Improving Aid Through Good Design: A Case Study in Rural Zambia

The Design Journal, 2017

Design practice as a problem solving strategy explores ways of addressing challenges in organisations, communities, healthcare and many more. The process is usually human-centered, but in certain contexts, it is devoid of user inputs. The process starts with exploring a context and identifying the problem. We propose a service design approach that uses visual strategies of probing to empathise, among others, with users to find ideas that could be used to solve problems. In this study, the authors explore a co-design process developed to gain insights into healthcare, and access information needs of mothers in South Africa and Ghana. During these design processes, probes and toolkits were used to emphatically respond to the contexts and needs of participants. Through this process, health information needs and sources of participants were identified. The authors infer that probes are viable research tools to gain better understanding, when designing with users in African communities.

2021

Investing the time and effort to use human-centered design (HCD) approaches is beneficial to designing supply chains and digital solutions for complex sociocultural settings. HCD enables users to be engaged in cocreating solutions that address their challenges, are appropriate for their context and capacity, and build local ownership.

This paper explores the relationship between culture and human-centred design in Botswana, a topic on which there is little previous research. The paper develops a framework of cultural analysis, comparing traditional with contemporary variables in order to develop a set of core variables that can be applicable to product design. Content analysis methodology was used to extract traditional variables from Botswana folktales, and qualitative data analysis methods were used to analyse contemporary variables. The results indicated that there is more emphasis on non-material than material variables. The paper concludes with a discussion of how to develop cultural strategies that will improve the potential of using human-centred design approach as the key to designing culturally sensitive products.

Global Health: Science and Practice, 2021

Lessons from 3 global health programs indicate that human-centered design (HCD) holds great potential for developing more tailored, impactful, and sustainable products and services to improve health and well-being. However, to take advantage of the full benefits of HCD, global health practitioners need to intentionally design and implement programs differently from typical health programs that do not incorporate design.

Global Health: Science and Practice

PloS one, 2017

Health and wellbeing are determined by a number of complex, interrelated factors. The application of design thinking to questions around health may prove valuable and complement existing approaches. A number of public health projects utilizing human centered design (HCD), or design thinking, have recently emerged, but no synthesis of the literature around these exists. The results of a scoping review of current research on human centered design for health outcomes are presented. The review aimed to understand why and how HCD can be valuable in the contexts of health related research. Results identified pertinent literature as well as gaps in information on the use of HCD for public health research, design, implementation and evaluation. A variety of contexts were identified in which design has been used for health. Global health and design thinking have different underlying conceptual models and terminology, creating some inherent tensions, which could be overcome through clear comm...

Texto & Contexto Enfermagem, 2023

Objective: to describe a methodological proposal for product development in the health area through the perspective of design. Method: Theoretical and methodological reflection, based on the experience and knowledge of the authors in studies related to technological production and innovation in nursing. Results: the methodological proposal consists of the following steps: 1) Briefing; 2) data collection; 3) analysis of the problem; 4) concept; 5) generation of alternatives; 6) selection of the best alternative; 7) refining the solution; 8) prototype; 9) tests; 10) modifications; and 11) implementation. The design proposal is shown as a method of investigation and seeks to equip health professionals and related areas for the elaboration of studies with the potential to develop products, at all stages. Conclusion: the approximation of knowledge and practices in the area of design with that of nursing enables the identification of problems and their resolution with creativity and empathy, contributing to innovation and knowledge production.

In an attempt to increase opportunity and quality of life for people in poverty, governments and non-government organisations (NGOs) sell and donate products to developing countries. Typically these are essential household items such as cookstoves, water filters, and solar lighting. However, to date there has been limited research into the uptake and long term effectiveness of these products. To overcome this problem and provide guidance to future and existing designers and NGOs an assessment framework has been created consisting of eight critical indicators for product success. These indicators have been identified from a literature review, the analysis of 63 products and 18 interviews with product designers and NGOs. The results have been presented in an easy to use assessment web which can assist designers in the design process and ensure that products designed for these markets are long-lasting and effective.

2016 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC), 2016

mHealth4Afrika is a collaborative research and innovation project, co-funded under Horizon 2020, that is evaluating the potential impact of co-designing an open source, multilingual mHealth platform on the quality of maternal and newborn healthcare delivery in rural and deep rural clinics. This paper presents results from a comprehensive baseline study carried out with 40 informants from the leadership of 19 healthcare clinics in Northern Ethiopia, Western Kenya, Southern Malawi and Eastern Cape, South Africa during November-December 2015, using focus groups and semistructured interviews. These findings identified human resource capacity, environmental, practical and technical challenges, and equipment and infrastructure deficits. Training requirements of healthcare workers were also identified. Constraints identified include the need for: intuitive, easy-to-use user interfaces to reduce the need for extensive training; use of flexible data protocols to facilitate cost effective bandwidth and effective data exchange; cost effective; low power consumption technologies to reduce cost of replication and scaling; solar charging units to increase availability; support for sensors and telemedicine due to a deficit of healthcare professionals in rural and deep rural clinics; and the need for easy configuration and adaptation to facilitate wider adoption. This insight will be used to inform codesign of the mHealth4Afrika platform during 2016-2018, based on user-centered design principles, leveraging current state-ofthe-art in terms of electronic patient record systems and medical sensors. It will also inform the minimum ICT infrastructure required in each clinic. The expected outcome is a multi-region proof of concept that can make a significant contribution in accelerating exploitation of mHealth across Africa.

