Design for the Majority
The very title "design for the majority" or "design for the bottom of the pyramid" has a condescending, superior implication. That is "we educated, highly creative western designers will design for the poor uneducated, uncreative people of the world." But, to design for a different culture, a different people, entirely foreign to your own is not as easy as one thinks.
For one, people are very different all around the world. How they think, how they perceive money, their social structures, their very priorities, are quite different. An American design for an African market will always be more or less off-target. A Japanese design for an Indian market will always be a little inappropriate. From color to form to iconography, we're different. Of course with lots of research and expensive flights we can learn and get closer. Secondly, creativity is not an attribute limited to Europeans and Americans. It just happens that prosperous cultures have their basic needs met, so they can focus on other creative and artistic activities.
An African can learn design thinking and creative problem solving as well as anyone else. So why not teach design in developing countries? Then we can set up design consultants in Uganda who are local and have the design talent, and have them design for the East African market. What would an East African designed mobile phone look like? I don't know. But I'd love to see one.
Discussing mobile phones with Ugandans in a mud-thatched hut with no electricity or plumbing. 2007.
For one, people are very different all around the world. How they think, how they perceive money, their social structures, their very priorities, are quite different. An American design for an African market will always be more or less off-target. A Japanese design for an Indian market will always be a little inappropriate. From color to form to iconography, we're different. Of course with lots of research and expensive flights we can learn and get closer. Secondly, creativity is not an attribute limited to Europeans and Americans. It just happens that prosperous cultures have their basic needs met, so they can focus on other creative and artistic activities.
An African can learn design thinking and creative problem solving as well as anyone else. So why not teach design in developing countries? Then we can set up design consultants in Uganda who are local and have the design talent, and have them design for the East African market. What would an East African designed mobile phone look like? I don't know. But I'd love to see one.
Discussing mobile phones with Ugandans in a mud-thatched hut with no electricity or plumbing. 2007.
Another post about my visit to Kyambogo Univ:
http://idsandbox.blogspot.com/2007/09/kyambogo-university.html
http://idsandbox.blogspot.com/2007/09/kyambogo-university.html
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