This document summarizes a project that designed a mobile solar kiosk for micro-entrepreneurs in Cambodia. The kiosk was designed to provide solar energy products and education to address a lack of access to electricity for many Cambodians. Market research found that customers were unfamiliar with solar energy. The final design was a three-wheeled solar-powered electric bicycle that could transport and display solar products for sale. Considerations included using locally available materials and designing for local production, maintenance, and education about solar energy benefits.

1. Designing for
Emerging Markets
Design of Products and Services
Industrial Design Engineering

2. Designing for
Emerging Markets
Design of Products and Services
Edited by
Prabhu Kandachar
Ilona de Jongh
Jan Carel Diehl

3. Colophon
Printed on recycled paper
Editors: Prabhu Kandachar, Ilona de Jongh and Jan Carel Diehl
Cover design: Ilona de Jongh
Designing for Emerging Markets, Design of Products and Services
IDE Master’s Projects - 3
Edition March 2009
ISBN 978-90-5155-052-8
© 2009 Delft University of Technology
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any other
information storage and retrieval system without explicit written
permission from the authors.
Delft University of Technology
Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering
Landbergstraat 15
2628 CE DELFT
www.io.tudelft.nl/BoP
Phone +31 (0) 15 278 3034
Fax +31 (0) 15 278 1839
E-mail p.v.kandachar@tudelft.nl
j.c.diehl@tudelft.nl
i.k.dejongh@tudelft.nl
bop-io@tudelft.nl
3

4. Project Focus Education
Each project in this booklet is performed with thought for
all three pillars of responsible business: People, Planet
and Profit. Sometimes however, a more nuanced focus is
distinguished. This distincton is indicated for each project Health
on the upper left side of the page, using the following
symbols.
People Food & Nutrition
Planet Water
€ Profit Energy
Legend Housing
On the right side of the pages with project summaries, the
specific domain(s) of the project are indicated with use of
icons. On the right side of this page all icons are shown with
the correspding domain in words. This can be used as a
Materials
reference throughout this book, or as a search tool for cases
in a specific domain.
€ Company
Kamworks
Graduation date
December 14, 2007
Mobile Solar Kiosk for
Micro-Entrepeneurs
www.kamworks.com
Connectivity
Miriam Reitenbach
Despite recent progress, the Cambodian economy still technical requirements. application of glass fibre reinforced plastic an attractive and
has to reconstitute from the effects of the civil war. The Interviews with potential customers of the solar products eye-catching form of the carrier could be achieved.
population often lacks education and productive skills, revealed that Cambodians were not yet familiar with solar In the context of a holistic approach this project did not
which leads to a high unemployment rate, especially in energy in general and that the way of communicating and only focus on the design and construction of the kiosk, but
the countryside. About 40% of the population lives below explaining products forms a major criterion for the success also presented recommendations on how to communicate
poverty line and has to live of less than 1$ per day. As of the sales results. to the local customers in an effective and adequate way,
90% of the Cambodian population does not have access The outcomes of this research were translated into a final such as a LED display and posters explaining the benefits
to a secure electricity infrastructure, economic and social concept that was refined by means of iteratively building and and cost savings of solar products. Additionally, a new
Designing & Tools
progress are slowed down as well. testing the prototype to guarantee not only the technical bilingual brand name and logo was created that made it
These circumstances set the framework of Kamworks’ feasibility of the mobile store, but also acceptance among possible to communicate with Khmer customers as well as
business idea: securing sophisticated energy and light the future users - the micro-entrepreneurs. Western stakeholders and contributes to a quality image of
supply and creating new jobs for young Cambodians. As the mobile solar kiosk.
Biking without pedaling
the country receives approximately five full sun hours each
The final design was a three-wheeled electric bicycle that Local Production and maintenance
day, solar energy is one of the promising technologies. The
can be recharged by solar energy. By making use of this When designing the mobile kiosk, only locally available
objective of this graduation project was the design and
renewable energy technology and being remarkably lighter materials and production techniques were considered in
development of a mobile solar kiosk for Cambodian micro-
than existing mobile stores, this vehicle is less polluting than order to generate local income, as local manufacturing was
entrepreneurs, enabling the setup of a self-sustaining
traditional motorised stores and can contribute to promote one of the greatest requirements for the design. These
business by distributing solar products to the rural area of
sustainable energy in an effective way. User tests showed manufacturing experts of the kiosk would also be able to
Cambodia, in continuation of the intensive collaboration
that an electric bike caught the attention of the customer take care of the maintenance and reparations, keeping all
between Kamworks and Delft University of Technology, see
immediately as most rural people never saw someone the work and the money local.
In order to get an understanding on how the anticipated customer reacted page 116 .
€
on the mobile store, the Cambodian translator was asked to drive around driving on a bike without pedalling before.
the rural areas to obtain feedback. In the first place he acted as micro- Extreme road conditions In order to cope with the bad road conditions a new
Entrepreneurship
entrepreneur who sells products, consequently he interviewed the potential Through intense user and context research in Cambodia, suspension system was developed that can damp the
customers.
technical and usability criteria were defined, as well as wheels individually which makes it much easier to drive and
social and cultural influences. These formed the framework steer the vehicle, even on bumpy and unpaved roads.
of this project. The first constraint was the underdeveloped In the front part of this mobile solar kiosk a yellow carrier
road network and the extremely bad road conditions. Also, is mounted that serves not only to transport the solar
with heavy rain seasons from May until October the road
€
products, but also as a store front when the lid is opened.
conditions get even worse which poses a challenge to the Due to the, for the local context, innovative material
The bilingual logo on the side of the glass fibre reinforced carrier.
56 57
4

5. Photo: Jimmy Ho
5

6. Rice Fields
near Culik
Bali, Indonesia
6

7. The number of student projects at the Faculty of Industrial
Preface Design Engineering relevant to the Base of the Pyramid
(BoP) has increased enormously since 2002, when the
course “Advanced Products” for Master’s students started
a small experiment with projects focused on developing
countires was started. The increase of projects is due to
several reasons.
Firstly, students of our Faculty have shown great interest
and enthusiasm to design products and services to meet
the needs of the citizens of the BoP. Secondly, the concept
of BoP has attracted the attention of many Dutch and
European entrepreneurs, leading to several assignments for
Base of the Pyramid projects executed all over the world by students from our students, often in collaboration with people living at the
Delft University of Technology, in the time period between 2004 and 2009.
economic BoP. Thirdly, the supervising staff of our Faculty
is equally active in supporting
such initiatives. And lastly, more
and more Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs), both in
the Netherlands and in some BoP
countries, have been opening up
their doors to such trials.
But what is this BoP? Base
of the Pyramid (or Bottom of
the Pyramid, as it is sometimes
termed) refers to the 4-billion
plus poor mostly in non-western
countries in Asia, Latin America,
and Africa, living on incomes
less than $32601 per year. Some
parts of these geographical
regions, such as China, India,
Brazil, Russia, have markets
experiencing phenomenal
economic growth not unnoticed
1 Monica Touesnard, http://www.bopnetwork.org/
7

8. by the affluent west. Millennium Development Goals
Preface
Although the BoP strategy to serve the underserved, The extensive response to these ideas is likely due to the
namely the poor in developing countries, has attracted the limited success of developmental assistance to alleviate
attention of scientists and entrepreneurs worldwide, the poverty in the past 50 years. For more than 50 years, the
scientific publications in this area until now are often from World Bank, donor nations, various aid agencies, national
management sciences, often extending the concepts of governments, and civil society organizations have all fought
corporate social responsibility, sustainability, etc. the good fight, but have not been able to eradicate poverty
The uniqueness of our Faculty of Industrial Design yet. The adoption of the Millennium Development Goals
Engineering lies in its human centered approach. Needs are (MDG) by the United Nations only underscores that reality.
the central driving force uniting technology and business. Poverty has remained one of the world’s most daunting
By tradition our Faculty has propagated the practice of problems even as we enter the 21st Century. Prahalad
designing products and services to meet the human needs. advocates an alternative approach to help the poor.
The BoP strategy has stimulated us to look also at the needs
Science Spread over the World
of the underserved, which represent a huge market and
The projects described in this book are a result of several
was hitherto unattended.
students, entrepreneurs and academic staff stimulated by
The foundation for the BoP strategy was laid by Prahalad
this strategy. The BoP concept is spreading to all parts of the
& Hart2, in their publication published in the first quarter
world, both within the rich and in the poor countries. This
of 2002, promising fortune for entrepreneurs and at the
is also reflected by the geographical spread of the projects
same time offering perspectives to the poor world majority
executed at our Faculty, as can be seen in the picture on
to escape from the poverty. This caught public attention
the opposite page.
and unleashed an extensive response from academics,
It can also be observed that the projects cover very
businesses, NGOs and others. Prahalad’s book3 delves in
diverse needs, from Water to Energy, from Healthcare to
depth by proposing a framework for the active engagement
Education, and more. These projects could not have been
of the private sector and suggesting a basis for a profitable
executed without the involvement of students, companies,
win-win engagement. This vision of untapped great wealth
NGOs, and professors. Together they have set up a base
in the world waiting to be explored & exploited by human
to develop a new knowledge domain full of challenges and
ingenuity, by designing products and services to meet the
opportunities. Thank you all!
needs of the world’s poor, and then efficiently manufacturing
& distributing by the capabilities of the modern corporation,
Prahalad contends, needs innovations.
2 The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Strategy+business,
Prabhu Kandachar
issue 26, First quarter 2002, p. 1- 14 (Booz Allen Hamiliton)
Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering
3 The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty
Delft University of Technology
Through Profits, ISBN-10: 0-13-146750-6; ISBN-13: 978-0-13-
146750-7 (Published 2004) Pages: 432.
March 2009
8

9. Project Focus 2
Table of Contents Preface 6
Introduction Prabhu Kandachar Challenges for Industrial Designers 10
Student Projects
Inge van de Wouw Dec 8, 08 Lamp with insect repellent 26
Aparna Bhasker 2009 India Moves: Economic Empowerment of Rural Disabled 28
Ambika Samabasivan Oct 30, 08 Global Opportunities in Renewable Lighting 30
Lieke Pijpers Oct 24, 08 PRO-PORTION Affordable milk for kids 32
Sierk Hennes Sep 23, 08 Design a PSS for drinking water 34
Kirsten Rijke Aug 26, 08 Solar shop in rural Cambodia 38
Tom van Diessen Aug 22, 08 Solar Home System for rural Cambodia 40
Linda Schnieders Jul 28, 08 Redesign of a Smoke free Batana Extractor 42
Lumen Jun, 08 LUMEN light solution 44
Judith Goor Apr 04, 08 A battery charging system for youngsters 46
Jan Willem Findlater Feb 8, 08 Culturally appropriate coffins for Botswana 50
Water4Kenya Feb, 08 Water4Kenya 52
Alexander van der Kleij Feb 1, 08 Comparing Contexts; Solar Dew Technology 54
Miriam Reitenbach Dec 14, 07 Mobile Solar Kiosk for Micro-Entrepeneurs 56
Koos Munneke Oct 24, 07 Better Brace Project 58
Bernard Hulshof Oct 19, 07 Affordable Solar Lighting for rural Madagascar 62
Rutger Bonsel Oct 12, 07 Holy Cow or Cash Cow 64
Hoi-Kee Wong Aug 8, 07 Cooking in rural China 66
Fire4India May, 07 Fire4India 68
Yu-Kuan Chang Nov 27, 06 Knowledge Gaps in Product Development 70
Culture & Design Annemiek van Boeijen Design & culture in the BoP Domain 74
Annemarie Mink Nov 10, 06 Reeling Machine for Silk Yarn Producers 78
Marion de Groot Sep 21, 06 Support Tool for the Chinese Village Doctor 80
Cathelijne Huis in ‘t Veld Aug 31, 06 Design of a Malaria Diagnostics Device 82
Roelie Bottema Aug 4, 06 Personal Water Purifier 84
Mijntje de Caluwé Jul 29, 06 Knowledge Framework: Design4Billions 86
9

