03- A tool to identify public infrastructure needs of informal workers.

I like the idea of moving through life by making. So, I draw, I build, and I’ve also been attempting to write. It all comes from what I’ve lived, the people I know, and the ones I’ll meet along the way.

Information
Sketchbook
Projects

A tool to identify public infrastructure needs
of informal workers.

Consultancy
Tool Design + Information Design
2024-2025

In 2024, I worked as a consultant with a non-profit organisation in Bangalore to develop a suite of five tools to explore the policy and systemic factors that impact the well-being of women working in public spaces, largely, informal & formal waste-pickers, street vendors, and sex workers.

I primarily contributed towards three of these tools: a data collection tool to understand the infrastructure needs of women working in a public space, a tool to foster community dialogue around shared risks and a tool to collect household expenditure priorities and preferences for social protection measures. The suite also included a participatory community walk and legal awareness materials.

Testing the tool’s mechanics with community facilitators and representatives from civil society organisations

State governments and municipal bodies lead public infrastructure planning in India. This process often overlooks the lived experiences and specific community needs of those who primarily rely on public spaces as workplaces. Therefore, there was a need to capture qualitative data on the challenges and infrastructure needs of such communities. This data can help make planning processes inclusive and also recognise the use of public spaces for work.

We designed a data collection tool that simulates area-level infrastructure planning. Set in a fictional landscape divided into zones, participants play as community representatives responsible for envisioning and planning infrastructure in the area where their communities work. They are tasked to improve the well-being of their community, represented by health and finance indicators. They achieve this by planning infrastructure for their assigned zones, investing from a limited budget in each round, and responding to simulated systemic challenges.

Representation of the tool set-up

The tool design process began with problem formulation through interviews with individuals and organisations to explore community challenges, identities, livelihoods, working conditions, community relations, access to current public utilities, schemes, and licenses, use of public spaces, and economic and social mobility; these insights informed the objective of the tool.

The characteristics of public spaces and infrastructure were based on an analysis conducted through secondary and primary research in two major cities in India, where the tool was to be disseminated. The tool employs a simplified scoring system, based on benchmarks and assumptions from interviews, to show how different types of infrastructure affect a community’s health and finances, making the decision-making for the players easier. The facilitators then guide a debrief in which participants reflect, share current experiences in public spaces, and identify challenges.

Tests with community members conducted by a community facilitator trained in the tool

We conducted multiple tests with community leaders, partner organisations, and informal workers, simplifying the mechanics and making the assets more context-appropriate with each iteration.

The data helps civil society organisations to support advocacy efforts by integrating community needs into the public infrastructure planning process. It encourages collaboration and negotiation, and creates an environment through play that validates and surfaces lived experiences. The tool has been deployed within the programmes of two civil society organisations in India.

Acknowledgements: Srinidhi, Sukanya, Nico, Anirudh, Yashwin, Pragati, Pranay, Karthik, Akhilesh, Bharat and Sruthi for all their advice; all the informal workers and community leaders who attended the sessions; and other civil society organisation partners.