SI 622 Assignment 4: Interviews, Personas, and Scenarios

Authored by:
Group 3: The Garden Club
Alyssa Kata
Marlon Phillips
Han Kyong Yun
Jun Zhang
Jim Rampton

Prepared for: David Michener

February 26, 2013
Word Count: 2,998
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Executive Summary

Our project is focused on the information needs of potential users to the University of Michigan
Peony Gardens website. With the help of the garden staff, we recruited five paid members of
the garden who volunteered to help us with our research by being interviewed. These people
constituted two main potential user groups- peony enthusiasts and garden visitors. It is worth
noting that the website has been recently redesigned and only one interviewee has used the
site in its current iteration. Therefore, we focused on finding out what type of general information
our interviewees find helpful when planning garden visits and/or researching peonies. Once all
interviews were complete, our team analyzed the data we had collected and generated four
findings and corresponding recommendations for each as follows:
Finding 1: Users have a strong need to know when peonies are in bloom.
We recommend adding more salient information related to the bloom season, such as a
slide on the homepage with an estimated bloom date for the current year (once
available), an illustration of the peonys life cycle, and historical data on past bloom
seasons.
Finding 2: Accurate and detailed information on where to park when visiting the
Peony Garden is important to garden members.
We recommend adding more detailed information to the gardens website on parking
and adding maps to the parking information on the main Matthei Botanical Gardens and
Nichols Arboretum site. We also suggest adding pictures of parking garages or lots for
those who are unfamiliar with Ann Arbor.
Finding 3: Many users were unaware that there is a new, updated version of the
Peony Garden site, partly because the site is difficult to find through the main
MBGNA site.
We recommend promoting the updated site through the Peony Gardens Facebook page,
member listserv, and on the main MBGNA site, since that is how users indicated they
navigated to the old site. Promotion will be particularly beneficial just before and during
bloom season when interest in the garden peaks.
Finding 4: Users want to see a variety of pictures that focus on the experiences
they can have at the garden and not just the flowers, particularly on the main page.
We recommend including more pictures of garden events and of the garden overall to
complement the many pictures of individual peonies found on the site.
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Introduction

The University of Michigan Peony Gardens website (http://mbgna.umich.edu/peony) is a sub-
site of the larger Matthei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum (MBGNA) site, as the
garden itself is a part of the Nichols Arboretum on UMs Central Campus. The sites global
navigation toolbar breaks the site into five different sections: About the Garden, Plan Your Visit,
Peony Database, Peony Resources, and Get Involved. Accordingly, there are a few different
ways that users would potentially use the site. The first way would be to find out general
information about the garden, such as garden history, news/events, and information on the
gardens historic peonies. Secondly, users might come to the site for information on planning
their visit to the garden, such as when the peonies are in bloom, how to get to the garden and
where to park, tours offered, and photomaps showing them where to find their favorite peonies
once there. Users may also come to the site in order to search for specific peonies in the Peony
Database section, or browse by cultivar, cultivar group, breeder, form, color, season, or country
of origin. Users may also take advantage of the Peony Resources section to find information on
how to care for their flowers, peony diseases, peony organizations, where to find other peony
gardens, as well as watch informational videos. Finally, users could potentially use the site to
find out how to give back to the garden with their time or money.

Taking into consideration these tasks, our group decided to target potential users of the site in
the form of paid garden members. We felt these people would encompass two main user
groups, garden visitors who want to find information on the garden itself and peony enthusiasts
who want to find information on peonies (with some being in both categories). Because we did
not target current users of the site specifically, our research questions focused more generally
on our interviewees information seeking habits and the type of information they are seeking
when using the Internet to plan garden visits or when doing online research related to peonies
or gardening. Specifically, our research questions were: 1) What do users want to know about
peonies when they research them online? and 2) What information do users look for in order to
plan garden visits? Our hope is that the information we have found will help our client develop a
picture of the information that is important to the sites potential users and what type of
information will bring them regular site visitors.

Methods

During this part of the project, we conducted five interviews with five different potential users of
the Peony Garden website. The interviews gave us qualitative data that we then analyzed to
form our recommendations.

Based on our initial meeting with our client, we concluded that our target population was
potential visitors to the Peony Garden who were interested in finding out specific information on
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peonies and who wanted to know when the garden was in bloom. This group mainly consisted
of photographers, peony enthusiasts, and retirees who were members of the MBGNA.

After talking with our client, we learned that the Peony Garden attracts thousands of visitors and
are made up of different demographics. Due to this large and diverse demographic of potential
users, we decided to only contact members of the garden because being a paid member
indicates some interest in the Peony Garden and/or peonies in general. These members were
sent an email invitation by staff at the garden to participate in our study and then emailed by our
group if their availability fit within our schedule.

