The Toolkit
A Diploma Project Documentation
Shreya Chakravarty PGDPD Graphic Design 2011
diploma project Developing a Toolkit for Project Sammaan Sponsor : Quicksand Design Studio, New Delhi
student : shreya chakravarty programme : Post-Graduate Diploma Programme
guide : RUpesh vyas
2014 GRAPHIC DESIGN
The Toolkit A Diploma Project Documentation Typset in MetaPro Published as an academic project by Shreya Chakravarty for National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad September 2014
The Toolkit A Diploma Project Documentation
Originality Statement I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and it contains no full or substantial copy of previously published material, or it does not even contain substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of any other educational instituti on, except where due acknowledgement is made in this diploma project. Moreover I also declare that none of the concepts are borrowed or copied without due acknowledgement. I further declare that the intellectual content of this Diploma Project is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project’s design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged. This diploma project (or part of it) was not and will not be submitted as assessed work in any other academic course. Student Name: SHREYA CHAKRAVARTY Signature: Date:
September 19, 2014
Copyright Statement I hereby grant the National Institute of Design the right to archive and to make available my Diploma Project in whole or in part in the Institute’s Knowledge Management Centre in all forms of media,now or hereafter known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act. I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my document or I have obtained permission to use copyright material.
Student Name: SHREYA CHAKRAVARTY Signature: Date:
September 19, 2014
“ There are some people who come into graphic design and find it a bit ephemeral and vacuous. People who like to do useful things are attracted to information design. There is something quite useful about designing traffic signs so that people don’t get lost or medicine bottles that people can understand. It’s a way of making a difference. It’s public service.” - David Sless
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Preface Decisions are made every day that impact the way millions of people live, work and interact in community environments. Information design and design thinking have begun to play a huge role in the context of social and civic impact. A tenure at National Institute of Design assures one of being more empathic, observant and a better design thinker at large. Taking a call to work on the design and development of the Project Sammaan toolkit arose from a need to combine the love for information design and design research, while challenging myself to work on a topic rather unfamiliar and uncomfortable, and in doing so, gaining an immense amount of learning along the way. Application of design thinking principles and the creation of helpful documentation and guidance can lead to suprising and inspiring results. By promoting innovation and design thinking, a lot more can be achieved. Sammaan’s toolkit is but one step towards that objective. (with excerpts from Information Design Workbook by Kim Baer)
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Acknowledgements I would like to thank National Institute of Design for giving me the space and system that is truly inspiring, encouraging and supportive.
Falguni Chakravarty, thank you for bringing graphic design to my life and helping make my dreams come true.
The faculty and staff of the Institute and the discipline who have made living and learning at NID a truly enjoyable task.
Government officials, Project partners, interview respondents and residents of the colonies who spared their valuable time for the benefit of the project.
This diploma project would not have been possible without the efforts of the team at Quicksand Design Studio, Delhi and Bangalore. Thank You Ayush Chauhan, Babitha George and Neha Singh for giving me the opportunity to work on the project and allowing me experience things the Quicksand way . My sincere gratitude to Kevin Shane, mentor at Quicksand for being a constant support and motivating me throughout the diploma project. Friends at Quicksand- Rikta, Girish ,Romit, Abhinav, Akhil, Dayanand, Ashok, Bharat, Rakesh, Deepandra, Szabo, Meego, Zizou and the brood!
Ms Renuka Malaker for assisting visits to slums in Delhi. Officials of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, for sharing their valuable experiences. Roshini Pochont for being the biggest pillar of support, before, throughout and even after the project. Manimaran for his magic on images .Suresh bhai, Sachin Bhai and Manoj Pilli for helping immensely with the box prototype. My parents, friends and family for their constant encouragement, love and support.
Rupesh Vyas, for introducing me to a whole new world of information and public service design, as also guiding and mentoring the project at every stage and giving it that much needed push.
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Table of Contents Part 1 Project Background
Part 2 Research, Design & Development
1.1 Quicksand Design Studio
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1.2 Quicksand Team
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1.3 Understanding Sanitation in India
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1.4 Potty Project and Project Sammaan
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1.5 Project Sammaan- A Synopsis
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1.6 Randomised Control Trials
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1.7 Scope of the Diploma Project
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1.8 Project Timeline
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2.1 Overview A. The Iterative Design Process B. Answering Some Basic Questions C. Information Synthesis Categories 2.2 Research & Design Development Phases A. Contextual Research Plan B. Project Management and Decision Making C. Critical Information Points D. Diverging and Converging E. Design Principles Focus F. Value Proposition 2.3 The Toolkit Begins To Come Together A. Building a Communication Strategy B. Learnings from the Process
36 38 40 42 45 53 65 89 109 117 138 142
Part 3 Final Design Outcome
3.1 Developing The Sammaan Toolkit A. Key Features B. Visual Language C. Suggested Packaging 3.2 Toolkit Collaterals (Digital version) 3.3 The Sammaan Toolkit v.1 A. Project Sammaan Infographic B. Facilities Infographic C. Human Centred Design Process Map D. Tool Cards
Part 4 Looking Back & Looking Ahead 146 152 166 169 180 182 184 187
4.1. The Quicksand Learning Experience
197
4.2. Way forward
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4.3 Conclusion
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Bibliography
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The Toolkit A Diploma Project Documentation
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National Institute of Design 2011-2013 I Post Graduate Diploma Programme in Graphic Design
National Institute of Design National Institute of Design is internationally acclaimed as one of the finest educational and research institutions for Industrial, Communication, Textile and IT Integrated (Experiential) Design. It is an autonomous institution under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India and is recognised by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India as a Scientific andIndustrial Research Organisation. NID’s vision is to emerge as a global leader in Design Educationand Research and become a torchbearer for innovative designdirections in the industry, commerce and development sectors. NID’s transdisciplinary environment consisting of 17 diversedesign domains helps in creating innovative and holistic ecosystem for design learning.
Graphic Design at NID plays many roles, as effective information-dispenser, communicator and persuader. Technology and mediums are rapidly changing the way the graphic designer works, but basic principles of good design hold strong. The discipline offers different areas of study such as typography, illustration, publication design, identity design, branding, and information design. It covers a range of work, from signage systems to medical leaflets, and educational tools to logos.
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The Toolkit
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Project Synopsis Project Sammaan is a collaborative effort involving an academic lab, a design and innovation consultancy firm, and two city governments, aimed at designing, implementing and rigorously testing a range of innovations for shared sanitation facilities in urban slums in India, beginning with the pilot cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack in Odisha. It combines principles of design, research and technology to propose a new model for community sanitation with an aim to reduce open defecation and instil a sense of dignity in the community using these facilities. The design and development of the Project Sammaan Toolkit (v.1) is for the purpose of directing interested parties in replicating these user-centric facilities within their contexts, keeping in mind a design centric approach. While primarily a graphic design project, the most critical part was to get the navigation structure in place and detail it out. Thus the overall design process is what primarily influenced the success of the project.
Iterations based on re-looking various parts of the toolkit became the biggest constant within the project. The nature of information itself within the project was immensely complex and varied, leading to diverse iterations and explorations in a process that was continuously evolving. In-depth research, stakeholder interviews and rigorous explorations lead to the development of a communication strategy around the toolkit and advocating the need for the establishment of a human centred design process. A series of tools (visually manifested in a set of cards) were developed to make the complexities of working in the sanitation context a bit easier to grasp. The cards are segmented into four distinct categories that take the toolkit users through the progression of specific aspects of the project. The experience provided learning beyond the realms of graphic and information design. The iterative design process, including working on-site and field research, gave it the shape and sense-making that could not be achieved in isolation or through a linear process.
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Part 1- Background 1.1 Quicksand Design Studio 1.2 Quicksand Team 1.3 Project Sammaan- A Synopsis 1.4 Understanding Sanitation in India 1.5 Potty Project and Project Sammaan 1.6 Randomised Control Trials 1.7 Scope of the Diploma Project 1.8 Project Timeline
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1.1
1.1
Quicksand is a multidisciplinary studio that facilitates strategy and design for human-centered experiences. Quicksand completes a decade of practice in 2014, based out of New Delhi and Bangalore in India. During this time, the studio has perceptibly transformed from a small creative agency to one of the country’s leading innovation and strategy practices. Facilitating sense-making through design strategies is increasingly what the studio is engaged for - whether it’s creating experimental toilet infrastructure in urban slums, proposing the future of cleaning products, inspiring next generation communication devices or developing a technology platform for rural schools.
Through its work, Quicksand articulates the unique opportunities and challenges that face any studio armed with a purpose of exploring an independent and local mandate for design thinking and strategy in South Asia today. An incredibly fast moving and complex layered environment, coupled with the complexities of scale and economics places unique demands on sense-makers in India.
Open, collaborative and fresh, the studio is a melting point of interests, passions and work across different fields.Seen here is the view of the Qutub Minar from the Quicksand’s Delhi studio.
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QUICKSAND DESIGN STUDIO
Robustness of creative work within complex briefs can only arise from a systemic worldview that places human experiences at the centre of all processes. Quicksand has built this over a multitude of projects - in often unfamiliar contexts - with a focus on learning and discovery that all team members are expected to have.
Quicksand creates solutions that are sensitive and relevant to the end user while driving business and social impact.
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1.1
1.2
The Quicksand team pushes exploration, understanding and application of design thinking as a mediator for chaos.
Babitha George Director
Ayush Chauhan Co-founder Ayush is a management graduate from IIM, Ahmedabad, and prior to that an engineering graduate from IIT Delhi. He also did a stint in the new rural banking initiative of the bank in 2004 driving product & service delivery innovations. Ayush anchors all business operations, business strategy and project management. Ayush has co-mentored the diploma project
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Babitha is a Management graduate from IIM,Ahmedabad, and an English and Journalism major prior to that. She has worked for Pepsico, iDiscoveri, Nicholas Piramal and The Azim Premji Foundation before deciding to pursue her interests in the creative arts and design led innovation at Quicksand. Babitha has co-mentored the diploma project
National Institute of Design 2011-2013 I Post Graduate Diploma Programme in Graphic Design
Kevin Shane Project Manager Kevin’s background is in corporate communications and marketing. He leads the outreach efforts of the studio, particularly for its social development projects and is the Project Manager for Project Sammaan. Kevin has guided and co-mentored the diploma project, and also authored the content component for the toolkit
QUICKSAND TEAM
Neha Singh Director
Avinash Kumar Co-founder
Neha is a Product Design graduate from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. She has worked with Titan, Bangalore and has strong interests in Structural Packaging, Consumer Products Design and Systems Design.
Avinash is a co-founder of Quicksand , BLOT! and GamesLab at Quicksand. He started out his design practice as a toy designer, and has brought learnings from this domain to much of his professional work .
Neha specializes in design methodologies & research in the studio
Avinash leads design research within Quicksand
Rikta Krishnaswamy Senior Designer
Kapil Das Co-founder Kapil, a graduate of the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute in Kolkata, has worked as a camera-man, director and editor on various films and documentaries before co-founding Quicksand. He has broad-based skills in music and communication. Kapil anchors all creative processes at Quicksand
Akhil Oswal UX DesignerWeb and Technology
Rikta is a Product Design graduate from the Symbiosis Institute Of Design, Pune.
Akhil, an electronics engineer from BITS, Goa, is part of the core research team of Quicksand.
At Quicksand, Rikta has been a key design researcher on projects in the “design for social impact” domain
Akhil develops and supports the web presence of Quicksand’s projects and is a keen origami enthusiast
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1.1 1.2
UNDERSTANDING THE CONTEXT OF SANITATION IN INDIA
1.3
India has the dubious distinction of being the world’s biggest culprit in terms of open-defecation, with a staggering 626 million citizens lacking access to toilets. A loss of over
There are a plethora of issues contributing to this, including everything from a fundamental lack of access to basic resources like water and electricity to mismanagement and poor construction of existing facilities. This hazardous situation costs India hundreds of thousands of lives and crores of rupees in lost productivity every year.
6.4%
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of India’s GDP, nearly
USD Billion
annually
There are many other problems that crop up when there aren’t adequate sanitation facilities. Health and hygiene standards become poor and diseases spread. Left: Women lining up to use a toilet facility in Bhubaneswar
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With a view to address these concerns the Government of India has drafted the National Urban Sanitation Policy, as part of the effort to match the Millennium Development Goal’s target of 100% access to improved sanitation by the year 2025. The NUSP also serves as a guideline to individual State governments to plan their sanitation programs.
1.1 1.2
THE POTTY PROJECT AND PROJECT SAMMAAN
1.4
Project Sammaan was born out of research that Quicksand undertook as part of the Potty Project, an in-depth design research study focused on understanding three things:
The end-user experience at community toilet facilities within urban slums in India.
End-user perceptions, attitudes, and mental models around sanitation and hygiene.
The ‘supply side’ aspects of community sanitation in slums including things such as pricing, operations & maintenance, caretaking, and business models
These insights and learnings are the foundation that Project Sammaan is built upon, making it the implementation phase to Potty Project’s research phase. The failures and successes observed in various urban centers across India have been the focus of internal stakeholder brainstorming sessions that, in turn, have helped arrive at conclusions that drive all Project Sammaan workstreams.
