At present, India is the second-largest producer of tea in the world and accounts for the employment of more than 2 million people. It occupies an important role in the Indian economy not only due to its capacity to earn foreign exchange but also because it impacts the livelihoods of scores of people employed directly and indirectly by the industry.

At the bottom of the tea industry pyramid are the tea plantation workers, who are prone to various occupational hazards such as musculo-skeletal disorders or the absorption of harmful alkaloids (sap-like chemicals) into their skin. This project attempts to understand and address some of the core issues associated with hand plucking tea leaves. The iterative industrial design process has been utilised in an effort to bring about a meaningful design intervention into the lives of tea leaf pluckers.