Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

The opportunity I’ll be pursuing is the issue of getting soaked sneakers when washing dishes at a restaurant. I’d like to find a solution that would eliminate the inconvenience of water splashing on one’s clothes and shoes while cleaning dishes.

The who: Employees at restaurants who are responsible for washing dishes.
The what: Employees are unable to avoid getting wet when cleaning dirty dishes.
The why: There are functional challenges related to the items that some establishments provide for employees who need to hand wash dishes.

Testing the who: I believe that a major of people in my current ‘who’ share the need. However, the need could extend to more specific roles in a restaurant setting.
Testing the what: This need doesn’t apply to all restaurants since some do not rely heavily on dine-in dishware.
Testing the why: Some employees blame the plastic aprons that supposed to prevent them from getting wet. However, some also blame the water pressure of the hose in their restaurant’s sink.

Interview #1: The employee that I spoke to was a team member at a small chain restaurant. They faced this issue every shift and found it inconvenient to finish a shift is wet clothes and shoes. I mentioned my idea of an improved plastic apron or some sort of shoe cover and they were enthusiastic about my idea. I asked them how the restaurants tackled dishes after a huge rush. They expressed to me that usually, the team members will rotate on dishes so it isn’t as dreadful to do. I was curious as to why the restaurant hasn’t invested in an automatic dishwasher and they weren't exactly sure why.

Interview #2: I decided to interview a general manager at a local restaurant and see how their dishwashing process was like. They told me that their staff does hand wash every item of dishware. I asked if they received any negative feedback from employees on handling dishes. Their employees were complaining that dishes are difficult to keep track of during the weekend since those are their busiest days.

Interview #3: This employee works as a server at a popular chain restaurant. They didn’t have this issue since their restaurant had dishwashers dedicated to that task. Since this establishment is known for its dining in experience, they need a few dishwashers to keep up with the huge amount of dishes they go through. They didn’t know much about the struggle of cleaning dishes since they weren’t responsible for them.

Interview #4: This employee is a dishwasher at a known local restaurant. I asked what issues they experienced when doing their job. For them, sorting and organizing the dishes in the dish trays in order to put them in the dishwasher was a pain at times. However, they didn’t experience the issue of getting wet from doing dishes since the automatic dishwasher did most of the work.

Interview #5: I spoke to a general manager at a restaurant that didn’t have an automatic dishwasher. I asked them why their restaurant hasn’t invested in it yet. I was told that the main owner didn’t see the value in it. The general manager disagrees but they have tried to get them to purchase for a while now and nothing has changed yet. They feel bad for the employees during peak hours but maybe a temporary solution could help the problem for now.

I learned a lot from interviewing individuals at different levels of their establishment. This allowed me to see how important a product would be for a local establishment to a popular chain restaurant. I definitely observed that establishments without an automatic dishwasher were having the problem. Although working with damp clothes and shoes is very inconvenient, another problem that arose had to do with rushes at these establishments. Tackling dishes can be an annoyance, especially during a rush when no one is concerned with dirty dishes. I still believe the opportunity is there but my ‘who’ is quite smaller than I initially thought.