Learning #4: Don't underestimate the ingenuity of others.
One of twelve in this series

By now, most people are familiar with William Kamkwamba. His story reminds me of a book that has shaped my thoughts on how to embrace the ingenuity of individuals who are often perceived as those who "need saving." Pedagogy of the Oppressed, hosts a number of powerful and thought-provoking quotes. While seemingly focused on education, it speaks to a much broader conversation about how we can sometimes overlook the values and insights of those who are in a lower economic or oppressed situation because we think they need to be removed from this place. William's windmill story reminds me that things can shift because of personal ingenuity. By reading a book about energy at 14 years of age, William's world view was enhanced and he saw himself as part of the solution.

"...every human being, no matter how "ignorant" or submerged in the "culture of silence" he or she may be, is capable of looking critically at the world in a dialogical encounter with others. Provided the proper tools for such encounter, the individual can gradually perceive personal and societal reality as well as the contradictions in it, become conscious of his or her own perception of that reality, and deal critically with it."

"We simply cannot go to the laborers - urban or peasant - in the banking style, to give them "knowledge" or to impose upon them the model of the "good man" contained in a program whose content we have ourselves organized. Many political and educational plans have failed because their authors designed them according to their own personal views of reality, never once taking into account (except as mere objects of their actions) the men-in-a-situation to whom their program was ostensibly directed."

"To investigate the generative theme is to investigate people's thinking about reality and people's action upon reality, which is their praxis. For precisely this reason, the methodology proposed requires that the investigators and the people (who would normally be considered objects of that investigation) should act as co-investigators. The more active an attitude men and women take in regard to their exploration of their thematics, the more they deepen their critical awareness of reality and, in spelling out those thematics, take possession of that reality."

"Revolutionary leaders commit many errors and miscalculations by not taking into account something so real as the people's view of the world: a view which explicitly and implicitly contains their concerns, their doubts, their hopes, their way of seeing the leaders, their perceptions of themselves and of the oppressors, their religious beliefs (almost always syncretic), their fatalism, their rebellious reactions. None of these can be seen separately, for in interaction all of them compose a totality."

Paulo Freire
Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Learning #1: Innovation is a tricky business.
My thoughts on this got stirred when Don Norman suggested that historically technology, not research has been the driver of major invention: "Design research is great when it comes to improving existing product categories but essentially useless when it comes to new, innovative breakthroughs."

There's more detail in his post but this article caused a bit of a stir to the point that numerous others have responded to his position. Here are a few that surfaced:

1. Steve Portigal
2. Bruce Nussbaum
3. Michael Surtees
4. Eric Small

Does everybody view innovation the same way?
I mention these other posts because the exchange represents an idea that I've been thinking about. Can innovation be universally measured? Today, something deemed innovative in North America might not hold the same position in Africa or Asia. And invention may result from necessity, which I would suggest is the most obvious form of research.

A Case Study to Clarify
The OLPC provides a case study of how more design research might have been extremely helpful for successful innovation and adoption of this low-cost computer (which some would consider to be a major breakthrough). I say this because there is much done in the name of design-invention-innovation-good intention that ends up wasted because it can't actually be sustained (which becomes notable as the new version is being developed).

To me, cultural and/or sociological understanding is vital to the design research process. These aspects force a thorough investigation of the place where an object or service might be introduced. Clearly, an attempt to improve education was a positive aspiration. But is it enough when discussing innovation for impact?

Even with its advances, I'm still left wondering:
a) if enough communication occurred to ensure the views and needs of the user were considered and,
b) if this consideration has improved the system of effective distribution.

I wonder if educational aspirations could be better served by innovating something already available. Could this offer a more affordable and accessible option for every child? Can this be developed even further?

Innovation and systems thinking
In my own circles, I've noticed that the word innovation is tossed around quite a bit. Perhaps I've been defining it incorrectly, but I think it inherently includes systems thinking. In light of Norman's list of inventions, I'm curious to know if we can still measure breakthroughs without clarifying their impact on the system. For example, if the airplane is being taken to task for its impact on the planet, can we continue to allow technology to be the driver of innovation? Does the future of our society and planet allow for it?

Whatever we're shooting for, be it invention or innovation, we should be asking if our design (in all its forms) can be sustained by the public for whom it's been created. I'm guessing we may want to consider how we measure this? Does this measurement need to be equal for everyone or are there unique attributes depending on the location, user and cost?

Moving Forward
In considering how we view invention or innovation, what will the design community pursue more avidly? Would we be satisfied to improve the existing technologies or are we inherently driven to discover the unknown?

One of twelve in this series

Stanford Social Innovation Review recently published an article by Tim Brown and Jocelyn Wyatt of IDEO. The whole article highlights the many ways that design thinking and process are being applied to complex global problems. You can download it for free here.

This quote is from the article and describes my adaptation of the HCD toolkit:

Earlier this year, Kara Pecknold, a student at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, British Columbia, took an internship with a women’s cooperative in Rwanda. Her task was to develop a Web site to connect rural Rwandan weavers with the world. Pecknold soon discovered that the weavers had little or no access to computers and the Internet. Rather than ask them to maintain a Web site, she reframed the brief, broadening it to ask what services could be provided to the community to help them improve their livelihoods. Pecknold used various design thinking techniques, drawing partly from her training and partly from Ideo’s Human Centered Design toolkit, to understand the women’s aspirations.

Because Pecknold didn’t speak the women’s language, she asked them to document their lives and aspirations with a camera and draw pictures that expressed what success looked like in their community. Through these activities, the women were able to see for themselves what was important and valuable, rather than having an outsider make those assumptions for them. During the project, Pecknold also provided each participant with the equivalent of a day’s wages (500 francs, or roughly $1) to see what each person did with the money. Doing this gave her further insight into the people’s lives and aspirations. Meanwhile, the women found that a mere 500 francs a day could be a significant, lifechanging sum. This visualization process helped both Pecknold and the women prioritize their planning for the community.

Change This

Ah, manifestos. They have good intentions and yet in some ways I wonder if their very existence is a bit of a cry wolf in a world that has seemingly had its fill of mantras.
Regardless, I'm a fan of those who make a public statement about what they want to do in their lifetime. And then invite others along as they wish. Paul Polak's endeavours and background make me believe that design can and must look different in the 21st century. If you want to, you can vote too.

Design Thinking

A video about the need for design thinking in business. A great way to look differently at what design is about: creative thinking and innovative ideas. I can't help but filter these ideas through the lens of the rural community that is looking for economic development solutions.