Analyzing Stall Choice and Time Spent in Public Restrooms
Source: CleanLink
For many, the decision about which bathroom stall to go into is a personal choice. From perceptions of cleanliness, usage, and privacy, the idea of the “best” stall changes from person to person. My series of exercises sought to understand this choice through urban observation across three main categories: stall choice, bathroom path, and length of time taken in each stall. Due to privacy concerns and the fact that this study was conducted in a bathroom, I used drawings and diagrams in place of photos.
The site of observation was the co-ed bathroom on the basement level of Fayerweather Hall at Columbia GSAPP. I consistently observed the bathroom for 15 minutes from 12:00-12:15 PM on Wednesdays observing stall choice, walking path, and length of time a person took in each stall. A quick Google search revealed that the average time spent in a public bathroom stall was 120 seconds or two minutes. I timed bathroom use and grouped it into two categories: longer than or shorter than 120 seconds. My tools included a timer on my mobile phone, my notebook, and tracing paper. A base diagram of the bathroom was created on my notebook and observations were drawn on tracing paper in order to allow for layering and comparison.
Note: A previous iteration of this assignment was conducted at the Bryant Park public bathroom but was halted by personnel due to privacy concerns and the fact that I was taking observations over the course of 15 minutes. Conducting the observation within GSAPP avoided this issue despite it not necessarily qualifying as a “public restroom,” all columbia students have access to this bathroom giving a big enough sample size.