So today, I returned to the walking club I attended last week to try and get more insights into the users I am designing for.
Today it was raining, quite heavily and to be honest, so I was unsure about how many people would show up.
To my surprise, as I was waiting, more and more cars started to show up, while others walked along to attend the group. When I stepped inside, I sat down at the table with other walkers who I got to know last week.
I had asked them, with the weather being so bad, why they were going out their way to go on a walk. One of the replies was interesting from the walkers, who said, come rain, sleet or snow, they would turn up. Although, walking that is not only the reason they turn up, it’s also the social aspect, getting to see their friends for once a week.
The group walker explained that if they did not go outside, they would either drink a cup of tea and wait for the rain to go off or spend the hour and a half playing games on the inside. Which spoke of the importance of this group.
I also asked some questions about how they got to know about the group, most of the replies varied. The most common answers were word of mouth, which they briefly told me about but when I sat down with the walk leader, she explained that anyone who wants to join the group usually must phone her. Which I found interesting as there was no other platform which contained the basic information about the groups and where they walk.
The one thing that stood out for me was the sheer determination from the walkers to show face. Another insight that kept cropping up was the fact that there is no one platform to see all of the groups in the area.