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1.1
1.5
Project Sammaan is aimed at designing, implementing and rigorously testing a range of innovations for shared sanitation facilities in urban slums in India, piloting in cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, Odisha It combines principles of design, research and technology to propose a new model for community sanitation with an aim to reduce open defecation and instil a sense of dignity in the community using these facilities.
The project is supported by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Municipal Corporations of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
Sanitation - the safe collection, confinement, treatment and disposal of human excreta - is one of the most basic amenities necessary as an enabler of healthy living. The percentage of the population that has unserved or underserved sanitation needs is a valuable metric by which to ascertain the efficacy of a government in addressing the basic needs of its people.
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PROJECT SAMMAAN- A SYNOPSIS
Project Sammaan’s focus lies on providing sustainable infrastructure and business models for sanitation facilities in low income urban contexts. Top Left and Right: Users performing daily chores of using toilet and bathing facilities. Bottom left: A caretaker carrying out his cleaning responsiblities.
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1.1 1.2
RESEARCH COMPONENT- RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS
1.6
Intervention
The effectiveness of various toilet infrastructure interventions will be rigorously tested using a randomized impact evaluation methodology. Outcomes for both are measured
Split of population by a random lot
It will be based on an understanding of the present status of the urban slums in which Project Samman will intervene. A prior understanding is developed by administering a baseline survey in all the urban slum communities under consideration. The baseline sample is then used as a reference to measure the effectiveness of the interventions. Results from the impact evaluation will be delivered to all stakeholders and the proposal’s Principal Investigators will produce both academic papers and policy reports that analyze and interpret the findings for different audiences. These results will be disseminated through appropriate outlets to ensure that both the broader lessons learned and the successful solutions are identified and communicated to policymakers.
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Control
The basic design of an RCT, illustrated with a test of an employment programme.
looking for work
found work
The grant states the design of a ‘toolkit’ for effective sanitation interventions in low-income urban contexts, which is the ultimate goal of this project.
CURRENT STATUS OF PROJECT SAMMAAN Project Sammaan is currently in a state of limbo with decisions still pending on nominating a contractor to construct the facilities in both Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. After several failed attempts at publicly tendering the facility construction, reports were issued by both the BMC and CMC to senior officials at the Housing & Urban Development Department supporting the nomination of the quasi-government agency the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) as contractor. The decision to nominate NBCC received the full support of the project team and, since late July, the reports have been subject to review by various members of the H&UD, Public Health, and Finance Departments. Unfortunately, the project team does not have a window into the processes involved in these reviews, nor a clear understanding of timelines for the reviews to happen. What’s particularly challenging about this is that there is nothing further that the project team can do to assist the government with their work. We have submitted all documentation necessary and now find ourselves limited to following up and paying courtesy calls in hopes that our constant presence will help expedite the process, even if it’s just to get us off their backs. The review of NBCC’s nomination doesn’t only affect the construction of the facilities.
There is a great deal of pre-construction work in the communities receiving the Sammaan facilities that needs to be done before construction starts, but can only begin once a contractor is in place and work orders have been issued. A baseline survey needs to be conducted by the research team in order to quantify the impact of the facilities, following which community dialogues need to take place to prepare people for the coming construction; these activities will take upwards of two months. Once the project team’s pre-construction activities are complete, the government will then need to go into the communities to clear the sites and demolish any pre-existing facilities, while also providing temporary toilet facilities for community members to use. This is especially crucial in Cuttack where 29 of the 32 Sammaan facilities will replace existing ones. This is very much the calm before the storm, as a great deal will need to be done very quickly once construction becomes a reality. The team has prepared a detailed plan-of-action to commence all necessary activities as soon as NBCC is confirmed, assuming that will be the case. In the meantime, the focus is now on meeting with as many government officials as possible to push Sammaan forward, from the city mayors on down to junior engineers; no stone is being left unturned in the pursuit of finally breaking ground and providing facilities to the people in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack’s slums. -Kevin Shane, Project Manager August 2014 Developing a Toolkit for Project Sammaan I Shreya Chakravarty
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1.1 1.2
1.7
The Diploma Project offered by Quicksand was for the design and development of a proposed toolkit. The key considerations for this have been: KEY TASK: UNDERSTAND Understand the existing project structure, different processes undertaken and completed, and the design outcomes achieved.
KEY COMPONENT: RESEARCH
KEY DIFFERENTIATORS: DESIGN
This necessitates meeting various stakeholders who will be eventual users of the toolkit and understanding in what manner the information should be presented to them.
The medium and manner in which this toolkit is designed should set this apart from others in terms of its relevance, accessibility and visual presentation. Communication design is therefore one of the key skills being sought in the project.
Supported with extensive research of other toolkits that have been used for similar and different contexts and audiences. KEY DELIVERABLE: A WELL-DESIGNED TOOLKIT Covering the hardware design process and outcomes on the project. The medium of communication is expected to be both print and digital, with the focus of this particular project to be on the former.
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PROJECT SCOPE
UNDERSTAND
DESIGN
RESEARCH
TOOLKIT Developing a Toolkit for Project Sammaan I Shreya Chakravarty
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1.1 1.2
PROJECT TIMELINE
1.8 Proposed Timeline
The Project Sammaan Toolkit Project Stage // Month ‘14
Literature Review + Answering the Basic Questions For Whom/ Why/ What/ How
Building Project Sammaan's Research Toolkit Project Timeline ~ 25 weeks (Draft 1/ January 6, 2013) January
February
March
April
May
June
3 weeks
Content Development Categorisation, Structure and Hierarchy of Information 3 Level Research Level 1: Users and Stakeholders Level 2: Communication tools Level 3: Previously published toolkits Design Development Medium, format and visual language explorations. Making the toolkit as an information package.
8 weeks
8 weeks
18 weeks
4 weeks Final Execution + Prints Project Documentation (urbsantoolkit.wordpress.com) 32
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25 weeks
PROJECT TIMELINE
Actual Timeline
The Project Sammaan Toolkit Project Stage // Month ‘14
Initial Project Research Research, Design and Development Stakeholder Interviews
Building Project Sammaan's Research Toolkit Project Timeline ~ 35 weeks
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
3 weeks
2 weeks 2 weeks
Site Visits (Delhi + Bhubaneswar)
1 week 1 week 21 weeks
Explorations on Approaches
33 weeks
Toolkit Research Final Design Outcome
4 weeks
Developing a Communication Strategy
6 weeks
Design Explorations Final Execution Toolkit Collaterals Documentation
6 weeks 38 weeks
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Part 2- Research & Design Development 2.1 Overview A. The Iterative Design Process B. Answering Some Basic Questions C. Information Synthesis Categories 2.2 Research & Design Development Phases A. Contextual Research Plan B. Project Management and Decision Making C. Critical Information Points D. Diverging and Converging E. Design Principles Focus F. Value Proposition 2.3 The Toolkit Begins To Come Together A. Building a Communication Strategy B. Learnings From the Process
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1.1 1.2 2.1
A
The nature of information itself within the project was immensely complex and varied, leading to diverse iterations and explorations in a process that was continuously evolving.
Unlike most solution building processes that follow a linear approach and function in a static, grey, closed-room set-up, the Quicksand and Sammaan process required for adapting to real scenarios and contexts. Given Sammaan’s background, it became even more critical to work keeping in mind the ground realities of the project.
While this was primarily a graphic design project, the most critical part was the navigation structure- to get it in place and detail it out.
For a project like the development of the Sammaan toolkit, dealing with the various complexities and the nature of an ever-evolving structure, it became imperative that the project kept in mind the need to remain grounded and adapt to reality in whatever approach that was to be followed.
Based on findings from research and assessment of understanding Project Sammaan, an approach was suggested, prototyped, shared with the team, reviewed for iterations and then built further.
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Thus the overall design process is what primarily influenced the success(and completion) of the project. Iterations based on re-looking various parts of the toolkit became the biggest constant within the project.
National Institute of Design 2011-2013 I Post Graduate Diploma Programme in Graphic Design
THE ITERATIVE DESIGN PROCESS
Notes from a feedback session, a sample of how the process was iterative in nature.
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1.1 1.2 2.1
B
Before diving into the toolkit, there were some critical questions to be answered. Constant revisits to these questions helped in building the toolkit. WHAT IS A TOOLKIT? Understanding how Toolkits Function
WHO IS IT FOR? For Whom Is The Toolkit Being Designed
A toolkit is an action-oriented compilation of related information, resources, or tools that together can guide users to develop a plan or organize efforts to conform to evidence-based recommendations or meet evidence-based specific practice standards.1
This was a question that was constantly revisited throughout the course of developing the toolkit.
1. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Toolkits provide action-oriented guidance for practitioners or policy makers to apply research to their work and at times include a series of checklists, guidelines and even templates that are relevant to the kind of project being supported. Toolkits hence become complex mediums of communication and have many layers of information embedded within them. A research toolkit, like the one that needs to be built for Sammaan, would/should ideally be a set of resources and skills that can guide a reader/viewer/user to develop a plan or organize efforts to turn them into action.
The stakeholders for a project like this are varied and would have their own unique ways of consuming and interacting with information. An attempt to cater to this diverse range of communication needs became the underlying objective of the toolkit. Hence, it would not be incorrect to say that at this level, the toolkit is primarily aimed towards policymakers, water & sanitation practitioners, urban local bodies (e.g., city corporations and city planners), and state-level government officials (e.g., Housing & Urban Development officers). The secondary audience are organizations working in the development sector, social designers, and academicians.
Plotting essential information points
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ANSWERING SOME BASIC QUESTIONS
WHY A TOOLKIT? What is the most relevant way of presenting complex data
WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT IT? How does the Sammaan toolkit differ from ‘typical’ toolkits?
In the case of Project Sammaan, the larger aim is of reducing and controlling open defecation through building user-centric facilities.
Project Sammaan is a unique innovation, driven by user needs and designed to cater to communities in low income urban contexts.
The process and management of the project led to complex systems of working and a plethora of information being created. All of this information is not just critical to share, but also makes it a unique standpoint of the project itself.
The toolkit is built out of Sammaan’s unique experiences and challenges faced through its course. These experiences drive the tools and the process thus shared.
It therefore becomes increasingly important that any information that is being shared for the replication of these facilities be as simple as possible, but still connect to the complex system. Hence a toolkit, with its multiple layers and dimensions, becomes one of the most relevant ways of doing so.
Sammaan’s experiences act almost as an exemplary tale for those looking into building sanitation facilities for communities living in informal settlements. Decipering the role of a tool
It would now be correct to say that, ideally, Project Sammaan’s toolkit should be able to guide a reader to: 1. Understand the purpose and the objective. 2. Comprehend findings of research. 3. Provide a set of tools/skills that can guide the replication of the project in their specific context.
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1.1 1.2 2.1
C
Research & Design Development captures the most important part of the project. Information was gathered and synthesized across four categories.
CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
Information Synthesis Categories
STAKEHOLDER STUDY
FIELD VISITS
SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT INTERVIEW
INFORMATION HIERARCHY
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INFORMATION SYNTHESIS CATEGORIES
Approaches into the toolkit were done across various phases by using insights gathered from these categories (in some cases, a combination of categories)
CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
FIELD VISITS
STAKEHOLDER STUDY
SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT INTERVIEW
Approach to the Toolkit
INFORMATION HIERARCHY
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1.1 1.2
2.2
2.2 Research & Design Development Phases
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A. Contextual Research Plan
B. Project Management and Decision Making
C. Critical Information Points
D. Diverging and Converging
E. Focus Point- Design Principles
F. Value Proposition
Phases and Information Synthesis Categories The phases of the research and design development process showing the information synthesis category that was part of it.
A Contextual Research Plan
B Project Management & Decision Making
CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
C Critical Information Points
FIELD VISITS
D Diverging & Converging
STAKEHOLDER STUDY
E Focus PointDesign Principles
F Value Proposition
INFORMATION HIERARCHY Developing a Toolkit for Project Sammaan I Shreya Chakravarty
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A. Contextual Research Plan It was critical to understand the process of Sammaan followed thus far and build a detailed timeline. The primary sources of this information were published documents, presentations, newsletters, informal conversations and interviews conducted with the team members
Approach 1: The Linear Process Map
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1.1 1.2 2.2
A
CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
WORKSTREAMS OF SAMMAAN
Project Sammaan’s real timeline was built with the help of the present and former team who had worked on it. Using newletters, a month-by-month account of events was plotted
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SAMMAAN PROCESS AND TIMELINE
With the help of the team that worked on Sammaan, a timeline was built, and the various phases under it were plotted. With the background of the project being clear, the aim of this phase was to get a far more detailed know-how of what the process was and how the team followed it. Added to this was building the timeline and plotting of phases and events that had occurred so far.
