2. Objectives
To 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 parameters
This 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.
3. Project approach and timeline
wk2 / 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 Lucknow
by 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 ‘15 Understanding the overall process and Preparing a questionnaire for the detailed study
wk2 / Feb ‘15 Creating 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
4. 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
6. 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
7. 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
8. 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
9. 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
10. 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. )
11. 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
13. Method of washing cloths
Please view the complete video inside “pics” section of shared google drive folder
14. 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
15. 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
16. 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.
17. 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
18. 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
23. 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)
