About the project
The Shaping Loughborough project aims to explore the efficacy of online tools in public engagement in urban planning. The project will offer a critical evaluation of the Colouring Loughborough and Loughborough Stories apps, in relation to their user interface for the purpose of wide public use. The two apps will be compared against the Shaping Charnwood tool, which has been developed in partnership with Charnwood Borough Council for the purpose of use in their statutory public engagement from March – April 2025. The Shaping Charnwood tool has limited technical capabilities compared to Colouring Loughborough and Loughborough Stories, but they are designed with the user interface as priority. The efficacy of all these tools will be tested in a series of focus group workshops and usability tests, to provide the TOWN Observatory with a road map to enable increased public use. This project contributes to the development of the TOWN Observatory projects by enhancing the inclusivity of these tools to allow a wide set of participants to contribute to the database over time.
Outcomes
The Shaping Loughborough project produced a suite of significant digital, research, and engagement outputs, including the deployment of the Shaping Charnwood digital engagement tool for statutory consultation and a comparative usability and user experience (UX) assessment of the TOWN Observatory platforms Colouring Loughborough/Britain and Loughborough Stories. A User Reflections Report was produced, summarising the findings from a focus group with Charnwood Borough Council and insights were also gathered from local public engagement events. These activities informed the development of a structured usability testing protocol and dataset by observing how participants interacted with the platforms during the events. The project also generated geo‑tagged engagement datasets for potential future integration into the TOWN Observatory, offering evidence‑based recommendations and a roadmap for improving inclusive digital engagement in urban planning.
The Shaping Loughborough project has the potential to generate impact through several interconnected pathways. Its Academic / Research pathway is strengthened by evidence‑led user experience (UX) recommendations, usability reporting, and methodological innovations using minimal‑guidance observation and end user focus groups. The Societal pathway emerges through co‑design with Charnwood Borough Council, ensuring ethically robust, accessible engagement tools. Economic / Efficiency for Local Government impacts are created through improved consultation efficiency, cross‑departmental data value, reduced political risk, and targeted dissemination. The Cultural / Community pathway is supported by locally focused public engagement activities and narrative‑rich contributions from residents. Finally, the Sustainability / Place Quality pathway is enabled by enhanced spatial feedback for retrofit planning and long‑term data integration potential.
Future impact could be evidenced through:
– Collaboration requests, publication of a usability protocol, invitations to present findings, and integration of methods into teaching.
– Higher engagement numbers and resident or councillor testimonials.
– Cost‑saving estimates, internal reports of cross‑departmental data use, improved participation rates, successful funding submissions, and invitations to policy networks.
– Endorsements from community groups or examples of resident insights shaping planning decisions.
– Council use of engagement data for retrofit or environmental strategy, emerging longitudinal dashboards, or formalised data‑sharing agreements.
Project team and roles
Vivien Chow (Lead Investigator)
Prof Marcus Enoch
Dr Chris Parker
Dr Andrew Timmis
Dr Stefan Kruczowski (Urban Design Doctor)
Mark Fennel (CBC)
Michael Hopkins (CBC)
Katie Mills (CBC)
Karen Moore (CBC)
Shashank Tiwari (Researcher)