Assignment 6: Using a tool in Narayanpurra

We were to use a tool as a method of learning something about the people of a particular region; extracting information through indirect means, especially when language is a barrier. We wished to check out where one’s priorities and interests lay.

We decided to choose 3 different categories- religion, politics and film. We would take at least one imminent personality from each category and ask the people to pick one- their favorite one. We created paper cutout masks with a long handle of 8 prominent personalities. They could stand with the mask however they wanted- either with the mask beside their face, or on top of theirs. It would also show us their relations or connection with that personality.

The eight people we chose were-
1. Manmohan Singh, The PM of India
2. Yedyurappa, the CM of karnataka
3 Upendra, The local film star
4. Shahrukh Khan, The national film star
5. Brad Pitt, The international film star
6. Pooja Gandhi, The local actress
7. Parvathamma, a well respected film producer
8. Sri Hanumanji

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF IDOLS CHOSEN BY THE VILLAGERS OF NARAYANPURA

TOTAL NUMBER OF PEOPLE SURVEYED = 57


The clear favourite was Upendra, the local film hero. More people chose to have a picture taken with his mask on than anyone else. However, a large number of people also chose thheir God, Hanumanji.

PEOPLE’S CHOICES BASED ON DIFFERENT SECTORS OF SOCIETYQuite surprisingly, People chose film stars much more than God! We had expected a large number of people to chose religion over film.

PEOPLE’S CHOICES WITHIN THE GIVEN FILM STARS

The people of narayanpur we quite besotted with their local hero itself. They did not have too much exposure to the outside world and even shahrukh khan, the countries biggest film star got chosen only 5 times! Brad Pitt, of course, was not even heard of and was chosen only once, that too because they found it funny.

Infact many People picked up hid mask, and then put it back down realizing that he is a foreigner. the villagers were quite proud of their own people and had a certain disregard for foreigners

The people in Narayanpura viallage were friendly and warm when we went to them with our tool for research. At first most were wary of students walking around with masks in their hands and approaching them. Amongst them, we found the men to be much more co-operative and interactive. They, in fact, encouraged the ladies and others to join in our little activity.

The females mostly stayed silent and wanted nothing from us. But when they were encouraged by their husbands and fathers, they gave way and picked a mask. Many a times, they even needed to be prodded a bit, but the enthusiasm of others caused the rest to co-operate, hesitatingly.

The kids were the most fun of all. They were bold and enthusiastic. They loved being a part of the activity, and made us a part of them immediately. They even ran home to home, and called others to come join them. It was partly due to their enthusiasm that our activity gathered the attention that it did. The kids followed us around, and hounded us to see the photographs taken.

Assignment 5: Survey at Betalhalsurr Narayanpurra

VILLAGE PROFILE-

Narayanpura is a small village in the District of Banaglore further down the Air Force Base. The population is about 200-300, with almost 60 households.

There are 15 households run and headed by women. None of the women are part of the Panchayat. They do, however, gather together in the village and discuss matters.

During special seasons like Diwali and Summer, when the demand for pottery items is high, a few workers do come to the village to work with some families.

All the families are Hindu, belonging to other categories (not from SC/ST/OBC). A part of the village lives below the poverty line.

The entire village gets water from a single borewell. None of them own a personal water facility. All the villagers are potters, who have done this occupation all their life. They have learnt it from their ancestors; an art that has been passed down through the generations. Some of the younger generation, however, are leaving and taking up other jobs like being a driver.

Even though all the villagers engage in the same activity and get the clay from similar sources, they each go individually to collect it for their family. The pottery items are mostly sold in the city market. They do sell to those few who come to the village directly to buy. The men usually are the ones who sit at the wheel and make the pots. The women do the decoration on the pots before they are fired. Fancy items are not usually made, unless on order.

HOUSE-HOLD SURVEY-

Name of head of H/H: Shyamanna
Age: 65 yrs
Sex: M
Religion: Hindu
Category: Other
Marital Status: Married
Type of family: Joint
Educational status: Illiterate
Total number of family members 14 yrs & above: 11 (7 males, 4 females)
Literary status: 1 (F)

House Ownership: Yes
Type of House: Pucca
House with Kitchen Garden: No
Own Drinking water Facility: No
House with Cattle Shed: No
Electricity: Yes
Land Holdings: None

Credit Liabilities:
Source of credit: Bank
Amount: Rs. 20,000
Purpose: For pottery equipment and material
Total income: Rs. 30,000-40,000 per annum

Any other information: Sons have left this profession. One has become a driver, other one is not yet working.

