Exploring the future of design: Maximize constraints; minimize resources
If necessity is the mother of invention, is prosperity the father of consumption? Industrial design as a profession emerged from the roots of the first Industrial Revolution, and flowered into full force during the post war (WWII) boom of consumption and productivity in the 50′s and 60′s – thus it has always had its foundations […]
iBoP Asia 2008 Small Grant Projects – Part two
iBoP Asia 2008 Small Grant Projects – March 2010 Jakarta
Exhibits of projects completed displayed at the Frontiers seminar on March 3rd in Jakarta, Indonesia. Click on photos to see details. continued in next post.
Women Together: Incentivising Savings
Mahila Milan means “women together” and provides a decentralised vehicle for the empowerment of women via leadership roles and advocacy alongside its pivotal daily savings collection.
iBoP Asia’s Frontiers: Charting the future of S&T innovation for the poor in Southeast Asia
A bicycle-powered paper shredder that can be used to make environment-friendly charcoal. A new way of processing waste cooking oil that turns it into cheap fuel for vehicles. A web-based system that allows small-scale fishers to access marine data using mobile phones. These are just some of the promising devices that will be showcased, along […]
Prepaid pricing plans and the financially savvy BoP buyer: A discussion
Rural grocery shop, South Africa January 2008 While putting together my post on demanding BoP customers today, I came across this snippet from an article titled "Getting to know the sophisticated prepaid user" from The Philippines (one of the field locations for the user research documented on this site). Its a quote attributed to the […]
Traditional moneylending – informal, flexible, trust based and changing fast
As Microfinance Grows in India, So Do Its Rivals is the title of a recent WSJ article by Ketaki Gokhale which begins so, The practice of making tiny loans to poor people, or microfinance, was supposed to help drive traditional village moneylenders from rural India. Instead, traditional moneylenders, who typically charge high interest rates, are […]
Introducing Meena Kadri
New Zealand born Meena Kadri has an undergraduate degree in Anthropology and a Masters in Design. She has taught at design schools globally, notably for two years at the National Institute of Design in India. She currently resides in New Zealand from where she explores the intersection of communication, culture and creativity via her research […]
Savings Circles
Bishi schemes are a kind of Rotating Savings and Credit Association (ROSCA): informal and voluntary local savings clubs which has a long history in India and elsewhere in the developing world.
Coping Strategies as Food Prices Soar
Surging food prices are being widely reported in India this month. I’ve been asking female informants and neighbours at Dharavi how they are managing the pressure on household expenses.
