Category Archives: Projects and Reports

From Flat to Fragmented: Observing the Impact of Sudden Jump in Complexity on Startup’s Development Journey

By Niti Bhan | Published: February 24, 2020

With increasing diversity of factors that impact the product development journey comes increasing complexity in managing the product development process. For startups in particular, there is little difference between the startup’s development journey and the product development journey. Consider the phases of the startup development journey as illustrated by StartupCommons below: Validation and Growth phases […]

Also posted in Articles on Design and Innovation, Design, Ecosystem, Education, Emerging Markets, Frameworks, global, Innovation Planning, Kenya, Marketing, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Technology | Tagged doctoral studies | Leave a comment

Introduction to rural household energy consumption behaviour in East Africa (1 of 3 parts)

By Niti Bhan | Published: January 27, 2018

The following is extracted from a six month study during 2012 on household energy consumption behaviour in rural Kenya and Rwanda among the lower income demographic, that led to an understanding of some of barriers hampering the sales of client’s solar products in this market. This first part is an overview of household financial management […]

Also posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Analysis, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Consumer Behaviour, Culture, Design, East African Community, Frugality, Informal & Flexible, Innovation Planning, jua kali, Kenya, Marketing, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Retail in Africa, rural, Rural Economy, Scarcity, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Technology, UCSD, User research | Tagged consumer insights, consumer research, East Africa, energy consumption, fuel consumption, household consumer research, kenya, pay as you go solar, prepaid solar, renewable energy, rural africa, rwanda, solar | 1 Response

TEDTalk video: Recognizing the value creation and economic contribution of the informal economy

By Niti Bhan | Published: November 24, 2017

My talk given at the TEDGlobal conference in Arusha, this August, went live on Ted.com at some point during the night a couple of days ago. At that very moment, I was on a Finnair flight from SIN to HEL, so with a wee bit of delay, here’s the link to the video of the […]

Also posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Analysis, Assumption filter, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Consumer Behaviour, East African Community, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Frameworks, global, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Innovation Planning, Mama Biashara, Marchés africains, Perspective, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Rural Economy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, UCSD, User research, Value | Tagged biashara, Borderland Biashara, complex systems, design for complex adaptive systems, design research for development, economic ecosystems, informal economy, mama biashara, prepaid economy, research, TED Global | Leave a comment

Fundamental Elements of Informal Sector Commercial Activity

By Niti Bhan | Published: July 28, 2017

There are two key elements which underpin the dynamics of any business or commercial enterprise in the informal sector. These are Time and Money. A generalized framework can be diagrammed, as shown above, where the dotted line denotes the degree of uncertainty and volatility of an individual’s cash flow patterns – whether from a variety […]

Also posted in African Consumer Market, Analysis, Assumption filter, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Flexibility, Frameworks, global, Income, Informal & Flexible, Migrant worker, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Risk, Rural Economy, South Asia, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, User research | Tagged biashara, biashara economics, flexibility, framework, informal business, informal economy, money, people, pesa, place, planning, predictability, time, uncertainty | Leave a comment

Work in Progress: An Introduction to the Informal Economy’s Commercial Environment

By Niti Bhan | Published: July 27, 2017

This topic is being shared in the form of a collection of essays on the following themes, each becoming hyperlinked on completion. Do bookmark this page for regular updates. Introduction to Background and Context, some caveats apply Fundamental Elements of Informal Sector Commercial Activity Rural household financial management as a foundation Linkages and Networks span […]

Also posted in Africa, Analysis, Assumption filter, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Cashless transactions, Collection, Consumer Behaviour, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Frameworks, global, Informal & Flexible, Mama Biashara, Marchés africains, Mobile platform, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Rural Economy, Savings, South Asia, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, UCSD, User research | Tagged biashara, biashara economics, design, frameworks, informal economy, introduction, prepaid economy, principles | Leave a comment

Financial Behaviour Patterns Observed Among Households in Rural Informal Economy in Asia

By Niti Bhan | Published: July 24, 2017

This is the original working paper of the research conducted on rural household financial management, in developing country conditions, pioneering the use of methods from human centered design for discovery, during Nov 2008 to March 2009, aka the Prepaid Economy Project. It was peer reviewed by Brett Hudson Matthews, and I have incorporated his comments into […]

