Why India (and BCCI) needs a lot more Designers

I have been at the helm of JK Lakshmipat University for four years, and one change that has happened in my life is that I have started appreciating what Designers do. We have, what is arguably the best design school in the country. The faculty here has converted me into a novice design thinker. This is a very frustrating position to be in since I look at every situation in terms of whether there is a problem in it, but I have no tools and skills to solve that problem.

One such situation happened on Saturday when I went to watch an IPL match in Mohali. Now, I have watched at least 25-30 matches in the past and on many occasions have felt that the organizers could have provided a much better experience. But with this exposure to design, I have this belief that providing that better experience is not a matter of cost but designing that experience better, and hence this post.

We left Chandigarh before 6PM in the hope that we will be seated in the stadium by 7:00 PM, the time of the toss. But traffic jams from several KM away meant that we will park the car 1.5KM away only at 6:40 PM. We walked for 20 minutes to reach close to our entrance Gate. Too much crowd, but people not standing in the queues, leading to almost stampede like situation. Could they not force queues through better designed barricading.

The number of metal detectors, the number of turnstiles, etc. were few. Don't they know how many people are likely to get in. Assume 60-70 percent of them will want to come within a 30-40 minute window. Do you have sufficient capacity. If not, how do you design the entrance system for the number of people you want to admit.

The security check was done by 4 security guards. Each one of them patting you. Could four security checks be replaced by one check but with metal detector and things like that. Even if that one check takes double the time, overall, it will be half the time and the security guards are freed to ensure queues. Again, a designer can make such suggestions.

Couldn't they encourage people to come before 6:30 PM when the crowd is less. This means savings for the organizers since they need less capacity to control admission. What could the organizers do to attract viewers to come early. Again, a designer would have some suggestions.

The information about car parking was not available anywhere, not on the website, not on the ticket, not on the boards on the roadside. This led to people parking haphazardly on both sides of the roads leading to traffic jams. A designer could suggest a better communication plan. Could we provide parking spaces a few KMs away and have shuttle buses carry them to very close to the stadium, just to think aloud. If I have a choice between parking 1.5KM away and walking the entire distance, versus parking 5KM away and then getting dropped 500 meters away from the entrance gate, I will choose the latter.

The worst part, of course, is at the end of the match. Every service stops instantly. No food available. No water. No cleaning staff. Everyone is just happy that the match is finally over without any disturbance. But even one hour after the match is over, the roads around the stadium are clogged. Again, my thoughts were that if there was something interesting happening in the stadium at the end of the match, some people could wait at the stadium and due to slower exit, the chaos outside would reduce. What are the options. Again, a designer could help. For example, if the space now free can be used to serve good food (instead of catering guys running away), I wouldn't mind staying back.

Similarly, there are many other aspects of experience which can be improved without breaking the bank. Smaller screens in the stand to see the replays and the latest score, for example. Some way of picking up the trash during the match. And many more such ideas will come in from designers.

While I have taken example of just one recent experience, I can really talk about so many experiences which will improve if designers were involved in the planning. One of my pet complaint is how airports in India display flight information. One sees information of flights that will take off after 6 hours and after a few minutes one sees flights about to take off.

If any of IPL teams or BCCI wants to design better experience at any of the stadium, we will be happy to support them.