoyed learning about Green Lake from your mapping.
Maps 3 and 5 are a bit harder to read as the contrast for the overlay is harder to see. I also wonder if there is a way to bring focus to the area rather than the border of the image cutting to white being the border.
Also, some feedback I got from Jesse about my maps that you might want to think about for your own is depth of force. I have singular focus in my forces, but I plan to begin defining the diversity within the force a bit more. I like how you have done that with you’re map 2 for Noise Level. Is there a way to do that with the other forces?
Ken I also agree that force 3 and 5 could use a little bit more contrast with the map. That way we can see the extent of your hard work mapping these forces out. – Joe
Hey John!
Noted on Maps 3 and 5!
And wow thanks for mentioning that feedback from Jesse. That’s great advice. Some of the maps I enjoyed looking at had forces broken into gradients of the amount or other subcategories. I’ll definitely play around with it and see what emerges.
Thanks again.
Hi Ken,
I loved your force 2 “noises” map as I could picture where the epicenter was for the start of the noise (I may be interpreting this map incorrectly). It resembled how earthquakes are mapped so I just automatically thought that this resembled it.
Overall, I liked how you contrasted aspects within your force using “vs” in your descriptions.
Can’t wait to see how your final map will turn out.
Rona,
Thanks! Mapping the epicenter of noises was definitely my intention so I’m happy to hear you interpreted it that way too. I’ll see if I can get even more precise and have it radiate out equally for the final map.
Hi Ken, really great observation you have. I like how there are contrast perspectives between each force. I really think they are all important within each force you had.
I also really like how you put different texture to create the highlight for each force. Can you share what tools did you use to create them?
Hey Annie,
Happy to show you the thing in Photoshop. It involves painting over the map, but setting the layer’s “blending mode”. We can hop on a Skype call sometime if you want a demo.
Hey Ken, I really enjoyed your maps. Your use of color really drew me in. The highlighted trees and the noise levels made the most impact on me. I really thought you did well in indicating opposing forces within the same area. I thought you pulled it off really well.
Thanks, Daniel! Glad the colors and styles are to your liking.
Is it just me, or does the noise map look like a human stomach? Can’t unsee it.
Hey Ken,
I really enjoyed your observations and the forces that you chose. I also chose to observe a park and I used much more concrete forces. I love how you took yours to to the next level and focused on more subtle things like noise level, foot traffic, and amateur photography.
I really like the washed out gray aerial photo that you used for your base map. It made the colors for each force really pop. The first two forces are really easy to see and interpret — great job! I like your use of color and texture.
It’s a bit hard to see Force #3 and Force #5. I suggest making the circles/dots a litter bigger or using an icon. I also suggest that you use a thicker line weight and slightly darker blue color for Force #4 so it’s easier to see.
I can’t wait to see the finished product. You’re off to an amazing start!
Cassandra!
Thanks for the feedback. Your feedback is super helpful and I’m kind of jealous to be honest about the way you mapped the park—I definitely now want to include more subcategories and forces at play. You make great use of icons and numbering, something I’m considering incorporating into my next revision.
And yes to thicker lines! 🙂
Ken,
I was just there a few months back visiting a friend at the southern end of the lake near the pitch and putt golf course! Fond memories of running around the lake and the numerous active locals out and about. Count me in for someone who enjoyed your cellphone force as well – astute observation!
Not sure if it was conscious or not but I noticed your observation generally seem to be “inside” the park. Is there anything noteworthy, transitions or otherwise, about the area immediately surrounding the park at all? Does it gradually transition to lush green and more non-car paths or is it quite sudden? Alternatively does the skyline (if a skyscraper was at the edge of the park) invoke certain emotions or factors that could affect perception of the park? Just some things to consider as you begin mapping.
Q!
Come back any time. 🙂
I really like the questions you pose and the implications for the map. One thing I noticed about your map was how it tackled more esoteric forces. As I update the map I’ll think more about the perceptual stuff and how the park transitions into the area around it.
Thanks!
Looks like a great park, Ken. I especially noticed the colors in your pictures. I’m guessing the sun was out, because everything looks warm almost golden, even through from the clothes, it looks like it’s actually chilly. I see a lot bright greens, reds, and golds, while I normally think of Seattle in more cool colors: blues and grays. I’m wondering if this park feels a little more vibrant than other parts of Seattle or if I’m reading to much into your pictures. I agree with the other posters that you picked up on something interesting with the photographers. I’m looking forward to seeing that on your map.
Kathy, thanks!
You are right – it is both quite colorful and quite chilly at the same time. Please come visit! Maybe when it’s warmer.
Hi Ken,
This post made me wish I lived in Seattle. Absolutely gorgeous! It seems that it offers something for everyone, which makes it a super wholesome park. I found your force “Cellphone photographers” particularly interesting. It fascinates me that mobile phones have dominated our society so much that people taking photos of things with their cell phones have become a force in itself! It would be interesting later on to see if the areas people take photos of are also the areas people like to spend the most time in. Or perhaps there isn’t a pattern at all and different people find different areas to be the most alluring to them!
I am curious to see how you depict mode of transportation in your map. The way I imagine I would do it is by assigning the most common pathways for each mode of transportation in different colors, but it’ll be interesting to see what you come up with!
Grace!
Please come visit 🙂 I like your idea to compare where people take photos with where people spend their time.
And yes, I did only one mode of transportation (foot) in my v1 map, but I want to incorporate more modes for v2
Great post Ken. Provided photos helps a lot with understanding each force. It was really thoughtful to use comparisons. I was wondering if you observed one area of the lake or these forces were present in different areas.
Thanks!
I mainly explored just the South-east corner of the lake. I chose this place because it had a variety of activities. Would definitely change as I moved around the lake though.
Ken,
I think you did a great job of choosing a location and interesting forces. You’ve gone beyond traffic flow or parking maps into some more interesting qualitative observations.
Force 1: Noisiness vs. Solitude
I think this is a great force to map. I’m curious how you’ll go about mapping this. I could imagine noise hot spots on the map as a possibility?
Force 3: Cellphone Photographers
I love this force! It will be very interesting to see what kinds of patterns emerge from your mapping.
Force 4: Opened vs. Canopied Spaces
I think this is a great force for a park. I may have some bias from living in Southern California, but the first thing I do when getting to a park is to look for a nice shady spot. I would be curious to see what kind of correlation there is between shady spaces and people. Do people tend to congregate under shade? Does that change day by day? Does the park have artificial canopies like table umbrellas or awnings? Is there a variation in usage between shade from trees vs from artificial shade?
Lisa, I like your idea about observing the correlation between spots with shade and people!
It definitely changes based on the time of the year. I thought about how this map really represents just autumn in Green Lake (and probably why map-makers don’t often make maps with forces that vary by season!). I’m really interested to explore some of the interactions you talk about.
Interesting choices on the forces Ken. I’m curious how you’re going to tackle the “VS” Sections on your various maps. Especially Noisiness Vs Solitude; maybe a sort of heat map or density map where sound is what is tracked.
Thanks Greg. Yes, I found when mapping that I sort of had to choose one force or the other on the versus section. Good observation.