Getting Honest Answers
Sanitation is a tough topic to discuss – it’s taboo, private, and a generally distasteful thing to ask about. At the same time, it’s done behind walls, in the dark, or at least out of the public eye, so it’s not something one can easily observe. This makes design research quite difficult.
As we’ve been asking people (especially those without toilets in their own homes) about their urination and defecation behaviors, they’ve tended to give the types of answers I give when I visit the dentist. “Yes, of course I floss my teeth everyday.” And just as my dentist discounts my answer, so do we when people tell us they exclusively use the public latrine - which they pay $.07 – $.15 to use each time. This would mean some large families are paying $1.50 – $3 per day for toilet usage.
We know that people in urban areas are defecating in plastic bags and throwing them outside their houses or into the public toilets. We also know that the men almost exclusively urinate outside, that the children never pay to use the public toilets and defecate outside, and that most people use the chamber pots in their homes at night and throw the waste outside in the morning. However, it’s nearly impossible to get people to tell us any of those things.
This is a situation in which asking lots of people the same questions, reading between the lines, asking what negative behaviors their neighbors might employ, and keeping ones eyes open and focused on what is lying on the ground, are critical. Understanding the meaning behind the words is everything here, and it’s a slow process of gaining the understanding that will allow us to design for this context.
- Jocelyn, Co-Lead of IDEO.org
Related Stories
The team spends the week working with the team from WSUP (Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor), which is busy building a microenterprise to distribute water in the slums of Bangalore.
- Jocelyn Wyatt
- IDEO.org
- Story Location: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
- Applauds 1
- Views 862
- Comments 0
The immersion phase allowed me to meet new people and gain important insights about the village. This phase of the design process is pivotal to creating a successful prototype.Story details
- Trevor Kinoshita
- Story Location: Coast, Kenya
- Applauds 0
- Views 647
- Comments 0
A cooperative formed by farmers from 6 villages around Rumuruti forest has embarked on saving the Rumuruti Forest and brining the community out of poverty.
- Will Ruddick
- Green World Campaign
- Story Location: Rumuruti, Rift Valley, Kenya
- Applauds 0
- Views 690
- Comments 0
dddddd
- Macheru Karuku
- SEANET INTERNATIONAL
- Story Location: Nanyuki, Rift Valley, Kenya
- Applauds 0
- Views 689
- Comments 0
Adapting agroforestry and organic methods to improve crop yields.
- Takang Pamela Manyo
- Dynamic Action Group (NGO)
- Story Location: Mamfe, Southwest, Cameroon
- Applauds 1
- Views 825
- Comments 0
The KCC Future project is an ongoing project of the Kigamboni Community Centre (KCC). Designed to provide KCC with its very own permanent and versatile space, KCC Future is the opportunity to develop the KCC model into a complete financially viable self-autonomous community space.
- Simon Flamand
- Eco7 International Development Agency
- Story Location: Dar es Salaam, Tanzanie
- Applauds 0
- Views 541
- Comments 1
Back to Basics...
Using HCD we intend increasing the impact of the surrounding Communities. The Communities are informal settlements that have formed over the years. There is no formal structure, no tribal leader or king/queen and so dialogue and engagement is very very complex. We plan to ensure that project is financially viable, sustainable, scaleable and replicable. We are very excited to be using the HCD toolkit for this project.
- Harvey Keown
- Africa Foundation for Sustainable Development
- Story Location: Magaliesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
- Applauds 0
- Views 417
- Comments 0
Back to Basics...
Using HCD we intend increasing the impact of the surrounding Communities. The Communities are informal settlements that have formed over the years. There is no formal structure, no tribal leader or king/queen and so dialogue and engagement is very very complex. We plan to ensure that project is financially viable, sustainable, scaleable and replicable. We are very excited to be using the HCD toolkit for this project.
- Harvey Keown
- Africa Foundation for Sustainable Development
- Story Location: Gauteng, South Africa
- Applauds 0
- Views 319
- Comments 0
Back to Basics...
Using HCD we intend increasing the impact of the surrounding Communities. The Communities are informal settlements that have formed over the years. There is no formal structure, no tribal leader or king/queen and so dialogue and engagement is very very complex. We plan to ensure that project is financially viable, sustainable, scaleable and replicable. We are very excited to be using the HCD toolkit for this project.
- Harvey Keown
- Africa Foundation for Sustainable Development
- Story Location: Magaliesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
- Applauds 0
- Views 403
- Comments 0
Villages are paying for water improvements through community irrigation, instead of cash, and it's working.
- Adam Abramson
- Ben Gurion University of the Negev
- Story Location: Livingstone, Southern, Zambia
- Applauds 1
- Views 551
- Comments 2
Discuss this Story
Tweet
Great example of astute & patient asking, reading between the lines, and observing to deepen understanding on a private & taboo topic!
Were there any differences in openness based on different group vs. individual interviews, and variation on who was doing the interviewing?
I am currently conducting a study on an assisted living home to create inclusive design solutions for the aging community. So far I have conducted 3 group interviews. The first with 2 interviewers and 3 participants, the second with 2 interviewers and 4 participants, and the third with myself and 4 participants.
My next step is to continue to work in groups but also do some one on one sessions. So far there has been no discussion of issues using the restroom. Perhaps this will change during the individual meetings. The group vs. individual dynamic is very intriguing.
Did you start off with group sessions then move on to individual or the other way around?
I find that it's easier to get honest answers when interviewing smaller groups of people. At IDEO.org, we like to interview people individually, rather than in groups, as it tends to lead to more honest answers, especially around sensitive topics. That said, if you can get 2 - 3 women friends together and can get them to play off one another, you can get some great insights.
Hi Jocelyn, you're right, sensitive topics can make design research quite difficult. Since you would have to read between the lines, how do you avoid preconceived assumptions?
That's another good question. I think preconceived notions are an important thing to look out for and something you can ask your team to keep checking each other on. I also think working with local facilitators/cultural translators can really help in that regard. But, I think it's important to continue asking what's the cultural norm to understand what assumptions you might be making unknowingly.
Very good story Jocelyn,
http://www.hcdconnect.org/stories/understanding-local-population-needs-with-anthropologists/I get similar problem on my side with water usage linked to shameful diseases. I had to work with anthropologists to understand why there was a huge difference between what people declared in traditional surveys at the beginning of the project, and what the people did after implementing a water service. In our case the local anthropologists had to build a trust climate so that the interviewed people explain what they were hiring to their friends and families. Understanding is really the key!