Our interviewees were:

! U1: Female, Late 30s, Profession: Commercial Title Examiner, Photographer,
Residence: Howell, MI
! U2: Male, Mid 50s, Profession: Retired Teacher, Peony Enthusiast and in Master
Gardener club, Residence: South Lyon, MI
! U3: Female, Mid 60s, Profession: Retired Teacher, Peony Enthusiast and Grower,
Residence: Plymouth, MI
! U4: Male, Mid 50s, Profession: Information Technologist, Residence: Saline, MI
! U5: Male, Mid 60s, Profession: Professional Recruiter, Peony Enthusiast, Residence:
Temperance, MI


On average, our interviews lasted one hour. Three were conducted in person and two were
conducted over the phone. Each interview was conducted in pairs (one interviewer and one
note taker) and questions were read from our interview guide (See Appendix A). Some of the
questions helped us gather basic demographic information on the participants and their
experience with computers and the Internet, but most focused on users experience researching
peonies, planning garden visits, and their familiarity with the Peony Garden website.

After the interviews, we met as a group and conducted an interpretation session, summarizing
each interviewees responses. Each interview was summarized in bullet form on a white board,
which was followed by a discussion of the common factors that were present. By analyzing
their comments, we uncovered trends and differences in their experiences, needs, and
expectations. We formed four findings and corresponding recommendations based on these
trends. Their comments also helped us create our personas and scenarios (See Appendix C).

Findings and Recommendations

Finding 1: Users have a strong need to know when peonies are in bloom.

Evidence: From the responses of all interviewees, we found one common information need
related to the Peony Garden is finding out when the peonies are in bloom. According to our
interviewees, peonies only blooms for a short period and unpredictable weather can effect the
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bloom date. Therefore, it is important for users to know information on blooming time so that
they can schedule a visit to the garden accordingly. U2, U4, and U5 treasure the blooming time
a lot because their purposes are either to visit the garden at an appropriate time to view the
beauty of the peony or to study the peony when it blooms. As a photographer, this information is
even more important for U1 because she wants to capture the most beautiful moments of the
peony.

Recommendations: Therefore, our first recommendation is to put an estimated date in a
conspicuous place on the website to let users know when the peonies are in bloom and when to
visit. Since the top slider only shows two slides with a short introduction, we recommend adding
one more slide to show the estimated blooming date or interval this year. Once the user clicks
on the date slider, the system can also show data related to the history of past seasons
blooming dates. We think this will also satisfy the need for people like U2 and U3 who research
peonies.

Another recommendation is to establish a visual timeline on a sidebar of the homepage to
represent the whole growing process of the peony. For example, right now the peony is covered
with snow, so the illustration could show the snow-covered roots and once it starts growing the
illustration grows too. By doing this, we think it will provide more delicate pictures for users to
learn about the peony but also give users a sense of the current status of the garden.

Finding 2: Accurate and detailed information on where to park when visiting the Peony
Garden is important to garden members.

Evidence: Three interviewees mentioned that when planning a trip to the garden they have
difficulty figuring out where to park. All three users were from outside of Ann Arbor and had
tried to obtain information on parking at the Peony Garden at some point before or during their
visit. U1 mentioned that because parking is important to her and because she had difficulty
finding information online about it, she has called the garden staff directly to ask for directions.
U3 also indicated that parking was important to her friends that visited the garden with her and
who were less familiar with the area than she was. U5 stated that he is concerned about where
to park when visiting because he has had trouble in the past. However, he found brochures he
obtained at the garden to be helpful in solving this issue. Upon our further investigation, parking
information is present on the site currently but is difficult to find.

Recommendations: We recommend adding a link under the Plan Your Visit tab of the
navigation toolbar dedicated solely to parking in order to make this important information easier
to find. Alternatively, parking could be featured more prominently on the Getting to Nichols
Arboretum page, since currently it is mentioned only in an indistinguishable paragraph. We
also recommend that the Parking Instructions page on the MBGNA main site,
(http://www.lsa.umich.edu/mbg/files/Parking_instructions_Arboretum.pdf), which currently has
parking information in a text-only format, be updated to include a map alongside the text
directions. This will help users visualize the information they are reading, since many are not
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Ann Arbor residents and thus, do not recognize street names. For the specific lots and parking
garages that are listed, exact addresses and photographs of the outside may also be useful.

Finding 3: Many users were unaware that there is a new, updated version of the Peony
Garden site, partly because the site is difficult to find through the main MBGNA site.