10. Elselien Epema Jul 7, 06 Product Service System for Plant Oil Stove 90
Table of Contents
GhanaMoves Jul-06 Tricycle for Disabled Entrepreneurs 92
Willem Glasbergen Jun 21, 06 Human Powered Bamboo Splitting Tool 94
Marike Bijtelaar Jun 16, 06 Improving the Climate of Cooking Areas 96
Maria Nguyen Apr 28, 06 Safe Drinking Water 98
Leonie Ideler Apr 4, 06 Adoptable Woodstove 102
Fernando Del Caro Secomandi Apr, 06 Water Supply in Slums:P.I.P.A. System 104
Jon Rodriguez Feb 3, 06 Contextualizing Products 106
Cale Thompson Sep 14, 06 Online Microfinance: into(context) 108
Jonathan Stranders Dec 23, 05 Creating Market Insight for Designers 110
Suzanne Hendrikse Nov 11, 05 Device for Early Oral Cancer Detection 114
Stephen Boom Oct 28, 05 Solar Lighting 116
Roseliek van der Velden Oct 21, 05 Adoptability of the U-Specs 118
Joan Boekhoven Oct 18, 05 Natural Fibres in Doors and Windows 120
H.S. Smallenbroek 2004 Small scale cassava starch processing 122
Epilogue J.C.Diehl The first learning experiences of Design for the BoP 126
Acknowledgements 130
About the Editors 131
Photos
P.I.P.A. system Brazil Fernando Del Caro Secomandi Cover
Rice Fiels near Culik Bali, Indonesia Jimmy Ho 4
Kids swimming and playing Jakarta, Indonesia Ilona de Jongh 24
Girl Java, Indonesia Mirjam Lindgreen 36
Man Fishing on Citarum River Java, Indonesia Kees van Gastel 48
Man and horse at work Java, Indonesia Mirjam Lindgreen 60
Market for Holi Colours India Prabhu Kandachar 72
Boats Cambodia Stephen Boom 76
Girl Getting Water in Favela Rio de Janeiro Ferry 88
Girls in Favelas Rio de Janeiro Linda Schnieders 100
Man at Home Chongming Island Jaap Daalhuizen 112
Toilet in a Rural Village Chongming Island Jaap Daalhuizen 124
10

11. Introduction Challenges for Industrial
Design Engineers
Prabhu Kandachar
About two thirds of the world’s population of 6 billion people
spend their lives searching for food and shelter, fighting for
physical survival, and fearing for the future. These are the
individuals who earn less than three dollars per day: the
people living at the economical Base of the Pyramid (BoP).
This does not go unnoticed. Global poverty, its extent and
distribution, is of daily news screaming for the attention of
all world citizens. The challenge at world level is enormous.
In Africa alone, poverty and hunger, unemployment,
disease, malnutrition, lack of shelter, gender inequity
and environmental deterioration are some of the main
challenges in addressing poverty.
Millennium Development Goals Millennium Development Goals
Eight Millennium Development Goals, to be achieved in 2015. The developments in the last century have attracted the
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty attention of world leaders. At the Millennium Summit in
and hunger
September 2000 the largest gathering of world leaders in
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary history adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, committing
education
their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme
Goal 3: Promote gender equality poverty and set out a series of targets with a deadline
and empower women of 2015, which have become known as the Millennium
Development Goals1. The image on the left shows the eight
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
goals.
Goal 5: Improve maternal health The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the world’s
time-bound and quantified targets for addressing extreme
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria
and other diseases poverty in its many dimensions - income poverty, hunger,
disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion - while
Goal 7: Ensure environmental
sustainability promoting gender equality, education, and environmental
sustainability. Also included are basic human rights - the
Goal 8: Develop a Global
right of each person on the planet to health, shelter, and
Partnership for
Development 1 http://www.undp.org/mdg/basics.shtml
11

12. Introduction
security and there are specific aims at combating child beyond the immediate horizon and opportunities, and for
mortality, AIDS, Malaria and other diseases. having a voice in public decision making. A sustainable
The MDGs are an agreed set of goals that can only be end to world poverty as we know it, as well as the path to
achieved if all actors work together and do their part. Poor peace and security, requires that citizens in every country
countries have pledged to govern better, and invest in their are empowered to make positive choices and provide for
people through health care and education. Rich countries themselves and their families. This can only be achieved
have pledged to support them, through aid, debt relief, and if everyone is given a chance to learn in a high-quality
fairer trade. schooling environment at least through primary school.
As an institution which is an expert in designing products At a country level, education is considered to be an
and services to meet human needs, it could be that some important determinant of economic growth and is frequently
of the needs of the population at the Base of the Pyramid hailed as one of the primary contributing factors to the
are addressable by the expertise available at the Faculty dramatic economic growth in East Asia. Individuals with a
of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of strong educational attainment also have good earnings. A
Technology. Most problems can be grouped in the domains greater access to good quality education is a key poverty-
of education, healthcare, food & nutrition, water, energy, reduction strategy advocated throughout the developing
world.
housing, materials, connectivity, designing & tools, and
More and more children, youth and adults have a
entrepreneurship. Each of these domains will be discussed,
chance to learn and the number of children in school
giving an overview of the needs and problems. The rest
continues to grow. Today 680 million children are enrolled
of the book presents student projects that aim at solving
in primary schools around the world. Yet, a lot more still
problems within one or more of these domains, with
needs to be done. More than 100 million children, over
two different chapters: on page 74, an insight is giving
half of them girls, never get a chance to see the inside
on “design and culture at the BoP”, and the epilogue on
of a classroom. Furthermore, the poor quality of education
page 126 reflects on the student projects and draws some
provided, resulting from irrelevant and obsolete curricula,
preliminary conclusions about the lessons learned.
overcrowded classrooms, untrained teachers, etc., causes
Education high incompletion rates.
An essential ingredient for the full realization of human Literacy empowers and nurtures inclusive societies and
capacity, education is considered to provide everyone the contributes to the fair implementation of human rights. In
opportunity to make a better life for themselves. Education the case of mothers, literacy leads to an enhanced quality
provides the basis for making informed choices, for seeing of life for their families and improved education outcomes
12

13. for their children. Parents’ education, and particularly
mothers’ education, is seen to result in lower fertility, lower
maternal mortality, and better child health and nutrition
status. It is also suggested that individuals with at least
World Income Distribution 2000 some education respond better to HIV/AIDS prevention
messages. Nevertheless literacy remains a low priority for
national governments and the donor community. Worldwide,
781 million adults are illiterate (as of April 2006) and about
100 million children are out of school.
A large number of those who enrol drop out before attaining
literacy skills and some of those who complete primary
education remain illiterate. Literacy is an indispensable means
for effective social and economic participation, contributing
to human development and poverty reduction.
Goal 2 of the Millennium Development Goals has set out
by the year 2015 to ensure that all boys and girls complete a
full course of primary schooling.
The use of information and communication technologies
(ICT) in and for education is rapidly expanding in many
countries, and is now seen worldwide as both a necessity and
an opportunity. In different countries policies and strategies
to integrate information and communication technologies in
education are being developed. While ICT use in education in
developing countries is relatively recent, it has nevertheless
made an impact on the education system. It has generated
a wealth of experience, good practices and lessons for the
benefit of countries where ICT application and integration in
education are being established2.
2 http://portal.unesco.org/en/
Everyone knows the resources in the world are not divided evenly over the
entire population. This inequal distribution of money and power needs action.
13

14. Healthcare the challenge of providing access to sustainable healthcare
Differences in health standards between rich & poor in developing countries. Money is the single biggest barrier
countries are very high. Life expectancy varies between to improving healthcare in the developing world. In many
36 and 85 years. A child born in a rich country receives countries people do not have enough food or access to a
vaccinations, adequate nutrition and good schooling. When clean water supply, no hospital or clinic in which to receive
a girl becomes a mother she will benefit from high-quality treatment and few healthcare professionals to care for them.
maternity care. Growing older, she may eventually develop Often the governments of these countries simply do not
chronic diseases, but excellent treatment and rehabilitation have the resources needed to address the healthcare needs
services will be available. On the other hand, a child born in of their people. The World Bank estimates that an annual
a poor country has little chance of receiving immunizations healthcare expenditure of $14 per person is the minimum
and a high probability of being underweight throughout needed to provide the most fundamental services. Yet the
childhood. She will probably marry early and give birth average expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa, for example, is
to many children without the assistance of a trained birth currently only $63.
attendant. One or more of her babies will die in infancy, and Food and Nutrition
she herself will be at high risk of death during childbirth. Food security and insecurity are terms used to describe
If she survives middle age she, too, will develop chronic people’s access to sufficient quality and quantity of food.
diseases but, without access to adequate treatment, she will They are affected by factors such as poverty, health, food
die prematurely. production, political stability, infrastructure, access to markets,
This illustrates what medicine and public health can and natural hazards. Improved food security is important for
achieve, and shows unmet needs in a world of vast and global reduction of hunger and poverty, and for economic
growing health inequalities. The key task of the global development. One aim of the Millennium Development
health community is therefore to close the gap between Goals (MDG) is to eradicate poverty and hunger, including
such contrasting lives. Real progress in health depends “to reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from
vitally on stronger health systems based on primary health hunger” between 1990 and 2015. However, by 2003 the
care. Attention is needed across all levels of the health care proportion of world population that was undernourished
system to integrate health promotion and disease prevention had only decreased from 20% to 17% (823 to 820 million
on the one hand and treatment for acute illness and chronic people). It is predicted that many regions will not reach
care on the other. their MDG targets, particularly sub-Saharan Africa where
Experiences from past decades, fighting against diseases a third of the population is food insecure and there is an
across the world, show that there are no easy solutions to 3 The World Health Report 2006, http://www.who.int/
14

15. actual increase (through population growth) in the number
of hungry people. Southern Asia is also not expected to meet
its goal, with increasing numbers of undernourished people
in countries such as Bangladesh and Nepal.
The factors affecting this problem include: (1) availability
of food, or the amount of food that actually exists (local
production and other sources) (2) people’s physical, economic
and social access to food (3) the quality or nutritional
adequacy of that food; and (4) people’s ability to utilize
this food, including the patterns of control over who eats
what and the physical ability to absorb nutrients (affected by
health status factors such as intestinal parasites).
Malnutrition, a widespread problem, is caused by
deficiencies or imbalances in energy, protein and/or other
nutrients. Signs include wasting (thinness), stunting
Shortage of Health Service Providers (shortness), or being underweight (low weight for age due
to wasting/stunting). Protein-energy deficiency is a leading
cause of child death in developing countries. Deficiencies
in micro nutrients (vitamins and minerals) can also affect
mental and physical health.
Micronutrient malnutrition is a major global public health
problem affecting more than a third of the world population.
Consequences of this malnutrition are widespread and severe.
For example iron deficiency anaemia remains a major health
problem and can negatively impact on health, life expectancy,
work productivity and economies. It has been estimated that
iron deficiency impairs the mental development of 40 to 60%
of children in developing countries. Also, vitamin A deficiency
Countries with a critical shortage of health service providers (doctors, nurses
and midwives) are coloured dark. [World Health Organization, Global Atlas of affects 40% of children, and is a factor in 1 million child
the Health Workforcehttp://www.who.int/globalatlas/default.asp] deaths per year. Thirdly, iodine deficiency during pregnancy
15