………………………………..

Name of head of H/H: Krishnamurthy
Age: 65 yrs
Sex: M
Religion: Hindu
Category: Other
Marital Status: Married
Type of family: Joint
Educational status: Literate upto 2^nd Std.
Total number of family members: 8
6-14 yrs: 2 (1 M, 1 F)
14 yrs & above: 6 (2 males, 4 females)
Literary status: 1 M, 1 F

House Ownership: Yes
Type of House: Pucca
House with Kitchen Garden: No
Own Drinking water Facility: No
House with Cattle Shed: No
Electricity: Yes
Land Holdings: None

Credit Liabilities:

Source of credit: Bank
Amount: Rs. 50,000
Purpose: For pottery equipment and material
Total income: Rs. 40,000-50,000 per annum

Any other information: They get one or two workers during Diwali season as extra help. One son does not work.

……………………………….

Name of head of H/H: Munchiappa
Age: 40 yrs
Sex: M
Religion: Hindu
Category: Other
Marital Status: Married
Type of family: Joint
Educational status: Literate upto 7^th Std
Total number of family members: 4 (5 before his daughter got married and left)
14 yrs & above: 4 (3 males, 1 females)
Literary status: 2 daughters till 12^th Std, 2 Sons are in 7^th & 8^th.

House Ownership: Yes
Type of House: Pucca
House with Kitchen Garden: No
Own Drinking water Facility: No
House with Cattle Shed: No
Electricity: Yes
Land Holdings: None
Total income: Rs. 35,000-45,000 per annum

Any other information: One daughter married and lives away. Sons are still studying.

…………………………

Name of head of H/H: Nagrajappa
Age: 45 yrs
Sex: M
Religion: Hindu
Category: Other
Marital Status: Married
Type of family: Nuclear
Educational status: Literate upto 7^th Std
Total number of family members 14 yrs & above: 4 (3 males, 1 female)
Literary status: 2 Sons till 8^th Std

House Ownership: Yes
Type of House: Pucca
House with Kitchen Garden: No
Own Drinking water Facility: No
House with Cattle Shed: No
Electricity: Yes
Land Holdings: None
Total income: Rs. 30,000-40,000 per annum

Any other information: Sons are 20yrs and 22yrs of age. They help in the business by making 1,000-2,000 pottery items each per day.

………………………………..

Assignment 4: Personas and Scenarios

Her name is Amrita Balan.

A divorcee and a single working mother of a 12yr old son. Strong-headed, independent, stingy and sometimes dominating, she works hard for a living. She also takes care of her elderly parents, who live with her, and has high hopes for her son, sometimes pushing him to the limit. She loves him dearly, but is not one to show it...

 The time passed by as we built up the character of the lady who was was to be Ms. Balan; her complex life, relationships she shared as well as the hardships she endured. They more we as a group worked on creating Ms. Balan, the more we realized that we knew her, understood her. Her vulnerable side may be feel like a 'Nothing' in the world, but to us she was Someone. She was a persona created by our group of 3. She was an unconscious amalgamation of people each one of us knew in the real world.

We dwelt a lot into building Amrita's life- from the kind of car she would possess (a second-hand dark blue Maruti) to the number of times she would visit the chat-walla (although she has a sweet-tooth too). We also worked on the way she dressed and her daily hectic schedule.

It required some thinking in the beginning. We even brain-stormed by discussing and looking into personalities of the 5 businessmen we had earlier interviewed. But later we left it all aside and created a persona of our own. We discussed what her story was to be; her personality, relationships, life, family and job followed easily. We felt like we had just discovered her, rather than created her. It may seem a bit 'heavy' to say something like that, and we may come off a bit fake, but the fact remained that the character just seemed to build herself.

The reason for creating a persona was not clear in the beginning. It just seemed to lengthen the solution-seeking process. Later, however, I realized that my thinking was all off.

