learning to follow the design process behind designing an interactive railing

1. PUBLIC SPACES
INTERVENTION
AMEESHI GOENKA
PDP301

2. CHARRETTE ABSTRACT
The objective of the course was to understand the design process behind intervening in a
public space and making it more user friendly. We were supposed to look into the space in a
public domain, it’s users and it’s day to day function. Keeping the users in mind we were
meant to go through the entire design process of research, case study, conceptualization,
modeling and finally making a functional prototype to be able to apply it in our daily projects..
Twelve working days were allotted carefully for every step of the process so that we could put
in our 100% and get the best out of it.

3. SITE ANALYSIS
ANALYSIS
• Nandini outlet to its right and a cobbler to its left.
• There’s 10m x 3.3m space available behind the bus stop.
• At least five buses halt at the bus stop every three minutes.
• Closest eatery is opposite the road.
• Not a very crowded bus stop.
• The bus stop was on a raised platform.
OBSERVATIONS
• People waiting for over thirty minutes for a particular bus
because of low frequency.
• People yawning and just looking into space while waiting
for the buses.
• A part of the bench was broken at one corner.
• There was an over flowing dust bin close to the bus stand
and garbage scattered around.
• Too many advertisements in kannada.
• No bus routes board or information present.

4. DETAILED PLAN

5. USER RESEARCH
INTERVIEW RESPONSE
• Safety issues.
• Women feel uncomfortable.
• Low lighting at night.
• Shelter isn’t large enough to cover the entire bus stop when its raining.
• Very unhygienic surroundings.
• Railings are a hindrance when people rush to catch the bus.
• Bus route information is required.

6. CASE STUDY
Yelahanka NES bus stop
Analysis-
• Five bus stops parallel to each other
• Seating was made of granite stone and a stainless iron railing.
• Railings present
• 18ft approximate seating arrangement accommodating a minimum of
12 persons at once.
• Men:Women = 5:1
• Girls occupy the corner seat and sit in groups for safety reasons
• No bus route information
Mekhri Circle bus stop
Analysis-
• There is a ditch right behind the bus stop
• Bus stop had a railing
• Metal seating
• Mostly women occupied the seating area
• No bus route information
• People mainly stood near the bus stop and till 80m away from the
designated stop.

7. INFERENCES
• More seating required
• Gender bias
• Due to no railings at the mekhri bus stop (1) people would trip and fall when they rush to catch the
bus
• Rain water does not come inside the bus stop as there is a wall behind the mekhri bus stops but quite
the opposite for NES bus stops
• Bus information required at every bus stop as the cops or the conductors are not present every
moment

8. INSPIRATIONS
Parks in Purvankara
• Comfortable benches made of iron painted white having
back rests
• Amphitheatre style stone seating without the back rest
facing a manicured gardens
• They host festive shows and DJ nights that can
accommodate the entire crowd of Purvankara
apartments
Parking Space of M.S.Ramiah Medical College
• Very crowded with students and faculty members
• People openly eating, smoking and chatting there
• Cars parked on the sides and two wheelers in the centre
• Students sat on the small stone benches near the tea
stall at one corner of the parking or on the leaned
against the railings
• Cycles were parked in the corner near the railing

9. SCEONDARY RESEARCH
This step of the process had us involved in looking up some books and Google to give us an idea of what is
already existing in the world, what can be improved upon and how we will execute our design ideas. We
looked up some pictures to get some more inspiration.
During this time I was strongly trying to figure out if there was any simple was making the bus route map
interactive by making the people fiddle around with beads or blocks. So the small interaction would also be
useful to convey some information.
The bum rest concept was something close to what I saw when I was in London. The bus stops there have a
small inclined plank, cushioned and non cushioned, as butt rest leaning planks. If that were to be executed in
India it would be 800mm high and not cushioned so as to prevent vandalism and more long lasting.

10. BRAIN STORMING
During the brain storming many words relating to our research, observations, analysis and case studies were
thrown on the table. After shortlisting about twenty words from 150 words and phrases, we started discussing
on our common ideas.
The group of five members (Prarthana, Shubhika, Khyati, Upendra and myself) was then divided into two
groups of two (Upendra and Shubhika) and (Khyati, Prathana and myself).
Khyati, Prarthana and I came up with a few ideas but were not satisfied with them so we brain stormed once
again. After that session we were a little more happy with our ideas and decided to work on safety for women,
routes information and interaction.
Our ideas included a non linear seating arrangement, using the behind advertisement board for small
illustrations and activities or making a bus route information.

