Pathikashram 2008 is about a collective perspective that we as a group, students of New Media Design, NID 2007 batch and facilitators Dilip Soni and kuntal De, are trying to develop about the central bus stand in Gandhinagar, Gujarat in Western India.
The idea of this blog is somewhat like a digital journal that we all will keep about our studies at Pathikashram for next few weeks, discuss our learnings, and deliberate the design principles that we would try to understand.
We, as a group will try to see how specific context plays a guiding role in understanding design process, suggestion of design solutions and evaluation of the same as well as negotiating the final outcome with the user.
6 comments:
i am having a major problem with my users.99% people who cant read gujarati or understand it, dont follow hindi too so communication problem i am facing while talking to them. i managed to get some information but i dont know how useful it will be. users are so used to the system that they dont want anything new. either they are happy with the existing one or they are not open to me. and one important insight i got today is that color coding is not used any longer.
Information Design
Assignment I
September 12
Q 1. Divide yourself into the following users-
- Passengers who can read( Kanika, Neha)
- Passengers who cannot read (Parita, Mansi)
- Bus drivers and conductors(Aditi, Sagar)
- People who are employed in admin of bus station(Tuhin, Madhavi)
- Shopkeepers and others (Anoma, Akhilesh)
Q2. Ask the following questions to yourself.
- what information do you require...........in what form?
.......where? (location)
- what information do you give
- which information is new and which is existing
- what will new information have as an impact on others
- size- in terms of quantitative info
Q3. Broadly divide into two categories .............. for normal operations.
..............for exceptional situations.
In form of information only. In written and no pictures.
My visit on Sunday morning got me some insights into that place. The conversation with a few passengers( "who can read")helped me identify a few problem areas and understand how convenient/not convenient it is for them to travel.
For Mansi-
Colour coding is used but not for the purpose they are actually supposed to be used. The red and orange buses are for CNG only. The blue buses may go the same place and follow similar route but they are not CNG.
I did not understand why though!
I agree that a many a users are not the Hindi reading audience, they are more comfortable with Gujarati language.
"I could be one of the users who can't read"(I meant Gujarati ofcourse"...:)
But I don't agree with the fact that they are 'happy' with the system.I also had a problem interacting with them but I could understand bits and pieces and know what problems they are facing.
My observations and inferences I am listing below.
Observations(through conversations also)
- mad rush at the enquiry booth...people confirming about timings, delays and platforms.(and bus numbers too !?)
- timings and route destinations are available as 'HUGE' and are displayed at the entrance as well as the exit.
-Huge signboards displaying the timings and route destinations at the entrance and exit but hardly anybody consulting it!
- - there are 10 platforms and not 8.
- - announcements were being made!!! Though I couldn’t figure out if it was a lady or a man aside trying to know what they were speaking. He/ she wouldn’t pause! I doubt if anyone was even listening!
- announcement was according to the ‘Bus number’. I was surprised. Who would ‘read’ the bus number and where? I don’t expect them to hop over every platform? There was one going to Paldi numbered 7006 which he/she announced.
Assignment II
Study one city in terms of the transport system like road, rail, preferably a developed city like London, Boston etc.
Presentation on Thursday, September 18, 2008.
List of cities
Brussels- Sagar
Boston- Mansi
San Francisco- Anoma
London- Kanika
Munich- Aditi
Tokyo- Neha
Paris- Tuhin
Sagar- Brussels
List of cites:
Parita- Amsterdam
Akhilesh- Honkong
Post a Comment