Human centered design: Surprising insights from rural Kenya
One of the most surprising things that struck me over the past couple days of running around doing recce visits for our upcoming rural research was just how rapidly and how well the concept of the user centered design (UCD) process and thus, the human centered approach to research and development was not only understood […]
M-PESA and the service innovation framework (extract)
A former student of mine just mailed me this article “Extracting Key Lessons in Service Innovation” (pdf) by S.Wooder and S. Baker, recently published in the Journal of Product Innovation Management, January 2012 edition. Here is the abstract of the article: This paper describes how Sagentia—working with Vodafone, Safaricom, and other organizations—played a significant role […]
In conclusion: Lessons from The Village Telco project in Kenya
We’ve finally reached the point in our work for Village Telco where there’s been enough time for some reflection after the intense weeks of travel and observations across Kenya. I can cluster our learning into three broad areas: our approach, methodology and team work; Kenya’s people and the informal economy; and finally, the role of […]
Jua kali jewel
And old bulb, a cap from a glass jar, some metal strips – light.
Innovation at the small enterprise level
I’ve never been left with such a strong sense of enterprise and innovative thinking as I have now after this past week in Coastal Kenya. In fact I asked Muchiri if he’d been specifying some high standards for the introductions made to various cyber cafe owners or was it that we just happened upon the […]
Opportunity spaces vs ideas – business development for the BoP markets
Ideas or concepts are not the same as opportunity spaces or gaps in a particular market. Exploratory user research can identify opportunities for innovation, that is, either unmet needs or gaps in the existing ecosystem which could be filled by a product or service with the intent to create and provide value. On the other […]
Raising some concerns about urban user research insights being applied to design for rural markets
The Rural Market Insight Group at the Centre for Development Finance (CDF) conducted a six-week product test with a Base-of-the-Pyramid (BoP) household in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The purpose was to explore whether urban user testing of rural-targeted BoP products yields relevant user insights in early design stages. Surprising results warrant further research of this potentially […]
Insights from the South African low income market (BoP) opportunity
I came across this article from South Africa titled “Why companies should care about the low-income market” which has some excellent insights about this demographic and opportunity space. Also called the ‘BoP or Bottom of the Pyramid’, it is the mass majority segment in the emerging middle class in Sub Sahara today (per recent reports.) […]
Invention vs Innovation from the customer’s perspective
An invention is not an innovation until it is adopted by the users ~ John Heskett We think that technology has all the answers or can provide that magic silver bullet. If we can simply build that shiny, new widget or make an app for the service, customers are bound to flock […]
Going solar as mainstream consumer choice
This shelf of alternate power supply equipment displayed in a Nairobi department store caught my eye. It was in the consumer product section along with fridges, washing machines, TVs and a host of small appliances. It was the first time I’d seen such a wide variety – batteries, solar panels, lamps – so casually displayed […]