16. causes mental impairment in 18 million babies born every
Households (%) That Lack
year. Several strategies have been proposed to address
In-House Improved
these problems. They include food fortification, dietary Connection to Drinking Improved
diversification, dietary supplementation, nutrition education, Water Water Sanitation
and public health measures to control intestinal parasites China 41 23 56
and other infectious diseases. Also, when people do have Russia 19 4 13
access to food, more efficient and healthy food preparation Mexico 11 9 23
methods and tools can address the problem of unhealthy Colombia 15 8 14
preparation.
Peru 28 19 28
Water
In China two-fifth of the households lack an in-house connection to water,
The most common substance on earth is water. Ninety- almost a quarter lacks improved drinking water and more than half of all
seven percent of it is seawater, unfit for human use. Of Chinese lack improved sanitation [United Nations Habitat].
the remaining 3%, two-thirds is locked up in glaciers or ice
and snow around the poles. Only 1% of the entire world’s
water is available for human consumption. Even this small
percentage should be enough for all, water being infinitely
renewable. However, water is not distributed evenly. Canada, The Global Water Challenge
Austria and Ireland, have more water than they can possibly
use; Australia, northern China and the Middle East, have too
little. In India and Bangladesh, rainfall is highly seasonal:
almost all the year's supply may arrive within a few months.
Water is also heavy, which makes it costly to transport over
long distances. In many countries, millions of poor people
(usually women) must walk for several hours a day to get
water; or they pay exorbitant prices to private water vendors.
And often water quality is poor. Inadequate sanitation makes
matters worse. As much as 60% of the world's illness is
water-related. Water shortage is expected all over the world
In developing countries, less than 10% of the naturally available water
in the coming 20 years as shown in the figure on the right4. is withdrawn [Adapted from Grey and Sadoff, 2006, The Global Water
4 Water Scenarios in 2025, WBCSD, August 2006, http://www.wbcsd.org/ Challenge].
16

17. One of the millennium targets requires that an additional 1.5
billion people gain access to some form of improved water
supply by 2015, which is 100 million people each year (or
274,000 people each day).
Energy
Energy is required for most of the human activities. In 2003,
no less than 80% of the world's energy consumption came
from fossil fuels. The extensive use of energy technologies,
especially when utilizing fossil energy resources, has also
generated undesirable by-products, wastes and pollution
Worldwide Energy Consumption that threaten human health, climate and ecosystems. The
extraction, conversion to useful energy (such as electricity
for a home or gasoline for a car), and combustion of
fuels like oil, coal, natural gas, etc, releases into the
atmosphere approximately 80% of human-induced (termed
anthropogenic) greenhouse gas emissions. The environmental
consequences are causing concern firstly from the reliance on
natural resources, and secondly from the damage to global,
regional, and local environments from emissions.
The global requirements for energy are increasing rapidly
as the global population increases and the under-developed
nations become more advanced. Nearly two billion people in
our world of rapidly approaching six billion people currently
do not have access to commercial energy services.
Understanding and assisting in putting to use the laws of
nature for the transition towards a sustainable energy system
is the fundamental challenge of today’s and tomorrow’s
scientists & engineers. One of the greatest challenges ahead
Prognosis after 2000 assumes a global economic growth of 3% and a global
population of 9 billion people by 2050 [Deutsche Shell, http://www.spiegel.de/ is to connect the 1.6 billion people in developing countries
international/spiegel/0,1518,grossbild-685811-429968,00.html]. currently without access to modern energy services in an
17

18. environmentally benign manner. Other challenges include the Housing and Urbanization
ongoing urbanization throughout the world creating higher Some 1.2 billion people worldwide live on the equivalent
and higher energy demand densities, increasing demand for of less than one dollar per day. The United Nations Centre
mobility, especially in developing countries, and additional for Human Settlements (UNCHS) has estimated that 1.1
energy needs for new processes such as desalination. billion people are living in inadequate housing conditions in
Clearly, meeting such a challenge requires a proactive & a urban areas alone, and that figure is expected to double by
co-operative contribution from all involved. 2030. UNCHS has also estimated that some approximately
In Africa, for instance, overcoming energy poverty is one of 35 million new housing units are required each year in
the main challenges. The majority of Africans currently have developing countries to accommodate growth in the number
no access to modern energy services and technologies. of households during the period between 2000 and 2010
This has wide-ranging social and environmental period. The bulk of these, some 21 million units, are required
consequences. Lack of access to electricity means no to cater for the needs of the increasing number of households.
refrigeration for medicines or food, limits on what type of The rest is needed to meet the requirements of people who
businesses can be developed, as well as no effective lighting. are currently homeless or living in inadequate housing. In
As a result, children cannot easily study in the evenings. other words, some 95,000 new urban housing units have to
Most Africans, even in urban areas, still use firewood, crop be constructed each day in developing countries to improve
residues or charcoal for cooking and cook on inefficient housing conditions to acceptable levels. Some 14 million
stoves, resulting in a high incidence of respiratory diseases additional units would be required each year for the next
because of smoke. Many women and girls have to spend 20 years if the current housing deficit were to be replaced
hours collecting firewood, and cutting trees contributes to by 2020. Among an estimated 100 million homeless people
deforestation. around the world, available data suggest that increasing
There are also opportunities. A recent study5, by the proportions are women and children.
German Aerospace Center and Ecofys in The Netherlands, But the main event of the demographic change is in the
commissioned by Greenpeace and Europe's Renewable cities of the developing world — and most of it in squatter
Energy Council. claims that half of the world's energy needs cities, the teeming slums of the uninvited. A billion people
in 2050 could be met by renewable energy and by improved live in squatter cities now. Two billion more are expected by
efficiency. According to this study, alternative energy sources, 2050. Squatters are nearly one-sixth of all humans now, one-
such as wind and solar, could provide nearly 70% of the fourth to one-third in the nearby future.
global electricity demand and 65% of global heat demand. Historically, cities have been the driving force in economic
and social development. At present approximately 307 million
5 Report: Energy Revolution, Jan 2007
18

19. Indians (31% of the population) live in nearly 3700 towns
and cities spread across the country. This is in sharp contrast
to only 60 million (15%) who lived in urban areas in 1947
when the country became independent. During the last fifty
years the population of India has grown two and half times,
but Urban India has grown by nearly five times. In numerical
terms, India's urban population is second largest in the world
after China, and is higher than the total urban population of
all countries put together barring China, USA and Russia.
Facilities in houses are also of big challenge. Less than
20% of households in Africa are connected to piped water,
and only 40% have piped water within 200 meters of their
home. In the developing world, 29% of cities have areas
considered as "inaccessible" or "dangerous" to the police. In
Latin America and the Caribbean, this figure is 48%. Less than
35% of cities in the developing world have their wastewater
treated. In countries with economies in transition, 75% of
solid wastes are disposed of in open dumps.
Housing problems have far-reaching consequences. The
high cost of housing leaves low-income families little money
for other basic necessities like food, clothing or health care.
Substandard housing can endanger the health and safety of
its occupants, erode their hope and self-worth, and impair
their children's ability to succeed in school.
Materials and Resources
Developing countries are concerned with promoting
technological advancement as a means of economic
development, which in turn contributes to social development.
Raw materials and local resources provide basic building
blocks for such developments. Developed countries are much
19

20. further in application of material and resources by means contribute significantly to the income and food security
of industrial production wherein energy and raw materials of poor farmers and workers in fibre industries. For some
are fed continuously into the production process, resulting developing countries natural fibres are of major economic
in useful products as well as waste or other by-products. importance, for example, cotton in some West African
Increasing concern worldwide for environmental protection countries, jute in Bangladesh and sisal in Tanzania. In other
and growing economical constraints have led to development cases these fibres are of less significance at the national level
and utilization of new materials based on renewable but are of major local importance, as in the case of jute in
resources such as natural fibres and plant materials, as well West Bengal (India) and sisal in northeast Brazil.
as recycling of industrial by-products. Challenges in this area include attaining economic growth
Developing countries have often abundant local renewable by designing and commercializing products based on such
materials and basic expertise. For instance natural fibres local renewable natural resources without raising the
produced from animals or plants are plentifully available in ecological pressure on the planet.
developing countries. Animal fibres are derived from sources Connectivity
such as sheep, goats and rabbits, and the cocoon of the Communications in the richer part of the world by means
silkworm. Vegetable fibres are derived from the stem, leaf or of newspapers, radio, TV, telephones are self-evident. The
seed of various plants. Close to 30 million tonnes of natural latest technology, mobile phones, has become indispensable
fibres are produced annually in the world, of which cotton is in the rich world. But they are even more useful in the
dominant with 20 million tonnes, wool and jute each around developing world, where the availability of other forms
2 to 3 million tonnes followed by a number of others. of communication—roads, postal systems or fixed-line
Natural fibres form an important component of clothing, phones—is often limited. Even though there is a substantial
upholstery and other textiles for consumers, and many of subscriber growth in much of the developing world, only
them also have industrial uses in packaging, papermaking a small proportion of people (affordability is the “biggest
and in composite materials with many uses, including obstacle” to broader adoption) —around 5% in both India
automobiles. and sub-Saharan Africa—have their own mobile phones.
Apart from their importance to the consumer and in their Using cell phones, fishermen and farmers check prices in
various industrial uses, natural fibres are an important different markets before selling produce. Cell phones also
source of income for the farmers who produce them. In help people to find work, allow quick and easy transfers
some cases they are produced on large farms in developed of funds and boost entrepreneurship. A village can share
countries, but in many developing and least developed phones and prepaid calling plans reduce the need for a bank
countries proceeds from the sale and export of natural fibres account or credit check.
20

21. Grameen Bank, a pioneer in the practice of micro-credit
lending, has created a cell phone company to bring cell
phones into the villages of Bangladesh. The bank gave loans
to the borrowers to buy a cell phone and start selling phone
services. It became a growing business, especially with
women entrepreneurs. They never saw a telephone in their
life before, but they have accepted it as a business idea, and
more than 100,000 telephone ladies all over Bangladesh are
doing good business while connecting Bangladesh with the
rest of the world.
A recent study has shown that, in a typical developing
country, a rise of ten mobile phones per 100 people boosts
GDP growth by 0.6 percentage points. Mobile phones are,
Number of People Without Electricity in short, a classic example of technology that helps people
1979-2030, by region help themselves.
Nevertheless, the absorption of digital technologies
throughout the world has not been uniform, such that the
concept of digital divide has emerged. The digital divide is
the gap between those with regular, effective access to digital
technologies and those who do not have that option. Also,
the divide refers to those who can benefit from those digital
technologies and those who do not. Countries with a wide
availability of internet access can advance the economics of
that country on a local and global scale. In today's society,
internet is becoming increasingly important influencing
jobs and education. In countries where the internet and
other technologies are not accessible, education is getting
affected, and uneducated people cannot compete in our
In the sub-saharian Africa and South Asia, it is projected that people are global economy. The digital divide is also a term used to
increasingly living without electricity [IEA 2002b]. refer to the gap between people who have access to the
21

22. internet (the information haves) and those that do not (the Entrepreneurship
information have-nots). It can also refer to the skills people Entrepreneurs are regarded as bearers of risk, agents that
have – the gap between people who are at ease using digital bring together the factors of production, or organizers of
technology to access and analyse information and those who innovation. Entrepreneurship is essential in developing
are not. countries, as it has played an important role in economic
The digital divide is just as much a gap in understanding as growth, innovation, and competitiveness, and it may also
it is a gap in connectivity. There are often clear fundamental play a role over time in poverty alleviation.
differences between what is proposed by technology Over 400 million individuals in developing countries
visionaries, many of whom have never even seen a village, are owners or managers of new firms. Of these, over 200
and what is actually needed by end-users, many of whom million are found in China and India alone, compared with
just 18 million entrepreneurs in the United States. Yet, in
have never used a telephone or a computer.
one of the best general books on the state of research on
A number of ICT initiatives offer a promise of closing the
entrepreneurship, China is mentioned on two pages and
gap that separates the some four billion people living in rural
India is not mentioned at all6.
communities from a future with greater literacy, productivity,
Entrepreneurs in developing countries face a different
and quality of life. While the end goal is clear – broadband
set of circumstances than their counterparts in developed
connectivity everywhere – many ICT initiatives have faltered
economies. These differences are rooted in the underlying
due to a lack of a well-adapted, step-by-step approach that
economies in which they operate. Emerging markets lack a
considers social factors and the staging of capital investments
stable or mature market and the consistency that such markets
as well as technology.
offer. Consequently, the opportunity for entrepreneurship in
Wireless technology has not only revolutionized the way
emerging markets is pervasive. While Western entrepreneurs
the developed world communicated; it also offers developing
operate at the fringes of the economy, emerging market
countries an opportunity to “leap-frog” over wire line entrepreneurs operate closer to the core – the needs and
infrastructures to the forefront of communications. However, opportunities are more widespread. Another difference lies in
since many different types of wireless technologies exist, it the access to financial resources. Internal finance comprises
is important to choose the technology that best matches the the majority of financing for small and medium enterprises
needs of these new markets. While some wireless techniques in most developing countries. Another major difference lies
have been very successful in urban areas, the rural ICT market in the access to technological advances which are largely
has its own set of unique requirements, including: low-cost, 6 Amar Bhidé, The Origin and Evolution of New Businesses, New York: Oxford
low-power, scalability, robustness, and ease of use. University, 2000, ISBN-13: 978-0195131444
22

