The client interview
By Aranya in his Permaculture design process
Introduction
This is the part where we identify why we are redesigning the site. The following process we would ideally go through with each client (everyone
involved ought to be interviewed to some degree). Sometimes, your clients will include both adults and children, though one or two may guide the processmore than the others.
From time to time, you will also need to take into consideration the needs of animals (even if you cannot question them directly!).
Often, the clients involved will include your self. In this case it can be helpful toget someone else to ask you these questions and make notes for you.
SMART Goals
It can be useful to identify a set of goals from this interview, to give you a way of measuring the success of your design over time. In order to do this, those goals should have SMART qualities; in other words they need to be Specific, Measurable, Agreed upon, Realistic and Time-based.
Well, these were the original words associated with SMART, though new words have been added now to make it an even more useful tool. The blackboard shows a different interpretation.
The interview
This interview process alone should work fine for up to a few clients. Once groups get bigger though, some additional tools might be used to ensure that everyone gets heard. We’ll consider some of these different methods shortly, but first let’s look at a typical client questionnaire.
You’ll mostly likely have a limited amount of time with the client(s), but if you can, don’t hurry them on any particular question. Often the most important answers will be the ones you receive first, however given enough uninterrupted time to ponder, some real gems can emerge later. Adapt the following common questions to suit the time available and the particular circumstances. You might even ask those that could benefit from some deeper consideration in a pre-meeting questionnaire.
1. How do the clients feel about the current arrangement?
Start by getting a sense of what is already working well for them and what is clearly not.
2. What are the client’s values and vision?
What is most important to them? You must design taking into account the client’s values (e.g. a vegetarian might not be too impressed if you hand them a livestockbased design!).
What is their vision for the site / project? Get as much detail as you can. Let them draw or paint it if they wish.
3. What are the client’s needs and wants?
What are their currently unmet needs? You might use PASTE again to help them think about this.
Divide these into:
• The priorities that they feel they must have?
• The additional things it ‘would be nice to have’?
4. What are their personal limiting factors?
What’s stopping the client(s) from realising these things? Your task as designer will be to identify their key limiting factors, but for now, just help them with ideas if they get stuck, and write everything down. Limiting factors might include:
• Physical issues (e.g. poor health, little strength).
• Emotional issues (e.g. lack of confidence, motivation).
• Mental issues (e.g. lack of imagination, understanding).
• Lack of money, time, skills etc.
5. What personal resources do they have?
Like limiting factors, resources can be either physical (e.g. being able-bodied) or non-physical (e.g. being patient). Most of the things that can appear under limiting factors, can be found here too, for instance:
• Vision.
• Inspiration.
• Experience.
• A good network.
• Time, energy, skills etc.
• What is their financial budget for the design?
This last question should be divided into two parts; the budget available for the implementation itself and the ongoing finance available for maintaining the design.
As a permaculture designer, you should expect to invest 80% of your energy into creating a system that takes only 20% to maintain. How this works out in practice is down to your own judgement, as the financial investment for the creation of the design is spent only during the implementation, whereas the maintenance costs are ongoing. Therefore, the availability of funds may determine the speed at which
the implementation proceeds.
The same 80/20 principle can also apply to the time invested, even if in the form of paid labour. Don’t get caught up with the numbers, just remember the concept. Finally, remember that intangible resources can be just as important as elements in a system as any physical ones are.
6. What is their timescale for the design?
You also need to identify how quickly they would like to achieve their vision. Is it a short-term fix that needs to be up and running in a few months, or do they have a much longer- term vision? Perhaps they have both and are looking for a phased design (one that evolves in stages over time)? You’ll need to identify their ideal timescale(s) in order for you to create your SMART goals.
7. Site related questions
It can be helpful to walk the site with the client(s) if possible when considering the following:
• What is their security of tenure? Do they own the site or rent it, if so what lease do they have?
• Are there any restrictions on what can be built or planted on the site?
• Who owns and is responsible for maintaining the site boundaries?
• What do their neighbours do? Are there any problems that occur on site as a result of their activities? Any poisonous run-off, spray drift etc.?
• What rights of way exist through the site?
• What energy sources and resources are currently being used on site?
• What outputs are currently going unused (e.g. produce from an orchard)?
8. Any other site related questions?
Don’t forget to ask those extra questions that you noted during your site survey. These may include queries about things that weren’t immediately visible to you at the time, like the routing of any underground utilities, the local availability of resources, any previous use of the site, planning restrictions etc.
Your client(s) may not always have the answer themselves, but may be able to point you in the right direction.
9. Personal details
Finally, make a note of your clients’ details: names, approximate ages (especially if designing for children) and contact details: postal address including postcode (useful for finding online maps), phone number, email etc.
Other information that may be relevant includes the client’s:
• Eating habits – how local, seasonal, organic etc.?
• Occupations - how do they earn their living(s)?
• Income – is any earned by selling products from the site? If so, are any resources are being imported onto the site to enable the making / growing
of these products?
• Lifestyle - including how much time they spend on site? How much time will they have free to implement / maintain the design?
• Transport - how do they currently get around and where are their regular destinations? Why do they make these journeys?
10. Anything else?
And don’t forget to ask them this all-important last question... They may tell you something really vital that wasn’t covered by any of your other questions.
The analysis
OK, well done! Once you have gathered this information from your clients, you are finally in a position to begin the next stage - the analysis.
