Design That Matters

Design That Matters is an American NGO that creates new products for improved service delivery in developing countries. Some of their designs include a non-electric incubator for premature infants in rural areas, a children's talking toy for Native American language preservation, "smart canes" for the blind, hand-powered electricity generation for rural computing and communication tools for handicapped children.

But what do they actually DO?

Identify a design problem – through client prospecting, due diligence, contract development, prior research, needs assessment, development of a "design challenge portfolio."

Design a product through collaboration between students and industry volunteers, gain MIT evaluation of the design, and carry out field testing through client’s fieldsite networks.

Make it! DtM pursues the shortest path to getting a product to life. For clients who are themselves manufacturers, this would involve DtM handing off design drawings or a “works-like” prototype to the client for further development. For clients needing only a small volume of the finished product, implementation would involve DtM managing manufacture. For clients needing large product volumes, DtM would license the project intellectual property to a third party for manufacture.

So for example, - for Breath of Life program in particular, EMW set the design problem for DtM to solve. DtM works with MTTS to manufacture technology and with EMW who distribute the technology.

And HOW are they doing it?

From their website it seems that their modus operandi is to bring MIT students, MIT staff and industry alumini together to donate their engineering skills and time to create low cost design products - using the infrastructure available at the host institutions.

They do design, engineering and ethnography, that is, they focus on how technology is actually USED. DtM first carry out a series of on-site interviews and observations, to develop an understanding of client needs and the context in which they work. Based on these insights, DtM generates a design problem (as above).  Clients also distribute the new products and services that result from collaboration.

Originator Timothy Prostero  makes the key point that technology should look good, not cheap and cheerful. Users (doctors / Ministry of Health officials) then believe it will actually work.

And I like his point that there are no dumb users, just dumb devices.

The mix of design, engineering and ethnography is intriguing – more information is definitely required!!