Design Thinking is the method of
investigating ill-defined problems, acquiring information, analysing knowledge,
and providing solutions in the design and planning fields. It is the ability to
combine empathy,
creativity and rationality for the context involved. Thus the individuals and businesses
will be better able to connect with and invigorate their ideation processes and
innovate. Itgives a competitive edge over others and understands that customer choice
or insight is important to be successful in the present scenario. This is what Palo
Alto and Calif have accepted as an applicable approach and thus planned to
enter the non-profit world through IDEO, a design firm.
IDEO has
people-oriented outlook which pushes them to first understand, learn and probe
the user’s lifestyle, behaviour and respond in accordance with the findings. Instead
of bluntly generating a hypothetical list of preferences for the consumer, they
design what is asked for and serves the purpose sought by buyers.
Boosting Talent:
A fellowship program is
run by IDEO.org to promote the idea of designing in non-profits. It is
basically to nurture the yet unexplored talent in the workplace that needs a
little polishing. The concept is that for a period of 11 months, the fellows: 5
from the non-profit world and 3 from IDEO would work together on several
projects in areas of agriculture, finance, health and sanitation,etc. under the
aegis of IDEO.org to achieve certain set goals in a synchronized way. The design
thinking professionals would work in alignment with the pre-designed structural
plan with an intention of promoting inclusive growth. Once the venture is
undertaken the non-profitscan take back the learned skills with them to their
own charitable world and apply to the benefit of all. They can now relate
better the experiences in this exposure with the real-time problems and solve
them using the strategies learned during the period.The IDEO fellows at the
other hand learn some new skills and understanding from this collaboration
which they can use later in their life.
Looking for the best
talented, creative minds and then putting them at work together with an
intention to serve the society is an explicit way to explore non-profits and
integrate the social sector and design thinking in a grand way. Challenging the
sleeping/lost talents and channelizing their interest helps achieve the motto
of serving societal interest.
Earning more of
Dignity:
An initiative of IDEO in London in association with Unilever and Water
and Sanitation for the Urban Poor, aimed at developing a business to provide
new sanitation products and services to the city people of Ghana, was launched recently.
They triedfinding answers to several questions in interviews with different
segments of people: old, women, labourers, teachers, physically challenged, and
family heads during their way to Ghana. This was basically to understand the
composition of the population they wanted to supply with better facilities and
thus health. The answers sought were to be analysed and the product designed in
a way that it meets the expectations and satisfies the basic demands of the
people targeted.
Multitude of incredible questions were asked ranging
from personal to occupational like the earnings of the household, their work
culture, size of the family, what sanitation products they use currently and
what are the expenses on them, do they have a toilet or not. This was to fetch
a deeper understanding of their current position and expectations. One woman
they talked to questioned the interviewer: Why have you come all the way from
your country to ask about my toilet?
Most non-profit organizations would have said, “A
toilet is good for your health, and we want to help you.” Whereas here the
consultants told the woman that they were with Unilever, and they wanted to
create sanitation productswhich people would be happy to buy and would also
improve their health. This strategic reply provides a lot more dignity than a
typical [non-profit] approach to communicate the cause of a
service/activity.
Testing Ideas:
On getting the pulse of
the people, IDEO would develop prototypes to be tested in real life scenario
and lay out the options to be exploited.
“It doesn’t have to be a solution that’s ready to
go to the market,” “Instead it’s something that acts like or looks like the
experience that they’re trying to create. Theysee what works; they see what
doesn’t. And they build on that.”
After ample attempts, IDEO developed a portable toilet
for the Ghanaproject. Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor now runs a 6-month
test for a service that rents the toilets and charges a weekly fee for waste
removal. The trial started with 20 customers, who got the first month free
service. Two months into the trial and all 20 customers agreed to pay for the
service, and the non-profit group is still adding more customers. This pilot
project provides valuable financial information to develop a business plan for
the service, which IDEO dreams to deliver.
No comments:
Post a Comment