Evidence: Only one of the interviewees had used the current version of the website or was
even aware that it had been updated. This user, U1, only knew about the updated sites
existence because garden staff had told her about it, since her photography was featured on the
site. Also, U2, U3, and U5 stated that they were unable to find information about the gardens
events, information that is clearly highlighted on the updated sites homepage, further evidence
that these users were unaware of the updated sites existence. Some users also said that while
they knew of the gardens old site, it was difficult for them to find it through the main MBGNA
site (the main way they had navigated to the old site). Even though the Peony Garden website
has been updated, according to our client the path from the MBGNA site to the Peony Garden
site has not changed. It is likely that users did not know that the site had been updated because
of the difficulty they have had in the past navigating to it.

Recommendations: We recommend promoting the gardens new website through the member
listserv and Facebook page. Users who have already shown an active interest in the garden by
liking the Facebook page or joining the listserv would be likely to use the new website after
being made aware of it. This would include a list of the websites new features, such as the
events calendar and database, in an email to the listserv and a graphic-oriented post or video
tutorial on the Facebook page, as well as a direct link to the site in both. Providing a direct link
to the site using these mediums will give potential users the opportunity to go to the site without
the difficulty of navigating though the main MBGNA site. It will be beneficial to inform users of
the new website, particularly on the MBGNA main site, near the bloom season, when interest in
the garden peaks.

In order to solve the problem with the difficulty of navigating the Peony Garden site from the
MBGNA site, it may be necessary to talk with the site administrators of the MBGNA site. Doing
this could help find a solution to make linking to the Peony Garden site from the main site easier.


Finding 4: Users want to see a variety of photographs that focus on the experiences they
can have at the garden and not just the flowers, particularly on the main page.

Evidence: U1 mentioned that during her visit to the current version of the site she felt that the
pictures in the database were generic and would like to see more variety. U5 mentioned that he
wanted to see pictures that encompass the whole garden and show off some of the experiences
that are possible. The current version of the site has landscape pictures, but there are only a
few and often buried. For example, there is a photo on the Plan Your Visit page that shows
several people watching a performance but it is small. On the main page of the website the
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slider picture switches between two close-ups and does little to show the landscape of the
garden or any identifiable images that are unique to the garden.

Recommendations: We recommend adding pictures to the slider and throughout the site that
encompass the landscape and the events that take place there. This would involve asking
volunteer photographers to take additional pictures of the surrounding landscape and garden
events. According to U1 and U5, the Shakespeare Festival is a popular garden event and we
feel it is important to showcase photos of events like this on the site to remind people of the
overall experience they can have as a garden visitor, especially for those who might not
necessarily be peony experts/enthusiasts.

Discussion

The results generated from our interviews have some shortcomings because of our limited time
and resources. Our first limitation is our sample size. We only interviewed five people because
of our limited time to complete our assignment but in the future it may useful to collect
information from a larger number of people. This is especially true since the garden itself has
thousands of visitors each year, most of whom would likely need to look up some type of
information prior to their visit, such as where to park or where their favorite peonies are located.
Additionally, we only targeted garden members for our study but those who are not members or
even visitors of the garden would also be potential users of the site, considering its wealth of
information on peonies. Another shortcoming stems from the fact the site has been redesigned
since the last bloom season, and so most of our interviewees stated that they had used the old
site but not the new, redesigned one, (or they had not used either site). Although we asked
them general questions about their information needs, their answers may have been skewed if
they had the features of the old site in mind. We also conducted two of our interviews over the
phone and this may have led to different answers than in-person interviews would have. Finally,
the people that we interviewed may not make up a truly representative sample of potential users
because we chose only those whose schedules aligned with our availability. In the future, we
recommend studying a larger group of potential users to generate more accurate results. It
would also likely be beneficial to interview current users of the updated site to get information on
how they use the site and what their overall impressions are, instead of just collecting general
information on potential users information needs.


Conclusion

Our initial interview with the stakeholder led us to the idea that the website primarily provided
information to visitors who were attempting to visit the garden and acted as a resource for
enthusiasts who wished to know more about the peonies. Even though we had to limit our pool
of interviewees to just members of the garden, the qualitative data that was gathered from our
five interviews helped us understand what type information is important to people when planning
their garden visits or researching peonies. Our recommendations address their needs and
other findings we came across in our research with the hope that they will increase the value
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and ease of use of the site. As we move forward the next step will involve sharing our
recommendations with our client and addressing their feasibility as they try and incorporate
them into their site. We will also conduct future research on how to improve the site.











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References

Rampton, James. n.d. [Photo of middle-aged man]. Retrieved from
https://www.facebook.com/jmrampton74

Rath, Alexander. n.d. Portrait of pretty senior woman gardening. Retrieved from
http://www.shutterstock.com/g/gajdamak/sets/437745-gardening

Vanzenten, Nicole. 2013. [Photo of red-headed man]. Retrieved from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/85211685@N04/8496740804

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Appendices

A. Interview Guide

Researcher Preamble:

Hi, my name is _______ and I am a masters student at the University of Michigan School of
Information. Our team is going to conduct an interview with you and try to find out about your
motivations, goals, and habits related to your use of online resources to research peonies or
plan garden trips or outings. The Peony Garden is a collection of historic peony species and its
website is designed to help people get a better understanding of the peony and arrange time to
visit the garden when it is in bloom. During the interview, I will ask you a series of questions.
Feel free to interrupt me and ask me anything in particular if a question does not make
sense. Anything you say will be kept confidential, as you will be assigned a random user
number in our report. You can also stop the interview at any time or decline to answer a
question. Our hope is that your answers will help us shape our recommendations for the Peony
Garden staff as they continue development of their website. Thank you again for your
participation.

