Comments on: The value of the unexpected http://catapultdesign.org/current-projects/the-value-of-the-unexpected Tue, 24 Aug 2010 01:48:34 -0500 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Heather http://catapultdesign.org/current-projects/the-value-of-the-unexpected/comment-page-1#comment-372 Heather Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:27:17 +0000 http://catapultdesign.org/?p=921#comment-372 John Paul -- thanks for the story about the One Laptop Per Child! Very interested to here and we've heard similar stories of misuse. So how has the use of WWII equipment affected our design decisions? It seems to be affirmation of the "durability" principle when it comes to design products for the realities of the developing world. The clinics we visited were dusty, hot, concrete, and any/everyone was free to try their hand at using your product. The intricate and/or overly complicated machinery we ship there just doesn't cut it in these conditions. Maybe some interesting inspiration to be gleaned from the requirements documents of products designed for the military? John Paul — thanks for the story about the One Laptop Per Child! Very interested to here and we’ve heard similar stories of misuse. So how has the use of WWII equipment affected our design decisions? It seems to be affirmation of the “durability” principle when it comes to design products for the realities of the developing world. The clinics we visited were dusty, hot, concrete, and any/everyone was free to try their hand at using your product. The intricate and/or overly complicated machinery we ship there just doesn’t cut it in these conditions. Maybe some interesting inspiration to be gleaned from the requirements documents of products designed for the military?

]]> By: John Paul http://catapultdesign.org/current-projects/the-value-of-the-unexpected/comment-page-1#comment-269 John Paul Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:17:37 +0000 http://catapultdesign.org/?p=921#comment-269 Thanks so much for that post! I'm so excited to hear about people doing exactly what the design world needs, gaining first person knowledge about the needs of the underprivileged. Instead of just throwing money and unneeded technology at "them," we need more people like you to go and treat people as what they are, fully Human with dignity and potential. I heard a similar story about the use of new technology by a speaker recently. The speaker told of his visit to an African village where they had received a set of "One Laptop per Child" laptops. He found that they were not using the laptops during the day, they would just sit around unopened. However at night, they would be opened and turned on, but not to surf the internet or type a paper, but to provide lighting for the family. A $100 laptop doing the job of a $5 lamp. Now that you've found that they have "current technologies collecting dust, while 60 year old ones are still being relied upon," how has that affected the direction of your current design problems? Thanks so much for that post! I’m so excited to hear about people doing exactly what the design world needs, gaining first person knowledge about the needs of the underprivileged. Instead of just throwing money and unneeded technology at “them,” we need more people like you to go and treat people as what they are, fully Human with dignity and potential.

I heard a similar story about the use of new technology by a speaker recently. The speaker told of his visit to an African village where they had received a set of “One Laptop per Child” laptops. He found that they were not using the laptops during the day, they would just sit around unopened. However at night, they would be opened and turned on, but not to surf the internet or type a paper, but to provide lighting for the family. A $100 laptop doing the job of a $5 lamp.

Now that you’ve found that they have “current technologies collecting dust, while 60 year old ones are still being relied upon,” how has that affected the direction of your current design problems?

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