Interviewing and Observing Other Users

Interviewing Other Users

In order to gather a lot of opinions about hand drying methods, I sent out a Google form! The questions on the form were:

What is your preferred method for cleaning your hands?
Using soap and water, how long do you wash your hands for? (in seconds)
What is your preferred method for drying your hands in a public restroom?
Why is this your preferred hand drying method?
What do you think about air hand dryers?
What is your preferred style of air hand dryer? (This question had images to go with it, see the photo!)

The results from the google form were very interesting. I captured the hand washing/drying opinions of 37 people. They were 18-67 years old, 10 male, 27 female, 31 MIT affiliates, and 10 non-MIT affiliates. Here's what I found:

Quotes from Other Users

Questions 4 and 5 of my form comprised a section for users to write comments about their preferred hand drying methods. Here are some of the highlights:

Question 4: Why is this your preferred method for drying your hands?

“Air dryers are fun (and save paper) so I prefer these. They’re like hand wind jets.” – Radhika, MIT Class of 2019
“Air dryers are hit or miss in public restrooms - and even the good ones never get my hands fully dry like paper towels do.” – Caroline, MIT Class of 2017
“I can use paper towels as a buffer to open doors without exposure to germs” – Dennis, my father
“I shake my hands dry because you don’t have to touch anything and its not so wasteful” – Evan, MIT Class of 2018
“I feel like it's faster to use paper towels than drying my hand with an air dryer, but if I see an air dryer I'll begrudgingly use it because I don't want to kill the planet.” – Divya, MIT Class of 2019

Question 5: What do you think about air hand dryers?

“The newer, powerful ones are fine, but sometimes they create bottlenecks in public restrooms if there aren't enough of them. I hate the old ones and won't even bother to use them, I just dry my hands on my clothes.” – Caroline, MIT Class of 2017
“They leave a puddle and are very unhealthy.” – Rex, MIT Class of 2018
“Some are kind of nasty, I like the more modern ones though.” – Elisa, MIT Class of 2018
“I always have to dry my hands on my clothes after using them.” – Mariel, Northeastern University Class of 2018
“They’re a bit loud but definitely more environmentally-friendly than other alternatives like paper towels.” Divya, MIT Class of 2019
“They're loud and pretty inefficient. The efficient ones (like the picture for vertical drag through) freak me out a little because I don't want to touch the sides. But I know that I should use them to be green.” Yukino, MIT Class of 2018
“I like them. But take too long and often blow water on the floor underneath the dryer. Like the lack of trash, but usually choose paper towels for time. Also you can use paper towels to open the door without touching the handle. The Xlerator is good but too loud. It scares little kids. Air dryers are usually either too loud or not powerful enough to get the job done fast. I haven't tried the sink attached or horizontal drag through.” – Gavin Wood, Director of STEM at The Barstow School in Kansas City, MO

Observing Other Users

I sat in the bathroom for 1 hour (I know, it was bizarre for me too), and observed strangers who had the choice between a paper towel dispenser and an air hand dryer—both located right next to each other (see image ). I observed 13 people.

Below are the results of my observation. I suspect the numbers may be skewed because I was present. If I had not been in there, I speculate there would have been 1-2 people who would not have washed their hands at all. Also, as a disclaimer: since I am a female, this observation was conducted in a women’s restroom—so no men were observed.

1 person chose the air dryer over the paper towels. This individual used the “rubbing hands together” technique.
Of those who used paper towels, 7 individuals shook their hands into the sink before getting a paper towel, and 5 went straight from the sink to the paper towel dispenser.