11. DESIGN BRIEF
User friendly seating and the safety of women at bus stops in Bangalore is of grave concern. Women are
very conscious of their surroundings and, the people nearby while waiting for a bus which may take over
thirty minutes. Also, people tend to get bored during the long waits for buses to arrive.
Our team would like to address the problems of user friendly seating, safety of women, boredom and
hygiene at the Yelahanka Dairy Cross bus stop. We will be working on a seating arrangement that provides
safety to women through an interactive element and will attempt to spread the awareness of hygiene in a
subtle manner.

12. CONCEPTUALISATION
• Non Linear seating in order to provide people their privacy and their own space to sit and listen to
music or make conversations.
• Providing the bus route information so that women don’t have to ask men or the passing by buses
(which would increase traffic) for the routes and for the new bus users and for the general
convenience of the people.
• Making it interactive by having illustrations and small games out up on the board behind the bus stop
or use the entire board to show the bus routes.

13. DESIGN BRIEF ITERATED
The principal issues regarding the Yelahanka Dairy Cross bus stand are :
A lack of safety, caused by pedestrians leaving the bus stand, and standing on the road,
potentially in the way of oncoming traffic. The absence of information about bus routes, and
timings, causing the aforementioned problem. We will address these issues by engaging the
commuters with an activity, which will inform them of the routes passing through the bus
stand, as well as keeping them within the confines of the bus stand. In addition, we will create
platforms for the commuters to rest on as they wait for their bus.

14. MODELING AND ITERATIONS
The first model was to show a slanted roof
so that the rainwater would fall back and
the railing with the butt rest on one side
and a hand and foot rest on the other
side.
In the second model I have tried to show
the butt rest on one side (towards the
road) and a map route information on the
other side, leg rest on both side, two
extended arm rests and the structure
would have five supporting columns.
In the fourth model there is a gap in
between the butt rest and the route map
interaction so that the people playing
won’t touch the other person’s butt even
by mistake and the structure would be
made of three supporting columns.

15. Finally, we made a 1:10 scale down model
of the railing to its exact measurements to
understand how would the model really
stand and to understand its proportions.
There was one final iteration to the railing
model wherein the bus route map
information is placed at 1000mm from the
ground, the arm rests are not required
and the leg rest under the bus route
interaction is not necessary.
After this we started working on the final
prototype.
The models were made to understand the
mechanism behind the interaction.
Several technical drawings were made to
do the dimensioning and finally a 1:1 scale
drawing was made to start the execution
of the prototype.
We also made the map digitally with the
information of the order of the stops and
the bus corresponding to it on InDesign to
print it and paste it on the mount board.

16. THE FINAL PROTOTYPE
The railing with the bum rest on side closer to the road and a route map interaction on the
side towards the seats at the bus stop. The material to be used while executing this concept
should be stainless steel which is strong enough to hold the weight of at least five people on
just three supports and because it’s a durable material.
This model is made to the scale 1:10

17. THE FINAL PROTOTYPE
This is the route map interaction that can
be provided on the railing as an activity to
keep people engaged while they are
waiting for the bus or just to know the
routes of the different buses.
If this concept has to be executed at a bus
stop, stainless steel should be used as it’s a
solutions against vandalism and long
durability.

18. REFLECTION
Doing this particular design charrette was a lot of fun and extremely exhausting. I realised the
limit of burden I can carry before getting totally anxious.
Initially, when we were a group of five, while doing the site analysis and case study, it all went
smoothly and we gained a lot of our primary research material from it. Later, when the group
was divided, we had to conceptualize and make models to convey our ideas. After the
concepts were finalized, we started making models. Since, I was paired with a second year
direct entry student, was doing most of the work which was quite stressful. All the designing
techniques were to be figured out and easy to be executed and made user friendly.
While Khyati and I started making the final prototype she understood all the models and
concepts and got to work. Both of us worked for long hours together with equal distribution
of work and completed the prototype on time to be displayed.
Going through the entire design charrette was a glimpse into how the real world functions
outside of Srishti and was quite an eye opener.

19. THANK YOU