Interview Questions

Demographic information and connection to the Peony Garden:
What is your interest in peonies or the Peony Garden?
Find out if they are a peony enthusiast or garden visitor, or both.
o Have you ever visited the UM Peony Garden?
o Do you ever visit other community gardens or plan outings to similar places?
o Do you study peonies professionally or have a recreational interest in them?
Age
Gender
Profession
Geographic Location/Current city of residence
Level of education

Technology Experience:
How often do you use a computer?
Do you ever read blogs online? Tell me about a concrete example of a blog you read or
have read recently.
o Can you describe a time when you commented on a blog?
! Why did you decide to comment?
How comfortable do you feel using the Internet to accomplish tasks? Low, Medium, or High.
How often do you use the Internet to find information?
Have you ever used the Internet to look up information on peonies? (Question for peony
enthusiasts)
o If yes, how often and what sites do you normally visit?
o Can you give an example of a time when you used the Internet look up information
on peonies or the UM Peony Garden?
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Have you ever used the Internet to plan a garden visit, to the UM Peony Garden (or similar
garden)?
o If so, how often?
o Can you give a concrete example of time you used the Internet to look up information
online to plan a garden visit?
o If so, what type of information is important for you to find out when planning your
garden visits? (If they respond positively to visiting the Peony Gardens website to
plan a trip to the garden itself, ask: what information were you looking for on the site
to help them plan their trip?)
o If not, how do you plan your garden visits? What types of resources do you use and
what information do you look for on those resources?
Peony researching:
When you research peonies, what type of information are you interested in?
What websites or resources do you use to find information on peonies? (for peony
enthusiasts)
o How do you choose these resources?
o If you use the Internet to find information, what features of a website are most helpful
to you in your online research?
o How much do you trust the information that you find on these websites? Explain.
o What do you do to ensure that the information that you are viewing is accurate?
! Do you check multiple sources?
o Which of the resources you mentioned above do a better job of supplying the
information you need?
! Why?

Past experience with the UM Peony Garden Website:
Can you tell me about your most recent visit to the UM Peony Garden website?
o How did you get to the site or how did you hear about it?
o When did you visit it?
o What were you looking for?
o Did you find the information you needed?
o What problems did you encounter?
o What worked well about the site?
o What is your overall opinion of the site?
Have you ever used the Peony Gardens mobile site while at the actual garden? (For people
who have both visited the site and the garden)
o Can you walk us through your experience? (Ask for a concrete example)
o What did you like about your experience doing so?
o What could be improved?
o If not, did you know the garden had a mobile site?
Have you ever used the Peony database on the UM Peony Gardens website? (Get
concrete example.)
o What did you like about it?
o What could be improved?
o Did it help you find the information you were looking for?
o How useful was it in comparison to other peony research sources?
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Was there anything in particular that you didnt like about the site?
o Would you want to add anything?
For users that have used the site before: Take me through what you did the last time you
were on the Peony Gardens website? (Show them the website if it is helpful)
o Why did you do what you did? (Ask at each step)


B. User Interview Notes

User 1 (U1)

Demographics and background information
Age - 30s
Gender - Female
Residence - Howell, MI
Level of education - Bachelors
Profession - Commercial Title Examiner
Connection to Peony Garden - Volunteer photographer & garden member
Number of visits to garden each year - 10-12 times during the bloom season
Visits to other gardens - has visited the Washingtons National Arboretum, The Olympic
National Garden in Seattle, and anytime she goes on vacation she shoots a garden
Technology experience
Hours on the computer each week - 50
Blog use - slim to none
Comfort level using the internet - High
Sites that are typically used to find information - Google, Bing
Site used to find information on peonies - Google, Facebook, Austin Botanical Gardens,
the states garden website.
Sites used to plan social events and trips - none
Peony research
Information you want to know about peonies - when they are in bloom, and the type of
peonies that they have.
Main source of information for researching peonies - The gardens Facebook page
because it is update more frequently than web pages.
Sometimes she will just call them if parking is a hassle.
Features of a garden website that are most helpful - map to show location and parking,
calendar of events (ex. Shakespeare Festival), what flowers are in bloom right now.
o Enjoys the Shakespeare Festival
Information on the site is trustworthy - Yes
Other garden websites that do a better job at supplying the information that you need:
o Prince Charles in England (http://www.highgrovegardens.com/)
o Tea Plantation in South Carolina (http://www.charlestonteaplantation.com/)
o Drayton Hall in Charleston, SC
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Past experience with UM Peony Garden website
Most recent visit to the website - looked to see which pictures of hers were used on the
site after finding out that they had updated it (garden staff told her about it)
Number of visits to the site - one
Found the information that was needed - yes
Problems with the site - felt that a lot of the vocabulary that was used was to scientific,
and the pictures were very generic especially in the database
Features that worked well - Like the videos of David and Carmen
Features that did not work well - Felt that there was a lot of white space when viewing
the site in full screen mode.
Impression of the Peony Garden Mobile Site - Never used it
Never used database
Overall impression - felt that there was a lot of specific information of the types of
peonies and how to grow them, but because she is not a collector or grower a lot of the
information did not apply or was not helpful. All she wanted to know is where to park,
admission fee (if any), and events and was able to find all of this information.


