Observing Physical Traces of Guatemalteca Bakery and Restaurant - Case Study Example

Observing Physical Traces of Guatemalteca Bakery and Restaurant Introduction Observing the physical traces of Guatemaltecabakery and restaurant involves looking at the physical environmental settings of the area. According to Zeisel (2006), physical traces helps in finding a reflection of the previous or current activities taking place in the area. According to the researchers, the physical traces act as indicators of the behaviors in that particular environmental setting. However, the operation involves indirectly obtaining the information of the physical traces. When the data is being collected, the units (people) being observed are not always present. The research will involve observing the physical traces using an unobtrusive method. This method is technical in that it does not have an influence on what caused the traces in that environment. Similarly, it is useful for finding out about behaviors of the groups who are hard to interview, private and rare behaviors or events, and also hard-to-see events. My informant (Mr. King) played a key role in ensuring that I get correct information regarding Guatemalteca bakery restaurant. It is hard to carry out this kind of research without a person like him. My healthy relationship with Mr. King also played some part in ensuring my research was successful. However, before carrying out a physical trace research of a particular site, one must have a physical plan of that place. The photograph below shows a physical plan of Guatemalteca bakery and restaurant. Precisely, it shows how the rooms in the restaurant have been designed, and this will give the researchers environment conducive to do the research. What to Look for When carrying out a physical trace research of particular area certain things need to be considered. Therefore, they include the following; by-products of use, public messages, displays of self and adaptations for use. By-products of Use By-products of use are the first category in this particular setting, and it gives a reflection of what people do. The three types of by-products of use are; erosions, missing traces and leftovers. Therefore, this research paper will concentrate on leftovers and missing traces as the by-products of use since they are familiar in relation to Guatemalteca bakery and restaurant. Leftovers: These are physical objects seen outside or inside the restaurant as a result of the activities that took place in that particular environment. Therefore, leftovers give an indication of the activities that had been planned or not planned for. For example, the diagram below is an image of leftovers in Guatemalteca bakery restaurant. The diagram depicts a planned for activity that took place in this restaurant. Specifically, customers had just finished eating their food, and they have left the restaurant. Therefore, the cutleries and cakes leftovers give an indication of the need for more employees who will assist in tables cleaning and washing of the utensils. It also provides an indication of the need for more dustbins to put the leftovers. Missing traces: when leftovers and erosion tell us what people in that particular setting do, missing traces is the opposite. Therefore, it gives a picture of what people do not do. The photogram below shows some missing traces in Guatemalteca bakery restaurant. There are no canopies and shelters outside the restaurant. This indicates that the management of Guatemalteca does not consider canopies or shelters as useful in their business. On the other hand, lack of canopies and shelters might show the lack of enough space to put such structures. My opinion was seconded by the management of Guatemalteca bakery and restaurant since they had to forego building shelters outside their restaurant because they had to ensure there is enough space for packing and free movement by the customers. From the photograph below the restaurant is vacant because the customers, staff or the management are not present. Guatemalteca bakery and restaurant operate from Monday to Saturday, and all the employees are given a break on Sunday. The vacant restaurant indicates that there are no customers and staffs on Sunday, and, therefore, no activities are going on. The religious beliefs of Guatemalteca bakery and restaurant do not allow any of their operations to take place on a day they consider Sabbath. Adaptations for Use In circumstances when the physical environment does not accommodate what management of Guatemalteca intend to do then they will try to change the settings. The management will change the settings to facilitate and sustain the various support activities. Adaptations for use consist of props, connections, and separations. Separations: spaces that were formerly together may be separated to increase some qualities such as privacy and also controlling the darkness in the apartment or room. The photograph below has a space designated for parking so that customers can find it convenient to park their cars. However, the parking yard is only for the customers who would be visiting Guatemalteca bakery restaurant. In order to fend off other unauthorized people form parking in the yard, a wooden sawhorse is placed a cross the parking place. This will restrict anyone from parking in the yard. Connections: Sometimes the physical adaptations for use may be used to connect two places in an apartment so that people may interact in new ways. For example, in the photograph below, Guatemalteca bakery has connected the sitting arrangement pattern so that the customers and the staffs cannot bump into each. Therefore, it is much helpful