Health Policy and Planning, 2021

Adolescent and young adult women in sub-Saharan Africa experience barriers to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services that elevate their risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) acquisition and unintended pregnancy. Community drug shops may be effective distribution points to connect young women with SRH products. Thus, we used human-centred design (HCD) to create drug shops where young women could access HIV self-testing and contraception in Shinyanga, Tanzania. Enhancing the HCD process with behavioural science, we collected diverse data (i.e. 18 in-depth interviews, 9 ‘shadowing’ interviews, 6 shop observations, 6 focus groups) to understand the latent needs and motivations of young women and drug shopkeepers, brainstormed creative solutions and iteratively refined and tested solutions for acceptability, feasibility and cultural fit. We found a widespread moral imperative to control young women’s behaviour via misinformation about SRH, community gossip and financial contr...

Research in Engineering Design, 2018

Design is essential to fulfil unmet or under-served needs of resource-poor societies, supporting their social and human development. A great deal of design research has been undertaken in such low resource settings, and is discussed under different names, such as 'community development engineering', 'humanitarian engineering', 'appropriate technology', 'design for development', 'design at the Base of the Pyramid', etc. This has created an important need to know what has been examined and learnt so far and to plan for further investigation. To address this, we review a broad range of literature, with close examination of 30 design studies in this field. This reveals a multifaceted picture, showing a great diversity in investigation and reporting of attributes of context (income, rural and urban, design sectors, countries, and gender), the roles of poor people (consumers, producers, and co-designers), characteristics of research methods employed (e.g. descriptive and prescriptive, data collection methods, qualitative and quantitative aspects, and unit of analysis), and design topics. Based on the review results, we offer recommendations for further research, identifying concerns that researchers ought to have about this field and suggesting ways in which research in this field can be undertaken and reported. Keywords Poverty • Design process • Design research • Developing countries • Frugal innovations 1 Introduction Forty percent of the world population subsists on less than 2 dollars a day, and twenty percent on less than 1.25 dollars per day, living in extreme poverty (World Bank 2010). Although poverty is decreasing, it is still a widespread and tenacious problem with causes, effects and potential solutions at individual, institutional, and structural levels. Whilst Mahatma Gandhi called the problems faced by these resource-poor people as 'the worst form of violence', Amartya Sen defines them as lack of freedom and inability to make life choices (Sen 2001). Others again define them in terms of high mortality rates, ill-health or as a monetary issue (e.g. Jönsson et al. 2012). These marginalised people generally cannot change their living conditions and livelihood opportunities, as their access to financial and other resources is weak, with pressing need for immediate consumption (Karelis 2007, Jerneck 2014). They often face significant challenges to satisfy basic needs, such as food, shelter, and clothing, and lack access to basic facilities, such as public health (Maxted 2011; Zurovcik et al. 2011), education (e.g. Gordon 1997; Gustavsson 2007), safe drinking water (Baumgartner et al. 2007; Matlack et al. 2011), sanitation (e.g. Chaplin 1999; Burra et al. 2003; Lopes et al. 2012), infrastructure (Prahalad 2004), and security (Jerneck 2014). Design is imperative to satisfy unmet or under-served needs of marginalised people living in resource-limited societies (Papanek and Fuller 1972). Appropriately designed products have the potential to create significant impact, contributing towards social and human development of disadvantaged societies (e.g. Schumacher 1973). Such products include, among others, smokeless cookstoves, incomegenerating products, medical devices, educational devices, communication products or any other products that support development of resource-poor individuals or enhance their capabilities (e.g. Jerneck and Olsson 2013; Aranda Jan et al. 2014). Such design is undertaken, for instance, by

Engineers face many challenges when designing for the developing world, which are not typically encountered in other design circumstances, such as a lack of understanding of language, culture, and context. These challenges often prevent engineers from having a sustained impact as they design for resource-poor individuals. In this paper, reports from 41 engineering projects in the developing world were analyzed, and common pitfalls were identified. The data came from Failure Reports from Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Canada and from the authors’ own field reports. After the pitfalls are described, the authors present a visual tool called the Design for the Developing World Canvas to help design teams that are developing manufactured products to avoid these common pitfalls. This canvas can be used throughout the product development process as part of regular design reviews to help the team evaluate their progress in advancing the design while avoiding the pitfalls that engineers commonly face.

While traditional engineering education fosters training of students in the design of products and processes that target the one billion "rich" citizens of this planet, the five billion "poor" who also lack proper sanitation, clean water, and countless other luxuries are virtually ignored. As the gap between the rich and the poor in this world increases and as engineering becomes increasingly global, universities in the developed world can no longer deny their role in raising awareness in future engineers of the problems of the developing world, in preparing them to use their skills to benefit all of this planet's citizens, and of the possible far-reaching consequences of not doing so. This paper addresses the mechanism and the unique challenges and benefits of an initiative in its early stages at the University of Florida to incorporate design projects with direct relevance to the problems of the developing world into its existing Integrated Process and Product Design two-semester course series.

The relation between ethnography and design is often discussed in terms of being direct or indirect. The debate on using ethnography in design, models the problem as a matter of mediating between users and designers. This fails to take 'use' serious and renders the problem epistemic i.e. a matter of creating a better understanding or description of the user. Inspired by later developments in Science and Technology Studies I engage an ontological reconceptualization and turn to consider and practice the relation as performative -thus making ethnography, design and users' practices converge. I show this by the case of how the concept of 'medication management' has been performed differently on a combined CSCW and participatory design project in healthcare. It is suggested that through design interventions with working prototypes; prospective analysis and participatory design can be fruitfully assembled in situations of use.