Seeking a 'solution' is not always the aim. Also, building a persona meant that we understood the persona a lot more personally. Its like designing a mobile for your mother rather than for a large heterogeneous group of all ages. Picking one helps us in concentrating a lot more on their actual behaviors and habits- in understanding the person. A lot more ideas are likely to arise. And who knows, these ideas may just apply for others as well!

A lot of attention nowadays is spent by companies on giving special attention and catering to the individual needs of their customers. It seems like we are pretty much on the right track then by incorporating that into the process of designing itself. 

 

Assignment 3: Enhancements

Enhancements.

For a juice shop.

It made me think. What could I, as a designer  do, change or improve to help that small little juice shop along a line of shops at the bus-stop?

This is the part I love about this even more about it: A designer doesn't always design just the form or the look of something. A definite misconception. One can even design systems, strategies or how a thing works.

The juice center we went to was doing pretty well on its own. Coming up with enhancements for the shop required closer observation and some brain-storming. I closely began to observe their method and realized a couple of things, although small, could make a difference for them.

1) Counter design:

During rush hour the counter of the juice center is jam-packed. A lot of people gather around for their juice, standing pressed closed to each other or squeezing through. For passerby's on the footpath, this view of a large crowd of people is often dissuading and unattractive, especially when one is in a rush and needs a quick drink.

This situation can be improved significantly by a better counter design. I noticed that the counter's current design is extremely odd.  It is even all along the right side and the center. The left side of the counter, however, is at a lower level and then curves outwards, which is an inconvenient spot to stand at.

Thus, I thought of a curved counter. The curvature provides a larger circumference, and thereby more area for people to stand. The crowd looks more managed and less chaotic.

2) New-ness:

The juice shop has been here since the last 8 years. Over the years they have gathered many regular customers, apart from the expected passerby's. To retain these customers, and get more business, the juice center would benefit by being more innovative and introducing newer juices.

New 'Specials', customized juices or some more fruit juices can be added to the menu. People have the option of having an orange-mossambi mix, or an apple-pineapple.

3) Make presence known:

The juice centre is located alongside many other shops. It is difficult to spot it immediately.  To help it stand out more prominently, I looked around as to what feature could be effectively and economically enhanced. 

I noticed the stairs that led to the shop. They are currently ordinary and yet one of the most visible feature around. If the stairs that lead to the shop are painted, they will attract the passerby's much more. It would not be an advertisement, but more like a teaser to pull customers into the shop. It would also act as an element that would distinguish this juice center from all the other similar looking one's in the area.

Practically thinking, if painting the stairs is not legal or possible since the shop is rented from the BMTC, the illustration on the steps could be chalked out. It is something temporary and effective. 

4) Nutritional value:

Fruit juices are healthy. Publicizing that fact could make people consciously choose fruit juices over soft-drinks, not just for the price and taste, but even for health reasons.

The goodness of common fruits for our body can be printed either on the take away cups, on a signboard placed at strategic positions. 

5) Health is wealth:

To further go along with promoting good health, an extra batch of healthy juices could be introduced. Juices like karela juice, tomato juice, carrot juice etc. They should also have sugar-free options.

The shop would be catering to the health conscious crowd, who are most likely to come early mornings during their morning jogs. Accordingly the shop timings should also change and remain open early in the morning to cater to this audience. The prices could be discounted for daily drinks, or the customers could be given the option of monthly payments.

6) Other products:

The juice center could provide cut fruits as another option to fruit juices. 

Assignment 2: Five Lives

So, our second assignment included finding out the details and working of small enterprises in our environment and therefore in order to do so , we found ourselves lurking around the streets of Yelahanka , to find our lucky five .

We first came across a Konkani fast food joint called ‘Hegde’s ‘. Located amidst the residential area of Nagarjuna colony and SFS , this little open air food joint is run by an ex- army man who lives with his wife and daughter. He lives very close to this little place he has set up, in a tiny flat . He in known to find a lot of pleasure in providing quality yet, healthy food to people . He claims to have set up the business around 2 years back and has mostly targeted the students who get bored of eating unhealthy PG food .

His strategy involves a very close interaction with his customers (by serving most of the food himself , and taking extreme care even their very minute requirements of the customer ) and providing them good food at cheap rates . He tends to utilize most of the basic kitchen requirements such as the fridge , stove , blender ,water etc. and most importantly serves the delicious food in steel plates in order to add ‘ a homely touch ‘ .