23. developed and held by developed countries.
Entrepreneurs are a crucial link in implementing designs
of products and services developed specifically to meet the
needs of the BoP markets. They are the motors of economic
growth and poverty reduction. Small, micro and medium-
sized enterprises (SMMEs) are often the backbone of the
private sector in the developing world, creating jobs and
providing a tax base for local government. And frequently
SMMEs offer the only employment available to millions of
Focus of Base of the Pyramid Research poor people.
Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering
Design and Research
Delft University of Technology
Back in 2002, an experiment was conducted to design a
A model for design processes for the Base of the Pyramid product to serve rural healthcare needs of China, specifically
[Prabhu Kandachar, Jan 2008].
diabetes mellitus. In this project, students
and staff of the Faculty of Industrial
Design Engineering collaborated with
staff from a Multinational Corporation.
Almost at the same time the first paper
expounding the Base of the Pyramid
strategy by Prahalad & Hart appeared,
promising fortune for entrepreneurs and
at the same time offering perspectives
for the poor world7 majority to escape
from poverty.
Needs of human beings are the
central driving force uniting technology
and business, resulting in products
and services. By tradition Delft has
7 Strategy + Business, Issue 26, digitaldividend.org/
pdf/bottompyramid.pdf, first quarter 2002.
23

24. propagated the practise of designing products and services
to meet human needs.
Even though it is set up in an engineering environment,
such an activity needs an integrative approach from several
sciences: technical, social, management sciences, and
working together with entrepreneurs. Although several earlier
activities at Delft had been carried out in poor countries,
they were almost always within the context of developmental
assistance. The Base of the Pyramid strategy has stimulated
this Faculty to look also at the needs of the underserved,
which represent a huge market and was hitherto unattended.
It provides an opportunity to apply the well tried out model
at Delft (see figure at the left) for poor countries, but this
time within the context of alleviating poverty by means of
business endeavours.
24

25. Photo: Ilona de Jongh
25

26. Kids swimming
and playing in
flooded roads
Jakarta, Indonesia
26

27. Insect Repellent Lamp
€ Company
Philips Consumer Lifestyle
Graduation date
December 8, 2008
for the Indian Market
Inge van de Wouw
Insect bites are an unpleasant fact of life in most parts of
the world. In addition to severe nuisance, mosquitoes can
also spread diseases such as Malaria, Dengue, Filariasis,
Two user researches in India (48 families in 2.5 months) provided very useful Japanese Encephalitis and Chikungunya. Malaria alone
insights for the improvement and further development of the IRL.
causes an estimated 1.3 million deaths and 400 million
cases worldwide, and around 20,000 deaths and 15 million
cases in India, each year.
Liquid repellent
Philips Research Asia in Bangalore has developed the initial
product idea of an Insect Repellent Lamp (IRL) to provide
insect free environments for families in the Middle & Base
of the Pyramid of both urban and rural India. The proposed
lamp integrates an insect repellent ability with the normal
household light bulb, by using the waste-heat dissipated by
the lighting device to vaporize the liquid based mosquito
repellent. The aim of this project was to assess if, and how,
the idea could really become a successful and profitable
product for Philips.
The project started with a thorough analysis phase in the
Netherlands to explore the mosquito problem, current insect
repellents in India and the target group. Also the working
principle and characteristics of the Insect Repellent Lamp
were investigated and effectiveness tests were done. After
the analysis phase a field test was conducted in India with
the initial Philips prototype and two competitive IRLs. In
India, insights were gained on the magnitude of the insect
problem, current use of insect repellents, expenditure,
preferences regarding the three IRLs, local culture and
traditions, the actual target group and the context of use.
27

28. www.philips.com
CFL & portability
With the obtained information, several suggestions for
improvements were given. First of all, a compact fluorescent
lamp (CFL) should be used as light source instead of a light
bulb. Regarding the repellent, it should be vaporized at the
correct temperature of the wick and bottled liquids should
be used. The lamp itself should provide more flexibility; the
hanging type of lamp should be changed into a portable
lamp. Lastly, instead of only in the evening, people should
also be able to use the repellent at night together with a
night light.
The input from the field test was translated into a redesign
of the IRL. The redesign of the IRL is portable with 3m of
wire, uses a 14W CFL and bottled liquids, has two switches
to use the lamp and repellent separately or together (day,
evening and night mode) and has an additional blue night
light that is lit together with the repellent. A preliminary
cost price estimation showed that a selling price of Rs. 500
Two switches
(€7.50) can be possible. make it possible
to use the lamp
First reactions and repellent
With the manufactured 13 prototypes a second field test separately or
was conducted in India. The response of the target group together (day,
evening and night
on the improved IRL was very positive and it seemed that
mode).The blue
the insect repellent functionalities, the energy saving lamp, night light that
the portability and the two switches (different modes is lit when the
repellent is active.
possible) provided very useful benefits for them.
Currently, different departments of Philips have shown
interest in the IRL and possibilities are explored to bring the
product to the market.
28

29. IndiaMoves; exploratory
€ Company
Movendi Foundation
Graduation date
2009
research study
Aparna Bhaskar
Movendi foundation strives to improve the quality of life for
Cooka et al: A product-service system (PSS), also known as a function-
physically disabled people. The foundation’s primary focus
oriented business model, is a business model, developed in academia,
is on developing countries and communities with a great
that is aimed at providing sustainability of both consumption and
need for expertise in the field of movement technology and
production1.
physical therapy. The goals are achieved through start-ups
1. M.B. Cooka, T.A. Bhamrab and M. Lemonc (2006). “The transfer and and coaching projects using local knowledge and skills to
application of Product Service Systems: from academia to UK manu- arrive at creative solutions for different problems faced by
facturing firms”. Journal of Cleaner Production (Elsevier Ltd) 14 (17): the physically disabled. Movendi is also involved in setting
1455–1465. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2006.01.018. up rehabilitation workshops and training of local therapists
and technicians.
GhanaMoves
Movendi has previously worked in a business development
project for disabled people in Ghana. The project aimed to
improve the lives of the disabled by providing them with a
means to support themselves, see page 92. Four students
investigated the business opportunities for the disabled
and they came up with a hand-driven tricycle with which
the disabled could sell ice-cream on the streets of Madina-
Accra. The tricycles were manufactured at a local workshop,
MAK-D, which profited as well from the business by selling
tricycles, the ice-cream was supplied by Fanmilk, Ghana’s
largest dairy producer and the disabled were able to obtain
a small credit (micro-credit) from a local bank at a very
reasonable interest rate. For more detailed information a
summary of the project is enclosed. Taking GhanaMoves as
a starting point and as an inspiration, seeing the benefits it
Concept areas; a market analysis of these individual concept areas and new generated for disabled persons, Movendi wished to initiate
business opportunities and product service systems for self employment of a similar venture in India. This project is an exploratory first
rural disabled within these areas are part of the results.
step in that direction, identifying strategies and business
29

30. www.movendifoundation.org
opportunities. entrepreneur are presented.The second part of the project
focused on generating self employment opportunities
Entrepreneurial businesses
suitable for locomotor disabled persons. In order to do so,
In a country like India, the poor face numerous challenges
it was imperative to analyse the Indian market situation.
and poverty in itself is a handicap. The less fortunate
This included study of the consumer markets, with special
often have to deal with illiteracy, hunger and daily battle
attention to rural India, and an overview of lives of the poor
for basic necessities, barely managing to make ends meet.
in rural India. On the basis of this research, seven product-
In addition to being born poor, if one has a disability, he/
service-systems (PSS, see box on the left page) that can be
she is confronted with an uphill battle at all stages of life.
operated by rural disabled persons were developed.
The disabled poor are one of the most neglected and
marginalized communities with limited access to resources Strategies & PSSs
and employment opportunities. These issues are magnified Ideas for product-service-systems are elaborated to levels
many times over when it comes to rural India. This strategic of market potential, consumer segmentation and role of
design project focuses on identifying and developing different stakeholders in the enterprise system. Ideas are
business opportunities that would empower the disabled provided for enterprise alliances with private, governmental
poor in rural India, by creating entrepreneurial businesses. and non-profit sector.
The first step is research. The project was initiated by the Movendi team and the
results are primarily intended for use by Movendi. The
Disability at the BoP India
report and its content are meant to support future initiatives
In order to develop business opportunities, a thorough
by Movendi in India. The report provides a comprehensive
analysis of disability at the BoP in India was performed; an
overview to disabled persons and disability sector in India,
in-depth understanding of the disability sector and disabled
and would be of value to future Movendi project teams in
persons in rural India. The need for employment amongst
India. However the content of report is of value to other
rural disabled was confirmed and the target group was
reader groups as well: Disability Institutions, Rehabilitation
defined clearly. It answers questions such as; who amongst
organization and NGO’s in India: The report highlights new
the rural disabled or what sections of the disabled population
possibilities and approaches for the betterment of locomotor
require additional support in terms of employment? Who
disabled in India. Organizations working in disability sector
amongst locomotor disabled are capable/ not capable of
are ideally placed with appropriate resources and prior
taking up responsibility of entrepreneurship? Additionaly,
experience.
symbiotic business opportunities with benefits for Hindustan
Unilever Limited and Project India Moves & the disabled €
30

31. Energy as a consumer
€ Company
Philips Light
Graduation date
October 30, 2008
product
Ambika Samabasivan
In recent years, the poor are slowly being recognized as
consumers in their own right and therefore as potential
markets for business. Philips is one of the few global
companies committed to developing such markets. The
BoP, represented by the 4 billion poorest people around the
world, are becoming both a strategic focus for long-term
growth and critical for promoting social equity in line with
the company’s sustainability policy.
Energy represents one such growing market. This
project focuses itself to electricity access. Electricity has
traditionally remained in the realm of public infrastructure.
However, from various insights, it is abundantly clear that
the conventional grid is not the answer to the electricity
problem of the poor. Only about 56% of the BoP is
connected to the grid. A large number of poor households
cope with candles, kerosene, generators or rechargeable car
batteries. These energy sources are unsafe, inefficient and
expensive in the long-run. Despite this, end-use patterns
are changing dramatically. Households are investing in
comfort and entertainment. Changes in consumption are
driven by changes in preferences, by big declines in prices
for consumer electronic goods, and by the increasing
energy efficiency of these goods. Studies indicate that BoP
customers are ‘tired of waiting’ for governments to act
and feel empowered by the choice offered to them in the
market.
‘Buy and Play’
Opportunities in Base of the Pyramid markets: Powered by the four global
energy providers, consumer electronic applications could include mobile There is a need for clean, safe and affordable energy
phone chargers, lanterns, radios, table fans and more. solutions that can be available to BoP customers on the
31

