This excellent website article partially inspired my chosen assignment topic, so it’s about time I discussed it. The author, a man named Ehsan Noursalehi is a graduate in Materials Science and Industrial Design, and started this project after seeing the vast number of products designed for those living in poverty that don’t work, or aren’t needed nor wanted.
Noursalehi gives some examples of these failed products and explains that, just because your design has come about as a direct response to a bad situation, with the aim to alleviate it as a kind of charitable act – this doesn’t make your design any good. The PlayPump water system – a kind of generated that used the energy of children playing on it to pump up fresh water- was first installed in South Africa in 1994 to rave reviews, excellent press and millions of dollars. Years later, it’s come to light that the system is fundamentally flawed in many ways. It doesn’t perform as well as advertised and pumps half the water of a regular water pump, failing to meet recognised standards for a minimum supply of water. The system is preferred to be used by adults, mostly women, who are the main water carriers, and children playing on it become a hindrance rather than a means of production. But the pump is not at the right height for adults to comfortably use, and is almost impossible for the elderly or pregnant to use. This all makes sense as little to no user engagement was carried before product development.
It’s not uncommon for those living in Western society to objectify those living in poverty, to pity them and see them as a two-dimensional charity case that needs to be taken care of. Just look at the rise of voluntourism in recent years, in which rich white kids travel to impoverished countries and spend a month building them a well, or caring for their orphans before jetting back to a life of relative luxury, often doing more harm than good. The problem with both voluntourism and Designing for the Other 90% is that it perpetuates a myth about how those in poverty are desperate for Western benevolence but all it really does it fill the so-called do-gooder with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside – known colloquially as the ‘white saviour complex’. This is not the right mindset to have when designing as it leads to poor products that benefit nobody. Good intentions are well enough, but the road to hell (and poor design!) is paved with them.
Contrary to popular belief, there are many products in the world that do not discriminate based on wealth, culture or race. Both the homeless and the President drink Coca Cola (and I’ve heard he drinks an awful lot of it). Bic pens and razors are ubiquitous across the globe and plastic garden chairs fill the dumps of Agra and the back gardens of Wiggan. Fundamentally, Noursalehi believes that if you really want to help those in poverty, you should design for everyone, not just those in bad situations. For example, Giradora is an affordable, pedal-powered washing machine that is ideal for those living in remote villages without running water, but also a student who has moved into a new flat and doesn’t have access to their own washing machine. Similarly, the LifeStraw purifies water in rural communities but also for campers and adventurers. Finding a common solution can be a difficult task, but a design that aids everyone also dignifies everyone, which Noursalehi concludes in his own design principles:
Morven
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