They estimate and prepare food for at least , 25 customers on a daily basis . His most exclusive feature is to provide fish , at far cheaper rates than the market itself , which draws a lot of people from around the place . He is not only known for the delicious non- veg food but his place is also a delight for a vegetarian . He also provides with ‘Kokam’ which he apparently gets from North Canara which is almost 450 Kms. Away and which also happens to be his native place. He is so particular about the health factor , that he refuses to even provide the usual soft drinks that every other eatery provides .He buys the fresh vegetables from the old Yelahanka town markets , and the tasty fish from different markets , he even offered us to provide us crab , for 150 Rs. When it is avalible at around 650 in the market .

Hegde uncle as he is lovingly called by us srishti-ites usually provides delicious meals which are cooked by his daughter and an attendant , and is very carefully supervised by his lovely wife . Off late, he finds a strong competition from the other local eateries providing junk rolls etc . Yet , takes up the challenge of providing a much healthier and tastier version to us all , and therefore asked us to spread the word , clearly he does not believe in putting up carrying out a lot of fancy endorsements . He believes that good quality food will always speak for itself .

Hegde uncle does not believe in the wastage of food , and encourages his customers to do the same , and practises prudence in the preparation of the food as well. Although , offlate he has been experiencing a downfall in the number of customers due to the busy money deficit schedules of the srishti students and is running the business at a very low profit margin (He earns around 500 rupees on an average per day) . However he still aims at increasing his fan base in and around the place with his good intensions .

We next headed towards our friendly neighbor-hood Annapoornamma chemist next, famous amongst us for offering ice-cream with medicines. He has studied pharmacy and started the shop almost 3 yrs ago. He also teaches pharmacy and medicine in colleges along with running his shop. He usually handed over the shop to an employee in the mornings, when he was teaching in colleges, and himself came in the afternoon to take over and help keep the shop open till late night. Now, since his only employee left to pursue further studies, he is left to work himself. It means having to keep the shop closed during the mornings and afternoons, till he finds himself another employee. Although it does mean losing out on some business.

The location and geography of his shop is a good one. Although it is not the main road, it is situated quite prominently on a road joining the main road, which also receives a lot of traffic in terms of people. It is one of the only chemists on that road, thus catering to a lot to the residential areas around.

Yet, it is not enough and business is slow. That’s why he is not your average chemist any more. His pharmacy is part department store with certain food products, chocolates and biscuits, and even dog food. He also keeps Kwality Walls ice-cream, which sells only in certain seasons. He depends upon the students in the area to keep his ice-cream selling even in the slack seasons.

Apart from all this, he provides courier service and has a pay-phone outside his shop.

Soon we found ourselves wandering around our usual hangout place near Aroma when we thought of what all we relate as land marks in our locality . We traced our vision from Aroma bakery to Shanti Sagar and soon our heads lifted towards the pink board that held an imposing name ‘ Glamour’ . The woman dominated uni-sex saloon . So we found ourselves walking in for a little chit-chat and a hair cut .

The owner Shaina founded the place the previous year that is 2008 with her cousin who are both trained and certified by Shwartzkoff , and are both residents of SFS colony . The 2 ambitious Malayali cousins began the business with a heavy investment of Rs. 10 Lakhs which was taken on a loan .They have 4 women and a man helper who are well trained and hold very friendly realtions with their customers . It holds the title of being the only qualified saloon in Yelahanka and is popular due to the usage of branded products and the latest technology in the business . As a result of which it often attracts most of the young generation in and around Yelahanka . Apart from the normal parlour services , it offers tattoo and piercing services and has recently opened a waxing cabin for men as well. Glamour ensures the use of only branded products and technology to beautify their customers outlook .

The very opening , of glamour saw itself gain regular customers due to its own neat , decent outlook . Glamour also enjoys the benefits of being in a highly commercial locality and has favoured itself by the right kind of endorsement board which is hard to miss while passing the place .

Initially they followed a strategy through which they provided their expertise services for cheap with 40rupees for hair cuts and today , its the increased number of customers have helped them stash more by increasing their prices for quality services . They even tried bringing in attractive offers of chocolate massages for 300 or free t- shirts for a thousands waxing package although they did not work out much .