Sammaan Timeline from 2011-2014
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2.2 A
SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT INTERVIEW
“Build a model. Have something to start with.� Interview with Ms. Sujaya Rathi Principal Research Scientist , C-STEP, Bangalore C-STEP is actively involved in the structuring and development of a decision-making tool directed towards sanitation and sewage management systems. More at a systemic and managerial level, the toolkit also shows the impact of certain decisions that might have been taken. A conversation with Ms Rathi highlighted some lead-ins on the toolkit.
ON THE IDEAL AUDIENCE Sujaya stressed upon the fact that someone at the capability of a Project Director would be a good audience, and s/he will perhaps be able to influence people under and above to take certain decisions on a project of this nature.
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ON THE LEVEL OF DETAIL - WHAT IS TOO LESS AND WHEN IS IT TOO MUCH? A smart and easy approach to work around detailing at this was to build an annexure, which would share details (like drawings and documents among other detail-filled things).
METHOD SHARING Having a model that is something to start with becomes a good entry point for project managers. Sharing methods of working/planning becomes good too. The case-study way of sharing information is good as well.
EVERYBODY WANTS A PLAN Planned documents and projects are always appreciated and seem to hit it off better with people who manage projects. So sharing a plan would be great along with sharing supporting information on what it does/does not do. Sharing capacity of the project in terms of how much an organisation can do themselves and how much they can outsource is also essential.
National Institute of Design 2011-2013 I Post Graduate Diploma Programme in Graphic Design
Key Takeaway Build a framework that allows to add or remove. Enable it to continue.
The Sammaan team with the (then) Commissioner of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation
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Approach 1: The Linear Process Map Lead by the process map, this approach: 1. Features the Project Process Map as the baseline/skeleton for all information being shared. 2. Is a mix of tools, processes and experiences that back the entire timeframe of Sammaan. 3. Features call-outs within the toolkit that explain a specific occurrence within Sammaan.
1 • The Ground Zero for a project of this nature lies with the UX Design Principles and Guidelines (derived from Potty Project). • Converting learnings from guidelines/principles into a checklist/tools would guide a project director. This is a huge value addition from the learnings of Project Sammaan. • The design stage unique to Sammaan ,is a justifiable start to the toolkit and definitely leads to a better Detailed Project Report (DPR).
Notes on the Process map and the Project
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THE LINEAR PROCESS MAP APPROACH
Sammaan Process Map A framework for the toolkit
Design Process
Experience
Hardware
Tool
Architecture.ppls (materials etc) Design vs.Typologies Sewage details
Project Setup
Context Mapping
Field Activities
Project Goals
Initial mapping of communities Prelim. Survey
Site identification and surveying 1. Survey 2. Contraints at 3 levels ( Govt, Research Agency, Arch. influences)
Stakeholders* * understand current capabilities and gaps Organisation Structure • Need Identification clarification of role Milestones Specific Milestones Financial Planning
Identification of local partners Depts. + external consultants, role clarification
Demand estimates and detailed community survey
Sanitation Context (Mapping sewage systems, facilities available, O&M models, sanitation practices
Implementation Plan
Hardware & Software
O&M ppls Business Models: Pvt vs Community, Pricing models
Usage of facilities
Pre Construction Dialogue Community buy in
Govt. help desk coming into action
Site securing
Extrapolate timelines based on ground realities Architecture
Construction
O&M, Sewage
Tender Possibility of a combined tender Types of tenders BoQ's Drawings (Site specific)
Geographical/ Topographical understanding of location practices
Community Awareness Programmes Training Manuals, Processes for caretaker, Day-to-day O&M Guidelines
Govt. helpdesk and tracking
Detailed milestones a/c streams
Branding decisions
Identity & Communication
Software
1
Reviewing bidder & awarding contract
Quality, Timelines & Monitoring mechanisms Selection of appropriate vendor + Setting up terms of engagement (financial, monitoring, follow-ups) PMC-Third part eval. reqd. or not GFC drawings Pricing Models of the O&M
Project Mgmt. Office Communications & Review
Internal Establishing protocols,review calls, collaboration instruments, newsletters, smartsheets
A detailed version of the Linear Process Map, showing all workstreams and calling out possible Processes, Experiences and Tools
External Blog, websites, documentations
CHALLENGES: In reality, there is a lot of back-and-forth between workstreams, and even if the interdepencies are called out, it will be difficult to incorporate them into tools and experiences.
The parallel processes need to be thought about much in advance before getting into the process, and the linear approach would not help in that.
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B. Project Management and Decision Making The next stage/phase of the research, design and development phase gave a clearer understanding of the project and the complexities involved in its process and implementation. Learnings from these gave birth to an approach that was aimed at the pre-DPR stage of a regular Government project.
Approach 2: Designing Tools for Process, Project and Service Management
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1.1 1.2 2.2
B
WORKSTREAMS OF SAMMAAN
CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
Potty Project research led to insights and learnings which were encased in four ‘pillars of innovation’. They form a base for defining the workstreams of Project Sammaan and the roles of various partners, anchored by Quicksand Design Studio. Operations And Maintainence Architectural Infrastructure Design and development efforts need to focus on toilet features and attributes that improve the user’s experience throughout the journey of the space, while recognizing that users will include women, children and the aged. Architects must also keep in mind a user’s perception of barriers to the use of a toilet. Branding Communications Recent times have seen a surge in construction of community sanitation infrastructure for slums with government agencies, but these efforts have largely failed to advocate proper use and hygiene practices, rendering current solutions ineffective. Users of these facilities do not seem to understand the link between proper sanitation habits and disease transmission, making achieving behaviour change a difficult task.
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Community sanitation facilities are in an ever-deteriorating physical state with derelict toilet hardware, broken doors or tiles, and accumulating layers of filth . Overcoming people’s perceptions about participation in cleaning and maintaining these toilets will be a key challenge.
Business Models Despite a lot of emphasis on creating thriving self-sustaining community sanitation models, most of the toilet facilities are currently unprofitable, and in financial and structural disarray. Many of these facilities have failed to create enough value to convince regular toilet users to pay consistently, and in turn have failed to convince open defecators to use toilets. In other cases, management structures are partly responsible for this, in different variations. There is a dire need to establish systems that provide users with a positive experiential service coupled with creative revenue-generation mechanisms.
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PROJECT STRUCTURE
The project team divided the sanitation challenge into two parts: designing and building toilets that people would like to use i.e hardware and designing and implementing business models to ensure appropriate services, pricing and maintenance i.e software.
Facility-level Interventions consist of two layers: Base Layer amenities include gender-segregated toilets, clothes-washing areas, disabled access toilets, and a menstrual waste incinerator; the Enhanced Layer includes these plus private bathing stations and a retail outlet. Re-imagining sanitation facility Hardware requires the inputs from numerous experts to ensure the new model is a functional utility that people want to use. This team is coordinated by Quicksand Design Studio.
The proposal partners conceptualized the most promising interventions to identify the hardware and software solutions that could be applied to
pre-existing community toilets
newly-constructed community toilets
pre-existing public toilets
new public toilets
The software interventions focus on toilet management models (with both privately managed and community managed models), capacity building in the local municipal corporations, and demand generation and behavioral change activities within the communities. Led by the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL).
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1.1 1.2 2.2
A
CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
Project Sammaan is a unique innovation initiative due to the diversity of the organizations working on it: design firms government bodies The Abdul Latif empirical researchers Jameel Poverty Action Lab architectural firms Anagram Architects waste management experts community engagement specialists and an interface management team.
Quicksand Design Studio + Codesign
Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation + Cuttack Municipal Corporation
Consortium of Dewats Dissemination+ Biome
C-FAR C-TRAN
The involvement of government representatives has been particularly important. The partnership between public and private entities is rare, and the BMC and CMC should be considered precedent-setters in this innovation. The support and participation of the municipal corporations streamlines many processes (e.g., site selection, tenders, access to communities), validates the project to the citizenry that the project seeks to help, and ensures that the facilities will be valued commodities in the cities for years to come.
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Community engagement activities thus far have shown there is not only demand for the facilities from the communities, but also a willingness to work with the project team in sharing insights on everything from preferred design elements in the facilities to sanitation practices and how they could be augmented within the facilities. Co-creation sessions, feedback meetings, end-user testing of prototypes and general conversations with individuals and families while visiting the communities that Project Sammaan will work with have all helped direct the project so far. Continued engagement along these lines is planned and will guide the team as the project nears construction.
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PARTNER ROLES
The Sammaan team on a site visit
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1.1 1.2 2.2
A
COMPLEXETIES OF SAMMAAN
CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
For a large infrastructure project of this kind, multiple stakeholders are a given. Managing innovation and design mandates with stakeholders having poor design ‘literacy’ became a huge effort for the team. Further, leveraging individual organizational interests to ensure that the project’s needs are met was also an issue that had to be dealt with time and again. The complex nature of a project like this, which has various interdependencies, is critical for the partners to understand in order for work to further roceed. Communicating this between the various partners became a huge challenge that had to be dealt with carefully.
The nature of the project is such that it deals with an ever-evolving structure, due to the changes and inconsistencies from the non-private partners, leading to a non-static, highly dynamic state of the project.
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Key Takeaway Decision-Making with respect to design is heavily dependent on government processes which take the form of the Detailed Project Report (DPR). In a project like Sammaan this was quite evident. The toolkit would work well if designed around aiding this decision-making prior to project sanctions.
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Approach 2: Designing Tools for Process, Project and Service Management • Created to aid better decision-making prior to the sanction of sanitation infrastructure projects. • Working on underlying guidelines, principles and models converted into tools.
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The toolkit would help in making better ‘design decisions’ across various streams involved in the establishment of a project of this sort. These streams were charted out as: a. System Thinking b. Architecture c. Brand Design d. Service Design e. User Experience
A first-level research into regular qualitative and quantitative tools brought up a varied and detailed mix of them. A tool’s way of getting to a particular decision or final outcome was inferred from testing the tool itself. Based on the underlying principle, a model for one of the five streams was built. The Architecture and Brand Design components were initially looked at, as they form a critical part of the hardware stream. Some of the tools that were tried and tested for this purpose were inspired from existing process management and product development tools. Some of them were tried for the Sammaan toolkit. The intended Output of a tool can be achieved by combining statistical or qualitative value with a design principle
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THE TOOLS FOR PROCESS, PROJECT AND SERVICE MANAGEMENT APPROACH
2
An array of tools were referred, researched and tried for the Sammaan context
CHALLENGES The approach being considered (that of the tools being of primary importance and aiding decisionmaking) was losing the essence of the project. An approach that looks at human-centric design in the urban sanitation context is what needed to be worked upon, as well as bringing back the ‘Story of This Project,’ i.e., the Story of Sammaan.
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Shreya Chakravarty I Post Graduate Diploma Programme in Graphic Design I 2011-2013
REINVENT THE TOILET FAIR March 2014, New Delhi In the second edition of the Reinvent The Toilet Fair (the first was in Seattle in August 2012), more than 700 participants from about 47 countries gathered to discuss how to bring safe sanitation to the 2.5 billion people who lack access to it. The fair in India was cohosted by the Government of India’s Department of Biotechnology and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with the support of India’s Ministry of Urban Development, and it showcased innovative products and approaches from various Gates Foundation grantees from across the world that aim to bring safe, affordable and sustainable sanitation to those who need it most. The fair showcased prototypes from several of the research grantees of the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge, where innovative
approaches are being used for the safe and sustainable management of human waste. In addition to these there were also several other projects from other investment areas of the Gates Foundation’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Program – Urban Sanitation Markets, Building Demand for Sanitation, Policy & Advocacy, Monitoring & Evaluation. As part of this, Project Sammaan was also showcased at the fair by Quicksand. There was a varied and interested group of people all talking about science, ideas, practical applications, and real world challenges of the very complex world of sanitation. While the exciting technology innovations were what took centre stage because they brought together cutting-edge science with a radical rethink of the boundaries of possibility, it was also exciting to see other projects such as ours trying to innovate on basic design of sanitation facilities, business models and partnerships with the government.
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C. Identifying Critical Information Points Taking the next step of focussing on the human aspect of the project involved research on field and connecting with potential users of the toolkit.
Approach 3.1: A Guidebook To A Human Centred Urban Community Sanitation System Approach 3.2: Imagine A Better Toilet Facility Sharing Effective Guidelines
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An ‘amin’ identifying a proposed site in Bhubaneswar
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2.2 C
INTERVIEW WITH K GANGA
STAKEHOLDER STUDY
“I want to see evidence... see if the project is tried and tested, only then will I be able to think about it.” In conversation with Ms. K. Ganga Additional Deputy CAG, Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. An hour -long interview with the technologyenthusiast, infographic and illustration-loving IAS officer, was helpful in drawing considerations while designing a toolkit targeted primarily towards policy makers. ON THE BIGGER PICTURE Ms. Ganga emphasized the fact that it was good to identify what mandate a scheme like this would be part of and how it would fit into budgetary requirements. Exploring the aspect of bringing out the information of what the government has already catered for within the context would bring in more interest for readers (in this case, looking at the Total Sanitation Campaign).