By Aranya in his Permaculture design process
Introduction
This is the part where we identify why we are redesigning the site. The following process we would ideally go through with each client (everyone
involved ought to be interviewed to some degree). Sometimes, your clients will include both adults and children, though one or two may guide the processmore than the others.
From time to time, you will also need to take into consideration the needs of animals (even if you cannot question them directly!).
Often, the clients involved will include your self. In this case it can be helpful toget someone else to ask you these questions and make notes for you.
SMART Goals
It can be useful to identify a set of goals from this interview, to give you a way of measuring the success of your design over time. In order to do this, those goals should have SMART qualities; in other words they need to be Specific, Measurable, Agreed upon, Realistic and Time-based.
Well, these were the original words associated with SMART, though new words have been added now to make it an even more useful tool. The blackboard shows a different interpretation.
The interview
This interview process alone should work fine for up to a few clients. Once groups get bigger though, some additional tools might be used to ensure that everyone gets heard. We’ll consider some of these different methods shortly, but first let’s look at a typical client questionnaire.
You’ll mostly likely have a limited amount of time with the client(s), but if you can, don’t hurry them on any particular question. Often the most important answers will be the ones you receive first, however given enough uninterrupted time to ponder, some real gems can emerge later. Adapt the following common questions to suit the time available and the particular circumstances. You might even ask those that could benefit from some deeper consideration in a pre-meeting questionnaire.
1. How do the clients feel about the current arrangement?
Start by getting a sense of what is already working well for them and what is clearly not.
2. What are the client’s values and vision?
What is most important to them? You must design taking into account the client’s values (e.g. a vegetarian might not be too impressed if you hand them a livestockbased design!).
What is their vision for the site / project? Get as much detail as you can. Let them draw or paint it if they wish.
3. What are the client’s needs and wants?
What are their currently unmet needs? You might use PASTE again to help them think about this.
Divide these into:
• The priorities that they feel they must have?
• The additional things it ‘would be nice to have’?
4. What are their personal limiting factors?
What’s stopping the client(s) from realising these things? Your task as designer will be to identify their key limiting factors, but for now, just help them with ideas if they get stuck, and write everything down. Limiting factors might include:
• Physical issues (e.g. poor health, little strength).
• Emotional issues (e.g. lack of confidence, motivation).
• Mental issues (e.g. lack of imagination, understanding).
• Lack of money, time, skills etc.
5. What personal resources do they have?
Like limiting factors, resources can be either physical (e.g. being able-bodied) or non-physical (e.g. being patient). Most of the things that can appear under limiting factors, can be found here too, for instance:
• Vision.
• Inspiration.
• Experience.
• A good network.
• Time, energy, skills etc.
• What is their financial budget for the design?
This last question should be divided into two parts; the budget available for the implementation itself and the ongoing finance available for maintaining the design.
As a permaculture designer, you should expect to invest 80% of your energy into creating a system that takes only 20% to maintain. How this works out in practice is down to your own judgement, as the financial investment for the creation of the design is spent only during the implementation, whereas the maintenance costs are ongoing. Therefore, the availability of funds may determine the speed at which
the implementation proceeds.
The same 80/20 principle can also apply to the time invested, even if in the form of paid labour. Don’t get caught up with the numbers, just remember the concept. Finally, remember that intangible resources can be just as important as elements in a system as any physical ones are.
6. What is their timescale for the design?
You also need to identify how quickly they would like to achieve their vision. Is it a short-term fix that needs to be up and running in a few months, or do they have a much longer- term vision? Perhaps they have both and are looking for a phased design (one that evolves in stages over time)? You’ll need to identify their ideal timescale(s) in order for you to create your SMART goals.
7. Site related questions
It can be helpful to walk the site with the client(s) if possible when considering the following:
• What is their security of tenure? Do they own the site or rent it, if so what lease do they have?
• Are there any restrictions on what can be built or planted on the site?
• Who owns and is responsible for maintaining the site boundaries?
• What do their neighbours do? Are there any problems that occur on site as a result of their activities? Any poisonous run-off, spray drift etc.?
• What rights of way exist through the site?
• What energy sources and resources are currently being used on site?
• What outputs are currently going unused (e.g. produce from an orchard)?
8. Any other site related questions?
Don’t forget to ask those extra questions that you noted during your site survey. These may include queries about things that weren’t immediately visible to you at the time, like the routing of any underground utilities, the local availability of resources, any previous use of the site, planning restrictions etc.
Your client(s) may not always have the answer themselves, but may be able to point you in the right direction.
9. Personal details
Finally, make a note of your clients’ details: names, approximate ages (especially if designing for children) and contact details: postal address including postcode (useful for finding online maps), phone number, email etc.
Other information that may be relevant includes the client’s:
• Eating habits – how local, seasonal, organic etc.?
• Occupations - how do they earn their living(s)?
• Income – is any earned by selling products from the site? If so, are any resources are being imported onto the site to enable the making / growing
of these products?
• Lifestyle - including how much time they spend on site? How much time will they have free to implement / maintain the design?
• Transport - how do they currently get around and where are their regular destinations? Why do they make these journeys?
10. Anything else?
And don’t forget to ask them this all-important last question... They may tell you something really vital that wasn’t covered by any of your other questions.
The analysis
OK, well done! Once you have gathered this information from your clients, you are finally in a position to begin the next stage - the analysis.