Why is design important?
Design is first and foremost a philosophy, based on a system of values, which seeks to solve problems. What are we creating? Why and for whom? Are we correctly framing the problem to be solved? These are the questions to which the answers are then manifested tangibly in the form of a new product, service […]
Published! Pathways Out of Poverty by iBoPAsia Project
Innovating with the BoP in Southeast Asia. The iBoP Asia Project has published the complete set of small grants funding innovation projects for those at the Bottom of the Pyramid in the ASEAN region. One of the first projects to win the Small Grants competition in 2008 was The Prepaid Economy Project: Understanding BoP household […]
Hub and spoke model for new product introductions
Nairobi’s Central Business District – Luthuli Avenue is the heart of the electronics and consumer appliance trade for Kenya. Chinese businessmen can be seen mingling with Somali traders and wholesalers come from all over the country to see “what’s new”. I saw recently introduced solar powered refrigerators (just 60W) on display, direct from China but […]
Branded travel
Vehicle to reach deep into the interior of rural Rwanda. Did tend to overheat on the steep sections of the mountainous country’s roads. This post was written by niti bhan and rss originates from www.nitibhan.com
At the Estonian Design Society in Tallinn
Tallinn, Estonia on 28th June 2012 Lots of user centered design talk, strawberries and wine. This post was written by niti bhan and rss originates from www.nitibhan.com
Putting people first: the difference between “what” and “why”
Pondering the topic of contracts and creativity in yesterday’s post made me think about problem areas, how they’re identified and how they may be deconstructed. In simpler terms, the difference between the “what” and the “why”. Take two regions in a country, one far more fertile and having a better overall economy than the other. […]
The problem with contracts: rigid agreements trying to predict a creative process
The title of this post has been lifted from an email conversation with Dirk Knemeyer, where I was sharing my frustrations with a recent challenge I faced during the course of my work. I want to explore this further in writing, particularly since tweeting about it for the past couple of days helped me feel […]
Convenience as a service
Convenience can mean different things to the household consumer, depending on their location. In urban Chicago, its stocking up the freezer and pantry with a trip to a megastore like Costco while in Singapore it might be the ubiquitous neighbourhood hawker stand where rice, meat, two veg can be had for as little as $2.50 […]
Immersion in rural Kenya
We start the immersion phase of our project tomorrow and leave for our first location in rural Kenya today. Our focus is to better understand household consumer behaviour and our methodology is inspired by the early stage of the human centered design process. Ukambani has been the traditional homeland of the Kamba people for at […]
Why so much “BoP” marketing fails in the developing world
Increasingly I have been getting the sense that there are some fundamental issues with the way BoP focused organizations are developing, creating and implementing their market entry strategies. Here are four of the most obvious errors that I’m seeing: Assuming there’s no competition Most of these firms, particularly those coming in from the outside and […]