The place gets around 5 customers on a daily basis and earns around a 1000 on an average . Although , they call their business seasonal , as most of the customers land up during the wedding seasons during which they business booms to almost 10,000 rupees per day .

The parlour does not re-use any of its products to ensure a germ – free atmosphere , and utilizes most of the quality devices to ensure the same . The parlour although practises giving away long hair ( remains of haircuts ) to a certain woman for free to make wigs and the short hair is simple thrown away .

Although , people have begun complaining about the increased prices at the glamouress place it still maintains a steady number of customers who can’t rely on any other parlour in the locality due to the lack of professionalism that Glamour offers and hence it survives on profits today.

The Lakshmipati paanwaala sells only pan, cigarettes and sweets. He sells an average of 6- 7 packs of cigarettes a day and 20 to 25 pans. Good customer relationship has ensured regular customers. Also, the vendor is a marwadi, so many of the northerners like the pan he makes. This is his selling point that he hopes makes him different from the others around. He gets the cigarrettes delivered to him in bulk from the city. His strategy involves mainly stocking ciggarettes that the local population goes for rather than expensive ones. In a day he earns more out of pan than off cigarettes. His skill comes in his expertise at making pan. He seemed like a simple man, not too ambitious nor a dreamer. He usually follows his brother's instructions, not too bothered by testing his customers to improve his business.

Assignment 1: Earning Rs. 100/-

The assignment was interesting. At least until we had gone through all the ideas we could ever come up with. Making Rs. 100 in a couple of hours (without the use of contacts and in all honesty, without revealing our true objective being a college project) seems pretty easy. But then again, here comes, the keyword: 'innovation'. The idea had to be as innovative yet money-making.

So , we started working our heads towards the development of an 'innovative' business . We mind boggled for around 6 hours, that took us from the origin of a business to its success . We dissectedthe type of businesses into the creation & provision of a product to customers, and the provision of a service . We tried to think of a need for a service (or a product) that there was a need for but lacking availability. Some of the ideas that came about were:

1. helping coconut vendors make their business profitable by creating graphics on the coconut shells that would attract more customers

2. helping tourists by setting up a mobile information centre at a popular tourist location in Bangalore.
3. setting up a fun personality quiz booth
4. tapping into and using a current trend or hot topic as a base to make a product more attractive for selling, for instance MichaelJackson souvenirs.

5. Providing seating arrangements for elderly and other enthusiasts for a particular time limit in crowded commercial zones.

6. In case of rain, escorting stranded people to autos or nearby shelters with an umbrella.

7. Offering verbal and persuasive skills to lure more customers for pedlers and immobile sellers.

8. Collecting second-hand unwanted objects from door to door, and hosting a jumble sale.

We turned our focus towards children as an audience. A lot of brands nowadays aim at children as valuable customers. Some of the ideas that were thrown up with children in mind were:

1. Cheap storybooks to promote basic reading skills among children in low income areas. This was to be accompanied by story-telling sessions.

2. Having henna tatoo, body-painting and such entertainment booths.

We finally zeroed onto hosting puppet show performances for children in kindergarten and playschools. It serves as an educative entertainment thereby providing them with a break from their regular curriculum. It would be followed by a special origami workshop for teachers as well as students.

this was a very fun-filled yet embarressing experience. After deciding to host the puppet show for children we decided to go from one playschool to another, hoping that someone would allow us to perform for the children and earn some money. but this was a task that proved to be too difficult.

some schools told us that we have to have a more organised and official upproach, some told us that our reqest would take time to accept and some were already closed.

When we approached CRN Scool in Yelehanka, we were told that we could perform for the kids, but had we told them a day earlier they would have sent a request to the parents allowing their children to watch the 5 rupee puppet show. Since we had just that day to perform, we agreed to do it for free.

But performing infront of 75 nursery and kindergarten kids who knew little english and hardly any hindi was no easy job. But somehow we pulled through, singing "Ba Ba Black Sheep", "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Lakdi ki Kathi". the children enthusiastically joined us for "If You're Happy and You Know It". the children's reaction and joy was definitely more rewarding than the money

'Innovation for Living'

A 10 week course called 'Innovation for Living'...

My first thought was innovations that one does to make a living, especially involving businesses.

Its only been a day and I'm beginning to realize that there is a lot more to it than just that.

This blog is a walk through these 10 weeks that come to be.