Design Research for P&G

A user-study and design research initiative conducted by EI Labs, IIT-Guwahati for Proctor & Gamble - Research Labs, Brussels.

The study aimed to gain a better understanding of the Dhobi community (washer-men) in Guwahati, Assam. The goal was to investigate their needs, problems, and potential opportunities to develop design interventions that would help to support and enhance their work, and ultimately improve their overall productivity and efficiency. Through comprehensive interviews, workshops, and observations, the research team was able to gain valuable insights into the lives of the Dhobi community and the challenges they face.

Dhobi is a community of laundry workers in India, traditionally engaged in washing, ironing, and other related services. They hand-wash and treat clothes, then hang them out to dry and iron them. They may also offer home delivery and pickup services. Dhobis typically work in street-side stalls in residential areas, but can also be employed by small businesses that provide laundry services, or at a Dhobighat, a communal space where the dhobi community gathers to wash and dry clothes.

Throughout the study, we shared the findings from our research to combine and collate with that of P&G and formulate insights for further product development. These insights, helped us identify opportunities and propose a range of design directions in the field of ICT, product design and product strategy.

The following potential areas were mainly targeted for this collaboration:

• Water consumption
• Increased productivity
• Impact on health, especially skin diseases
• Testing on new rinse or wash solutions
• Landscaping strategy.

After the field research phase, we split into two teams :

• Structured group — covered dhobi’s working for a a small business
• Unstructured group — involved dhobi’s working independently

We realised that even the structured set up had quite a lot of gaps, where a possible design intervention could ease the work and improve productivity for the dhobi community. Our team developed and proposed about 20 design directions which could lead to potential solutions in the form of a product design, systems and services design or space design.

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