Zooming In
Last week, Webster talked about the binding principles of running a successful startup. At HAMMALY, in order to understand who we’re designing for, we tend to immerse ourselves into user experience.
Who dis?
My name is Ahmed Al Kindi, and I’m the product manager at HAMMALY. My role entails making sure that the service we provide to the Hammalis truly benefits them. I also dabble in a few other things: business development and operations to name a few (we wear different hats here at HAMMALY when it comes to our roles, more on that in future posts).
A Day With a Hammali
This week I’d like to zoom in on one of these immersive experiences. I would like to share some of the insights that I gained from shadowing Ajeesh (a 30 year old from Kerala and one of our earliest Hammalis) on a delivery run.
At HAMMALY, we use the word, ‘hustle’ a whole lot. Our definition of the word is the ability to achieve your goals through grit and persistence. On some days, we also listen to this anthem before starting work.
Ajeesh is a hustler, in the sense that in order for him to make ends meet he has to constantly be on the up and up seizing every opportunity he gets. Every month Ajeesh needs to earn about 3,000 QAR just to break even and actually start to make money he can save. In order for him to hit that mark he works everyday from 6AM till 11PM, sometimes even later. Ajeesh manages to hit that mark every month through sheer will and determination, and of course hustling.
Half way through our run (where, I was mostly asking the questions), he asked about me and where I was from. When I answered that I am from Oman, he was slightly shocked, and expressed that throughout his time working here he hasn’t had this much face time talking to a khaleeji person. That revelation shocked me, since Ajeesh has been working in Qatar for almost 4 years and has worked in Dubai for another 4 years before that. Granted he might have been appeasing me, or exaggerating, but there is no denying that there’s some truth to that.
We tend to go about our lives not noticing some of the people that serve us day to day. People we overlook, like the guy that fills up the car with gas, the service attendant at the office, the Uber/ Careem driver that just dropped us off at work, and many more people. By overlooking them, we miss out on some pretty meaningful stories.
It’s like if your day-to-day was a buffet and you only ate from the appetizer section (buffet analogies never fail).
Just take the time to get to know the people you interact with every day, get to know their stories.
At HAMMALY, it is one of our core beliefs that the Hammalis we’re designing for have stories that are meant to be shared. It is this belief that sold me on HAMMALY from day one, and it is this belief that drives us to hustle our way through.
Be a part of this community
We are currently operational, offering our same-day delivery service to a number of stores at City Center, Doha. So the next time you’re at a mall and need someone to take your shopping home for you, think HAMMALY!
Reach out to us: On Twitter, Facebook or Email and let us know what are the products you’d like to be delivered to your home.
Stay tuned: Next week, you’ll hear more about how we design products at HAMMALY.
If you liked our story and want to see us grow, be sure to click that green heart at the bottom and recommend us to your friends. Have a great week!