ON COMMUNICATION TOOLS & PREFERENCES Her interaction with various media and communication channels allowed for thinking beyond the medium of paper/print. “Perhaps supporting documents and media would be great in this toolkit,” she said. She also mentioned how proactively the government representatives used the Internet as well as devices like tablets and smartphones. “I’m a Google freak...I use Google Groups and Dropbox with my core team.
Her project planning starts with her teammates at a brainstorming level, then moving to a discussion. She sources her information by speaking with people in the government on a particular theme/topic and referring to already commissioned projects and reports. She also mentioned how much infographics and illustrations help, and how executive summaries aid in better understanding.
ON INFORMATION NEEDS
Finally, Ms. Ganga’s point on identifying stakeholders at the beginning and communicating it internally was essential too. “When a piece of communication is written or designed, it must be made clear, to whom it is addressed”, she concluded.
“When I attend seminars and workshops, I get a whole bunch of reading material…but then it goes into some corner and I can’t find it when I need it. But I like it when information is easily accessible through the Internet. I tend to remember words and then get on the net to find what I need”.
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2.2 C
FIELD VISIT
The Sector 6, RK Puram slum cluster has three colonies and only one has a functional community toilet.
The toilet has separate sections for men and women and allows for facilities of toilet use and of hand-washing. The toilet is open from 5 am to 9 pm and there is a caretaker stationed to keep a check on it. There are no charges for the services used. During the visit (around 10.15 am), the toilet was fairly busy and apart from using areas for bathing and defecation, women were also washing clothes in the toilet booths. There are 10 toilet booths in each section. Users were quite satisfied with the toilets, but complained about peak-hour rush. 68
The RK Puram Sector 6 Slum cluster community toilet
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RK PURAM SLUM CLUSTER VISIT, NEW DELHI
Snapshots of the RK Puram Sector 6 Slum cluster community toilet
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2.2 C
FIELD VISIT
Walking further into the colony, there were some new but not-in-use toilets.
The unused, abandoned toilets at the slum cluster
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The main reason for these not being functional, according to the residents, was scarcity of water, an issue which was likely to be resolved only after the elections. These toilets were abandoned and people now use them to store things and dry clothes.
RK PURAM SLUM CLUSTER VISIT, NEW DELHI
Top: Unused Toilets Right: A lady resident of the colony
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2.2 C
STAKEHOLDER STUDY
“By and large, as far as I’ve seen, government projects are usually participatory.” In conversation with Ms. Lipika Majumdar Roy Choudhary Former Member, Central Board of Excise and Customs, Department of Revenue Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India One of her first, most interesting and practical points was the inability of officials to understand technical jargon. “It is essential that communication be simple and easy to understand,” she said. The possibility of vernacular explanations being included should also be explored. The first level of comprehension has to be easy to comprehend; only then would a person like a District Magistrate be able to communicate with his/her subordinates, she said. Ms. Roy spoke about aspects of communication and planning from her personal experiences in the government.
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INTERVIEW WITH LIPIKA ROY MAZUMDAR
Identifying checlkist points for a toolkit
ON HOW GOVERNMENT PROJECTS WORK
ON PERSONAL PREFERENCES
In a typical government scenario, discussions are encouraged and even executed (at the senior level) which includes everybody who might be working as part of the core team. “It’s important to include people who will be working on the field for a project like this. This acts as the first step of planning a project. Following this, communication among the core team happens on who’s handling what.”
Ms. Roy is keen to see timeframes and milestones, what slippages may be possible through the duration of a project, and also look at how the process can be simplified or communicated in a simple manner.
What is also required throughout the course of the project is the reassurance that people have understood what is being talked about and/or what is expected of them. The feeling of an imposition should not lurk; there should be a sense of ‘ownership’ that one must feel.”
“Toolkits and Manuals are good to check if something is done the right way or for troubleshooting. We have to be in touch with ground realities.”
An executive summary that allows the option to compare things is also appreciated. She also mentioned that the monitoring aspect has to be focussed on as well. “I want to see something that is in-line with what I want I also want quantifiable targets!” she concluded.
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2.2 C
FIELD VISIT
‘Basti’ is a Hindi/Urdu word for an informal settlement and refers to a cluster of people living together and sharing resources and facilities. The Hazrat Nizamuddin basti gets a lot of visitors from outside areas because of a neighbouring dargah, and there are many visitors who use the public toilets.
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HAZRAT NIZAMUDDIN BASTI VISIT, NEW DELHI
Hazrat Nizamuddin basti has two exisiting community toilet facilities built by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.
The first one, also doubling up as public toilet, almost six years old, has two floors, the top floor for men and lower floor for women.
A physically challenged person using the toilet.
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2.2 C
FIELD VISIT
The second facility is a fairly large and new one. This has two separate sections for men and women, both of which have urinals, bathing stalls and a clothes-washing area.
Snapshots of the community toilet facility. Top: Clothes Washing Area Right: The entry point of the facility Bottom RIght: Toilet stalls with handwashing basins
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HAZRAT NIZAMUDDIN BASTI VISIT, NEW DELHI
Snapshots of the community toilet facility. Top: A young user of the facility Right: Communication channels in the form of posters can be seen across the walls of the toilet
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2.2 C
SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT INTERVIEW
“All design must derive from the needs of the people.” In conversation with Shveta Mathur and Ranjit Singh Associates, Urban Planning Unit of the Aga Khan Development Network At Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti, the project implemented through a community-centred, collaborative approach. Seen here: Sajjo and Shabina, who are managers of the toilets
Ms. Mathur and Mr. Singh, work for the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, were very supportive and shared their experiences through the course of their project. BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT The Aga Khan Trust for Culture works through the Nizamuddin basti and looks at the needs of the community. They have adopted the primary school, run classes for the community and have done a host of other things in and around the community.They work with and through community groups, primarily women. Four years ago they wanted to renovate the toilet, but realised they would need to redesign and reconstruct it entirely. Initially, people did not want to join the groups, because they didn’t want to be associated with a ‘toilet.’ As the groups came together and work on the toilet picked up,
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it was a huge success within the community. They then redesigned the community toilet facility, situated close to the old one but on a larger piece of land. WHAT IS INTERESTING ABOUT THE FACILITY Shveta talked about a lot of features within the facilities that exist and why they built them. It was interesting to note that the entire facility was designed internally. “We’re a group of multi-disciplinary background folks; I’m an urban planner architect and Ranjit’s background is environment related. We work with other people who work with Community and Social Development. Even our design is done in-house,” she said.
National Institute of Design 2011-2013 I Post Graduate Diploma Programme in Graphic Design
COMMUNITY OWNED-COMMUNITY RUN The Community manages the facility on their own, with some financial help from the Trust. Sajjo and Shabina, the managers of the facilities also joined the conversation. They shared how earlier it was difficult to get people into the managerial group, but now everyone wants to be included. “Working here is the best thing for us,” Shabina said. Shveta mentioned that the biggest success for them was to have women maintain the facility. “Five years ago, that was unheard of!”
INTERVIEW WITH SHVETA MATHUR AND RANJIT SINGH
Meeting Shveta Mathur (extreme right) and Ranjt Singh (second from left) at the toilet complex provided a great background to the conversation.
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2.2
SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT INTERVIEW
C
“It takes a lot of commitment to do a project like this (of building community toilet facilities). Urban local bodies don’t need a toolkit; they need imagination, commitment and some will. They have all the resources.” ON THE PROCESS
ON REPLICATION
Shveta mentioned that they started getting involved with the community much before there was any news on building toilets.
Shveta discussed how important it was to understand the context.
Discussions with the community led to decisions on what should be features in the toilets. “We don’t involve any external agency; the process is very, very important - too many external agencies leads to losing the connect with the community. The idea was to keep them at the centre. All decisions related to pricing and maintenance were internalised”, she said.
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“The design must derive from the needs. What could be shared could be some universal and basic design principles”. Adapting to the context for acceptability must be seen (sanitation habits of that area, e.g.: wazu, no urinals for men—prefer to squat— religious ).
National Institute of Design 2011-2013 I Post Graduate Diploma Programme in Graphic Design
What you design should be easy to maintain; saving on maintenance costs is necessary. While making community toilets, one must not compromise on quality standards. Understanding the users is critical: through a resource mapping exercise, understanding their economic status, issues, affordability, the needs of children and women, and so on. Involving them at every stage is very important; it will only lead to greater ownership of the project.”, concluded Shveta.
Key Takeaways Context is king/queen/the hero.
Establishing the fact that you figure your own context is an important consideration.
Varied audiences imply varied communication needs. It would be extremely difficult to try and cater to the needs of the various audiences that we’re looking at. Everyone would have different entry and exit points, and will in any case require various pieces of information to be referred to.
A ‘guidebook’ and not a toolkit. The toolkit should be supported with tools/ methods, not be enforced on anyone; nor should they be in a manner that does not allow the reader to move ahead without using them.
Seeing is believing. The audience wants to see the reality-in its purest and most visual form.
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2.2
INFORMATION HIERARCHY
C
For the toolkit, there are critical information points that will help someone form the entire picture of the sanitation context and draw connections between them, as well as understand the human aspect of the project. These would aid in the user taking an interest in the toolkit and could probably be a call-to-action for them. These points act as lead-ins to jump into the toolkit, and were figured out after a thorough reading and categorisation of available information in the context of sanitation.
The focus on the human centred aspect was also important, as well as trying to figure out the critical information points that would help a user pick up the toolkit and go through it.
Sammaan Process
Sammaan Context
Design Solutions Sanitation Ecosystem
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Potty Project
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Design Principles
6 INFORMATION POINTS
Pinning up Potty Project Insights to gather 6 critical information points
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Approach 3: Linear and Dynamic Information Sharing Frameworks Based on insights drawn from the potential user study, expert interviews and chalking out the six critical information points, two approaches were drawn.
3.1 A Guidebook To A
Human Centred Urban Community Sanitation System
One must be guided through setting up sanitation facilities that are user-centric. The tone of the guidebook is such that it isn’t enforcing, but suggestive and sharing. The design guidelines become the hero and have the maximum detailing. These enable readers to make better design decisions. The book gives them enough evidence and validates a lot of the decisions that the Sammaan team took. Introduce the Sanitation ecosystem to begin with, get into details of Sammaan, and then look at Design Principles across the various workstreams. All these would be fairly detailed, and any information that needs to be emphasized will be done through interesting and engaging mediums (e.g,: checking what is relevant to someone’s context). Snapshots of the approach in the publication prototype and the cards that act as a medium to share information
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A GUIDEBOOK TO A HUMAN CENTRED URBAN COMMUNITY SANITATION SYSTEM
A Guidebook To A Urban Community Sanitation System Route 1 v.1.0
WHAT IS IT?
This guidebook will give you an overall understanding of the Sanitation System, prevalent in India and takes your through the findings of a research study, ‘Potty Project’ conducted by Quicksand in 2011.
HOW DOES THIS WORK?
A Guidebook a book of directions, advice, and information for A Human Centred marked by humanistic values and devotion to human welfare Urban Community characteristic of or accustomed to cities Sanitation the disposal of sewage and solid waste
THE SANITATION SYSTEM + POTTY PROJECT
System an assemblage or combination of things or parts forming a complex or unitary whole
WHO IS IT FOR? If you are a Policy Maker, a City Engineer, a Project Manager, or anyone else who is simply interested in this field, this guidebook will help you. It will try and establish itself within your working area.
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It will also introduce you to some tools and methods that you maybe able to use within your area of interest. These spread across the book and serve specific purposes.
State of Sanitation In India Potty Project Intro+ Insights Action Cards
Project Sammaan Intro The guidebook takes you through Project Sammaan, the pilot project anchored by Quicksand, to create better sanitation facilities in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, Odisha.
PROJECT SAMMAAN
The Sanitation Ecosystem
Systems Design Thinking Tool Stakeholder Cards
Layers of Information
DESIGN PRINCIPLES ACROSS WORKSTREAMS
3.1
Incorporating our learnings into design principles, across workstreams. These may help you make design related decisions.
A set of tools and/or methodologies that may be able to use in your area of expertise or interest.
Workstreams Process of Sammaan Design Principles Sammaan Video
Design Principles across workstreams Principle Cards
System Thinking Tool Action Cards Insight Cards Multimedia- Videos/ Animations
An infographic explaining the way the approach works
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3.2 Imagine A Better Toilet Facility-
Sharing Effective Guidelines In a dynamic fashion, the book features guidelines that let one imagine a sanitation facility in their context (something they are aware of). Honing in on six key information points that act as references for any information that is shared, one can pick up the book within their area of interest, and it will still connect to what is most relevant within those six key information points. These points act as ‘levels’ (within the stages) and ‘approaches’ (which are more experiential and specific). The medium of sharing any information would be interactive and experiential, and things like flash cards, info cards, animations, and videos would be used.
Snapshots of the approach in the publication prototype
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IMAGINE A BETTER TOILET FACILITY-SHARING EFFECTIVE GUIDELINES
Imagine A Better Toilet Facility
3.2
Sharing Effective Guidelines For Imagining A Human Centred Urban Community Sanitation System What Is This?
Guidelines?
Imagine And Not Apply?
Human Centred?
