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Thesis Project at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology - Bengaluru, India
Introduction
Methodology
Theme
Line Of Enquiry
How does a female traveler respond to a space of public transit? How does it affect their experience with regards to mobility?
Further questions to answer:
1. Is the same experience for all women?
2. Do they use any specific strategies? If so, how can it be documented
and analyzed?
3. Are there certain decisions that are made during a transit? ( Based on time/safety etc.)
4. Do we see women using the infrastructure laid out for all travelers - last-mile connectivity, and ticketing spaces?
(More detailed questions are added in the proposal)
TOPICS OF INTEREST
There was a clear difference in decision making/ behaviour within the groups of women ( below 28 and above 28)
The activity was able to inform a few decisions that women take in metro spaces i.e preference to having women around in the coach environment (this again, varied based on their age)
In the ladies coach, if there were approximately 60 ladies in the coach, more than 40 of them could be seen wearing indian wear (sarees and kurta sets). A lot of them were wearing scarves and masks as well.
In the interviews, a few of them mentioned about standing near the ecit in general compartments to get fast access to the exit - one of the few tactics used by women on a day to day basis
A few incidents that contradicted my assumptions were where the men in the coach would actively create some sort of a physical distance between themselves and the woman in the picture, which depicted body language playing a role in spaces of transit
Women travelling in groups of 4-5 would hurdle up and create their own space and look our for each other in different senses
The advice that each of the interviewees gave varied largely based on their age but most of them emphasised on how it can get overwhelming to travel in general compartment for which they suggested that a first time traveller should probably board the ladies coach in their first few trips
The average rating of the experience of women, for the 15 women interviewed in 7.8, the most common reason for them cutting down the rating was "Safety"
Time based travel i.e preferences during rush hours leaned more towards the ladies coach as it would make women feel less of a need to stay in an "alert" state and they could travel with some sort of a relaxed state after a long day of work/college
When asked why they still prefer the metro, the most common words used as a unison were "convenient and cost effective" because they kept emphasising on how autos get stuck in traffic and in fact increases their travel time and is also very heavy on the pocket when taken during a rush hour
The activity, A vs B scenario mapping, helped me inform my questions regarding the decision making process of an average woman traveller in the metros
Traditional research
The study of body language/behavior/ clothing choices/ decision making/ safety/time based decisions/ demographic mapping
Observational study and participatory research
( interacting with women on site - conversational based/ image mapping/ short and effective conversations/ categorization games)
Research questions:
How does a female traveler respond to a space of public transport?
Would it be possible to analyze this behaviour in this space?
Research type: Ethnographic/ Historical/Evaluation
Infrastructure
( System Analysis )
Research through design
How the crowd interacts with public transit spaces
Study of accessibility and zero mile connectivity
Research questions:
How do we track down traveller's activity with the digital/ physical infrastructure laid out at metro stations?
Can there be screen based improvisations to the current infrastructure ?
What kind of mapping/ research methodologies can be brought in to study these interactions ?
Research type : Exploration/ Comparative
Outcome 1
Link for the book:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ad9w-BwqXQvm7sOML2Co8QcPmP0GUKnT/view?usp=sharing
Outcome 2
Link for the course and animation script:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BNFBtmSeAd8LbuCUbqeoVlr1Wv5-g10C/view?usp=sharing
Research Process and Documentation
How does a female traveler respond to a space of public transport ?
How does it affect their experience with regards to mobility?
Are women able to utilize the surroundings of a metro station to its full extent?
Is there a change in behavior? If so, how can it be noticed/observed?
Are there strategies applied when using these spaces?
Is there a certain advise that women would like to give to first time travelers?
Are there certain decisions that are made during this entire journey and why?
Does the decision making happen to impact their time of travel?
How does it affect the use of infrastructure provided to these travelers?
Do they end up using the last mile connectivity infrastructure like bus/autos/cabs or do they decide to walk?
Does the time of the day happen to affect their chosen mode of transport from the metro station?
How do they perceive fear and safety in spaces like this, does it happen to affect the way they navigate through these spaces?
How can the above stated questions be mapped/analyzed/documented?
All participants gave their consent to take notes
and to be recorded - A total of 30 interviews were conducted
( Link to all the interviews : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eK5vLWcKKk7lCkGbDb4aUqzEFbIGo7Ll/view?usp=sharing)
To get a better understanding of the interviews, I created word clouds for each of them.
Provides a perspective of how women of this city perceive the metro stations
If they find it safe/unsafe and how they dress/behave/take certain decisions
Gives us an idea about time based decisions being taken by them
It allows us to understand their purpose for using the metros
