Comments for Catapult Design

Comment on The Ethnography of Design: A Series by The Ethnography of Design: A Series | Research Methods

The Ethnography of Design: A Series | Research Methods — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:28:21 +0000

[...] the article here and find out more about Catapult Design [...]

Comment on The Ethnography of Design: A Series by links for 2010-03-08 « Design in Africa

links for 2010-03-08 « Design in Africa — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:03:00 +0000

[...] The Ethnography of Design: A Series – Catapult Design (tags: designresearch ethnography) [...]

Comment on The Ethnography of Design: A Series by Kathryn

Kathryn — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:02:45 +0000

Great article, I was surprised that Design for the Other 90% (D-REV) was not mentioned for they (Krista Donaldson, Kurt Kuhlmann, Paul Polak) are big believers in this method. In fact they teach such ideas at the Stanford Extreme Affordability Program. Another program worth mentioning here.

Comment on 5 lies we tell ourselves (and funders) when developing new tech for people in need by nicholas evans

nicholas evans — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:55:53 +0000

Great thoughts Heather!

I think scale is dependent on the end goals of the designer. If the goal is to fill a specific need for a niche market, then the scale of the solution, appropriately, may not touch millions of people. If the goal of the designer is to affect millions of people, then that should determine the types of problems being tackled; specifically, only problems that affect millions of people can have solutions that reach millions of people.

So I think scale targets should be determined by the goals of the organization and designer and the scope of the problem.

nicholas evans

Comment on 5 lies we tell ourselves (and funders) when developing new tech for people in need by “We have this product idea…it’s going to change the world!” | The Arena Blog

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:03:38 +0000

[...] Fleming from Catapult Design has put together a list of 5 justifications people tell themselves when developing technology and products for people in need. Many apply to product development in [...]

Comment on 5 lies we tell ourselves (and funders) when developing new tech for people in need by Frank

Frank — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:29:01 +0000

I agree completely with the above lies… A lot of people and organizations try and boil the ocean to produce a cup of water… Relevance is the most important factor in determining product design. Stay focused on the solving a specific problem for a targeted group of people. THINK about how others can use and expand your market after you solve the specific issues facing your target user. The world is a very diverse place with many diverse cultures and there are very few products that can be universally marketed across many cultures without changes to the design.

Comment on 5 lies we tell ourselves (and funders) when developing new tech for people in need by Heather

Heather — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:07:29 +0000

Rob,
That’s awesome! Hope you are well and thanks for sharing the post! Would love to see Acumen’s list someday.

Comment on 5 lies we tell ourselves (and funders) when developing new tech for people in need by Rob

Rob — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:59:31 +0000

Heather, I am going to share this post with my colleagues at Acumen Fund, where we evaluate lots of business plans for potential investments and see these sorts of landmines all over the place. It is good to have codified it. Thank you for writing it down. Keep up the good work!

Comment on 5 lies we tell ourselves (and funders) when developing new tech for people in need by Heather

Heather — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:18:18 +0000

Chris, Paul,

Great comments! I agree with you both that scale is challenging and important. From a design perspective, the power of consumer products (LED lights, cooking stoves, treadle pumps, etc) lies in the mass production of a single design capable of mass appeal.

However, the over-emphasis on scale often translates to the design-for-all mentality that derails the development of promising technologies. Past clients with products developed with the intention of selling to “the world” are the ones that most frequently run into issues with adoption, long-term efficacy, etc. Whereas the org that starts with a well-defined user group, with applied constraints, that addresses a specific need, is the generator of innovation. These considerate designs have greater potential for global translation when combined with a thoughtful distribution strategy.

Scale too easily translates to “design for all end-users”; but by doing so, we end up with a design that ignores all end-users.

Comment on 5 lies we tell ourselves (and funders) when developing new tech for people in need by paul polak

paul polak — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:28:23 +0000

I loved “5 lies” but I think the single biggest challenge in development is achieving scale for transformative tools and strategies.

Fixing a water system that reaches a hundred people in one village may be just as important to each of them as a treadle pump is to each of the 2 million or more people who bought them.

But only millions of radically affordable tools distributed through radically decentralized supply chains have the potential of transforming the lives 500 million poor people. Without this, I believe we have no hope of restoring the envirnmental balance of the planet.

paul polak