Mumbai Archives
How We Ward off Evil
Nov 28, 2008
From our research in Mumbai.
Modal UI
Jul 09, 2007
Light sequences on an extension cable used to communicate its various modes.
Classy. Unusable.
Experiences by the Meter
Jul 09, 2007
Within minutes the view from the love seat has already paid for the price of admission - the sights and sounds of the Mumbai suburbs crawl and drawl by.
Massive segments of 3 meter diameter drainage pipes sit perpendicular to the road, spanning the trench that will, at some point will become their home. As we drive by each segment reveals itself as if choices in a competition: in the first young kids sit facing one another across the curve - a Sistine’s worth of chalk scrawled handiwork on the oxidised surface; a gaggle of ladies using the second as a sheltered bridge to cross to the other side; the third has squatting workmen smoking bidi’s; and in the last a horse stands tethered, sheltered from the rain unnaturally out of reach of anything edible. A flash-back to my last meal before shipping out here - horse-meat sashimi making the rounds on a Tokyo conveyor belt. Flash forward to the wholeness that will come from arriving home.
Urban modes of transport might sound the same on paper - a bus is a bus is a bus right? Except that every locale offers up something unique whether taxi meters that track the separate fare of up to four separate passengers in Tehran, or payment barriers a third of the way down the bus in Florianopolis.
One might expect a taxi driver plying his trade in the heart of Bollywood to offer a decent soundtrack to the city – but despite the speaker stacks found on many a rear-dash, we had hardly any tunes in two weeks of hopping around the city. The one minor exception – a young driver who was cajoled by my female companions into using his Sony Ericsson wedged between the dash and the windshield into boom box. Decent enough audio, until that point three songs later when he started worrying about the music player draining his battery. The simple act of power management, no?
A 40 minute ride to the outskirts of the city leaves plenty of time to mull the numerous design tweaks and compromises that make the Mumbai taxi experience what it is.
Most obvious is that the fare meter sits outside the cab above the left side wheel arch – an odd choice for a right-hand drive country - the driver is required to first lean across the passenger seat, stick his arm out of the window and lean over the meter every time he wishes to start and stop the fare. The display of the meter is optimally angled for passengers sitting in the back seat and the end of each ride the driver is required to shimmy his butt across the front seat to get a better view.
The meter is not illuminated so most cabs have a bare 10 watt bulb mount welded to the top inside-left corner of the windshield (pictured above) – positioned in such a way to minimize the chance of being smashed, but also so that it barely throws enough light on the meter to make a difference. Not that reading the fare is the end of the story – a conversion table is required to calculate the meter amount into today’s rupees. If you ever get hustled by a driver who is missing a conversion table Hutch provides a text message service to covert the meter reading. Some readers may enjoy perusing the local mobile phone services offered to Indian subscribers, including a section on devotional services here.
In one ride a car cigarette lighter was draped over the rear view mirror – at first glance to pray to the gods Cavanders and Jaisalmer. However as the journey progressed the clues to its real purpose revealed themselves: a packet of Chandan Agarbatti in the foot well; the subtle hue of ash residue on the front seat; and a small incense holder welded to the dash.
In another sign of devotion a plastic model of Ganesh obscures the speedometer – something that would be considered a problem in many cultures, just not here: going above the speed limit is be challenge for 25 year old Padminis even if the potholes and back to back traffic jams allowed it. The speedometer is in good company – the fuel, amp and temperature gauges also don't work.
Microplex Experiences
Jul 06, 2007
And hand pushing the entrance door to a unlicensed movie theatre in Dharavi, Mumbai - the movie playing can be seen through the peep hole. Similarly styled service offerings can be found in the back streets of Chinese cities such as Chengdu. What are the similarities/difference between Chinese and Indian microplexes?
In Dharavi 5 Rupees (10 Euro cents) buys you sitting space on blanket covered floor; those in the front ‘row’ are required to lie down to see the screen; in the company of a male-only audience - packed even in the middle of the day. The schedule is drawn from a huge selection from world’s most vibrant cinema culture.
In Chengdu 2 - 3 Yuan (20 - 30 Euro cents) buys you: a seat on a wooden bench in the company of male manual workers; a cup of green tea, and the latest Chinese action movies shown on an over sized TV. Punters who are unhappy with this particular action movie can pop next door to a competing cinema to watch a different action movie.
Oh, and just because its unlicensed doesn't mean it’s untouched - someone, somewhere will be receiving a kickback to 'allow' it to operate.
A Cover for Covers
Jul 06, 2007 | 3 Comments
Additional protection from the monsoon rains - a splash proof phone, in a protective case, in a plastic bag. Justifiable paranoia for a business tool that may well have cost a month's wages, carried by a person who will at some point be soaked to the bone.
Kind of reminds me the economics of economics, the politics of politics, or even the experience of experience design.
Which reminds me, who is the poster child for poster children?
Friday Pop Quiz: A xxxxxxx of Data
Jul 06, 2007 | 12 Comments
Your opportunity to attain the acknowledgement of your peers and win a little on a balmy Mumbai friday afternoon.