User 2 (U2)
Demographics and background information
Age - ?
Gender - Male
Residence South Lyon, MI
Level of education Masters
Profession - Retired Teacher
Connection to Peony Garden - A member UM MBGNA & peony enthusiast
o Completed master gardener course in 2005
o Also in Master Gardener club, which has planned a visit to the garden
o Likes to shoot photography at the garden with his wife
o Did photography for the new site but has not looked to see if it was used
Owns part of 50 acre centennial farm
Likes being outdoors & enjoying the scenery of the garden
Technology experience
On the computer & Internet daily
Has high comfort with Internet
Uses laptop for email and things related to garden group
Uses ipad for magazine articles, news articles but doesnt load as quickly as he would
like
Utilizes bookmarks to keep track of important online resources
More likely use laptop to research peonies
Does not really read blogs but will occasionally comment on them if he sees a picture he
likes
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Peony research
Does research on peonies
o Wants to find specific species and raise them in personal garden
Also interested in finding out blooming time for UM Peony Garden
Has interest in historic peonies because his mother and father grew them when he was
a child
o Trying to recreate some of his parents peonies in his own garden
Has some experience with other sites but cannot think of an example
Likes to look up peonies by color or picture
Just started peony research so cannot talk much to what resources he finds most helpful
Wants to know when peonies are in bloom
Likes to read up on professional research of peonies, like what is happening with the
bloom season
Appreciates information on how to care for peonies
Having timely, updated sources of information on peonies is important to him
Past experience with UM Peony Garden website
Has not used site in its current iteration
Wanted to know if there were sales at the garden but had trouble finding information
online about such events in the past
Hasnt visited site in an entire year (since it has been updated)
o Has been traveling for a year
o Starts planning gardens around February- this is when he starts his research
Would like to delve into all the resources available on the site in the future, including the
database specifically to look up info on historic peonies
Looked at past version of Peony Garden website on both ipad & laptop and ipad version
was much harder to use
Was hard to find site in the past, tried to find it through main MBGNA site but had a hard
time

User 3 (U3)
Demographics and background information
Age - 60s
Gender - Female
Residence - Plymouth, MI
Level of education Masters+
Profession - Retired Teacher
Connection to Peony Garden - A member UM MBGNA
Number of visits to garden each year - at least 3 times when it is in bloom
Visits to other gardens - Franklin park, conservatory in Columbus, and New York City
garden
o Able to get into other gardens because of her membership at the MBGNA
She grows peonies in her personal garden for 40 years(enthusiast),
Has passed-down heirloom peonies from her grandmother that she cherishes greatly
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Technology experience
Hours on the computer each week - Everyday
Blog use - visits specific peony gardeners and researchers for getting information, but
never left comment on it
Comfort level using the Internet - Medium
Sites that are typically used to find information - Google, Firefox
Site used to find information on peonies - Google, Firefox and Michael Dirr homepage
(http://www.dirrplants.com/)
sites used to plan social events and trips - Franklin park conservatory in Columbus
site(http://www.fpconservatory.org/Home) for looking up information about the garden
and flowers
Is familiar with Ann Arbor and where to park but parking information is useful to her
friends who are visiting the garden & are not as familiar with the area
Stumbled upon the Peony Garden one day- does not plan visits just instinctively knows
when they are going to bloom & if she is wrong, she will just go back again

Peony research
Information you want to know about peonies - She wants to see specific pictures and
information about peonies for her personal use. She is also interested in experts opinion
on bloom, mature size of the plant, color, density of petals, flower form, roots,
transplanting information, how-to videos online, and events, such as Peony Garden sale
Main source of information for researching peonies - She uses information from books,
and pamphlets, not nursery catalogs just trying to sell, specialists sites.
Information on the site is trustworthy - Yes, she follows specific peony gardeners and
researchers blog for getting information
Bookmarks the sites she finds interesting

Past experience with UM Peony Garden website
Was not aware of Peony garden website
Impression of the Peony Garden Mobile Site - Never used it, but will use it in the future.
The site needs to have information about whats going on the flower in blooming
Interested in peony sale at Garden- Googled it but couldnt find anything so a UM Peony
Garden website would be helpful
o Would probably bookmark it with other research sites
Overall Impression - She did not know the existence of the clients website, but she is
willing to use it in the future for getting information and pictures with detailed explanation
for growing her own peonies.

