Who am I designing for? Before moving ahead I definitely need to figure this out, as the whole communication language will depend on my target group.
Is it the LOCAL RESIDENTS of AHMEDABAD that I am designing for?
Are they the NATIONAL VISITORS (people visiting from all over India)?
Or will I be designing for INTERNATIONAL VISITORS?
Well, the Heritage walk of Ahmedabad was started for the LOCALITIES of AHMEDABAD with the main aim of making them aware of their rich cultural heritage and evoking a sense of pride in them so that they preserve it. So, are AHMEDAVADIS going to be my target group?
In a way may be. But, it is the National and International visitors who attend the walk most often. This does make sense as the people live in those houses and walk those streets everyday. Why will they attend the walk?
About the NATIONAL VISITORS, they do attend the walk when they make a visit to Ahmedabad to see the peoples way of living. Even relatives or friends living in this city like to take their guests to 'show-off' their city a bit and also give them a glimpse of what their city is like in just two hours.
The INTERNATIONAL VISITORS who are drawn towards the city to experience the rich culture and architecture. For them too it's a very enriching walk and actually are the ones who need to be told more as they are total strangers to our history, culture and lifestyle. So, is this going to be my target group? If so, the locals might not be able to relate to it.
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3 years ago
3 comments:
Hi, after joined the walk with you, I personally think this National Heritage Walk should be mainly for the LOCAL RESIDENTS and NATIONAL VISITORS.
I have 3 reasons:
1) If the main purpose of the walk is to get awareness of the cultural and architectural value of the buildings to preserve them, the best way should be appeal to the LOCAL RESIDENTS first. For example, you could target local schools, institutions and communities.
2) It might not be effective or practical to target INTERNATIONAL VISITORS mainly. As Gujarat itself is not that 'touristic' place compared with Rajasthan or Maharashtra, the number of international tourists should be less than the one of NATIONAL VISTORS.
3) If your VI and strategy would work in future, after some time, it will naturally attract INTERNATIONAL VISITORS as well. In that case, it needs some more strategy to let the foreign tourists know about the tour because I didn't know about that even I stayed in Ahmedabad more than a month.
Thanks a tonn for the useful insights.
Just stumbled across your blog. Reading it from your first(earliest) post onwards, so dunno if this issue has been addressed later by you or not.
1) A big chunk of the people who come to walks would also be students who come to Ahmedabad to study. Many students from IIM at least have attended the walk in the past. So that is part of your target group.
2) I have lived in Delhi for practically my entire life and have never gone for a heritage walk, though it boasts of so many! In my last couple of years there, I started looking at walks there and wanted to go, but didn't go finally. I guess this is an example of how residents of a city pay the least attention to the culture of their own city, and go on such expeditions in places they visit.
I think this is understandable, when people visit other cities as tourists, their purpose is to see, observe and find out more about that place. But in your own city, you are a resident, and not a tourist, and that kind of mindset does not develop readily.
In my case, it was a friend who ignited my interest in heritage walks. Wouldn't have come on by itself. So, maybe, you don't have to accept your target group, you probably can define it yourself and go out to spark their interest too. Schoolchildren, for example, can be very interested. And what better age than that to instill a sense of ownership, and pride, in their culture!
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