...To provide direction for human centred design for Urban Community Sanitation Ecosystems. Produced by a group of practitioners, backed by research conducted across the field.
...Contexts vary hugely across the vast geographical and cultural boundaries of India. Hence these guidelines allow for you to imagine facilities, giving you enough evidence that it is possible to do something of this kind.
...A system marked by humanistic values and devotion to human welfare.
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Key Information Points & Their Connections Framework of Guidelines
Level
Sharing of information, experiences and tools
Approach
Sanitation Ecosystem
What do these key information points say?
These run throughout the guidebook, making a framework, allowing you to navigate within your level of interest. The levels feed into the approaches.
Potty Project
Sammaan Context
Sammaan Process
Design Principles
Design Solutions
Sanitation Ecosystem
Sammaan Context
Design Principles
Explaining the complete Sanitation ecosystem, that acts as a key reference point to move ahead
Introducing the Sammaan Context and explaining the project as a case study
Sharing the Design Principles that run across the various workstreams Principle Cards Action Cards
System Thinking Tool
Potty Project
Sammaan Process
Bringing forward Potty Project’s learnings and insights
Design Solutions
Talking about the Sammaan process and how it evolved during the course of the project
Features in the Sammaan facilities as case study design solutions
Project Insight Infog/ Interactive Illustration
Process Map
Using a variety of media to showcase insights & experiences An infographic explaining the way the approach works
Flash Cards, Info Cards Action Cards
Interactive Infographics and Illustrations
Posters, Brochures
Sammaan Journey Movie
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D.Diverging and Converging Distilling Learnings and Consolidating Approaches This phase involved distilling all learnings and consolidated approaches to come up with a variety of ideas for the toolkit. The ideation process led to establishing the possible tones of the toolkit and then identifying what the various ways of interacting with the available information could be.
4.1 10 Questions and their 10 possible answers when designing sanitation facilities for low-income contexts 4.2 This Is: Project Sammaan 4.3 The Story of Sammaan 5.1
Information Hierarchy: As a Linear Progression
5.1
Information Hierarchy: As Independent Pieces
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2.2 D
INFORMATION HIERARCHY
The ‘Little Black Book’ of the Sammaan Toolkit was formed to state the manifesto of the toolkit. A document that could be referred to while building this toolkit. It establishes certain specifics of the kit. Through the course of building some iterations, this would help in defining what the the toolkit could and should be.
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It speaks in a manner that is simple, clear and easy to understand and navigate through. It is engaging to interact with.
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Its main features as content buckets are: • Potty Project • Sammaan • Design outcomes.
SAMMAAN TOOLKIT BLACKBOOK
It highlights and shares experiences and learnings, that would help someone else.
It does not provide solutions or methods, it guides and directs.
It caters to not any one specific audience-its users are varied and are spread across contexts.
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2.2 D
INFORMATION HIERARCHY
Building 13 Ideas That Capture The Essence of the Research
All the available information, through the course of interviews, case studies and approaches taken so far, could be divided into eight broad heads, namely:
Some ideas were completely new ways of looking at the toolkit; in some cases, ideas were built off one another, and in some cases, one gave rise to another.
1. User Case Study (how and who will this toolkit be used by) 2. Positioning (how will this toolkit be put out) 3. Navigation (how would someone want to/like to navigate this toolkit) 4. Content (what would feature/not feature within this toolkit) 5. Supplementary Content (what extras must/ could be provided in the toolkit) 6. Voice and Tonality (in what manner does the toolkit talk to someone) 7. Format (Preferred medium) 8. Suite (Components as collaterals)
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It was important to diverge into various possible ideas and look at other ways of representing the information that was going to be shared. The middle step between information-gathering and approach-building was missing, and this exercise would help in achieving that. The ideas were accompanied with the reasoning as to why a particular approach had been and/or what may have inspired it. Mock-ups of all ideas were also shared, to show what the deliverable could be. There was freedom in choosing the medium and the format of the end-deliverable. Detailing out these ideas was extremely important, and interesting. The level of detailing was done till what it would feature and which information points would be given most importance.
13 IDEAS FOR THE TOOLKIT
13 ideas for the toolkit, along with references and format ideas
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13 IDEAS FOR THE TOOLKIT
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13 IDEAS FOR THE TOOLKIT
All across: 13 ideas for the toolkit, along with references and format ideas. Also seen are two of the ‘broad heads’ that the information gathered till now was put under
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Approach 4- Exploring Possible Tones These frameworks helped in exploring the possible tones of the toolkit and were done by reviewing the 13 ideas and working to form three possible tones
4.1 10 Questions and their
10 possible Answers when designing sanitation facilities for low-income contexts
The Q & A Approach to understanding various approaches of a Sanitation Project
Making the toolkit as simple as possible with just 10 straightforward questions and answers. These would be from the point-of-view of all stakeholders involved and put the entire picture upfront. They speak in a manner that focusses on the user-centric design aspect of the principles and process followed. They are supported by the facts around Sammaan related to costs, typologies and partners. Possible Format(s): online website, an offline app, a printed poster that is interactive in nature.
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Rough sketches of the approach and the prototypes
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10 QUESTIONS AND THEIR 10 POSSIBLE ANSWERS WHEN DESIGNING SANITATION FACILITIES FOR LOW-INCOME CONTEXTS
4.1
Explanation of the approach
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4.2 This Is: Project Sammaan
Using a Sammaan Sanitation Facility to explore the various decisions and processes that went behind the different elements Sammaan’s 3D model that would help to navigate through: • Design outcomes and history - user centric principles and human-centred design process, related to each aspect in terms of its features. • Sammaan process - linking to specifics like communication, challenges, experiences, constraints and working around them. • Supporting infographics (interactive) • Sharing blueprints Possible Format(s): interactive website with three information layers on each design outcome.
Rough sketches of the approach and the prototypes
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THIS IS: PROJECT SAMMAAN
4.2
Explanation of the approach
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4.3 The Story of Sammaan Exploring the diversity of processes and decisions through stakeholder experiences Led by stories revolving around Sammaan. Each stakeholder speaks: from the community members to project partners, government representatives and even funders. The toolkit opens in a manner that is conversational. Statements of stakeholders act as stories, leading up to a critical design feature, experience or decision taken. This further connects to their role and highlights it with respect to the design, the community, the context or the government. Possible Format(s): website, poster series, interactive web infographics that are segregated according to various information categories.
Rough notes of the approach
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THE STORY OF SAMMAAN
4.3
Explanation of the approach
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Approach 5: Establishing the parts of the puzzle- Exploring Hierarchies The approaches allowed for ‘hooks’ to be formed that enable users to dive into the toolkit in different ways.
5.1 As A Linear Progression 5.1 The human-centred design approach gives an introduction and a background of the Potty Project. It follows an FAQ format that acts as a checklist of things to be kept in mind when designing sanitation facilities in low-income urban contexts.
They lead into the Design Outcomes section, which introduces the pilot project Sammaan, its process and shares details of the architectural/hardware model in all possible ways. This will have callouts on specific instances that were design decisions.
This leads into the Universal Design Principles section, derived from the HCD phase, sharing critical user-centric principles that are required for replication of sanitation facilities of this kind.
The last section, the Sammaan Stories, will highlight challenges and experiences of the implementation phase of the Sammaan project.
Within the publication, they get maximum importance, and were thought to be done with varied options such as illustrations, perforated sheets, thicker paper weight or even a fold-out poster.
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A LINEAR PROGRESSION
5.1
Linear Progression of the information pieces explained in a diagram
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5.2 As Independent Information Pieces The five different information segments act as independent pieces of information, and can be accessed by understanding what they mean within the entire sanitation ecosystem. They form the complete picture of the sanitation ecosystem and Project Sammaan. The HCD phase provides an executive summary of how the design principles were formed, and Universal Design Principles share what should be considered while looking towards facilities of this kind.
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The Story of Sammaan shares background, experiences and challenges related to the project. Design Outcomes is a fairly detailed feature that showcases the outcome of the project. Supporting documents that are essentials: a checklist, a timeline template and blueprints/ drawings of the facility
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AS INDEPENDENT INFORMATION PIECES
5.2
Information segments working as independent pieces, shown with different diagrams and a prototype
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E. Focusing on Design PrinciplesDesign Principles as the Navigator This phase involved building approaches based on the fact that the Design Principles are the leaders of all the information shared.
Approach 6.1: Design Principles in a Linear Manner Approach 6.2: Design Principle Index Approach 6.3: Toolkit as a Deck of Cards
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Approach 6: Establishing the parts of the puzzle Highlighting the design principles through various ways of interacting with the already available information.
6.1 The Project Sammaan Guidebook 6.1 A publication with sections of the toolkit based on HCD, Principles, Outcomes and Stories of Sammaan. The design principles are numbered and spread across the workstreams. They appear in a linear manner. The workstreams act as an option to navigate through the sections, which are linear i.e one section comes after the other. This number is what connects it through every section of the toolkit. One can easily refer to the entire list of principles and go ahead from there.
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THE PROJECT SAMMAAN GUIDEBOOK
6.1
Prototype of the approach in a publication format, the design principles appear in a linear format of the workstreams
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6.2 Beyond Toilets- Applying Human Centred Approaches 6.2
to Sanitation within Low Income Urban Indian Context
Featuring an index that brings the Design Principles to the forefront, and allows one to see the connections and implications across the workstreams they are applicable in.
The initial idea of the Design Principle Index
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BEYOND TOILETS- SHARING DESIGN PRINCIPLES
6.2
Prototype of the approach in a publication format, the design principles serve as an index and lead to all possible and visible connections
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6.3 Toolkit as a
Deck of Cards
By now it was established that we have four broad categories of information that were required to be shared: Research Findings of the Potty Project, Design Principles that must be followed, Design Outcomes of Sammaan Facilities, and Sammaan Experiences. These were all connected and act as lead-ins. Simplifying the plethora of information to four card decks across the categories would allow for interesting usage of scenarios. A variety of scenarios were thought of for the usage of the cards.
Some ideas around making research as a visual form
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THE TOOLKIT AS A DECK OF CARDS
6.3
Possible Scenarios of Usage
UNDERSTAND A DESIGN-LED PROCESS
AS READY-RECKONER FOR ALL DECISIONS
The reader wants to help her team or senior stakeholders understand a design-led process, which spans consumer research, principles and outcomes. The reader can help establish the connection between research, design principles, design outcomes and associated stories by arranging the relevant cards from each deck together.
The reader wants to take the key stakeholders through important design principles that must anchor their work in sanitation, or she wants these to be a ready-reckoner for all decisions they take. The design principle cards can be picked out separately and she can use these as talking points with her team. She can also make a copy of these cards and present them as a ready-reckoner to her team.
FOR UNDERSTANDING USER INSIGHTS The reader wants to run through some of the key design features of Project Sammaan as a way of understanding what she could borrow for her project. She sifts through the design outcome cards and can see the important design decisions along the four pillars of innovation, and pick out the ones that are important to her.
Why Cards? The card deck provides a friendlier format to guide and potentially act on.
UNDERSTANDING CRITICAL LEARNINGS OF SAMMAAN The reader is setting up an equally large community sanitation project. She picks out the Stories of Sammaan cards and lays them out in chronological order. She can see immediately the critical learnings at each stage through relevant stories and anecdotes.
CHALLENGES: Cards independently may not be able to give the entire picture and the essence of pushing for a design process may get lost.
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F. Value Proposition This phase included visiting the real sites where the Project would come into effect and interacting with partners based in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack This helped in reaching the final approach for the toolkit.
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The following pages show the places where the project will be established. Self explanatory, these images try and capture the essence of the environment, the people and their current sanitation habits. Conscious efforts were made by the team to engage with the users as much as possble.
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Most basti’s had facilities in a dilapidated state
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2.2 F
FIELD VISIT
Interacting with the community leaders in the basti
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A lot of facilities have been turned into dump yards for plastic and other waste
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FIELD VISIT
A make shift toilet at the corner of one the slums
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The community has some shared water points where they perform their dailiy activities such as brushing and bathing.
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FIELD VISIT
Ujjivan, a micro finance institution has provided the slum with a set of toilets.
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Residents of the Bhubaneswar basti’s interacted with the team and spoke about the issues they were facing.