User 4 (U4)
Demographics and background information
Age - 50s
Gender - Male
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Residence - Saline, MI
Level of education - Masters
Profession - Information Technology
Connection to Peony Garden - visits with family and during bloom season
Number of visits to Peony Garden- has visited several times
Is a MBGNA member
Visits MBGNA for hiking

Technology experience
How often do you use a computer- daily
Do you read blogs online? - Yes trade organizations and blogs relevant to my profession
(very rarely comments)
How comfortable are you with computers?- very comfortable with using computers
How often do you use the Internet to find information? Daily: Use the Internet to find
some sort information. Usually goes to Google to find something out but will use apps if
the app is easier or better than Google the answer (i.e. movie app, Google maps)
Have you ever used the internet to plan a social outing - Used the internet to plan trips
and outings such as trips to Mackinac island, uses open table to plan reservations
Google maps to find a park (state park etc.).
How often - will use the internet for this purpose about once a week

Peony Research
Do you study Peonies professionally or have a recreational interest in them?- Not
professionally and not peonies specifically, but will look up plants and trees when visiting
the Arboretum
Also interested in when the peonies are in bloom in order to plan garden visits

Past experience with UM Peony Garden website
Was not aware of Peony garden website
Used the Nichols Arboretum website once to find out an opening time for something.
Reason for not visiting arboretum site- not a lot of information to plan visit, things don't
change much also, gets email for special events have not really followed up.
What would you expect, most useful about the website? - Good information, information
about rate of bloom when to visit, got there too early got there too late, useful information
about timing.

User 5 (U5)
Demographics and background information

Age 50-70 years old
Gender - Male
Residence - Temperance, MI (near Toledo)
Level of education - Masters
! *&!
Profession Professional Recruiter
Peony enthusiast & garden member
Likes to visit different botanical gardens
Grows peonies at home
Technology experience
Uses computer 70 + hours a week
Very comfortable using the Internet
Reads blogs for info but rarely comments
Goes to other gardens websites frequently
When planning visits to other gardens, wants to see pictures of overall garden in a that
showcase what activities/events are coming up and what type of unique experiences he
can have there
o Wants to Why should I go to this garden?
! Pictures are a big factor in this
! Looks at pictures as an illustration of the experiences he can have at
gardens that are unique to each garden, such as events

Also wants to know when the peonies are in bloom
Looks for price of garden entrance
Parking info is important when planning visits to gardens, especially UM Peony Garden
because parking in Ann Arbor is difficult
o Has used brochures before that he obtained at the Peony Gardens house for
parking info, found those helpful
Websites he finds comparable:
o Daniel Stowe Garden, Charlotte, NC http://www.dsbg.org/
o Schedel Garden, Elmore, OH http://www.schedel-gardens.org/
o Fredrick Meijers Garden, Grand Rapids, MI http://www.meijergardens.org/
Looks for garden history on site
Wants to know a gardens story, what makes it unique, and what unique events or
activities they have there
o Thinks it would be good to highlight historical peony collection and their hiking
trail on UM Peony Garden site, for example

Peony research
Does not really research peonies, other than looking up when they are in bloom
Not really interested in scientific information on peonies
Past experience with UM Peony Garden website
Has not seen current website but has experienced its old version
Would not use the database section of the site
Had difficulty finding parking info on old site
Did not like that the old site was text-heavy


! *'!



C. Personas and Scenarios

Our personas and corresponding scenarios are derived from the characteristics and
experiences of our five interviewees. Although only one of our interviewees had used the UM
Peony Gardens website in its current iteration, we developed scenarios in which the people
described in the personas actually use the site. We used the information we received from our
interviewees about how they used the previous version of the Peony Gardens website, as well
as how they use similar sites to conduct research on peonies or plan garden visits to make the
use of the UM Peony Gardens website described in our scenarios as realistic as possible. We
also wanted to represent three important general users of the site in our personas- a gardener
and peony enthusiast, a garden visitor who enjoys experiencing the garden and its events with
family members, and a photographer interested in shooting photos of flowers at the garden.
Although there are other ways users might utilize the UM Peony Garden website not
represented in the data we collected during our interviews, we wanted to keep our personas and
scenarios consistent with our findings from this study only. It is also worth noting that some of
the information in the scenarios reflects an idealized version of the site that may not be fully
developed at this point.
!
enthusiast
Ramona Flower
Senior Citizen
Dexter, MI
Peonies are more than just flowers
to me, it is a lifestyle and an artform
Peony enthusiast
Age
65 years old
Family
Married
Tech Use
Basic to Moderate
Hobbies
Plant and gardening
Gardening Club member
Users Goal



