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Research investigations on Dhobis & Dhobi-ghats

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Page 1: Design Insights

Research investigations on Dhobis & Dhobi-ghats

Page 2: Design Insights

ObjectivesTo study the Dhobi community spread across Guwahati, Assam, understanding the context, their behavior, environment and the processes involved. To investigate their needs and problems, behaviors and identify opportunity areas and eventually propose a design intervention(s) to ease and support their work.Contextual inquiry through semi-structured one-to-one interview approach was used to investigate above mentioned parametersThis presentation is a report of the findings from the study (till 22nd February). They are based on the direct responses from the respondents at the Dhobi Ghats, which helped us create a detailed process map and in turn identify some design opportunities.

Page 3: Design Insights

Project approach and timelinewk2 / Jan ’ 15

24 Jan ’15

28 Jan ‘15

8 Feb ‘15

17 Feb ‘15

wk3 Feb ‘15

Introduction to the Project / Literature Survey / Analysis of the previous research conducted at Mumbai and Lucknowby P&G and our inferences from the same.

Primary Research / Understanding the Dhobi community and how they are spread across Guwahati city /basically to identify keys areas where we can carry out our detailed study.

Uzan Bazaar / A detailed interview with the identified dhobis.

Site visit : Structured and unstructured group

Uzan Bazaar / Identifying key people in the area for conducting interviews and form focus groups based on their experience and clients.

wk1 / Feb ‘15Understanding the overall process and Preparing a questionnaire for the detailed study

wk2 / Feb ‘15Creating detailed process map based on the Interviews. Separate teams are formed to study the two main dhobi categories formed : Structured and Unstructured

Finding gaps in the process / Opportunity areas and brainstorming sessions

Future Plans

Page 4: Design Insights

Phase I – understanding the context• Understanding dhobis, their context and environment• Connecting to local dhobis – users, experts and stakeholders• Overview of existing work pattern• Learning types of dhobis, their market, earning and possible

categories – helps in further narrowing our user research

Page 5: Design Insights

Location of the study

Page 6: Design Insights

Visual representation of findings (1/3)

(a) A view of river Brahmaputra (b, c, e, f) dhobis drying the cloths (d) cart used to carry the cloths

a b c

d e f

Page 7: Design Insights

Visual representation of findings (2/3)a b c d

e f g

(a) Location where cloths are washed (b) Washables kept near Dhobi’s preferred area (c) Washed linen is then thrown over to specific area (dhobi choose their area to put wet cloth – the area has some sheet where cloths are thrown) (d) dhobi separating clothes based on customers (e) preview of separated clothes (f) dhobi packing wet clothes in a sack for transportation (g) sack after being loaded on the preferred medium

Page 8: Design Insights

Visual representation of findings (3/3)h i j k l

(h, i) unloading the sack from the cycle and being hand lifted to the nearest road from the bank due to the steep slope (j) reloading of the sack of wet clothes to the cycle (k) Dhobi’s with larger number of clothes transport clothes on a wooden cart (l) cart being carried by dhobis

Page 9: Design Insights

Initial insights & findings (1/3)• Routine: Dhobis come at 4.30 am, wash the soaked cloths (they are

soaked a night before), wash, rinse and collect (wet) cloths by 9.00 am and leave towards home/office, where cloths are dried, ironed and delivered to customers

• Client categories: Clients are mainly from normal households, restaurants-spas & other business customers, hospitals and railways

• Researchers could not get in touch with dhobis/services for railways and hospitals - as hospitals have in-house washing service due to quality of hygiene and no contact was found for railways

• A traditional process consisting of manual labour was used to wash cloths (as seen in images). No dhobis had washing machine or other technological equipment to ease their work

Page 10: Design Insights

Initial insights & findings (2/3)• Unstructured setup: No proper ghat/setup for them to wash cloths

(as in Mumbai Mahalaxmi dhobighat) – an open space where anyone/everyone can wash their cloths

• Mode of transportation: Small cart and bicycles were used for transporting cloths. They dried the clothes at river bank Brahmaputra and took them home for ironing.

• Initial hesitance: Dhobis denied in giving their name and other details, office address, normal rates etc. – indicating hesitance in supporting the study

• Washing powder usage: No specific pattern identified in usage of detergents. Based on their wishes, they used different washing powders (e.g. Tide, Surf excel, Rin, Wheel). Different materials for specific purpose (shinning, removing stubborn stains etc. )

Page 11: Design Insights

Initial insights & findings (3/3)• Not local dhobis, mainly from Bihar• Community: There is no dhobi community around the place, hence

no support during bad times• Unhealthy practices: People bathe at the bank of the river and is

often littered with toiletries

Page 12: Design Insights

Some other images

Page 13: Design Insights

Method of washing clothsPlease view the complete video inside “pics” section of shared google drive folder

Page 14: Design Insights

Phase II: Study of structured & non-structured group• The phase II divided itself into two major groups. Structured and non-

structured group• Structured group – shops which has in-house dhobis hired and has

relatively structured process/location/people for work• Unstructured group – individual dhobis where every dhobi possibly

could have different process/material/business model/location and pattern of working

• This phase included studying both above group – through qualitative approach – in order to investigate needs, problems, behavioral patterns and opportunity gaps

• In following slides, we present process overview of both groups

Page 15: Design Insights

Study of unstructured group (1/4)

1- View from the Uzan bazaar road to the Brahmaputra bank

2 - Dhobi’s getting their clothes to the riverside for washing.

3 - Washables kept near Dhobi’s preferred washing area

Page 16: Design Insights

Study of unstructured group (2/4)

5 - The washed Linen is then thrown over to the specific area

6 - Thrown over to the specific area, Dhobi packing the wet clothes in a sack for transportation

4 - Soaked clothes are brushed after putting soap on stains.

Page 17: Design Insights

Study of unstructured group (3/4)

8 - The Sack after being loaded on the preferred medium

9 - Unloading the Sack from the cycle and being hand lifted to the nearest road from the bank

7 - A Dhobi living near Uzan Bazaar having preferred the bank as his drying place

Page 18: Design Insights

Study of unstructured group (4/4)

11 - Dhobi’s with larger number of clothes transport clothes on a wooden cart

12 - Extracting water in dryer and drying of the clothes.

10 - Reloading of the sack of wet clothes to the cycle

Page 19: Design Insights

Study of structured group (1/4)

1/ Sorting

2/ Checking

Page 20: Design Insights

Study of structured group (2/4)

3/ Washing 4/ Brushing

Page 21: Design Insights

Study of structured group (3/4)

6/ Hydro & Drying

5/ Dipping

Page 22: Design Insights

Study of structured group (4/4)

7/ Ironing 8/ Sorting and Packaging

Page 23: Design Insights

Steps ahead• We have created process maps for both group, which are uploaded

on google drive – with an aim to understand the details – from getting cloths to customers to its delivery

• The process map will further help identify specific pain points in the entire dhobi eco-system. Analyzing these pain points will provide specific directions, when combined with decision tree (we call this affinity analysis)