• Determination of the performance requirements of the setting. What is the space supposed to do? Functions?
• User goals and needs – how is the space used and what role does it play in user needs?
• One user or many – are there subgroups of users with variable needs and concerns?

• Programming
Clarification of objectives, purposes of setting [how perform]
Make users’ needs explicit

• Behavioral-how people react/behave in a setting
• Performance std.-how should the setting function
• Prescriptive –specific indication of what is needed and what doesn’t work

• Behavioral or performance – avoid prescriptive except in cases of safety, hazards issue not solution
• Clear and succinct statement
• Sociocultural context of setting and users [manifest-latent]
• Illustrate eg how to address without constraining options
• Evidence and references

89. Doorstep play
Design dwelling entries to accommodate doorstep play
Young children tend to play close to the frequently used entrance to a dwelling
(Ackermans , 1970; Architecture…, 1969; Barker, 1976; Cooper and Marcus, 1971;
Cooper Marcus, 1974; Danish…, 1969; Department…, 1971a, 1973a; Gilmour et. Al.,
1970; Gittus, 1976; Norcross, 1973; Sandvik, Shellenbarger, and Stevenson, 1973;
White, 1970). An extensive British study finds that three-quarters of all children, but especially children under five, irrespective of density or building form, play within 33 feet
(10m) of the door to their home. A study of an Illinois housing project reported that 36 percent of all observed toddler’s play took place outside the kitchen door, while only 13 percent took place in the toddler’s play area (Saile, 1971).
The old front stoops of New
York brownstones and the wide covered porches of older houses in the midwestern or southern
United States were ideal in this regard. The porch provided an intimate space; railings met at right angle where sticks and old drapes could quickly create a
“house” or “shop”; the roof

provided shade and shelter. Porch steps or stoops were ideal places to sit and talk or play jacks or cards. Under the steps were hiding places for secret meetings or for spying on adults. The angle between the steps and the façade of the building provided an “eddy space” out of the sidewalk traffic where elaborate ball games were invented.
Tradeoffs
Residences with shared or nearby entrances means doorstep play will inevitably spill into circulation paths.
Noise and commotion will be proximate to the residence.
Some entryways may be too small as designed and thus additional expense/land use may occur. This latter could preclude other desired amenities (e.g. garden).

Possible Design Responses
Wherever possible, provide a dwelling entry with the following features:
- A semi-enclosed, roofed space around the entry
- Steps for sitting, talking, or viewing activities in streets or courtyards
-A smooth-surfaced path for running model vehicles or tricycles
-A flat-topped step or porch area for laying out a board game or playing cards
-Easy access to the house via a hall or foyer (that is, not directly into the
“best” room)
-Visibility from inside the dwelling
-Easy access to a downstairs toilet
•See also: visible entry (36), Front porch (40), Shared entry (44), Street activities off the ground (48), Hard-surface play (82).

• Cooper-Marcus, C. Housing as if people mattered. Berkeley:
University of
California Press.

• Succinct and clear behavioral or performance guideline [not prescriptive]
• Comment about subgroup(s) that might be affected differently by your guideline. Another approach is to describe tradeoffs
• Describe the sociocultural context
• Draw or describe one or two examples of how to implement the guideline

Incorporate high quality into lounge or other common spaces
Some individuals (e.g., introverts) may not find as attractive. Also need to balance with spaces to support solitary or dyad interactions
A key element in many NA nations is community identity and co operation.
Collectivist rather than individual orientation.

• Consideration of NA culture and values such as community gathering spaces supporting collectivist values in my design guideline fits with
Homeyness.
• Homeyness refers to the meaning or symbolic properties of a residence that leads us to experience it as a home rather than simply as a house.