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2.2 F
STAKEHOLDER STUDY
“Typical linear methods will not work for innovation-driven processes. A combined team effort must be put across; work as a team and work around limitations.” In conversation with Mr Gyana Das Commissioner, Cuttack Municipal Corporation Mr Das was very supportive and spoke about the different aspects of Project Sammaan. ON CMC’S EXPERIENCE WHILE WORKING WITH AN EXTERNAL AGENCY PROJECT Sammaan has been the first project of the CMC with an external agency. Mr. Das said: “While working in public-private partnerships, there will always be certain parameters set by governing agencies. These may be technical, ecological and social conditions that must be looked into. Even if they are stringent, they must be worked around. Mr Das spoke about the how the communities will gain from the interventions
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INTERVIEW WITH GYANA DAS
In the case of Sammann, technical specifications and the eligibility process as per needs have been modified. The conditions were not stiff or tough’ the socio-economic surrounding they were put into changed everything. Modifications need to be made to suit a specific level, but they are relative in nature.” ON CARRYING OUT SIMILAR PROJECTS IN THE FUTURE “One cannot have a rigid bureaucratic approach to projects of this kind; they require quick but careful and well-planned decision-making, and a flexible and non-rigid attitude. Typical linear methods will not work for innovation-driven processes. A combined team effort must be put across; work as a team and work around limitations,” he said. “Look at the problem and gauge if it is a problem or if it is a constant, and work on either. If it is a constant, then we have to live with it, and if it is a problem, we have to solve it. It should also be asked how committed we are as a team for successful implementation of a project like this. Only a collective and combined effort can be used to solve a problem.” KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE PROJECT A clear and better understanding of the real needs of the users. 1. Facilities incorporate the users’ needs for modern times 2. Technical know-hows 3. Different but functional accessories
Mr. Das and his team spoke on the experience of working on Sammaan as a government partner
ON DECISION MAKING Mr. Das said: “Some decisions have to be made, because it has been established that these will help in the overall improvement of people’s lives. We’ve noticed that certain toilets are in good working condition; the question was should we change them or demolish them? The point is that
if someone is giving me a better living condition, why will I not use it? But at the same time, we would not like to waste money. It has to be better service, better toilets and value for money. Safe, hygienic and economic as well. Money is money: whether it is The Gates Foundation or the Cuttack Municipal Corporation, every rupee, each dollar spent, we must get the best out of it.”
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2.2 F
STAKEHOLDER STUDY
“It’s not a question of luxury - a toilet is not a luxury.” ON LUXURY, COMFORT AND NECESSITY “It’s not a question of luxury - a toilet is not a luxury. I find a lady member of a family using an open drain before sunrise or after sunset, because this family does not have a toilet. Can you imagine it? For such a family, the toilet is a drain. Most toilets are under lock and key, even if they are pay-and-use. It’s not just about using the toilet, it is a question of hygiene as well.” ON SUSTAINABILITY OF THE FACILITIES “A workable model of sustainability has to be formed (this is part of the software component of the project). The study must rope in users to have a multi-stakeholder view to establish pricing and ownership models. It is better that the community shows ownership by themselves and we don’t own the toilets,” he said. “At the end of the project, I’d like to see a bright smile on the face of a woman who is using the new and improved toilet facility.”
A lady outside a community toilet in Cuttack
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INTERVIEW WITH GYANA DAS
“At the end of the project, I’d like to see a bright smile on the face of a woman who is using the new and improved toilet facility.” Developing a Toolkit for Project Sammaan I Shreya Chakravarty
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2.2 F
INTERVIEW WITH ASHOK SINGHA
STAKEHOLDER STUDY
“We’re burdened with systems set in the 1940s but officials still carry iPads to work.” Interview with Mr. Ashok Singha Managing Director, C-TRAN Consulting
ON PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS There has been very little interference of the private sector in public sector projects. Efforts have been made to try and retrofit PPP in community projects i.e., to articulate the words of the community in them, called PPCP- Public Private Community Partnership. ON WHAT SHOULD BE SHARED IN THE TOOLKIT Mr. Singha said: “Sharing the value proposition of the project is critical - the brand, services, ergonomics involved, highlighting the strategies, and what is new about it. It is important to recognise what the client will value. At the municipal level, the large part of their work is not in conformity with the project manager.” Mr Singha shared interesting learnings from the project
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The newly formed Council of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has resolved to improve sanitation and street lighting on a priority basis. Source: The New Indian Express, June 4, 2014
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STAKEHOLDER STUDY
“Time is an issue when working with communities. Aiding behavioural changes requires a lot of time and effort. While working with the communities, interpersonal communication and one-on-one tools are used throughout. - Mahendra Pathy
State Project Coordinator, C-FAR
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INTERVIEW WITH MAHENDRA PATHY
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There were many learnings from this phase; this image is representative of several aspects of the project being uncovered and laid out with more clarity
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Key Takeaways Information as Evidence Sharing information as evidence: what makes Sammaan a unique project and what is different about it- a good conversation-starter around innovation.
Meaningful Support Systems Creating meaningful support systems through sharing value propositions of the project.
Focus on the human centred aspect Dealing with the communities, the government, the challenges faced with respect to processes are critical to share.
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2.3 The Toolkit Begins To Come Together A. Building A Communication Strategy B. Learnings from the Process
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1.1 1.2 2.3
A
The communication gaps through the approaches suggested thus far were many and took different forms.
The basic questions related to what Sammaan really means, what is unique about it and what one can do for the government representatives were still not answered, and to be able to do that, an overall strategy needed to be built.
There was a need for a robust communication strategy to string it together and allow for someone to understand the uniqueness of the project, before diving into the specific tools that would help them replicate these user-centric toilets. A toolkit is a communication piece that has many layers of information attached to it. Until now, it was well established what we needed to share, at least in terms of content. However, there were some visible and glaring communication gaps between these content buckets that required further exploration and redressal.
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The communication strategy around the toolkit gave it the structure and direction needed to begin moving forward in a constructive manner, allowing for work to proceed in validating a lot of points that had come up earlier in the research, such as evidence-based approaches and a guide-and-support way to sharing information, among other things.
BUILDING A COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
The communication strategy revolves around the most significant component of Project Sammaan the human centred aspect around the project and the need to adopt one.
A ‘human-centred design approach’ must be emphasized in the process of replication. This can be done by sharing whats makes Sammaan a unique innovation and how the facilities are user centric.
The audience that is being targeted isn’t particularly design-sensitive, so a process map that guides one through this approach and helps readers understand it better.
Within the hardware stream of Project Sammaan, there are many relevant information pieces that can be shared to support this process. These could be termed ‘tools’ that are essential to not just understand context-specific issues but several other themes as well. These tools act as plug-ins to the human-centric design process.
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Approach 7: Establishing a Human Centred Design Process • Developed based on the communication gaps identified • Working from macro to micro allows for a deeper understanding and appreciation of the context a project is working in
77 6.1 The communication strategy developed around the toolkit, led to the final approach for the toolkit. The core being the need to establish a human centred design process. Working in a three level manner, this approach included highlighting Sammaan and its uniqueness, sharing a process of establishing a human centred design process and building tools that aid the process.
Notes on the strategy and possible outcomes
This approach became the final one to build the toolkit further.
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ESTABLISHING A HUMAN CENTRED DESIGN PROCESS
7
A
Sammaan Toolkit Ecosystem The toolkit communication strategy has three components. They can function independent of each other and can also be used along with each other.
Whats make Sammaan a unique innovation and how the facilities are user centric.
A process map that guides one through the approach of a human centred design process
Tools that are essential to not just understand context-specific issues but several other themes These tools act as plug-ins to the human-centric design process.
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1.1 1.2 2.3 2.3
LEARNINGS FROM THE PROCESS
B
Working around challenges and constraints because of the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of the project, led to a far more concrete call for the toolkit. Though exhaustive and time consuming, the process of exploring various approaches into the toolkit allowed for a clear and holistic overview of the project, reiterating the need to represent the human-centred aspect of the project ,identify and accordingly eliminate what would work and what would not work for a toolkit of this kind.
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Approach Map
The approaches plotted to show which category of information features within them.
1
2
3.1 3.2
CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
4.1
4.2
4.3
FIELD ACTIVITY
6.1
5.1 5.2
6.2
6.3
STAKEHOLDER STUDY
7
INFORMATION HIERARCHY
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Part 3- Final Design Outcome 3.1 Developing The Sammaan Toolkit
A. Key Features
B. Visual Language
C. Suggested Packaging
3.2 Collaterals (Digital)
A. Posters
B. Cards
3.3 The Project Sammaan Toolkit v.1
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1.1 1.2 2.3 3.1
A
Key Features of the Toolkit
There are three main features of the Toolkit are described here
What Makes Sammaan Unique Sharing Relevant Information What makes Sammaan unique is something that must be shared upfront. Most people are curious to know what is so different about these facilities. This can be done through an information piece that gives a user enough evidence to understand what is different about Project Sammaan. It also gives them a glance of what the facilities have to offer in terms of features and their details.
There is a plethora of information that is available on Project Sammaan, even for just an introduction. It was very important that only critical information about the project be shared in the first collateral of the toolkit. The team decided that what could be shared would be: 1. What Sammaan is 2. Why Sammaan is a unique innovation 3. Where this innovation is based 4. What numbers are involved in the entire project 5. How the project is structured 6. How the facilities are imagined to look like and what are the details within them It now became much more simpler to focus on these points and generate/source content for them.
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KEY FEATURES OF THE TOOLKIT
Women and children outside a community toilet in Cuttack
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A
Introducing a Human Centred Design Process and advocating the need for one Through the learnings of Sammaan There is a glaring need to adapt to a human-centric design process because most facilities are designed without keeping in mind the wants and needs of the end-users. The Sammaan facilities are designed for real users and followed a detailed design process. In order to replicate the facilities, a good start would be to follow a similar process that is a humancentred (i.e., to involve the users in various stages to understand their real needs). It is therefore essential to introduce one to this process. In this respect, it almost acts as a guidebook taking one through what needs to be kept in mind while trying to design toilets.
The map is based entirely on the experience of Sammaan. It was necessary to take a step back and identify all the detailed steps or phases involved within the process and understand how they played out for Sammaan. These were revised and made crisper to make the process more accessible in terms of what the phases involve. The team then drew connections and interdependencies within these steps and decided that it was important to call these out in the map as well. The interdependencies and linear processes shown in the process map reflect the Sammaan experience; additional connections are certainly possible, and likely. The purpose of identifying these is to call out the complexities inherent in following an HCD process.
Initial exploration
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KEY FEATURES OF THE TOOLKIT
Working on the Process Map
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A
Support with tools that help facilitate the Process The highlight of the entire toolkit
The sanitation ecosystem, especially in India’s urban slums, is complicated to understand, navigate, and improve upon.
The cards are segmented into four distinct categories that take the toolkit users through the progression of specific aspects of the project
In sharing the Sammaan experience and providing human-centered design principles for guidance, the intent is to shed light on the challenges of implementing projects seeking to address the global sanitation crisis, while also providing anecdotal information by sharing Sammaan’s successes and failures to illuminate the impact that applying HCD principles has in a ‘real world’ context, for better or for worse.
Context Mapping this is the most macro view of a particular challenge, issue, or component of a project; these broadly identify areas that require design interventions.
A series of tools (visually manifested in a set of cards) developed to make the complexities of working in the sanitation context a bit easier to grasp.
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Design Principle specific approaches or maxims that drive activities which will aid in overcoming the issue or challenge identified during the context-mapping exercise.
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Design Outcome these are the decisions, or directions, taken when applying the design principle to the context identified. Sammaan Stories the end-result of applying the design outcome as experienced in Project Sammaan. Whether successful or not, it is imperative to share in an open, honest manner how design thinking played out in practice. These cards can be used across the process map to allow for a more rigorous and detailed evaluation of each activity, while also providing a tangible guideline for planning out an approach that adheres to human-centered design protocols.
KEY FEATURES OF THE TOOLKIT
Rough sketches and initial ideas
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Visual Language of the Toolkit A visual language was developed around the toolkit keeping in mind that it would be further built based on the template and format suggested.
• Size, Format and Layout A variety of explorations for the size and format were done for the collaterals. The final size was looked at based on the content and information to be shared. Folded explorations of the posters were also done. The size that was decided upon was A3, as it would be a uniform size across all the three collaterals.
Initial ideas
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Size exploration (A3)
Final Sizes of Collaterals Layout exploration
Posters - A3 Cards - A6 Developing a Toolkit for Project Sammaan I Shreya Chakravarty
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• Initial Explorations Project Sammaan Toolkit The 3 Part Communication Strategy
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What makes Sammaan a Unique Project Sharing Project Sammaan’s differentiators to bring out what is unique about the project and the facilities.
2
Tools that aid the process Allowing for users to understand how to go about a process like this, with tools
3
Sharing Sammaan details- outcomes, experiences and stories
Foldout Infographic
Replicating Sammaan- the process Introducing a “design centric” process while implementing a project of this nature.
The Sammaan Deck of Cards Featuring
• Human Centred Design • Design Considerations
Replicating
• Sammaan Outcomes An Overview
A publication Featuring
• Sammaan Experiences • Sammaan Outcomes Detailed version
Reverse of Foldout Infographic
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INITIAL EXPLORATIONS
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• Colour Selection Inspired by the locations of the facilities, a colour palette was built. The primary and secondary colours were chosen from this and combinations were also built from these. The background or base colour of beige was chosen as it would represent an earthy yet clean look. It is also in sync with the facility’s tile colours.
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Selected Colour Palette
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• Type Selection Font selection was done keeping in mind that the communication needed to look clean, crisp and easy to read. Several explorations were done for this.
What Makes Sammaan Unique Project Sammaan is an initiative dedicated to redesigning and improving community sanitation facilities in urban slums across India, beginning in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. It seeks to rethink the current model of facilities serving urban slum populations in India in a holistic manner.
