Mobile Retail
Posts Tagged Bangalore
How many people do we need at the cashier?
To be precise, how many people do we need at the end of the cashier?
In Big Bazaar, a large supermarket for middle-class consumers in India. At the end of the cashier found three boys waiting to pack my groceries in a bag. Note that they do not deal with any cash, as there was another lady to take care of that.
How many people do we need to fulfill a task and how are tasks distributed?
Recycling My Axx
For the past two three years, there has been a trend of purchasing a canvas-cloth shopping bags in Japan, in order to reduce number of plastic bags handed out from the retail. People call them as Mai-Baggu, which is literally meaning my bag.
While such a superficial excuse goes around to encourage us to buy another bag, there’s a complete eco system we can find here in the market of Bangalore. Vegetables are brought in with these bags made out of shredded vinyl. Once emptied, they are folded and put together for the next use. It shows that what we need is some kind of a standards to define the specification of the bags so any bag will function the same manner. Perhaps it is also about abandoning your ownership towards the bag. Which lets you to settle with any of the bags you can have in your hand.
Having that in mind, perhaps the Japanese should think whether doing this Mai-Baggu campaign really makes sense. If it does not, then the next thing that needs considering is are we ready to sacrifice the sense ownership in the name of sustainability.
A personal reminder in observation
Continuation on my previous blog post as I observed a crowd of boys heading for their school in Bangalore.
I became very curious of the four boys walking in front of me, holding hands together. At this point I must confess that I found this quite odd. It took me a few extra steps until I have come to realize, that two of the four boys are blind and the two boys were assisting them as they head their way to school. Then the whole thing about me feeling curious about boys their age holding hands together. The context has completely changed. Now I felt an immense respect, as I do not think it is easy at all for a boy of their age (I presume them being around 15 years old) to hold each others hands in any culture I know of.
With so many things to be done on the field, many observations tend to go in a rush. This was a reminder to self that curiosity and a quick interpretation can kill you. Observe from one side then from another. Take an extra step and remember to observe things from many sides.
Loose Backpack Carrying
Early this year in Japan, there was a great dispute about one of the Olympic athletes and their ethics on how they should wear uniforms. A teenage snowboard player has worn the national uniform pants so loose that his boxers showed. I did not quite see it as a big issue, it seems like awfully a common thing to do. But some people found this very offensive and considered as a shame for the nation. He had to publicly apologize on TV a few days after his departure from Japan. He was crying and seemed shocked of the influence he has had.
Artifacts we wear or use, their have presumptions on how we use the items and how we should wear them. Wearing them so loose means that you are trying to stretch the way of use beyond those presumptions. And this sign, is often considered unconventional and results in raising eyebrows of some.
Now, I have seen in many countries where boys wear their uniform pants loose with their boxers exposed; Recently in Bangalore, I have seen teenage boys on the street obviously on the way to school wearing their backpacks loose. Now their bag containers were dangling and they did not look quite comfortable carrying that way. I am assuming that the only explanation I could find is that they are trying to take this ‘loose wearing’ their own way. Could my interpretation be true? Or was there any sign I’ve missed?
Anti Mosquito Incense
Just when you think that some objects cannot come in any other shape, you can be easily proved wrong simply by being elsewhere. As we had dinner in an Italian restaurant called 100 feet in Bangalore, I was stunned by the shape of the Anti-Mosquito Incense casually placed right next to me.
The reason why I was so shocked was, in Japan, the product only comes in a circles, without any kind of angles involved. Apart from the Japanese members of the research team, no one seem to notice how surprising this is.
Functionality is the same, utility is the same, save for the execution in production.
Sound of Blackouts
As we encountered several blackouts in Bangalore, I realized a large noise of the motor running outside every now and then. The motor shows that whether it is a light or a microwave using, the electricity is something that is generated and provided locally, and should be spared.
Some things, should remain noisy.
Hero Honda Haiku Honda
Some names that seem totally unappealing to one market, could be accepted completely the opposite in another.
Hero Honda was something I could imagine as a name of a motorbike. Hero Honda, that sounds strong and quite masculine. While Haiku Honda, was something else. Haiku, a Japanese poetry popular for rather mature generation, did not seem like something I would associate with motorbikes.
A Gas Cilinder and A Kitchen Unmatched
A setup we observed in Bangalore. You can see there is a gas cylinder that is distributed to every household with a gas consumer card and a gas cooker. “I don’t understand,” said my Indian friend, “Whoever built this kitchen should know that every household comes with one of these gas cylinders. Why don’t they think about setting up one shelf so we could fit this in?” Indeed, height-wise, these cylinders appear they could make way underneath the kitchen countertops; yet because of the narrow shelf doors they have placed, there is no chance these bulky nuisance gas tanks could be hidden anywhere.
The observation does reminded me, that being under a certain environment, is one thing, and making use of that unconsciously accumulated knowledge and to reflect it onto your work, is another thing. Had the constructor had the imagination about a resident, who tries to work around the kitchen he has made; had he considered the resident’s satisfaction and reflected his learning and made the kitchen so that it will accommodate a gas cylinder that would be there all the time; the ergonomics of the space could have been so much better. At least, I would not have had to worry about myself hitting against the tank every morning.