32. www.philips.com
short term. With the rise of renewable energy, it is possible delivered in a unique way. To hone a keener competitive
to think of energy as a consumer product, where customers edge, it is essential to work deeply with local communities
have greater choice, flexibility and control over the range in order to bring out the variations in product needs and
of technology and solutions. This project defines a market desires, bringing about a feeling of ‘this is our solution’. To
niche for Philips using supporting arguments from contextual achieve this, Philips must consciously work with a variety of
analysis, customer research and competitor mapping. This social organizations and informal partners. In addition, it is
market niche is labeled as ‘buy and play’ energy designed crucial to invest in building local capacity to fulfill societal
to cater to small-scale household requirements, pertaining and business goals. Small-scale ‘buy and play’ energy can
to an energy output of <0.1kWh/day. Two categories of deliver a variety of benefits:
products are of interest. The first is individual appliances • Provide basic energy services to those who are
with a built-in power source (~ <0.01kWh/day). The currently off the grid, taking the first step towards energy
second is an energy platform or a power pack (~0.1 kWh/ independence. Complete energy independence can be
day) that would be flexible enough to power two or more achieved by a series of short steps, and ‘buy and play’
applications. energy can be promoted as the first step toward this goal.
• Offer energy services for those who expect to be
Flexible set of solutions
connected in the near future as a transition to the grid.
These products can be powered by four potential energy
Communities living close to the grid are often temporary
technologies; human powered, solar PV, micro-wind
and/or extra-legal settlements.
and pico-hydro. Applications can include mobile phone
• Promote the use of renewable energy for those who are
chargers, lanterns, radios, table fans and so forth. It is
connected to an often unreliable and expensive grid as a
almost impossible to have one standardized solution for BoP
back-up for power shortages, a grid supplement.
customers. Renewable energy choices are dependent on
geographical variations. Product choices are dependent on Global sustainability
household requirements. As in the case of the product, the Energy is an important enabler for a more modern lifestyle
business system is influenced by a range of local factors; for the poor. The wide range of energy services can have a
the target customer group, value proposition, partner major impact in facilitating sustainable livelihoods, improving
network, available infrastructure and cost structures. To health and education and significantly reducing poverty.
serve such diverse markets, Philips needs to have a flexible By addressing the needs of base of the pyramid markets
set of solutions or a toolbox of options and conduct multiple through ‘buy and play’ energy, Philips hopes to firmly
market experiments. This will help identify key value establish itself as both a future-oriented business and a
propositions for BoP families and communities that can be committed contributor to global sustainable development.
32

33. PRO-PORTION
€ Company
Friesland Foods & reggs
Graduation date
October 24, 2008
Affordable milk for kids
Lieke Pijpers
Friesland Foods, a dairy multinational, conducted a deep-
listening project in 2006 among consumers at the BoP,
called ‘Reach’. This research was conducted in several
developing countries, where they measured an enormous
lack of nutrition amongst the BoP population.
Alternative protein sources
Milk is currently not affordable for the Vietnamese at
the Base of the economic Pyramid, as the dairy prices
Storyboard of the strategy that makes milk protein affordable for children at in Vietnam are with an average of $0,82/kg the most
the Base of the Pyramid in Vietnam. expensive in the world. Friesland Foods subsidiary, Dutch
Lady Vietnam (DLV), is one of the biggest players in the
liquid milk market in Vietnam at the moment and aims to
maintain and preferably improve its market share. To expand
its consumer base worldwide makes reaching the BoP a
necessity. DLV tries to reduce the prices by technological
improvements, like the use of alternative protein sources
KINDERGARTEN (e.g. algae and soy). These attempts are unfortunately not
likely to succeed in the near future, and it was concluded
that the main challenge in reaching the customers at
MILK
M the BoP was in the provision of nutrition enhanced dairy
products. Children between two and six years of age were
selected as the most important target group, since milk
protein is particularly important for the physical and mental
development in early childhood.
INFORMATIVE MATERIALS
Synergy
A design office, called reggs, believes that the affordability
of milk protein can also be achieved differently. Besides
nutrition, children have other needs, such as education,
safety and healthcare. They wondered to which extent it
33

34. www.frieslandfoods.com
www.reggs.nl
was possible to combine these necessities (portions) and be embodied by a cartoon character, which teaches the
initiated the ‘pro-portion’ strategy. This approach proposes children about important lessons in life in an attractive
that by combining the strengths of different organizations way. Altogether this concept increases the accessibility and
such as local entrepreneurs, NGOs and multinationals, an quality of preschool education and the children’s future
innovative business model could be achieved that creates a chances of success (health and academic performance).
win-win situation. On the one hand the needs of the BoP are The government benefits from the higher enrolment
better fulfilled, while on the other hand operations become of kindergartens and the increased mental and physical
more cost-effective. The developed pro-portion strategy will development of children. This contributes to the national
eventually increase the affordability of milk for the poor as goals on education and development. Organizations like
well as the profitability for the stakeholders. A field study UNICEF and Unilever could benefit from the opportunity
in Vietnam revealed that the most effective place to reach to communicate with young children. This allows them
young children is the kindergarten. to educate children on their rights or on the importance
of personal hygiene. Creating awareness among children
Multi-stakeholder business model
supports the strategic objectives of those commercial and
The proposed concept aims to provide the BoP children in
social organizations. Local communities clearly benefit, as
kindergarten with milk and informative materials. Three
it helps their children to develop themselves. It stimulates
times a week, the children are given a cup of milk, for
parents to send their children to kindergarten, which in turn
which their parents pay a contribution that is based on their
enables them to work. On top of this, it creates teaching jobs
average level of purchasing power. Together with the milk,
for the community. Teachers will earn some extra income in
educational material is provided to kindergartens, which
exchange for distributing the milk in the classroom.
improves the quality of education and increases awareness
Last but not least, Friesland Foods can now serve poor
among the children on different topics. Every month will
children they could not reach before. Although at cost price,
have a different, important theme. The children that
it supports their strategic goal of serving 1 billion customers
structurally attended kindergarten during the course of one
in 2015 globally. On a local level it increases their market
theme receive a reward, which increases their motivation to
share in Vietnam and makes them market leader. In the long
participate. Additionally, the information will be bundled in
run, Friesland Foods can benefit from the created customer
educative comics, on which the kindergartens get a monthly
loyalty among poor families. As soon as a poor family gains
subscription and could start a library with. These comics
purchasing power, they will be more inclined to purchase
could be borrowed by the children and brought home to
Friesland Foods products.
read together with their family. The whole campaign will
34

35. BushProof Safe Water
€ y
Company
BushProof
Graduation date
Sept. 23, 2008
Subscription
Sierk Hennes
BushProof is a social enterprise that supplies drinking
water and renewable energy products in Madagascar. The
company is convinced that a commercial/business approach
to poverty reduction is more sustainable than one based on
aid. BushProof’s wish is to offer their products to the people
in the countries rural areas, however their current clients
are mostly non-profit organizations (NGOs) and changing
local rural people into customers requires a complete
different strategy.
PSS for the BoP
The aim of this project is to develop a new product strategy
for BushProof’s drinking water products that enables the
Malagasy poor to purchase products from BushProof
without the financial help of NGOs or foreign aid. During the
analysis of BushProof and its context it becomes clear that
their main product - the Canzee pump - is suitable for this
purpose. As a starting point of the strategy development
the two theoretical concepts of the “Base of the Pyramid”
(BoP) and “Product Service Systems” (PSS) are used.
The first discusses the possibility and opportunities of
doing business with the world poor, which are seldom been
considered as profitable customers. The theory stresses out
that companies are able to create important market growth
in low- income countries and earn the same revenues by
earning small profits from many poor customers as when
they sell products with high profits to relatively few high-
income customers.
The Canzee Pump in use. This pump has already proved to be a very The concept of PSS is based on the insight people do
appropriate product for the circumstances in Madagascar and is an affordable
not necessarily need to own products in order to fulfill their
and reliable solution for water provision.
35

36. www.bushproof.biosandfilter.org
needs. Substituting product components into services create and quality checks creating the opportunity to build user
possibilities to better anticipate on customer requirements, relationships and collect user feedback useful for further
reduce resources and stimulate customer relationships. product development.
In order to serve the Madagascar poor with their People have to form user-groups with their neighbours
Canzee hand pump, BushProof has to overcome different that are willing to share one subscription. User groups pay a
problems companies in low–income countries face. People monthly contribution. As people share one subscription and
are little aware of the positive effects of having access to do not have to buy the pump, the system will be affordable
reliable drinking water, the current system of community for most people in Madagascar.
management does not result in lasting solutions and local The financial analysis shows that if 25 families use one
people have too little knowledge to execute difficult repairs. subscription, a monthly contribution of €0,63 per family
Finally, people have little possibilities to save for major is needed to maintain the pumps. Because revenues are
expenditures needed to purchase and maintain expensive reinvested in creating new pumps and subscriptions, the
products while the risk exists that pumps preliminary break system is able to triple the amount of pumps within eight
down due the hostile environment of Madagascar. years. A start-up investment of €90.000 will result in about
500 pumps serving approximately 75.000 people and still
Shared subscription, no maintenance responsibility
realize an average yearly return of more than 10% (in 10
A subscription that guarantees access to safe drinking
years).
water is proposed as the most suitable
solution for these problems. Offering access
to safe drinking water changes the focus of
selling pumps into supplying people with that
what people try to achieve by buying these
pumps; having easy access to an unlimited
amount of safe drinking water. Since pumps
will not be sold, the solution causes a change
in ownership. BushProof is responsible for
properly working pumps and the quality of the
water it supplies, resulting in limited financial
risk for the users. BushProof will regularly
visit the villages for periodical servicing
36

37. Photo: Mirjam Lindgreen
37

38. Girl
Java, Indonesia
38

39. Solar shop in rural
€ Company
Kamworks
Graduation date
August 2008
Cambodia
Kirsten Rijke
Kamworks operates as a social enterprise in Cambodia
and their mission is to provide affordable energy systems
in Cambodia in order to contribute to a sustainable
development of this country. The innovative no-nonsense
company is in the process of developing a new brand,
Kamunasal, which aims for the rural consumer market.
Kamunasal provides solar and human powered products,
distributed through mobile and fixed selling points which are
run by micro-entrepeneurs. Several physical expressions of
the brand had been defined prior to this project, along with
a concept for a mobile selling point (see page 56).
Sustainable brands
The internal analysis showed the identity of Kamunasal,
based on the mother company Kamworks and the initial
Above is the configuration of the concept as a solar shop, and below as a Kamunasal product Angkor light (see page 116). The
theatre. Switching between the configurations is possible within minutes.
Kamunasal brand is innovative, with Western roots and a
social mission to bring sustainable energy and employment
to rural Cambodians. Brands, as builders of trust and
providing consistency, play an important role in sustainable
development. Before moving into the market, it is crucial to
develop the Kamunasal brand to a complete concept, which
will form the basis of all future brand expressions.
Importance of factors
Through an extensive external analysis based on interviews,
observations and a test shop, important insight in the
rural Cambodian market were revealed. Most importantly
an adapted version of Rogers’ theory for acceptance of
innovations was developed, specifically for the Khmer
culture. The importance of various factors for customers
39

40. www.kamworks.com
and micro-entrepeneurs were determined separately, but the rural areas of Cambodia.”
the models turned out to be rather similar. The decision
Visible stock
model is a rational one, where many factors play a role. The
Through an ideation and conceptualization phase, a fitting
three most important factors were found to be price, quality
concept is developed and further elaborated, resulting in a
and the fulfilment of needs.
Kamunasal solar shop; an adapted and furnished shipping
The results of the internal and external analysis
container. Inside the shop a displaying cabinet contains a
determined the course of the project. The results of the
show and try-out model for each item. As rural customers
project can be categorized in two distinctive parts:
and micro-entrepreneurs in Cambodia prefer to have stock
• A definition of the Kamunasal proposition “light
placed visibly (which also helps keep a clear overview for
and energy for a happy family” in the form of a
the micro-entrepreneur) each product type is placed in a
strategy.
separate compartment, along with additional stock, see
• A complete concept for fixed selling points based images on the left.
on the Kamunasal proposition. A working solar home system is demonstrated and
For a happy family explained through an educational display. The solar system
The strategy points out that the distinction between the also provides the power for a number of battery charging
Kamunasal and Kamworks businesses should be more clear, services offered in the shop.
also within the company. The strategy further describes A shop and a theatre
how Kamunasal can use the methods of MicroFranchising, The Kamunasal solar shop can be transformed from a
by first setting up a business and finding the right formula. shop into a small theatre. The theatre offers educational
The next step is replicating this successful business with video entertainment and testimonials from other
other micro-entrepreneurs by supporting them with the satisfied Kamunasal customers. The flexible and inviting
Kamunasal formula. Finally the complete strategy for shop provides a culturally appropriate, friendly familiar
Kamunasal results in a market proposition that describes environment for both consumer and micro-entrepreneur.
the brands attitude in terms of a five-P model; product, Adding a brand expression in the form of the Kamunasal
price, place, promotion, people. A design vision was solar shop, with the right balance between informational
then formulated, in order to design the solar shop as an and sales aspects, supports the brand Kamunasal and its
expression of the Kamunasal proposition: “Design a concept high quality appearance.
€
for a fixed selling and service point for home lighting and
energy supply products and services of Kamunasal within
40