Ramona is a retired teacher in her mid-60`s and has
been avid visitor to the UM Peony Garden for several
years. Ramona became a member of a local garden
club as a way to pursue her hobby of gardening and
spend her newfound free time. She also became a
member of the Matthei Botanical Gardens and Nichols
Arboretum in order to enjoy the membership benefits,
including being able to visit other associated botanical
gardens for free. She enjoys visiting public gardens
because, as a peony enthusiast and gardener herself,
she likes to get ideas for what to plant in her own garden,
which she started recently with heirloom peonies that have
been passed down in her family for generations. She also
enjoys spending time outdoors with her friends and family
and partaking in the events held at the UM Peony Garden
each year.
Ramona uses physical books and online resources, such
as blogs, instructional videos, and nursery catalogs to do
research on peonies. She uses the Internet daily to explore
her interests and says that she has a moderate level of
comfort using it for peony research. She mainly uses
search engines to find information online and she will
bookmark pages that she finds of interest to her. Recently,
she discovered that the UM Peony Garden had a website,
which she hopes to use for research and for planning her
garden this spring.
Profile
Persona 1
Do the research of peony
Duplicate peonies into
personal garden
! *(!

Scenario 1:

In mid-February, Ramona decides it is time for her to plan her garden for the spring. She
wants to learn more about how to go about growing and caring for the heirloom peonies she
has inherited from her parents. She decides to search for peony websites using Google
and comes across the UM Peony Gardens website. When she sees the Peony Resources
section of the website, she decides to read over the Care Calendar and Growing
Peonies pages. Both of these pages provide her with information that will be more useful
in the future so she bookmarks these pages for future use and continues to explore the rest
of the site.

A month and a half later, spring has sprung and Ramona is ready to plant her
peonies. Looking at her garden, she realizes she is unsure where she should plant her
heirloom peonies. Thinking back to the web pages she has bookmarked, Ramona goes
online to read about how close her peonies should be to her other plants, how they should
be positioned to get the appropriate amount of sun, and how much water and fertilizer she
should give them. Ramona prints off this page for future reference and applies what she
has learned to grow full, beautiful peonies. When her friends from her garden club come
over to see her garden, they ask her what she attributes to her success and she shares the
UM Peony Garden website with them.

enthusiast
Eddie Nightingale
Site administrator
Lawton, MI
"After Work, its all about being outdoors
and being with family"
Outdoor enthusiast
Age
52 years old
Two children Larry&Fiona
Family
Married
Tech Use
Proficient and frequent use
of internet and computer
Hobbies
Running, Biking, Walking
Users Goal



Eddie is site administrator at Barracuda Networks. At work
he spends hours at his desk in front of his computer screen.
He spends most of his days in front of a computer. When
he is out of work he likes to be as far away from a computer
screen as possible. Because of this, he enjoys spending
free time outdoors, running, biking, hiking and just being
active overall.
During the spring and fall he visits the arboretum after work
for exercise and relaxation. He is a member of the MBGNA
and has visited the Peony Garden several times before
during his walks. He is very familiar with the park and
usually does not need the website and does not look to it
before he visits.
Eddie is a family-oriented person and loves to go on
outings with his wife and kids. Because of his busy work
schedule he likes to plan these events far in advance so he
is guaranteed to have an outing with his family. Typically
he uses Google, word of mouth, and things he comes
across to find out what events could make for the perfect
family gathering.
Profile
Persona 2
Schedule visit for family
Find out the date and
activities of the events
! *)!
Scenario 2:

Eddie has had a tight schedule the past couple of months and he wants to make sure to
leave time for family events. Each week he plans an outing with his family. He is very
tedious and likes to plan his schedule far in advance. Last year, he happened to catch the
University of Michigan Peony Garden during its peak bloom season but did not have the
time to bring his family to witness it. This year he plans on making it a family outing and has
heard about the Peony Garden website from a close friend.