since accidents will reduce and also there will be smooth movement and interaction of the customers and the staff. Displays of Self The residence of a particular area may decide to change the environmental settings by putting their stamp on them. These changes mean a lot to the person who made them and also it is helpful in identifying a person’s environment. Identification: it refers to people using the environment so that they can be identified by others more easily. The restaurant I am researching on has its name on the entrance written as Guatemalteca bakery restaurant. Therefore, the customers or society will identify this restaurant by its name. The name written on this apartment portrays that the apartment serves as a bakery and on the other hand it also acts as a restaurant. Moreover, it is also owned by a Guatemalan. The other reason for the use of identity is to tell the public that most of the foods being offered in the restaurant are traditional Guatemalan food. Also, the restaurant offers Latin American food. The name used to identify this restaurant, show that the restaurant is mostly attended by the Latin American people. Personalization: it refers to the way people use the environment to show how they are unique and different from what their neighbors do. It also depicts an aspect of individuality, a person’s taste and habit. The photograph below shows how Guatemalteca bakery restaurant is trying to show off its traces by displaying the product’s arrangement. This is part of the bakery section whereby the bread and diverse variety of cakes have been displayed in a unique way. The shelves and glass wall counters have a variety of products on display. The design of the environment has been displayed through personalization in that it is different from what other restaurants have done. Public Message People can use their physical environment to pass information to the public. Therefore, in physical trace research, a public message refers to the changes individuals or groups can make so that they communicate certain information to the public. However, it does not necessarily mean that every public message will appear in various public places; other messages may be hidden in apartments. Unofficial message: It refers to the messages which are announced specifically for short-term events. Similarly, it may refer to messages or notices which are not posted by an official authority or institution. For example, the photograph below is an image of the day’s special menu in Guatemalteca bakery and restaurant. The menu is displayed outside so that the public who are specifically the customers can have a clue of what is being offered. According to the management, unofficial notice is a convenient way to pass information to the public. Site Inventory In every site, there are non-fixed materials present. Therefore, when dealing with research on physical traces, it is recommended that the researcher must keep a complete list of all non-fixed materials. A site inventory is, therefore, used to take the records or stock of the site being researched. Similarly, the owner of the restaurant or the researcher may decide to keep a site inventory. An inventory will help the business owner in managing the stock level in the business so that each and every customer can be in a good position to get what they want. The items to be included in a site inventory include the following. Inventory item Description Analysis Store supplies It include all the items needed in the store and will be used in the making of bread and other variety. These items may include the ingredients used to make bread and cakes, cooking facilities, office supplies. The number of items in the store must be increased so that the need of each customer is met. Computers (two) and one receipt till. Computers are used for computing purposes and recording important data. There is only one receipt till and this number should be increased to three. Therefore, this will ensure that the customers are attended to as fast as possible. Two counter tables with drawer 3.0´ × 5.0´ and reasonable sizes of shelves. The counters provide effective platform to display the products. The drawers are used to keep books and other stationeries. Although the glass wall counter has been designed well, it should be expanded to some length. The customers’ number is expected to increase; therefore, the counter and shelves should be large enough to accommodate more products. Clock Used by the customers and staff to know the time so that they cannot miss on certain targets. There are only two clocks in the restaurant. The management must increase the number to three and specifically, one should be put in the kitchen. Restaurant furniture (45 in total). This will include all the office and customer’s furniture used during the operations in the restaurant. However, the number of the chair is good enough to support a large number of customers. The number of furniture is proportional to the number of customers visiting the restaurant. However, the management should put more canopies structures outside and also increase the number of furniture in the room. Divider walls The divider walls are wooden in nature. The divider walls have been put in such so that it provides easy movement within the restaurant. Also, the dividing walls provide privacy in that the offices are separated from the restaurant and bakery. Printer shared Guatemalteca bakery restaurant has one printer. The printer is shared by everyone in that building. Work Cited Zeisel, John. Inquiry by design: Environment/behavior/neuroscience in architecture, interiors, landscape, and planning. WW Norton & Co, 2006. Read More