41. Solar Home System for
€ Company
Kamworks
Graduation date
August 2008
rural Cambodia
Tom van Diessen
Cambodia has one of the lowest electrification rates in Asia.
Therefore many households make good use of rechargeable
car batteries for lighting and television. This is however a
far from ideal situation as the heavy batteries have to be
charged several times a week, in a small shop where a
throbbing generator is present. Due to this charging abuse
and its poor use, the batteries are entitled to a short life,
bringing unnecessary high costs and a low energy efficiency.
With oil prices rising and economy improving, people are
in need of better power solutions. This forms the motive
for this graduation project; to design an innovative user-
friendly Solar Home System (SHS) for rural Cambodia.
Previous experience
The idea of a SHS came from an elaborate analysis of the
local contexts. Many Cambodian families were visited to map
their energy needs, desires and living situations. Before this
project, a number of pilot SHSs were developed. Prototypes
were made on the basis of a preliminary design, to evaluate
the technical functioning of the system and practically test
the system in operation. The experiences of installation and
production of a SHS could therefore already be taken into
consideration early in the design process. Three systems
were evaluated in the field by test families. The product use,
The family Chum Voung consist of 3 people and belongs to social class of
performance and appreciation was monitored technically by
the rural poor. Miss Toch Komh runs a small store under the house and is
home all day, her son goes to school and her husband is hardly ever home data logging and practically by a series of surveys. Based
being a construction worker. The house is build traditionally, small but well on this extensive design research the pilot SHS was further
maintained and is located on the corner of a road next to a battery charging
elaborated to a final product design, ready for production.
station. Making it an ideal location for Kamworks to test the SHS, since its in a
visible location next to the one thing it should substitute. The SHS will entirely Functional and aesthetic value
replace their current use of a car battery and kerosene and is initialy installed
under a renting construction for 3 months.
The result of this project was the design of three types of
41

42. www.kamworks.com
Solar Home Systems as one product family and one complete
product. The SHS has become a true modern powerhouse
for rural Cambodia. A distinctive desirable product of superb
quality that matches with the Khmers culture, styling, way of
living, energy consumption and house situation. The system
is easy to install, durable, strong and can be produced locally
at Kamworks. The solar panel can be mounted securely to
the house with the use of a new composite support. The
technical components are enclosed in the Dragon box, a
user friendly connection station with a highly aesthetic
value in terms of creating product desire, a commercial
value in terms of being distinctive and a functional value
by protecting the system components. A charge regulator
furthermore guarantees a safe use, an extended battery life
and provides the users with the desired energy feedback.
All this makes the Kamworks Solar Home Systems a secure
energy source, for an affordable prize.
Kamworks had the desire to bring the SHS on the
market soon, the outcome of this project enabled them to
do so. Currently four systems have already been sold and
installed according to the final designs. Many customers are
already eagerly waiting for what could be seen as the new
generation of Solar Home Systems in Cambodia.
42

43. Redesign of a Smoke
€ Company
ICCO and MOPAWI
Graduation date
July 28, 2008
free Batana Extractor
Linda Schnieders
Extracting Batana oil is the main way of making a living
for the Miskito women in La Mosquitia, a difficult to
reach tropical wetland in the northeast of Honduras. The
production process of the special oil released from the
kernels of the Palma Americana has remained the same
for years, but is subject to changes at the moment. Health
problems related to the production of Batana constitute a
major constraint to the development of the people. The
extraction process generates very hazardous smoke which
causes respiratory diseases among the women involved in
this activity. Additionally, the amounts of firewood needed
in the traditional process causes extreme deforestation.
These negative aspects of the Batana production render
this activity unsustainable.
The Non Government Organization (NGO) MOPAWI
MOPAWI initiated the Ecofogon project in 2005 and since then has taken is assisting the Miskito in selling Batana. Moreover, this
several steps in implementing the Ecofogon in La Mosquitia. organization aims to improve the current production process
such that related health problems will be addressed and
environmental sustainability improved.
In the recent past various attempts have been made
to address both the health problems and environmental
damages associated to the Batana production. To date
however, no definite solution has been found. In this project
these attempts have been assessed and analyzed and the
outcome of this reserach was used as a basis for a redesign
process of the stove used for extraction of the oil, the so
called Ecofogon.
Multi-stakeholder redesign
This redesign process has been done with participation of
The cooker hood is placed close to the pan during frying of the kernels.
43

44. www.icco.nl/en
www.mopawi.org
various local stakeholders, accounting for cultural values plan is included on how to build capacities among the future
and traditions, local infrastructure and local resources. This constructors of the improved Ecofogon. The implementation
has resulted in a new concept with a number of essential plan also includes the construction of a prototype and ways
improvements compared to the existing stove. One of the to involve the end users and other stakeholders in further
main adaptations has been the provision of a vertically shaping of the final product.
placed chimney connected to a cooker hood in combination In view of the potential health and environmental
with correctly applying the so called rocket principle. Other benefits MOPAWI, a local NGO, is recommended to follow
improvements include the use of a pan and a sieve to up on the new concept by executing the implementation
separate the oil from the kernels, without the user being plan. Financing sources need to be found for this purpose
in contact with the stove or the hot oil. Furthermore, the and financing partners are recommended to embark on
dimensions of the entrance and the combustion chamber this project. It is expected that by doing so this project
are optimised to ensure a more efficient combustion. The contributes to the sustainable social economic development
new concept also provides arrangements for significant and resilience of the minority tribe of the Miskito and
savings of fire wood, which means enhanced environmental particularly their most vulnerable community members.
sustainability. As a result of these improvements, the
Use of the pan and sieve. Before removing the pan the skirt needs
women are not directly exposed to the hazardous smoke to be adjusted, N.B. In the right picture the irritating smoke
anymore, resulting in less health threats. Moreover, because coming from the oil has not been visualized.
of a more efficient use of
fire wood, environmental
degradation will be partly
addressed. Besides a new
design concept, a plan
for implementation of the
Ecofogon was developed
during this project.
Implementation
Instructions for end users
as well as constructors
are listed. Also a training
44

45. LUMEN light solution
€ Company
Kamworks
Graduation date
June, 2008 Integral Design Project
Executed by Ana Maria Alvarez, Loucas Papantoniou,
Stephanie Wirth and Doortje van de Wouw.
Kamworks is a young company specialized in the supply and
manufacturing of affordable solar energy solutions for rural
communities and people who do not have access to reliable
electricity in Cambodia.
Currently the company’s core business is the installation
and distribution of Solar Home Systems. One of Kamworks
previous projects, the ‘Angkor Light’, is a quality lamp in the
price range of $60-75 (see page 116). In order to reach the
rural population, Kamworks concluded insight was needed
into possibilities for a more affordable lighting solution in
the range of $10-20.
An exploded view of the design; the Moonlight.
No running costs
From the product portfolio of Kamworks it became clear
that there was a lack of an affordable ambient lighting
products. The main outcome of the technical analysis was
to use white LEDs due to their energy efficiency and price
range compatibility of the product that could easily be
tailored around the basic needs of the target group. For the
energy supply of the system, two options were possible:
a battery charging system with low initial costs but higher
running costs or a totally independent system with higher
initial costs but no running costs.
Rural households
House visits and interviews in the rural areas of Cambodia
gave better insight into the context, living standards and
wishes of the target group: The new lamp should completely
substitute the kerosene lamp, which use is widely spread
in the rural households. The poor quality of the light, the
Most of the families of the final user test were enthusiastic
flammability and health hazards as well as the highly volatile
and even willing to buy the prototypes on the spot.
45

46. 2008 www.kamworks.com
fuel prices were the main drivers. a window open for charging. Currently, this anti-theft
The field research lead to several main conclusions: First, technique is used for TV antennas, so this technique is not
people need a portable lamp. Different rooms are to be lit, new to the people.
and most consumers cannot afford more than one lamp. The product mainly consists of two vacuum-formed outer
Furthermore, a dimmed light during the night was needed, shells and two also vacuum-formed blisters that hold the
to orientate in the dark and to feel safe while saving energy electronics together and buffer them at the same time for
at the same time. The dimmed light only has to last for possible shocks.
a few hours per night, and about three hours of full light The final user tests pointed out that the product is indeed
are needed during the evening. In addition, the inventive an appropriate solution for the stated problem. People could
character of the Cambodians and the completely improvised easily understand and use the product: hanging it around
style of their houses called for a flexible product that people their neck and placing it at the walls and ceiling of their
could use as they wished, without too many restrictions. houses. Most of the families of the final user test were
Poverty makes people use everything they have as long and enthusiastic and even willing to buy the prototypes on the
as efficiently as possible and the usage of the new lamp will spot. These reactions were similar to Kamworks’ reactions;
not differ in that point. Kamworks indicated they would like to start producing the
MoonLights as soon as possible.
Ampoul Preahchan
The final design is called MoonLight (“Ampoul Preahchan” in
Khmer). It has a triangular shape and includes a cord that
Installing a 0.5 Wp solar panel on a pole, to prevent theft.
is attached at the three corner points. It can be hung from
a wall or ceiling, carried by hand or hung around the neck.
It has 6 wide-angle LEDs with a total luminous flux of 42 lm
in the normal mode which is equivalent to the light output
of about four kerosene lamps. The dimmed mode provides
a light output of 7 lm.
It comes with a 0.5 Wp solar panel which can be fixed
to a bamboo pole with a standard clamp. This option was
chosen as several people had stated during the interviews
that they were so afraid of the solar panel getting stolen
they would prefer to keep the panel inside all day, leaving
46

47. A battery charging
€ Company
NICE
Graduation date
April 4, 2008
system for youngsters
Judith Goor
Energy has a strong link with poverty reduction;
unfortunately about one third of the world’s population does
not have access to electricity and deals with expensive,
alternative energy sources. As a reaction on the high
need for affordable energy, NICE is set up as a network
of multidisciplinary shops offering low prices and high
quality. The solar powered shops offer internet, education
and a mini-cinema, and are set up in The Gambia, where
about 70% of the population does not have access to the
electricity grid.
A rendering of the design; the left side is for AA batteries and the right side Batteries
for AAA batteries. Standardized batteries form a low investment for instant
energy. Batteries are available worldwide, are cost-efficient
and fit into many products, which makes them an interesting
energy source. However, the disposable batteries that are
currently used in The Gambia are of very poor quality and
leak hazardous, toxic chemicals. This causes ground water
pollution and health problems. Offering a battery charging
service with rechargeable AA- and AAA- sized batteries,
would provide a low cost, sustainable solution.
Youngsters and NICE
Through literature studies and explorative research towards
the potential users and their context, the framework for
the design of a battery charging system was set up. The
biggest group of potential users are youngsters (10 – 25
years old). With a growing population of nearly 2.8% per
year, this group forms a rapidly growing market segment.
Furthermore, the current customer base of NICE is mainly
formed by youngsters, which makes them an approachable
47

