Design that Solves Problems for the World’s Poor at YakShaving

Design that Solves Problems for the World’s Poor

29May07

Bask in this glory: A friend and colleague of mine at ID just sent me the NY Times’s most popular article for today, May 29, 2007, aptly titled:

“Design that Solves Problems for the World’s Poor“

Nice!

It references the Cooper Hewitt (which I visited earlier this year), Martin Fischer’s Kickstart, and has a small gallery that shows the LifeStraw, a cooling-evaporation pot, a water roller, and the treadle pump. I love that these exciting innovations is becoming mainstream!

Here’s a good fact that Dr. Paul Polak from IDE mentions

“The majority of the world’s designers focus all their efforts on developing products and services exclusively for the richest 10% of the world’s customers. Nothing less than a revolution in design is needed to reach the other 90%.”
—Dr. Paul Polak, International Development Enterprises

Filed under Base of the Pyramid, Design, Global, Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Living. |

2 Responses to “Design that Solves Problems for the World’s Poor”

Feed for this Entry Trackback Address

1 James Posted May 30th, 2007 - 1:25 pm

So, is this the kind of stuff you learn in design school? Or are you learning how to make trashcans prettier?
2 Ash Bhoopathy Posted May 30th, 2007 - 3:29 pm

Haha! I should have expected that from you, JK.
I wish I could post more about the project I am working on this summer, but that sort of thing is forbidden on the interwebs, lest I get fired.

On the nightstand

Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science by Charles Wheelan
Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software by Steven Johnson
On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction (On Writing Well) by William K. Zinsser
The Learning Portfolio: Reflective Practice for Improving Student Learning (JB - Anker Series) by John Zubizarreta
Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations by Clay Shirky