Also posted in African Consumer Market, Airtime, Alternative currency, Analysis, ASEAN, Assumption filter, Banking, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Cashless transactions, Cattle, Consumer Behaviour, Design, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Flexibility, FMCG, Frameworks, global, Income, India, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Innovation Planning, Livestock, Marchés africains, Marketing, Migrant worker, Mobile platform, Philipines, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Process, Research, Retail in Africa, Risk, rural, Rural Economy, Savings, Scarcity, South Asia, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, User research | Tagged asean, biashara economics, bottom of the pyramid, cash based markets, design research for development, financial management, household finance, india, informal economy, irregular incomes, philippines, prepaid, prepaid business model, prepaid economy, research, rural economy, seasonality, south asia, The prepaid economy | Leave a comment

A Comprehensive Analysis of the Literature on Informal Cross Border Trade in East Africa

By Niti Bhan | Published: July 21, 2017

Download the comprehensive literature review (PDF) on informal cross border trade, in the context of the informal economy of the East African Community, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan. This paper was supported by TradeMark East Africa during the period November 2015 to January 2016. A short extract from the preamble is given […]

Also posted in Africa, Analysis, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Design, East African Community, Economy, Ecosystem, Informal & Flexible, Kenya, Literature review, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Rural Economy, Sub Saharan Africa, Tanzania, Uganda | Tagged biashara economics, Borderland Biashara, eac, east african community, icbt, informal cross border trade, informal economy, informal trade, literature review | Leave a comment

Launching Our Digital Documentation Project: Ibadan’s Tailors, Traders, and Textiles by Nigerian/British artist Folake Shoga

By Niti Bhan | Published: April 14, 2017

After months of hard work, I am very honoured and proud to announced our new digital documentation project by my friend Folake Shoga, a Nigerian/British multidisciplinary artist with more than three decades of experience. She went on a journey of discovery through the twists and turns of the informal value web that holds together West […]

Also posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Biashara Economics, Business, Consommateurs, Consumer Behaviour, Culture, Design, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Fashionomics, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Mama Biashara, Marchés africains, Marketing, Nigeria, Perspective, Photography, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Retail in Africa, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, User research, Value | Tagged adire, design, documentary, fashion, folake shoga, ibadan, informal economy, informal sector, nigeria, portfolio, textile, textiles, trade, value web | Leave a comment

Innovation, Ingenuity and Opportunity under Conditions of Scarcity (Download PDF)

By Niti Bhan | Published: January 26, 2017

In July 2009, I was inspired by working in the Research wing of the Aalto University’s Design Factory in Espoo, Finland, to launch a group blog called REculture: Exploring the post-consumption economy of repair, reuse, repurpose and recycle by informal businesses at the Base of the Pyramid*. Within a year, this research interest evolved into […]

Also posted in Africa, Design, Innovation Planning, jua kali, Kenya, Perspective, Photography, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Scarcity, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Technology, UCSD, User research | Tagged africa, creativity, design, innovation, innovation under conditions of scarcity, invention, jua kali, kenya, photography, user research | Leave a comment

Borderland Biashara: Mapping the Cross Border, National and Regional Trade in the East African Informal Economy

By Niti Bhan | Published: June 10, 2016

And, we’re back! With apologies for the long delay in posting on the blog, we’d been busy wrapping up our groundbreaking design research for development programming project for Trade Mark East Africa this past month or so. As you can imagine, the last few weeks of any project suck all the bandwidth out and leave […]

Also posted in Africa, Analysis, Base of the Pyramid, Business Models, Cashless transactions, Design, Economy, Ecosystem, Frameworks, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Innovation Planning, Kenya, Literature review, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Process, Research, Retail in Africa, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, User research | Tagged biashara, biashara economics, border, Borderland Biashara, cross border trade, design ethnography, design research for development, East Africa, Emerging Futures Lab, final report, human centered design, icbt, informal cross border trade, informal trade, kenya, literature review, Trade Mark East Africa, uganda, user research | Leave a comment