Tag Archives: uncertainty

Fundamental Elements of Informal Sector Commercial Activity

By Niti Bhan | Published: July 28, 2017

There are two key elements which underpin the dynamics of any business or commercial enterprise in the informal sector. These are Time and Money. A generalized framework can be diagrammed, as shown above, where the dotted line denotes the degree of uncertainty and volatility of an individual’s cash flow patterns – whether from a variety […]

Posted in African Consumer Market, Analysis, Assumption filter, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Flexibility, Frameworks, global, Income, Informal & Flexible, Migrant worker, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Projects and Reports, Research, Risk, Rural Economy, South Asia, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, User research | Also tagged biashara, biashara economics, flexibility, framework, informal business, informal economy, money, people, pesa, place, planning, predictability, time | Leave a comment

Improvising when work gets in the way of a laptop breaking down

By Niti Bhan | Published: June 12, 2017

Just over a fortnight ago, I nudged my coffee cup over a corner of the full size design award winning keyboard embedded in my rather obsolete but much beloved Lenovo. Today was a very important deadline that my team and I had to meet. And my work involved writing over 5000 original words in response […]

Posted in Perspective | Also tagged improvisation, infrastructure, planning, technology | Leave a comment

Design research as a method for discovering & understanding the world around us

By Niti Bhan | Published: December 1, 2015

Variously known as User Centered Design (UCD) or Human Centered Design (HCD), the fundamental philosophy underlying the designer’s approach to problem solving is that of discovery – “figuring out how to make something that will work in this context”. Innovation, invention and novelty rarely have pre-scripted processes due to the as yet unknown, and often, […]

Posted in Africa, Assumption filter, Design, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Frameworks, Innovation Planning, Perspective, Process, Research, Sub Saharan Africa, UCSD, User research | Also tagged design, design research, discovery, exploration, understanding | Leave a comment

Uncertainty and The Prepaid Economy: Time and Money

By Niti Bhan | Published: August 29, 2015

Uncertainty characterizes the entire global Prepaid Economy and is the underlying driver for decision making. Systems are unreliable Inadequate infrastructure, variability in basic services (will we have electricity this morning?), obsolete or incomplete systems; all of these, and more, are part and parcel of life in the emerging regions of the world. Will we wake […]

Posted in Airtime, Alternative currency, Banking, Business Models, Cashless transactions, Consumer Behaviour, Culture, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Flexibility, Frameworks, global, Income, Mobile platform, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, South Africa, User research | Also tagged global, money, prepaid economy, time, uncertainty is the only certainty | Leave a comment

Sampling uncertainty

By Niti Bhan | Published: November 29, 2012

This drawing was made by Jeroen Meijer of JAM visual design, Amsterdam, earlier this week during the workshop we held on Monday, November 26th, 2012. Its a visualization of the chart I use to show how participants were sampled for the prepaid economy project. The axes represent the individual’s ability to accurately predict either timing […]

Posted in African Consumer Market, Analysis, Assumption filter, Base of the Pyramid, Consumer Behaviour, Frameworks, Informal & Flexible, Innovation Planning, Marketing, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Strategy, UCSD, User research | Also tagged bop, ict4d, market segmentation, people centered, prepaid economy | Leave a comment