He wants to use the site to find out when exactly the bloom season is during the spring. He
also wants to know what other events occur during the spring and summer months so that
he can take his family to the garden during an event they will all enjoy. He plans on going to
the Peony Garden website in order to find more information about what events are
occurring in the next few months, if there are admission fees, and what are some benefits
that he can get from being a member of the MBGNA. He will use all of this information to
plan and coordinate a family event. Eddie types Nichols Arboretum Peony into a Google
search engine and comes upon the main Matthei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum
page. Once there, he has trouble finding the Peony Gardens site, so he goes back to
Google and searches UM Peony Garden, the result of which gets him directly to the
Peony Gardens site. He then uses the Plan Your Visit tab of the navigation toolbar to
explore information on parking options, tours, events, and the peak bloom season. He
leaves the site satisfied with most of the information he has received but is still unclear
about the exact date of when the garden will be in full bloom so he bookmarks the site and
plans to check back in a couple of weeks for any updates. A couple weeks later, Eddie
checks back and sees on the homepage slideshow, that the garden has started to bloom
and uses the information he found previously to plan his visit.

Additionally, Eddie is used to using apps like Yelp! and other user-generated review sites
and blogs. He wants to go on the Peony website to see what other people who have visited
the Peony Garden have done and what their experiences were like. He would use this to
guarantee that his family outing for the weekend will live up to his expectations. He finds
the Share Your Story page of the site and is impressed to find exactly the information he is
looking for- others stories of their experiences at the Peony Garden. This convinces Eddie
even further that a trip to the garden will be worth his and his familys while.

enthusiast
Doug Fredricks
Senior Economist
Ann Arbor Charter Township, MI
"Photography is more than taking a picture, it
is about embodying the character and
emotion of your surroundings"
to me, it is a lifestyle and an artform
Non-enthusiast of
the peony
Age
36 years old
Family
Single
Tech Use
Comfortable with internet
and computer
Hobbies
Photography, Museums,
Art
Users Goal



Doug works as a senior economist at Deloitte Company.
After the hard work he puts in during the week, he enjoys
his professional photography on the weekends. For his
photos, he likes visit to various attractions, such as
gardens, parks, museums and other scenic locations in the
area. He enjoys going to these places because it allows
him to take photos while taking in the scenery, art,
information, and culture that is provided.
Before he visits places, he tends to look at the various
garden, park, museum, and historical attraction websites.
He looks at these sites to see if the place will have any
unique or scenic places to take photographs and pictures.
He also likes to see what kind of special events or exhibits
might be on display.
Over the years, he has visited the Nichols Arboretum on his
photography trips to take photos of the area for his portfolio.
He has enjoyed the amenities so much he has considered
a membership.
Profile
Persona 3
Find the beautiful
pictures on the website
Check out the event and
blossom date
! "+!
Scenario 3:

Doug heard about the Peony Garden from a co-worker and was interested in learning more
information. Though he has been to the Arboretum and paid a membership fee last year, he
has not explored the Arboretum at length and became a member only after the Peony
Gardens blooming season was over. His co-worker also had taken some photographs and
thinks it may be a great opportunity for some photography work between the two of them.
Curious, Doug asks his co-worker what time of year would be best to visit but wants to
confirm this for himself so he decides to use the Internet to plan his visit more thoroughly, to
get the right light for his photos, to ensure the peonies are in full bloom when he goes, and
to possibly avoid large crowds blocking his shots.

When Doug plans visits, he tends to go to several different places in a single trip. Before he
goes on his photography trips, he will visit the website of each location he plans to shoot (if
available) to make sure it is a worthwhile visit. For his visit to the UM Peony Garden, he
wants to visit the website to get basic information as well as a feel for the scenic areas that
he can take photos of. He also wants to know what else he can check out nearby the
Peony Garden that he may not have been aware of before.

When he visits the site he looks for pictures of the overall garden and photos of any places
that make the Peony Garden unique. Since he is visiting several other places during the
same day he does not want setbacks or surprises on his visit. To make sure of this, Doug
wants to know the details such as exactly when and what flowers are in bloom, where to
park, if there are any admission fees, and what events are going on that day, if any. He also
wants to know visiting hours so can he get in and out of the garden as early as possible to
avoid large crowds and capture the morning light. These bits of key information will help to
make sure that he can stay on schedule for his visit.

Doug visits the UM Peony Garden website before his trip. He gets to the site easily through
Google and searches around for photography opportunities and general visitor information.
He sees a variety of photos, including some of the garden landscape, events, and close-up
shots of flowers. He is impressed by that the website is able to capture so clearly what
makes the garden unique and he knows that he must plan a trip to take advantage of the
unique photography opportunities there. Also, upon visiting the Plan Your Visit section of
the site, he sees that admission is free, even for non-garden members like his friend whom
he might want to bring along. Doug also discovers a photomap of the garden and prints it
off so that he can easily find the flowers he is looking for. He also looks up parking
information because he even though he is an Ann Arbor resident, he has not been to the
Arboretum in a year and wants to make sure there are no parking issues to slow down his
day. Eventually, Doug visits the garden and is able to have a successful photo shoot
thanks to the information he found on the Peony Gardens website.