48. www.nice-gambia.com
group. Youngsters are very trend sensitive and care - Dispenser for full AAA- batteries
much about their image. NICE batteries can add to their
- Quality check to assure quality of the batteries
appearance as being a high quality and popular product.
- Energy tester to test if the battery is fully charged
Membership The systems are placed on the wall behind the NICE
In The Gambia, registration is unwanted by costumers. To reception desk. In this way the system is visible and triggers
avoid the need of registration a different setup is needed; the customers by the bright colors, shiny appearance and
new customers will pay a start-up fee to join the system, blinking led lights. The employee can operate it from behind
and whenever NICE batteries get empty, they can be his desk and keep a good overview.
switched for full ones in exchange for a small charging fee. A functional prototype of the system was built and was
A NICE battery is the evidence of being a member of the ready to be tested in the NICE shop to continue with further
system. Customers receive different batteries every time development of the product.
they exchange. In order to assure them a good quality, the The prototype in use. The lights visualize the charging.
batteries will go through a quality check that filters out bad
batteries.
The system assures users a cost advantage within 1.5
months, because the charging fee is 30% lower than the
cheapest batteries available in The Gambia. It is projected
that profit is generated for NICE within a year.
Battery Testers
With respect to the NICE context it became clear that
the most important requirement is an obvious, structured
system that is easy controllable by the management team.
The design proposal consists of the following different
components:
- Charger with 16 AA(A)-battery cells
- Intake for empty AA- batteries
- Intake for empty AAA- batteries
- Dispenser for full AA- batteries
€
48

49. Photo: Kees van Gastel
49

50. Man Fishing
Citarum River,
Java, Indonesia
50

51. Culturally appropriate
€ Company
Everbody Company
Graduation date
Feb 8, 2008
coffins for Botswana
Jan Willem Findlater
Funerals play a central role in Batswana culture. High death
rates, increasing expectations and funeral costs impoverish
citizens as they struggle to provide a dignified burial for
their loved ones. The Everybody Company had identified
this social need and had set about providing access to
affordable coffins throughout Southern Africa and developed
a pre-cut click-to-construct coffin. The Everybody Coffins
struggled to gain a foothold in the market due to material
costs, availability and consumer acceptance of their product
line. The aim of the project was to investigate the practical
and emotive implications of the Everybody Coffin.
An in depth analysis of lengthy and extravagant burial
The product and company name is ‘branded’ into the lid of the coffin with
a hot iron. In South Africa this would include the ‘Working for Water’ logo. rituals highlighted why the Everybody Coffin is not widely
People will know that they are buying a product that is supported by the accepted; functional, aesthetic and emotive aspects of the
government. The lining can be custom made or modified in the villages.
Everybody Coffin design make it inappropriate for product
placement within this consumer market.
The Coffin Industry
The market can be split up into two categories; state funerals
and consumer funerals. If a coffin manufacturer opts for
government tenders they must compete on price with other
manufacturers. The advantage for the manufacturer is that
the consumer has no choice between coffins, and for the
consumer the advantage is in costs: these services are
provided for free. In the commercial coffin industry price
is not the most important factor in coffin design. Status,
protection and style (aesthetics) are key product values.
The funeral parlour network is currently responsible for
These children, Elvis & Kabo, expressed an interest
in constructing the coffins as a job. The elders in distributing and selling coffins as part of funeral service
the village approved the full sized prototypes and packages. Although selling direct to the market appears as
agreed to cooperate in the interests of the village.
51

52. www.everybodycoffins.com
an attractive alternative, doing so is a logistical challenge. available waste wood. This necessitated a re-design of the
The infrastructure does not exist (or permit) coffin sales construction. The final design may be considered as less
without distribution through the funeral parlour network. efficient, heavier, more labour intensive and requires a
It is therefore a challenge for product designers and longer production time. On the other hand it is desirable in
manufacturers to effectively provide access to affordable the consumer market, adds value to the materials, reduces
coffins. toxification of the ground water and is creates more jobs
Investigation of coffin purchasing behaviour in Botswana in the rural areas. Product acceptance by funeral parlours
showed, alongside the aforementioned product values of also improved. They identified more with new aspects of the
status, protection and aesthetics, that culture orientated design, primarily the ability to hold more stock, attractive
coffin design provided new product values which were pricing and reductions in transportation costs.
independent of costs. This finding is an opportunity to During the process of this project new product values
reduce spiraling coffin costs whilst improving the emotional were identified. Using these product values for coffin design
experience when choosing a coffin. Flat, prefabricated may help to positively change purchasing behaviour in
coffins are most suited for rural communities across Botswana. This study indicates that a culturally appropriate
Botswana. This is currently the key product value of the coffin can be highly desirable and need not to be expensive.
Everybody Coffin. Re-designs of the Everybody Coffin were Designers can play an essential role in helping societies
evaluated within rural communities. Unexpectedly, these to change towards more financially and environmentally
communities appreciated the re-designs differently. The sustainable practices. It is their duty to help societies and
design could be used to create jobs in the rural areas, which governments achieve their long term goals.
is a big need for rural communities. The design criteria Unexpectedly, this study unveiled a great opportunity to
changed during the design process to reflect the local stimulate entrepreneurship in the rural areas. Cooperation
context. Continuous feedback during the re-design phases with Chiefs, tribes, Burial Societies and Church groups play
noted improvements in aesthetic appeal, product function an essential role when implementing Everybody Coffins. For
and cultural orientation. the coffin to realise its potential as a culturally appropriate
coffin it requires the involvement of local craftsmen to
The new Everybody Coffin
personalise each coffin. This must be done commercially.
Based on the feedback throughout the design process it
Government and NGO ‘hand outs’ can have a detrimenal
can be concluded that the design has improved in terms
effect on proactive entrepreneurship in the rural areas.
of product acceptance. Regarding material selection, Bosa
Coffin assembly can be seen as an ideal first step to
(the final design proposal of this project) utilises regionally
economic empowerment.
52

53. Water4Kenya
€ Company
Dutch Water Limited
Graduation date
February, 2008 Integral Design Project
Executed by Elly Doek, Merijn Janssen , Regine van
Limmeren, Charl Smit and Stefan Versluis.
The mission of Dutch Water Limited is to provide clean
and affordable drinking water for everybody in developing
countries. This goal is very clear, but highly ambitious and
not feasible to reach at once. Therefore, a group of students
from Delft University of Technology had been asked to
research the current situation and develop a Product
Service System (PSS) to distribute the clean water that DWL
is capable of producing. Keeping in mind on the one hand
the desire to become a financially sustainable company and
on the other hand the desire to help the people in need, the
initial advice was to target people in the near surroundings
of the water factory in Mtwapa. These people are not the
very poorest, but still drink unclean drinking water and are
therefore in need of DWL water. Transportation costs are
A prototype of the Strolley: unlike the current competition, the Strolley
complies with ergonomic demands. minimal and little profit can be made on the water. This way
DWL could start establishing the company by creating a
solid financial background and gaining experience for water
“processing” (manufacturing and distribution) in a non-
western context.
Governmental Water
Currently, almost all drinking water for the people in
Mtwapa, Kenya, comes from one governmental tap point,
located in the outskirt of Mtwapa. The people in Mtwapa
buy this unclean governmental water from the so-called
mikokoteni (handcarts), which deliver the water at home.
The system works pretty well and supplies most people with
drinking water on a regular and frequent basis when there
is water available. However, in times of scarcity this way of
water supply is less reliable and prices increase rapidly, up
53

54. www.dwlwater.com
to 200% of the original price. Scarcity occurs several times amount of regular clients. In addition, the subscription
a year. allows for the possibility to pay off the deposit for the jerry
can in terms.
The proposed Product Service System
Three different stakeholders were determined for the PSS,
Some boundary conditions were kept in mind. First of
and solutions were offered for each of these stakeholders.
all, DWL is a start-up company, with little investment
For customers; by offering clean, affordable and reliable
power. Furthermore sustainability was very important: the
drinking water, customers are served with advantages
PSS should be economically, ecologically, politically and
for health, living standards and financial benefits. For
socially sustainable. The proposed PSS enables DWL to
employees; Several new employees are to be hired in order
provide the people of Mtwapa with clean, affordable and
to make the PSS function properly. Being employed at
reliable drinking water by selling the water at the gate and
DWL comes with advantages concerning health (unlike the
distributing it to the houses of the customer by means of
current mikokoteni, the Strolley complies with ergonomic
human powered vehicles. The PSS provides the customer
demands), and are offered a fixed salary. For DWL; The
with several additional advantages like fixed prices, fixed
PSS enables DWL to reach its vision by providing water to
quality and constant supply. In addition, the water is sold
people with a need for clean water, creating employment
in a special, sealed package which decreases the chance
and meanwhile establishing a solid financial base.
of the water getting contaminated. The PSS consists of
the following product
elements: the water, 4
5
the vehicles, and the DWL cycle Consumer cycle
packaging. The service No treatment
Sealing package
elements in the PSS are
1
8
Full
Sales channels package
selling at the gate and
The jerry can is closed by a cap
with integrated tap and sealed 6
DWL source 3 to prevent the package to be
delivery at home.
tampered with.
Coast Special is
A subscription service is
7 Use
Filling package both sold at the gate as well as
2 distributed to the houses of Selling and
the customer. returning package
offered for water delivery,
Drinking
which ensures customers
Empty
package
Processing water
of water delivery, also
9
DWL processes the water from
in times of scarcity, and
€
A er use the package is returned to
the source into high quality the factory to be cleaned for reuse. Coast Special is safe
drinking water. The empty jerry can is exchanged with to drink directly from
Cleaning package a new one when new water is being
ensures DWL of a certain
the jerry can; it does
bought. No new deposit needs to be not need to be
paid if the seal is unbroken. treated before use.
54

55. Comparing Contexts;
€ Company
Solardew & ICCO
Graduation date
Feb 1, 2008
Solar Dew Technology
Alexander van der Kleij
One of the most important global problems is that of
poverty. Apart from the obvious humanitarian justification,
finding improved ways to alleviate poverty will become an
intricate part of creating a sustainable future. Although
many will argue, and rightfully so, that the present
industrialized nations are mainly responsible for many of
the current environmental problems, it is in the developing
world with its rapidly growing population and rise in living
standards where the problems of the future will be found.
It is therefore important to find sustainable solutions in the
present for problems of the future.
The Base of the Pyramid (BoP) theory does not explicitly
exclude any countries, yet the focus of most BoP projects
has been on relatively large countries which are developing
rapidly, such as India, China, Brazil, Mexico, etc. On the
In coastal areas the sea provides people with an unlimited source of brackish
other hand many smaller countries which are not developing
water, which in combination with the Solar Dew technology can provide a
steady source of clean drinking water. as rapidly also contain a large portion of the population
making up the BoP. They too have an interest in improving
their quality of life and may form a worthwhile opportunity
for companies to invest in. The main problem however is
market size; often these markets are not large enough on
their own to warrant investment.
Different contexts
Considering many of the problems facing the BoP are
similar across a wide variety of developing countries, it may
be possible to design a single solution for these different
markets. In that case, these smaller markets could be
combined to create a larger market which may be of interest
The working principles of the Solar Dew Technology .
to companies looking to develop BoP products.
55

56. www.solardew.com
The question is therefore to determine whether it is drinking water problem. The purpose of this research was
possible to cluster these different markets. The first step to to develop insight for the further development of a product
answering this question is to determine if it is possible to around a technological solution created by Solar Dew
design for multiple markets, each with a different context. International.
Therefore this project provided an insight into: The final design of the product is based around the insight
- What is context that people at the BoP are unable to make large investments
- Requirements for research in a BoP environment and in general are not concerned with the health benefits of
- How to structurally translate research results into a clean drinking water. The product has been designed based
product/business vision on this understanding of the context, such that it can provide
a solution for both the Malagasy and the Pakistani context.
- How to compare, evaluate and design for different
The product has taken on the form of a water station, run
contexts
by a local entrepreneur from which he sells water to the
This was done by researching both Pakistan and Madagascar,
people of the village. This allows the local entrepreneur to
and developing a concept that is suitable for both.
earn a living, whilst the consumers can focus on their own
The technology economic activities without the daily concerns of fetching
Solar Dew technology consists of two chambers separated drink water. Although the design is still conceptual it gives a
by a membrane. The contaminated feed water in the upper clear indication of what the future may hold for both water
chamber is absorbed by the membrane. As the feed water purification solutions in general, and specifically for the
is heated by the sun it can only evaporate downwards into Solar Dew Technology.
the lower chamber, which increases the humidity inside the
chamber, where it eventually condenses on the condensation
plate. Thus, leaving the contaminants on the upper side of
the membrane and distilled water on the other.
Water Station
The purpose of this project was not only to describe this
process in theory but also apply it to practice, in the form
of a case study. As a result, with the help of ICCO and
their partners, research has been conducted along the
South-West coast of Madagascar and in the Thar Desert
of Pakistan, with regard to the context surrounding the The water station, designed for local entrepeneurs.
€
56