I'm looking for a word to describe that sweet spot in the field study process when you know you've found the thing you've been looking for even if you can't yet articulate it, but prior to the long dark descent into information overload.
Right now were there, and the only thing thats missing is a word to describe it.
A couple of small local goodies shipped to the person who comes up with the best answer. Competition entries in the comments, below.
Evil Warded
Jul 06, 2007
How to ward off digital evil spirits?
Repair, Retire
Jul 06, 2007
Fly poster advertising "Boys Wanted for Mobile Repair"
Too old by what age?
Retail Light Switch Norms
Jul 06, 2007
Regret, if there is such a thing is not having enough time to document light switch arrays in the local retail outlets. What, if anything is interesting about these wall mounted wonders?
Typically placed close to the entrance the light switch array stands within easy reach of the proprietor, usually found perched on a stool handling the cash register. The information architecture of the switches (and occasionally also power plugs) bears no resemblance to the layout of the lighting in the store itself but is rather is a cross between the creative frustrations of the electrician and a twisted sense of status of the owner.
A modest example from Dharavi above, more flamboyant to follow if I have time to pull 'em from the archive.
Define Freedom, Fighter, Freedom Fighter
Jul 06, 2007
Then pay their pensions.
Priorities
Jul 06, 2007
The proximity of faith related icons to the money, the act of completing a transaction, or simply in proximity to an oft repeated task - using the cash register?
And the chai delivery order book below. Faith that customers with a tab will pay?
Bangle Packaging Norms
Jul 06, 2007
Context misunderstood.
Kohl / Kajal Packaging Norms
Jul 06, 2007
On a market stall in a primarily Muslim community.
Hit Me
Jul 05, 2007 | 1 Comment
What drink do you associate with a hit of salt? Tequila? Neat vodka? A soda water?
Salt and soda water? At least two explanations why locally, it is being served this way: useful way to replenish salt lost through sweating; salt helps reduce the heavily carbonated water.
Salt rimmed neat vodka, from a night out in Mumbai, below.
Bonus question - what food do you associate with a slither of lime? Indeed.
Today’s Office
Jul 02, 2007
Today’s office is in a neighbourhood of Mumbai’s Dhavari, on a day the monsoon really starts to kick in.
The father of the family picks us up at a landmark restaurant, hand-shakes for greetings, and motions us to tail him. For a good ten minutes we walk, skip and wade our way through the back alleys that house the bulk of Dharavi’s residents – weaving between dense two story housing, ladder-steep staircases, buckets put out to catch clean water pelting down from the sky and the occasional resident lathered with a sachet’s worth of shampoo positioning themselves under the urban waterfalls.
He eventually leads us through a ground floor doorway into his home, a room of no more than 6 square meters, where we are greeted by the lady of the house. She gently restrains the energy of one of his two daughters, whilst their second - little more than a baby sleeps contentedly on a blanket laid out on the floor behind the door.
The seating arrangements are surprisingly simple for such a tight space - everyone sits with their backs to the wall, everyone except our erstwhile guide who squats between the kitchen and bathroom - in effect the only space big enough to house his light frame. The only remaining white space - a patch of floor in the center of the room is bordered by wayward feet, and its there that the microphone sits, its red light occasionally flickering as the audio is written to memory. “Since we don’t have a perfect memory, and because everything you say is important to us, with your permission we would like to record this session…” so there it sits, the mouse in the room.
How to ensure participants feel comfortable with our presence? With the presence of our technology: small but never-the-less protruding microphones; flashing lights; consent forms; interchangeable lenses; pens; paper?
The ebb and flow of the interview is conducted in Hindi leaving me with plenty of time to think about the everyday rituals conducted in this 1 room family home. What do we expect to learn from being here? Are we there yet? And what is still missing to help us on our way?
The view from the frame of the doorway: the colourful hood of a plastic cape pulled tight over the face of a young lady crouching in the alley as she scrubs the household pots; man bent-double hobbles past, supported by a soaked child protecting him with an umbrella; kids walk into view, stand and stare, seemingly unaware of their temporal beauty and their place in these surroundings. Monsoon rain is a playground sent from the sky. If you’re a kid, its proof there’s a god.
A neighbour motions me to brave the rain and cross the alley, introduces herself with in a gentle Mumlish lilt of and encourages me to take a portrait her son. He stands, only just sheltered from the downpour and faces the camera. Formalities aside, his mother offers a chai and minutes later, when I’m back with the team in the interviewee’s home, the chai arrives in a small aluminum tea pot.
Our plan is to return for a follow up interview. Mental note to self print a photo of her son. Whether, and how to go beyond making people feel comfortable with our presence? Whether and how to evolve the relationship between one of interviewer interviewee.
Every field study comes with its own set of unique challenges and exploring and pushing what we already know helps us move from here to somewhere out there. How to meaningfully engage with close knit and sometimes defensive communities in the relatively short time that we have, and do it in such a way that benefits the individuals involved, the community and our employer? How to ensure the health and safety of an expanded team of 18, working during the monsoon in one of the world’s poorest urban centers?
