May Lakshmi shower her blessings upon you all!
This post was written by niti bhan and rss originates from www.nitibhan.com
From Motorola to Samsung: Eras of global mobile leadership
A recent conversation on Twitter with Neelakantan on the topic of Apple and emerging markets led us down the rabbit hole of reminiscing on mobile phones and their history of leadership in the recent past. We’ve read, written and commented on mobile phones since 2006 or so, and today’s foray into the archives inspired me […]
Mapping the path to prototyping an adaptable user centered design process
We’ve all seen the classic User Centered Design (UCD) process diagrams, mostly linear, that attempt to communicate the steps yet unable to capture the iterative nature of the activity simply due to the limitations on how many circular arrows one can add without losing clarity. When I first began exploring the process deeply for application […]
Developing a user centered methodology for emerging markets and the bottom of the pyramid
When I first began strategic design planning and concept development specifically focusing on low income customers back in late 2007, it was a learning experience in more ways than expected. The key challenge, which I’d identified back then and tend to refer to as the “values gap” between mainstream consumer culture and what used to […]
Exploring the concept of user inspired policy planning
Getting up close and personal with Farmer Pedro at the Minbuza Since late September I’ve been collaborating with Bart Doorneweert on an exploratory project for the Dutch government, taking a closer look at the design process for policy and planning related to private sector development of sustainable agriculture value chains. We’ve been thinking a lot […]
Tap lock: Design that mirrors need
These are jua kali manufactured locks for taps, where the padlock goes on the little handles shown and the contraption protects your faucet from either being stolen for scrap metal value or your water being used by unauthorized people. It was seen in the market in Nakuru, Kenya. This is a conceptual design for a […]
Innovations in transport business models across Europe
Spotted outside the Zuid Park Business Center in Amsterdam, this is a taxi stand cum charging station for electric vehicles. And its not the only one, as I saw the same taxis waiting at Schiphol airport. They were asking half the price of a regular taxi for the trip to the center of town. In […]
Prioritizing whom you put at the center of the strategy and why
The tacit mandate for companies interested in the BoP market is that your product or service must either fill an ‘unmet’ need (of which the poor have many), or provide a way for them to enhance their livelihood or quality of life. Why else would they divert their limited and hard-earned cash for your product […]
Rigor in brainstorming as a pause in the process of creating the new
Conventional wisdom states that the best brainstorming sessions are the extremely rapid fire ones where ideas are flying out like arrows and much energy is expended. In actual fact, you need a little bit of deliberation before you can make a concept tangible. And a little more before you invest in fixed costs before getting […]
Pondering media trends in “Bottom of the Pyramid”
I’m seeing an interesting trend in the news about “Bottom of the Pyramid” markets. Even as we noticed yesterday, that the absolute numbers of those living on $2/day were on a downward trend, there’s hints that the informal economy has arrived in the OECD nations (or erstwhile First World, I suppose). Grupo Electra’s Ricardo Salinas, […]
