Designing products with the base of the pyramid (the other 90%)Brian Rasnow and Luz Marina Delgado (August 2008)I. Action Item Flow to start with a specific project1. Seek, create, or join a diverse team, and build an environment that fosters diverse ideas, approaches, viewpoints, critique, and technologies. Realize that people have diverse communication styles, and engaging everyone will require effort and reduce efficiency. 2. Brainstorm to define a challenge Paul Polak would say: “talk to at least 25 people and ask them what their biggest problems/challenges are”. In “Out of Poverty” he gives a list of criteria for defining a worthwhile challenge, e.g., needs to have scope of >10M people … Brainstorming is one of several methods for generating ideas, to solve these challenges. 2a. The ideal scenario for Development Engineering, is one where participatory approach is used from the initial brainstorm process (problem definition). Partnership with local community leaders, familiesand NGO representatives is key to promote the needed appropriation process for co-creation to build up and be used as tool for a more sustainable development process. 2b. Define a set of goals3. Explore many technological possibilities: in literature, previous own or local experiences and the lab. If problem is old an obvious (e.g., howto purify water or deal with human waste), make sure to explore non-obvious solutions or new solutions. What new technologies might offer solutions that weren’t available a few years ago (e.g., ultra bright LED’s)? What old technologies might be applied in very unconventionalways (e.g., using a bike to mill or generate electricity). Resist the temptation to analyze or judge the validity of these ideas – just try to capture as diverse a set as possible, before classifying and ranking them. “The Medici Effect ”is considered to be a good book that covers some of these ideas.4. Know that eventually reality constraints will help discard some possibilities and focus on others. 5. Design, prototype, experiment. Think of the simplest and quickest ways to test your ideas, gather and validate data, and generate or eliminate hypotheses. Avoid paralysis by analysis, or getting bogged down in constructing complex apparatus. Seek diverse critique. Keep iterating and revisiting your problem definition and goals.16. Accept that the solution may drift far from initial expectations (e.g. 2008 Pedal Power Team started with a bike and ended up with a rechargeable lantern or 2008 Fast Maiz corn sheller started with a recycled can and ended up with using a piece of PVC tube) Consider that design/solution could continuously evolve and develop through the subsequent dissemination phases. Consider recommended readings, e.g. the book “Diffusion of Innovation”, which emphasizes this – a design or innovation that can evolve during the dissemination process will disseminate much faster and with higher probability of success. 7 Create pre-fabrication prototypes for a specific technical concept7a. Design and perform key field experiments to test assumptions8. Prepare for training partners about basics of commerce to define a "business kit" using socio/economical information about families and market (not offering an end product but team up with local partners to produce a business plan, with costs, prices and values. Be creative to teach break-even point9.Explore deployment:Revisit and model the economics. Make sure they make sense to the target customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders. How long will it take the customer to earn back their investment? How will they financethe initial investment? What is the cradle-to-grave lifetime trajectory ofyour product? It seems prudent to verify that its still worth deploying, before planning deployment9a.Rely on local partners to plan a deployment9a.With a specific prototype, meet with local stakeholders and move toward deployment.9b. Plan for testing, and face social engineering challenges (current, old and new!) To best approach the social engineering challenges use the same approach we use to tackle the technical problem, but make sure to include on your team not just technical experts but social engineering expertise: - Brainstorm or otherwise explore a diverse set of potential social/business/enterprise solutions. -Try to measure their strengths and liabilities against set of goals.-Design and perform key field experiments to test assumptions. - Careful experimentation, to avoid the many ways to make mistakes (if you ask a social scientist to solder together a complex circuit, don't be 2surprised if it doesn't work -- likewise we need to tread very carefully when doing field trials that we don't make silly mistakes as we're novice social scientists). -Be open and welcome surprise if you end up far from your expectations. 10. Deployment of accepted prototype:A plan could include:10a.Show potential clients how the prototype works (one or two locals are familiar with it because of co-creation) If you can't sell them on its value, you probably won't sell it to others. 10b. Brainstorm with them how you might deploy it -- explore lots of ideas.10c. Use local marketing methods as well as new ones. Public display on market day at the Santa Clara market (micro regional market) was fantastic for corn sheller! Paul Polack has his prototypes visit markets in a mobile display, successfully using mass media productions as well (short movies)10d. Continue to learn Ground Truth: What experiments can you do to test : What do you know? What do you think you know? What do you want to know to constrain these ideas? 11. Use momentum to define a distribution plan, strengthening the existing social organization through participation in the market economy (family business, associations, cooperatives, other)12. Talk about Grameen type funds for seed funds and revolving funds II. General recommendations:1. Systematically question and explore the social science as you would explore an electronic circuit. Don't over constrain your plans, so you can be flexible responding to things that you don't yet understand.2. Expose prototypes to neighboring villages. Teaming up with local coordinator and local partner NGO, meet with local stakeholders.3. At various times, take a passive role as an observer (e.g., hide behind a video camera), and watch the people's responses to how yourpartners pitch the ideas. You will learn a lot by being quiet and