"Design for the other 90%. Apple, IDEO, IKEA, Nokia, Proctor & Gamble... the list goes on. Successful companies in developed economies use human centered design (HCD) as a core business practice. But today, design‐thinking is used almost exclusively to create products and services for the richest 10% of the world.
What if we could apply HCD to problems that are of life‐and‐death importance? There is growing recognition of HCD in the developing world, resulting in the launch of innovations such as solar lights, drinking water systems, and infant incubators designed to meet user needs. With the HCD i‐Lab, we want to fuel this revolution in design. We will bring the best HCD thinking to the developing world, to design for the world’s other 90%.
HCD i ‐ Lab is the first HCD innovation lab of its kind in South East Asia, with a mission to bring the best practices in innovation to serve the poor. We are a non ‐ profit consulting practice within iDE, based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In 2009, iDE worked with IDEO to develop an HCD Toolkit for designing pro ‐ poor products and services. Human ‐ centered design, also known as design ‐ thinking, guides our work at the i ‐ Lab. We have worked to design a range of solutions, including the products, services, marketing, and distribution strategies relating to drinking water filters, low cost toilets, and affordable hand washing stations."
Emilie Hitch, an anthropologist working for the HCD i-Lab was interviewed on Sunday 2.2.2014.