Fontin Sans
What Makes Sammaan Unique Project Sammaan is an initiative dedicated to redesigning and improving community sanitation facilities in urban slums across India, beginning in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. It seeks to rethink the current model of facilities serving urban slum populations in India in a holistic manner.
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Museo + Fontin Sans
VISUAL LANGUAGE OF THE TOOLKIT
What Makes Sammaan Unique Project Sammaan is an initiative dedicated to redesigning and improving community sanitation facilities in urban slums across India, beginning in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. It seeks to rethink the current model of facilities serving urban slum populations in India in a holistic manner.
Museo
What Makes Sammaan Unique Project Sammaan is an initiative dedicated to redesigning and improving community sanitation facilities in urban slums across India, beginning in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. It seeks to rethink the current model of facilities serving urban slum populations in India in a holistic manner.
Zine Slab Dis + Zine Sans Dis
Selected Type
What Makes Sammaan Unique Tisa Pro Project Sammaan is an initiative dedicated to redesigning and improving community sanitation facilities in urban slums across India, beginning in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. It seeks to rethink the current model of facilities serving urban slum populations in India in a holistic manner.
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• Photographs and Illustrations For the final outcomes (in the posters and cards) there were two visual approaches that were looked at. The illustration approach would bring some freshness into the collaterals; however, these would not reflect the reality scenarios, especially with respect to the features of the toilets. The second option was to use already existing photo media, adding a greater value to all the collaterals and showing the context of the facilities with a much stronger tone. These were given a sepia treatment for the posters, as using the direct images was making the collateral look very stark. However, for the cards the photographs were changed to a mild coloured treatment.
Inspirations for illustrations and infographics
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Dotted lines illustrations used. Photographs in sepia tone and 3D samplerenders used across collaterals
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• Renders and Views For the infographic depicting the facilities, it was required to show and share what the architectural innovations and/ or innovations were. To develop these, initial explorations were done using existing 3D drawings. Since these required special skill and expertise, an external agency was called who developed a complete set of renders and views of the facility. Developing these along with the architect and the 3D renderer gave new insights and learnings into the facilities., especially the technical side of the facilities and the features.
Intial renders of the facilities
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Initial render of the exploded view
Intial renders of the facilities
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• Navigation Options Two sets of navigation options were developed for the tool cards based on colour codes. 1. Icon + Single Colour - Use of icon and a single colour throughout all the cards. 2. Icon + Colour Code in accordance with the HCD process map - Use of icon and colour corresponding to a particular phase of the map. Overall it was clear that certain phases of the map could have certain information segments within them. Although it adds another layer of information to be deciphered, the cards can be used independent of the process map. The colour segregation makes it easier for locating specific cards if required. Given the fact that the toolkit will further be built using these cards, this option is simpler to navigate through when they are many in number.
Rough sketches of the possible navigation
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• Icon Development For the infographics and the navigation, one set of icons was built which would communicate certain important pointers within the posters, and another set was built to be used as a navigation tool within the cards.
Rough sketches of icons
For Posters
For Cards
Final Icon Set
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Suggested Packaging For the packaging of the toolkit, different options were suggested.
The various options included different kinds of boxes, a folder and a cloth bag. The box was detailed out for v.1 of the toolkit
Rough sketches of packaging ideas
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SUGGESTED PACKAGING
Explorations on the prototyping
Rough sketches of packaging ideas
Final Packaging For version 1 and the diploma project, the option that was prototyped was a Kraft paper box . However as the cards are built further, this box might change.
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This toolkit works in a three step manner: Through posters, it introduces Project Sammaan and shares details on what makes it a unique innovation. A Human Centred Design Process Map, that explains in a step-by-step manner of establishing a process of this kind. A Set of Cards facilitate the establishment of this process by featuring the important themes of the sanitation ecosystem derived from the learnings from the Potty Project and Project Sammaan.
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These cards can be used across the process map to allow for a more rigorous and detailed evaluation of each activity, while also providing a tangible guideline for planning out an approach that adheres to human-centered design protocols.
3.2 Toolkit Collaterals The final collaterals of the toolkit ( a digital version). These include three infographics and sample tool cards
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Using locally-sourced materials, incorporating user-flow information into the interior layout of facilities and designing to accommodate more natural lighting and ventilation are just a few of the ‘hardware’ improvements.
Architecture & Infrastructure Innovations
This amalgamation of seemingly disparate entities provides a robust and exhaustive approach that ensures community members’ needs are designed for, the facilities are both functional and valued, and the effectiveness of the engagement is thoroughly evaluated.
The project is unique due to the diversity of the organizations leading it: design firms, government bodies, empirical researchers, architectural firms, waste management experts, community engagement specialists, and an interface management team.
Multi-stakeholder engagement
What makes Sammaan a unique innovation
Most options available fail to take into consideration user needs and ground realities that affect sanitation behaviors. Additionally, lack of adequate sanitation, and the resultant by-products of such a situation (e.g., rampant spread of waterborne diseases, unsafe conditions for women and children forced to open-defecate, ubiquity of diarrhea and related malnutrition, etc.) costs India thousands of lives and billions of dollars each year.
The need for innovation in the sanitation space stems from the fact that current systems and approaches are ineffective and lack long-term sustainability.
is an initiative dedicated to redesigning and improving community sanitation facilities in urban slums across India, beginning in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, Odisha.
An illustration of the proposed facility
Prototyping at scale with replication being a future consideration
Sammaan is designed to prototype at a certain critical mass that allows for empirical validation. Bhubaneswar and Cuttack are the pilot cities with India, South Asia, and beyond being future target markets.
Randomised evaluations determine whether a program has an impact, and more specifically, quantify the extent of that impact. RCTs will capture the change in community behaviour and sanitation practices as a result of Project Sammaan’s innovations.
Randomised Controlled Trials
Operation & Maintenance Experiments, establishing a PMO at the local municipal corporations, and experimenting with Pricing Models will all help ensure viability and sustainability.
Management Innovations
Provisions within the grant stipulate gathering and sharing project learnings with any and all parties interested in the urban slum sanitation context.
Open-source information-sharing via a Toolkit
Bathing options in India’s urban slums are limited, and often unhygienic
11 lakh
60,000+
people will be directly impacted from these facilities
are being built across the pilot cities
119 facilities
There is a significant range in unit costs owing to the 14 unique facility types.
70 lakh
Total cost for construction of 119 toilet facilities is USD 5.9 million of which the Government will contribute 77% and the BMGF will support the remaining 23%
the shared toilet infrastructure in the two cities combined
doubling
Sammaan is
people in Bhubaneswar & Cuttack combined live in slums
4 out of 10
These combine to make the cities’ 400+ slum communities dependent upon the already-overwhelmed sanitation facilities available or resort to using alternative spaces (e.g., train tracks, fields, etc.) for their sanitation needs
Problems affecting sanitation in Odisha’s Twin Cities can be bifurcated into two complementary, and dire, issues: an inordinately high proportion of the population living in slums and a lack of access to adequate sanitation options, including severely limited (Bhubaneswar) or non-existent (Cuttack) city-wide sewer systems.
requires adopting the human centered process to develop improved sanitation facility directions; A three-stage process with two intermediate milestones to absorb stakeholder feedback was defined.
Design
Planning
is shaping specifics of Project Sammaan, such as finalizing the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the municipal corporations of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, identifying locations for the 119 sanitation facilities, and assembling a consortium of architects, infrastructure management firms, and community NGOs to execute the project
focuses on user experience, habits, perceptions, management models, as well as health and hygiene habits in India’s urban slums
Research
Efforts on the project were divided into several inter-connected and dependent phases.
Exisiting Community Toilet at Bayababa Basti, Bhubaneswar
involves handing over the sanitation facilities to the communities and private vendors who will run them. It also includes implementing a training and handover program at each location.
Operations & Management
is defined by monitoring the performance of these improved sanitation facilities on a list of key parameters. A process evaluation exercise will be implemented in parallel with J-PAL’s Randomized Control Trial (RCT) method to gauge effectiveness.
Monitoring & Evaluation
is straightforward: building the 119 sanitation facilities in separate batches of facilities over a fixed time period. It also necessitates implementing appropriate project management and quality assurance protocols to ensure on-time, high-quality, within-budget construction.
Construction
Pre-Construction
deals with mobilizing the construction supply chain: construction vendors, product vendors, site clearances, tender preparation, etc., as well as conducting a "pre-construction dialogue" with communities to prepare them for the construction phase.
Sammaan Facilities incorporate hardware innovations that take into account the needs identified effecting usage of current models of community sanitation facilities.
The facilities have been designed keeping in mind user behaviour and activities performed through the course of their visit.
The innovations include everything from the layout of the interior, locally-sourced materials, designing to accommodate greater airflow & natural lighting, &, to provide a high-quality facility that people value.
The men and women sections are identical, with one additional feature in each urinals for the men section and menstrual waste incinerators in the womens section.
This exploded 3D view showcases the layout of the facility (a 12 seater enhanced layer). The reverse of the poster details out the features.
5 5 Bathing Stalls
Clothes Washing 7 Unit 7
6 6 Child Potty 5
5
4 Men’s Urinals
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Mens Section
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Womens Section
The Sammaan facility as imagined in its actual environment
1 Spitting trough
2 Universal Access Stall 9 Menstrual Waste Incinerator
10 Retail Shop
Features of the Sammaan Facilities 5 7
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Toilet A standard toilet cubicle. Stall Materials used:Ceramic squatting pot and
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Mens Urinals
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Clothes Washing Area
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Hand & Footwash Basins
stone platform and hooks.
Designed and located in a manner that allows for easy access to the bathing stalls. Stone hooks feature to hang washed clothes. Materials Used: Stone platform and kadappa stone for flooring.
Found exclusively in the men’s section. Materials used: Cement plaster and ceramic tiles.
Designed keeping in mind end-user habits (i.e., washing of hands and feet before and after using the toilet). Materials used: Cement plaster and tiles.
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Spitting Located at the entry allowing for trough use while waiting in queue. Material used: Cement Plaster.
Bathing Standard bathing stall with stone platform and hooks for Stall keeping bathing essentials.
Menstrual An innovation feature that will help in menstrual waste disposal. The machine can store the waste Waste and the caretaker needs to operate it once a day. Incinerator
2
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Universal Access Stall
Child Potty
Designed for differently-abled users, particularly those on crutches. Grab rails, squatting pot, and raised platforms are included to facilitate easier use and access.
Designed exclusively for children, and their ergonomic needs. Grab bars and raised platforms help ensure ease-of-use.
Retail Shop
Located outside the entry points of both men’s and women’s sections.
The renders are artist renditions of the facility features. The actual facilities may vary slightly.
Develop
Implement
Engage
A human centered research method provides a valuable counterpoint to the efforts that the sanitation sector primarily relies upon, which are largely either engineering-heavy or social engineering-heavy, but rarely both.
Interacting with a community memberin Bhubaneswar
These inputs were integral in mapping the user flow for the facilities and for identifying root causes of unsanitary behaviors.
Extensive user-experience testing and community feedback sessions aided in the facility design process as end-users shared their sanitation habits and preferences.
Project Sammaan utilizes the human-centered design research conducted during the year-long ethnographic urban slum sanitation research study the Potty Project, to create a functional sanitation facility that people want to use.
The need to adopt a Human Centred Design Process arises from the fact that current systems and approaches are ineffective, lack long-term sustainability, and most existing options available do not take into consideration user needs.
Establishing A Human Centred Design Process
There are several linear and inter-related processes. Here’s how you can follow them:
Taking into consideration the needs and habits of those benefiting from a project or initiative is vital to having long-term, positive impact. The following steps help outline an HCD process, particularly in the context of community sanitation in India’s urban slums.
Identify Define the issue
Ascertain why the problem exists & persists
Understand the context the project is working in
Ideate
Implement
Gauge end-user needs through active engagement
Identify resources required to carry out the project.
Sustain
Craf t an allencompassing project timeline
Curate a list of perceived challenges.
Create protocols that ensure timely, honest communication
Engage with communities and users to ensure buy-in to the project and to allow for their participation.
Execute
project plans to turn abstractions into tangible ground realities Community members of a slum in Bhubaneswar
inter-related processes
Establish a clear, on-site project leader
Develop a well-defined project organizational structure
Design the project’s proposed solution
linear processes
The culmination point of the efforts done in the earlier stages
Equip necessary parties with skills needed to sustain the initiative
Transfer ownership of the initiative to end-users
Evaluate the project’s impact
The interdependencies and linear processes reflect the Sammaan experience; additional connections are certainly possible, and likely. The purpose of identifying these is to call out the complexities inherent in following an HCD process.
GENDER INCLUSIVE DESIGN Theme
Context Mapping
Information Segment
outlines the larger background or situation that the highlighted issue attempts to explore.
Design Principles
The 4 kinds of cards
present a guiding foundation that is crucial to apply to overcome the challenge.
