Designing for Indian cloak rooms

1. DESIGN PROCESS
Railway station (services)
Neelam Gulrajani | DDE

2. Design Brief
To improve the cloak room for a railway station to make
it more approachable and user friendly for the
passengers such that it can be used by the passengers
more frequently without compromising with the
authenticity of the system.

3. Observations
The observations were recorded first at Yesvantpur Junction
and then at Bangalore City Junction .
Both the sites had completely different scenarios. Where one
had a cloak room that is rarely used by passengers and is
more like a railway station store room , the other had a cloak
room flooded with passengers and their luggage.

4. Only one attendant
for 24 hrs(no shifts)
Passengers are
overcharged
No orderliness in
keeping
bags(bags are
thrown inside)

5. Redefining Design Brief
“To improve the cloak room for a railway
station to make it more approachable and user
friendly for the passengers by creating a
system that is more trustworthy in terms of
authenticity, safety and orderliness.”

6. Target Audience
Age Group 20-60 years (approx.)
Gender Both but it is more used by men
Income Generally lower and middle classes
Use Generally used by people who have to switch trains at a station;
Sometimes people don’t have a ticket, so they buy a platform
ticket, deposit luggage and then buy a ticket

7. Design Considerations
Approachable Improve the appearance ; look and feel
Authentic
Improve the system such that passengers are not cheated
Safety Passenger should be able to trust the authorities for the safety of
his/her luggage
Orderliness The shelves should be able to accommodate the luggage without
causing any damage
Crowd Mgmt. Crowd, less or more should be managed efficiently without any
inconvenience caused

8. Initial Sketches

9. Final concept : CLOAK ROOM KIOSK
Simple to use
The ticket no. becomes a unique
identity for the passenger
Helps maintain an inventory for
security purposes
Luggage charges evaluated on the
basis of weight of the luggage

10. Confirm Token on
Scan Ticket Weigh Luggage
screen
Show token inside
Make Payment Collect Token
the cloak room
Deposit Luggage
Other improvements
 Separate lockers may be provided for personal belongings
 The shelves could be made of steel so that they don’t gather too
much dust and can sustain weight of the bags

11. THANK YOU