Just when you think the rains can’t get any harder, its turns it up a notch. The rains remind me of a wiry kick boxer I used to see training in my Daikanyama dojo, able to churn out a consistent flurry of blows from a physique that simply couldn’t contain that much energy. And just when you thought he couldn’t turn out anything more, he would start with big body shots.
By the time we leave, the open sewers that run along many of the alley ways have flooded, their contents spilled into the stream that now makes up our path. The risk of infection wading through knee deep water is very real but it’s currently the least of our worries - the uneven river bed, including the open sewer provides numerous opportunities to gouge and sprain legs and feet.
Home is the safety of a lodge. A hot cup of tea and the liberal use of Dettol awaits.
Designs on Participation
Jul 02, 2007
How to engage with the local community in design?
Rent a photo studio for ten days, fly-post a competition, offer daily prizes, meticulously document winners posing with said designs, and invite the best of the best to an award ceremony.
A process worth writing up in due course.
Wall To Car Wall
Jul 02, 2007
Every inside surface of the taxi carpeted, except for the floor.
The Price of Privacy
Jul 01, 2007
Using local contact numbers during the field research lowers the communication barrier for would-be participants – and the arrival in a new city heralds in a new, temporary 10 digit identity (otherwise known as a phone number) for each member of the team. Within a day of activating the Hutch SIM card the barrage of spam starts - both text messages and automated calling (Interaction Voice Response).
Locals in the know send a text message to opt out, a process that, according to Hutch’s automated response takes at least three days to activate: “We respect your privacy. Please give us 72 hours to include your number on our Do Not Disturb list. Thank you” and an unspecified amount of time this to filter through to the companies that already have you on their disturb list.
The revenue generated by selling your privacy in the first place vs. the risk of losing you as a customer.
The inertia of changing utility suppliers - whether it's for water, gas, electricity or personal connectivity. Disruptions - legal frameworks /emerging technologies that reduce/increase the inertia.
God In My Pocket
Jun 30, 2007
Literal
Jun 30, 2007
I Follow You, Following Me
Jun 29, 2007
How is your milk packaged? What is the environmental impact of that packaging? To what extent does the packaging, whether a Tetra pak carton, plastic container, pewter jug, or bag (from Chai house in Dharavi) affect the enjoyment and perceived value of the milk?
Related article about the (re-)introduction of milk bags in the UK, and the psychology of milk from the bottle in Japan.
For products where the packaging has negative connotations, to what extent can re-packaging a product once it is enters the domestic space overcome these negativities?
Interaction nerds will have no-doubt noticed the almost empty packaging ‘clipped’ under the ladle to ensure the entire contents drip into the pot. New forms of interaction, use enabled by new forms of packaging.
Cooler, Tastier, Happier
Jun 29, 2007
A slither of scaldingly hot chai swiftly placed and then slurped from the palm of its chef. The gentle chai-tanning of his palm.
The food and drink cultural interaction norms whether drinking water from a bottle (without allowing the bottle head to touch one’s lips) to the range of foods that it's acceptable to eat by hand. In what ways might these norms affect device and infrastructure interaction?
A busy, hit-the-ground-running start to our Dharavi research.
Non-Literate Mobile Phone Communication
Nov 20, 2005 | 1 Comment
To communicate with someone outside your immediate proximity requires at least 4 things: something to communicate; tools to create what you want to communicate; an infrastructure to carry the communication; and a means of identifying with whom to communicate. There are an estimated 799 million non-literate peoples world wide. If you can't read and write how do you manage your contacts?
This simple observation was the starting point to conduct a series of (ongoing) exploratory research studies in India, China and Nepal - our aim to understand the communication needs of non-literate users. For mobile phone manufacturers who wish to address these needs: How does the inability to read and write affect the ability of mobile phone users to make effective use of mobile phones? Making and receiving calls? Creating and managing contact information? Text messaging? Using time management features? How can we design communication tools that draw on the knowledge and experiences that these users do have?
If your interest is piqued then you might enjoy the following essay entitled Understanding Non-Literacy as a Barrier to Mobile Phone Communication which explores these issues and proposes a number of possible design solutions. As with a lot of our work the original projects included a fair amount of concept development that is only touched on in this essay.
In the studies we spent time with non-literate users exploring, mapping and understanding the things they used and the tasks they wanted to achieve - from using washing machines to weighing scales to running motorbikes to re-tuning TVs to paying for things. How did they interact with objects with textual and numeric interfaces? What problems did they encounter? What strategies did they adopt to overcome these problems? Were these strategies successful? If not, why not? And how can we bring the knowledge from this research and apply it to create communication devices that are more in tune with our non-literate users?
Researching non-literate communication practices has been rewarding: it touches on a very basic human desire - to communicate across time and space; the potential payback for the research is obvious and non-trivial; and the study participants, collaboration partners and environments in which the research took place have been quite simply inspiring.
Photos taken from street research in Mumbia, Bangalore, 2004 & 2005.
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