Tag Archives: design planning

Tecno and Nokia: The tale of two brands

By Niti Bhan | Published: July 6, 2018

Chinese mobile maker’s original brand strategy succeeds in Africa: Transsion’s Tecno This year, Nokia got shoved out of the top 10 most admired brands in Africa list, not bad for a company that had lost its way in emerging markets 7 or 8 years ago. As an old (in all senses of the word) Nokia […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, China, Design, Frameworks, Innovation Planning, Mobile platform, Perspective | Also tagged brand, john heskett, mobile, nokia, strategic design planning, strategy, tecno | Leave a comment

A theoretical approach to Value for Money in aid & development: Optimizing research and design for ‘best fit’ iterative programming

By Niti Bhan | Published: July 11, 2017

Last year, I briefly touched upon this concept as an approach to cost effective programme design that was still flexible enough to provide room for iteration for best fit. Today, I want to explore the concept further to evaluate its potential as a framework for incorporating the concurrent shift in development thinking towards Value for […]

Posted in Ecosystem, Flexibility, Frameworks, Innovation Planning, Perspective, Process, Strategy, Systems, UCSD, User research, Value | Also tagged aid, Best Fit, design for development, design methods, design planning for policy, framework, international development, iterative programming, optimal solution, systems design, theory, value for money | Leave a comment

Systemic design thinking and complex adaptive systems

By Niti Bhan | Published: May 20, 2017

Going back to first principles has been a refreshing exercise. Even as our work has taken us into some wholly new places, there’s comfort in knowing that others have thought deeply about the concepts, though not in our context. I’m a firm believer in not re-inventing the wheel. Consider it a working prototype to be […]

Posted in Design, Ecosystem, Frameworks, Innovation Planning, Perspective, Platforms, Research, Systems, UCSD, User research | Also tagged adaptive programming, complex systems, design, design for complex adaptive systems, design thinking, human centered design, international development, systems thinking | Leave a comment

Frame Insights: Going back to first principles in the Innovation Planning Process

By Niti Bhan | Published: May 16, 2017

After conducting research, we need to bring structure to what has been found and learned. We sort, cluster, and organize the data gathered and begin to find important patterns. We analyze contextual data and view patterns that point to untapped market opportunities or niches. Finding insights and patterns that repeatedly emerge from multiple analyses of […]

Posted in Analysis, Assumption filter, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Consumer Behaviour, Culture, Design, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Flexibility, Frameworks, Income, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Innovation Planning, Marketing, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Rural Economy, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, User research | Also tagged design, design ethnography, design methods, Emerging Futures Lab, exploratory user research, frame insights, human centered design, innovation planning, user research, vijay kumar | Leave a comment

How the African movable assets bill can unleash innovation opportunities for the rural economy

By Niti Bhan | Published: May 13, 2017

As Kenya joins Zambia and Zimbabwe in ratifying a Movable Property Security Rights Act, there’s a sense that the floodgates to innovation in access to finance might be taking place in rural Africa, south of the Sahara and north of South Africa. Kenya’s law also goes beyond the cows and goats and allows a borrower […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Alternative currency, Biashara Economics, Business, Business Models, Cashless transactions, Cattle, Consumer Behaviour, Design, East African Community, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Income, Innovation Planning, Kenya, Livestock, Loans, Mama Biashara, Marketing, Mobile platform, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Produits de grande consommation (FMCG), Research, Risk, Rural Economy, Scarcity, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Tanzania, Technology, UCSD, Uganda, User research, Value | Also tagged access to finance, africa, biashara economics, complex, design, design for complex adaptive systems, disruption, East Africa, economic ecosystems, informal economy, innovation, kenya, movable assets, opportunity, rural economy, systems approach, systems thinking | Leave a comment

The importance of user agency for good design in the humanitarian and development context

By Niti Bhan | Published: April 21, 2017

This is a topic that has come up so often on Twitter that I thought to write it out once and for all. A link would be ever so much easier to argue with than to make the case for recognizing the agency of the end user – whether an intended customer or beneficiary – […]

Posted in Biashara Economics, Design, Frameworks, Innovation Planning, Perspective, Process, Strategy, UCSD, User research | Also tagged agency, biashara economics, human centered, informal economy, international development, recognition, user research | Leave a comment

A Precursor for Systems Design and Social Change from Finland

By Niti Bhan | Published: February 3, 2017

Sitra, the Finnish innovation fund, has released an excellent analysis and work plan for systemic change at scale – how to change the national mindset to become a society focused on sustainability and wellbeing. I remember noting Finland’s leadership in systems design and strategic planning back in 2007 during our Cox Europe Mission to observe […]

Posted in Perspective, Systems, UCSD | Also tagged adaptive programming, circular economy, finland, reculture, sitra, social innovation, systems change | Leave a comment

5 examples of the breadth of African led human-centered design and thinking and planning

By Niti Bhan | Published: September 15, 2016

The other day I was searching for news on design from the African continent and noted on Twitter that it seemed as though only the South Africans were consistently talking about their various creative outputs. Having long been part of the crowd that believed in the indigenous creativity and innovation in the less visible parts […]

Posted in Africa, Design, Fashionomics, Innovation Planning, Kenya, South Africa, Sub Saharan Africa, UCSD, User research, Value | Also tagged africa, architecture, creativity, design, design for development, design for government, design for policy, design thinking, fashionomics, innovation, namibia, people centred, rwanda, urban planning | Leave a comment

A Framework for New Market Entry Strategy

By Niti Bhan | Published: June 21, 2016

There are two parts to this article: The first is a revision of the lenses through which we assess the landscape within which your new market strategy will be expected to operate; and the second covers your implicit assumptions at inception, as well as gaps in your mental model. 1. The lenses for innovation need […]

Posted in African Consumer Market, Assumption filter, Business Models, Consumer Behaviour, Design, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Frameworks, Innovation Planning, Marketing, Mobile platform, Perspective, Research, Retail in Africa, Strategy, Systems | Also tagged desirable, feasible, framework, innovation planning, new market strategy, systems thinking, viable | Leave a comment

@Prepaid Africa Connecting Dots – October 2015

By Niti Bhan | Published: November 3, 2015

October was a busy month for us – The African Development Bank hosted their first Innovation Weekend in Abidjan from the 9th to the 11th of October. Our contribution was thinking about the problems we face as the starting point for new venture design. Savvy young people from across Francophone West Africa gathered to conceptualize […]

Posted in Monthly Insights, Perspective, Photography, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector | Also tagged africa, business model, design, design thinking, informal market, innovation, monthly insights, social enterprise | Leave a comment