Design Outcomes provide details of the applied manifestation of the design principle
Sammaan Experiences
provide anecdotal experiences from within Project Sammaan around the application of these steps
How to Use These Cards
There are four distinct information segments used to navigate specific themes pertaining to the sanitation context. These segments are represented with unique icons found at the top of each card, and the themes are also mentioned in the same location. These cards can be used alongside the HCD process map to better understand specific aspects of each theme.
SEWAGE MANAGEMENT
SEWAGE MANAGEMENT
Designing Sewage Management Systems
GENDER INCLUSIVE DESIGN
Design For Gender Specific Needs
Most facilities with septic tank systems malfunction due to an infrequent emptying of tanks, leading to unhygienic conditions.
Toilet facilities do not usually take gender specificities into account. Each gender has its own set of sanitation and hygiene needs and the amenities offered by sanitation facilities need to reflect an understanding of these preferences and processes. Alternate space designs tailored to gendered sanitation practices would make toilets more useful.
Understanding the availability and viability of the last-mile waste treatment options is key to designing systems that are sustainable while avoiding instances in which unsanitary conditions are created, worsening rather than improving matters for end-users. Pit latrines are a common and cheap option, though largely unsanitary
GENDER INCLUSIVE DESIGN
GENDER INCLUSIVE DESIGN
GENDER INCLUSIVE DESIGN
Women and children line up to use a toilet facility
TENDER
TENDER
Sacrificing A Battle To Win A War Catering To Gender Specific Needs Menstrual Waste Incinerators A menstrual waste incinerator in the women’s area will further help maintain a safe, hygienic facility and community. Private booths, gender segregated areas, and a mechanism for safely disposing menstrual waste while also making it easy to clean for the caretakers are all geared towards not only increasing the hygienic conditions in and around the facility, but also in helping to break the ingrained taboos around menstrual health management The Menstrual Waste Incinerator at the women’s section in the Sammaan facility (12 Seater)- An artist’s rendition
Despite the vocal concerns of the non-government project team members, the partners at the municipal corporations decided to move forward with the low-cost tender option. The rationale behind this was the need to reduce costs wherever possible in order to offset the higher per-unit costs of the Sammaan facilities caused by the interventions and innovations incorporated therein. Ultimately, the fact that innovations such as menstrual waste incinerators, clothes-washing stations, and improved sewage management systems that contributed to the increased cost of the facilities were preserved helped assuage concerns of the project team. Sammaan Team discussing the facilities with the (then) Commissioner of the CMC
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3.3 The Project Sammaan Toolkit v.1
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Sammaan Infographic
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Tool Cards
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The cards are spread across three main themes of the hardware section: • Gender Inclusive Design • Tender • Sewage Management, and have four segments of information: • Context Mapping • Design Principle • Design Outcome • Sammaan Experiences
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Part 4- Looking Back and Looking Ahead 4.1. The Quicksand Learning Experience 4.2. Way forward 4.3 Conclusion
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QUICKSAND LEARNING EXPERIENCE
4.1
There were many challenges and learnings of visual and information design in this incredibly complex, multi-layered project, especially since the audience is fairly ‘design-illiterate.’ These challenges turned the course of the project and steered it in different directions, but ultimately summed up to a holistic approach.
AN EVER-EVOLVING PROJECT
WORKING AROUND CONSTRAINTS
EXPECTATION V.S. REALITY
Usual processes that are linear can be useful in contexts where the information is static and available in one go.
The dynamic and volatile nature of Project Sammaan in itself were seen as the constraints of the project, leaving one to work around them and change them into opportunity areas.
There were certain expectations from the project on a personal level. These included the assumption that the base of the toolkit, its audience, focus and content were in place and that only an overall navigation structure needed to be figured out and designed.
In projects such as Sammaan, where information resides with various partners and is constantly changing and evolving, the process needs to adopt these same attributes - of being iterative and evolving - so that it can be constantly evaluated and corrected in order to even attempt to be relevant.
These constraints included working for multiple audiences, working with ever-changing information, and working with a team that had different ideas/views/ambitions and expectations from the toolkit.
However, the reality was different but allowed for a far better understanding of the project, which may not have occurred had the base been set in advance.
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WAYFORWARD
4.2
There are several ways that the toolkit can be built up from this step and put into action. These will help in validating the toolkit and advocate the need to adopt a design-centric process. A FEATURE OF THE DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES As part of the project’s dissemination activities, the team plans to conduct workshops with officials in the government to spread use and adoption of the toolkit. While it can be used independently by interested parties, it can also work very well if supported by workshops.
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POSSIBLE USE ACROSS LARGE-SCALE INNOVATION PROJECTS The toolkit’s main aim is to communicate the need to adopt a human-centred design approach. This is followed by guiding the establishment of the process through a variety of tools. The approach is such that it can be adopted across any public infrastructure projects and -can be customized/adopted to the needs of the theme.
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4.3
CONCLUSION
Building Sammaan’s toolkit allowed for an enriching experience of working on a real-time problem and its corresponding solution, albeit through a communication approach. The experience provided learning beyond the realms of graphic and information design. The iterative design process, including on-site and field research, gave it the shape and sense-making that could not be achieved in isolation or through a linear process. Though ambitious in its approach of convincing an audience that is not particularly design sensitive, to adopt a human-centred design process - it was found that this can be achieved through rigorous dissemination activities around the toolkit, along with evidence of innovation and people-driven projects such as Sammaan. Conversations around innovation and user-centric needs have already started amongst government officials, and this is a baby step in the larger aim of the toolkit and Project Sammaan.
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Bibliography Books - Baer, Kim, and Jill Vacarra. Information Design Workbook. 1st ed. Beverly, Mass.: Rockport, 2008. Print. - Camponeschi, Chiara. Enabling City. 1st ed. Print. - Martin, Bella, and Bruce M Hanington. Universal Methods Of Design. 1st ed. Beverly, MA: Rockport Publishers, 2012. Print. - Stickdorn, Marc, and Jakob Schneider. This Is Service Design Thinking. 1st ed. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2011. Print. - 10 Answers To Contemporary Market Research Questions. 1st ed. ESOMAR, 2012. Print. - Kumar, Vijay. 101 Design Methods. 1st ed. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2013. Print. Websites /Webpages - Apps.nepalaid.net,. ‘The State Of School Sanitation In Nepal - The Neglected Development Link’. N.p., 2014. Web. - Building-in-context.org,. ‘Building In Context Supports And Promotes | Building In Context’. N.p., 2014. Web. - frog,. ‘Frog Collective Action Toolkit’. N.p., 2014. Web. - Mobilemandate.frogdesign.com,. ‘Strategic Partnership With Unicef | Programs | Frog’. N.p., 2014. Web. - The Agency of Design,. ‘Energy Trumps - The Agency Of Design’. Agencyofdesign.co.uk. N.p., 2014. Web. - Thisispublichealth.org,. ‘THIS IS PUBLIC HEALTH.’. N.p., 2014. Web. Publications and Reports - Dasra,. Squatting Rights- Access To Toilets In Urban India. Print. - Manzini, Ezio, and Eduardo Staszowski. Public And Collaborative:. 1st ed. Print. - Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India,. National Urban Sanitation Policy. Print. - NESTA,. Design In Public And Social Innovation. NESTA, 2014. Print. Newspaper Articles - Devarajan, Shanta. ‘Why Should Governments Spend On Sanitation?’. The World Bank 2014. Web. 4 Sep. 2014. - Jacob, Rahul. ‘A Monument Of National Shame’. Business Standard 2014. Web. 4 Sep. 2014. - Mahajan, Shobhit. ‘The Gross Toilet Index’. Economic and Political Weekly 2014. Web. 4 Sep. 2014. - The New Indian Express,. ‘Sanitation Tops BMC Council’S Agenda’. 2014. Web. 4 Sep. 2014.
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Blogs - Kester, David. ‘How Designers Can Help Policy-Makers Put People First’. World Economic Forum 2014. Web. -Worm-Petersen, Kasper. ‘WHY WE NEED DESIGN IN POLICY MAKING’. GRASP 2013. Web. Toolkits - Collective Action Toolkit - FROG Design - Human Centred Design Toolkit -IDEO - Philippines Sanitation Sourcebook and Decision Aid- Water and Sanitation Program - 10 Tactics for Turning Information into Action- Tactical Technology Collective - The Edgeryders Guide To The Future- Council of Europe - Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission Toolkit- Govt. of India - Food Security Communications Toolkit- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - Toolkit for Progressive Policymakers in Developing Countries- Research and Policy in Development Programme - PPP Toolkit for Improving PPP Decision -Making Process- Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India Image Credits • Page 14: NID Main Gate- Gagan Dattatray Narhe • Page 21: Quicksand Work In Progress - Media Library, Quicksand Design Studio • Page 24: Women at a toilet facility- Media Library, Quicksand Design Studio • Page 26: Men outside a toilet facility- Media Library, Quicksand Design Studio • Page 27: Community members at a sanitation facility -Media Library, Quicksand Design Studio • Page 49 : Sammaan Team with the (then) BMC Commissioner, Media Library, Quicksand Design Studio • Page 57 : Team Sammaan on a site visit- Media Library, Quicksand Design Studio • Page 72: With Ms Lipika Mazumdar Roy Chaudhary- Paula Roy Chaudhary • Page 158: Illustration and Infographic references- Google images • Page 159: Interacting with community members- Media Library, Quicksand Design Studio • Pages 178, 180-186, 192 & 193: Sammaan Toolkit Images- Manimaran Icons Credit Pages 41, 50, 60, 84, 86, 98, 1o0, 102, 104, 106, 110, 112, 114,142 & 143 Rubik’s Cube designed by David Papworth from the thenounproject.com
Developing a Toolkit for Project Sammaan I Shreya Chakravarty
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Sincere Gratitude Individuals • K. Ganga, Addl. Dy. CAG, Comptroller and Auditor General of India • Lipika Mazumdar Roy Choudhary, Former Member, Central Board of Excise and Customs, Department of Revenue Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India • Sujaya Rathi, C-STEP • Renuka Malaker, CEO, Joining Hands • Ali - Resident, Nizamuddin Slum • Sanoj & Kamlesh -Resident, RKP Colony, Delhi • Shveta Mathur, Archana Saadakhtar, & Ranjit Singh - Aga Khan Culture Trust • Mahendra Pathy, C-FAR • Gyana Das, Commissioner, BMC • Ashok Singha, C-TRAN • Raman Jha, Printo Bangalore • Mandira Moddie • Shruti Gupta
• Manimaran • Manoj Pilli • Abhigyan Singh, TU Delft • Khushboo, Anagram Architects • Anil & Utkarsh, 3D Artists • Nandita Thomas & Anuraag Kiran • Sandesh Gavade & Arjun Kumar S • Neha Murthy & Priyanka Bhardwaj • Pavithra Dikshit • Chetan Agarwal & Vineeta Oswal • Mudra Shirvaikar • Vidhi, Manasi, Lovepreet, Anupriya, Akshan, Rhishikesh, Jishnuram, Vallery, Jasleen, Jyoti, Athira, Roshini. • Pooja, Nandana, Paul, Gagan & Dinesh and many others who have contributed immensely
Organisations • Quicksand Design Studio • Quest Alliance • Anagram Architects • J-PAL, Bhubaneswar • C-TRAN • C-FAR • The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
About the Guide Rupesh Vyas is a Senior Faculty in Communication Design and Activity Chairperson, Online Programmes at NID. He has taken a lead role in developing Information and Interaction Design as an emerging domain under Communication Design and IT Integrated Design Disciplines at NID. He is a Board Member of the International Institute of Information Design (IIID) which is based in Vienna, Austria. He has wide areas of academic and professional interests which include Visual Identity design, Static and Dynamic Graphic Application, Documentation of Visual Culture of India, Colour in Analogous and Digital medium, Way Finding Systems, Information Graphics, Complex Information Systems and Visual Diagraming. He has a special interest in strategic design innovations with socially relevant issues and exploring newer ways of information, interactions and interfaces in governance, social sector and public domain.
Rupesh has contributed significantly to some of the major consultancy projects having national importance like Information Design for Census of India 2011 Data Collection, and Digitization processes and Multipurpose National Identity Card for Citizens of India from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, Smart Card based Indian Union Driver’s License, Standardizing Visual Design for National level implementation, by Ministry of Road Transport and National Informatics Center, Government of India.
Project Documentation The entire project has been documented on http://urbsantoolkit.wordpress.com/
Reflection on NID Experiences The two and a half years at NID have been a life changing and holistic learning experience. From being a student of visual communication, working in the advertising industry to being a design student and introducing me to Graphic and Information Design in its true sense and form, NID has taught me some of the most important lessons of design and design thinking. Through this journey of constant learning via experiences, people, design and skills, it has helped me frame a much better understanding of contexts, priorities, information, systems and people. As a professional I’ve grown beyond what I’d expected and at a personal level, my knowledge and skills have increased manyfold through NID. Understanding and catering towards human needs and experiences and designing for them is what I’d like to see myself doing through the medium of Design Research. NID has helped me understand and focus on that aspect, something I would have never been able to figure out for myself. -Shreya Chakravarty September 2014
The Toolkit