57. Mobile Solar Kiosk for
€ Company
Kamworks
Graduation date
December 14, 2007
Micro-Entrepeneurs
Miriam Reitenbach
Despite recent progress, the Cambodian economy still
has to reconstitute from the effects of the civil war. The
population often lacks education and productive skills,
which leads to a high unemployment rate, especially in
the countryside. About 40% of the population lives below
poverty line and has to live of less than 1$ per day. As
90% of the Cambodian population does not have access
to a secure electricity infrastructure, economic and social
progress are slowed down as well.
These circumstances set the framework of Kamworks’
business idea: securing sophisticated energy and light
supply and creating new jobs for young Cambodians. As
the country receives approximately five full sun hours each
day, solar energy is one of the promising technologies. The
objective of this graduation project was the design and
development of a mobile solar kiosk for Cambodian micro-
entrepreneurs, enabling the setup of a self-sustaining
business by distributing solar products to the rural area of
Cambodia, in continuation of the intensive collaboration
between Kamworks and Delft University of Technology, see
In order to get an understanding on how the anticipated customer reacted page 116 .
on the mobile store, the Cambodian translator was asked to drive around
the rural areas to obtain feedback. In the first place he acted as micro- Extreme road conditions
entrepreneur who sells products, consequently he interviewed the potential Through intense user and context research in Cambodia,
customers.
technical and usability criteria were defined, as well as
social and cultural influences. These formed the framework
of this project. The first constraint was the underdeveloped
road network and the extremely bad road conditions. Also,
with heavy rain seasons from May until October the road
conditions get even worse which poses a challenge to the
57

58. www.kamworks.com
technical requirements. application of glass fibre reinforced plastic an attractive and
Interviews with potential customers of the solar products eye-catching form of the carrier could be achieved.
revealed that Cambodians were not yet familiar with solar In the context of a holistic approach this project did not
energy in general and that the way of communicating and only focus on the design and construction of the kiosk, but
explaining products forms a major criterion for the success also presented recommendations on how to communicate
of the sales results. to the local customers in an effective and adequate way,
The outcomes of this research were translated into a final such as a LED display and posters explaining the benefits
concept that was refined by means of iteratively building and and cost savings of solar products. Additionally, a new
testing the prototype to guarantee not only the technical bilingual brand name and logo was created that made it
feasibility of the mobile store, but also acceptance among possible to communicate with Khmer customers as well as
the future users - the micro-entrepreneurs. Western stakeholders and contributes to a quality image of
the mobile solar kiosk.
Biking without pedaling
The final design was a three-wheeled electric bicycle that Local Production and maintenance
can be recharged by solar energy. By making use of this When designing the mobile kiosk, only locally available
renewable energy technology and being remarkably lighter materials and production techniques were considered in
than existing mobile stores, this vehicle is less polluting than order to generate local income, as local manufacturing was
traditional motorised stores and can contribute to promote one of the greatest requirements for the design. These
sustainable energy in an effective way. User tests showed manufacturing experts of the kiosk would also be able to
that an electric bike caught the attention of the customer take care of the maintenance and reparations, keeping all
immediately as most rural people never saw someone the work and the money local.
driving on a bike without pedalling before.
In order to cope with the bad road conditions a new
suspension system was developed that can damp the
wheels individually which makes it much easier to drive and
steer the vehicle, even on bumpy and unpaved roads.
In the front part of this mobile solar kiosk a yellow carrier
is mounted that serves not only to transport the solar
€
products, but also as a store front when the lid is opened.
Due to the, for the local context, innovative material
The bilingual logo on the side of the glass fibre reinforced carrier.
58

59. Better Brace Project
€ Company
The Three Aid Foundation:
Graduation date
October 24, 2007 Koos Munneke
Grarbet Tehadeso Mahber (GTM), an Ethiopian non
governmental organisation (NGO), offers healthcare to
the inhabitants of the rural area around Butajira, Ethiopia.
Due to a lack of funds in the last decade, the capacity
and quality of the delivered services of the department
of physiotherapy and orthotics is lagging in development.
Together with The Three Aid Foundation (TTAF), a Dutch
NGO, this project was conducted. The goal of the project
was to develop a comfortable and durable knee-ankle-foot
orthosis for young polio victims in Ethiopia using appropriate
production technology.
Current KAFOs
A lot of children with polio have been complaining about
the comfort of their knee-ankle-foot orthoses (KAFOs, or
also long leg braces); these braces are often found to be
heavy, clumsy to use and awkward to put on and take off.
Moreover, pressure excesses, detrimental to skin tissue,
frequently occur. A lot of orthoses fail prematurely, and
since there is no communication between the patient and
the clinic, this is a great problem. Furthermore, as the
children grow the orthoses have to be adjusted to ensure a
good fit. Right now this happens by cutting and welding; a
way which weakens the construction.
Customization and adjustability
In order to create solutions to these problems, an analysis
was done of the current issues, and requirements were
Overview of the features of a knee-ankle-foot orthosis formulated. It was clear that the future orthosis technology
built with the proposed technology.
must offer custom support and correction; each orthosis is
to be tailored to the specific needs and dimensions of each
59

60. www.ttaf.org
patient. Also, the future orthoses should offer more comfort technology was employed; the prototypes were produced
than the current orthoses. Improving the construction in the workshop of GTM using affordable materials from
should increase the durability of the orthoses and to ensure the local market. In user tests it became clear that the level
a good fit over time, the orthosis should be adjustable. The of comfort has increased. Future observations will have to
technology must be appropriate for the context of GTM; prove if the durability and adjustability has increased also,
utilising locally available and affordable materials and locally but as it seems now, the product is a success.
maintainable machines.
ApproTech
The proposed solution consists of several changes in
the design of the product as well is the production of
the product. The flat tubular profile used for the upright
construction is strong yet lightweight. The combination
of the steel flat bar brazed (i.e. copper welded) in the
flat tube provides a durable option for adjustability. The
perforated thin sheet steel of the thigh and calf bands and
the plastic correction shells distribute the pressure over a
larger area of the limb and follow the contours of the limb
better - thus decreasing pressure and improving comfort.
The construction of the ankle hinges and the connection
to the shoe is strengthened; increasing the longevity of the
orthosis. The proposed technology makes use of locally
available and materials and locally maintainable machines
and tools. The technology is affordable as well, concerning
the start up costs as well as the running costs.
Several prototypes were built during the project,
materials and tools have been purchased, and the orthotic
technicians were trained. In produceability tests it became
clear that the proposed technology offers all options for
custom support and correction. Furthermore appropriate Fitting of the new brace; user tests for comfort and durability.
60

61. Photo: Mirjam Lindgreen
61

62. Man and horse
at work
Java, Indonesia
62

63. Affordable Solar Lighting
€ Company
BushΔProof
Graduation date
October 19, 2007
for rural Madagascar
Bernard Hulshof
In Madagascar, only three percent of the population in rural
areas is connected to the electricity network. In order to
fulfill their lighting needs, people have to rely on kerosene
based lighting and candles. Not only in Madagascar but also
in the rest of the world, kerosene based lighting is still an
important way of indoor lighting; one fourth of the world
population has to rely on it every day.
Unhealthy and dangerous
Kerosene based lighting has many disadvantages. Firstly, it
is a very unhealthy and even dangerous way of lighting. The
smoke of the lamps causes health problems and is a major
cause of death among children below the age of five years
A prototype of the BALL, developed as an alternative to kerosene lighting. old. Besides this, the lamps often cause fires in rural homes.
Secondly, this way of lighting is unreliable and inefficient;
lamps are easily blown out, do not provide sufficient light
and cannot provide light in a downward direction. Finally,
kerosene based lighting is relatively expensive and bad for
the environment. In Madagascar, people spend about one
fifth of their income on kerosene for lighting. The use of
kerosene lamps results in an average annual CO2 production
of 130 kg per household.
Alternative to kerosene
Since LED lighting and solar cells are becoming less
expensive and more efficient, they can become the basis
of a possible alternative for kerosene based lighting.
Exploratory research in Madagascar and further market
research have demonstrated that a solar powered lighting
product with a maximum retail price of 10 Euro could be a
realistic alternative for the current lighting solutions.
63

64. www.bushproof.biosandfilter.org
The possibility to dim the light is an important opportunity
to save energy during the night. Many people use light
to keep evil spirits away from their babies. They spend
over one third of their lighting budget during the night,
since kerosene lamps and candles cannot be dimmed.
The investment in a solar powered lighting product that
can be dimmed during the night could be earned back in
approximately three months.
Design criteria
The most important criteria stated by BushΔProof were: An exploded view of the BALL and the panel.
- The product should be affordable BALL from top to bottom: non transparent housing part, power
connector, electronics, rubber ring, transparent housing part.
- The product should be desirable
Panel from top to bottom: transparent housing part, solar panel
- The product should be “BushΔProof” and non transparent housing part.
“BushΔProof” stands for Simple (people who have no
knowledge about solar energy should easily understand the
product), Tough (the product can resist the environment in
which it is used), Durable (the product has a long lifetime)
and the product aims at high value at low cost.
Affordable light
Hulshof designed a new solar powered lighting product for
BushΔProof: the BALL (BushΔProof Affordable Life Light).
The BALL is a combination of a small solar panel and a
lamp. The separate solar panel can be mounted on a roof
to charge three AA 600 mAh batteries. These batteries
power four wide angle WLED’s of 3 lumen each, providing
12 lumen in total; enough to illuminate a room of 4 by 4
meter. A micro controller is used to dim the light at night to
Rendering of the ball in detail.
1,2 lumen without losing efficiency and saving the lifetime
of the batteries.
64

65. Holy Cow or Cash Cow
€ Company
DSM
Graduation date
October 12, 2007 Rutger Bonsel
This project was executed for DSM Innovation Center,
a corporate body within Royal DSM N.V. responsible for
accelerating and stimulating innovation throughout the
whole company. This division had identified an opportunity
at the Base of the Pyramid and intends to use DSM’s
capabilities for addressing needs within the Indian diary
and cattle sector.
The objective of this project was to identify a strategic
direction for a business opportunity in the Indian cattle
and dairy industry, taking into consideration consumer
needs, stakeholders’ interests and trends in the contextual
environment, resulting in a financially viable business case,
A farmer milking her cow. Note that eighty percent of the farmers in India
including business model and related product concept.
have less than 3 animals.
Successful Strategies
The preliminary research question in this project was;
what are successful strategic methods for an entry in the
Base of the Pyramid? This question was addressed with a
literature research, resulting in a list of strategic elements
serving as an input for the project. Two elements had a
fundamental impact on the process: Firstly, the involvement
of unconventional stakeholders and secondly, the need for
integral development of product and the accompanying
business model.
Method
To reach the objective, three phases were executed; a
strategic analysis, the definition of the strategic direction
and the development of the product and business case.
An internal analysis into the strategic position of the focal
DSM business unit Animal Nutrition & Health (producer of
65

66. www.dsm.com
animal feed) in India revealed that the ruminant sector since it can monitor the actual use of the feed premixes
currently is neglected, due to its unorganized and scattered and can show the farmer instantly the effect of feeding on
character. DSM faces tough competition from local feed fertility. Use of the system results in a benefit for farmers
manufactures and has no direct leads to the farmers. Its of €0,05 per animal per day, in terms of decreased health
vitamins are from a higher quality than competitive products, costs and increased milk yield. To reach the BoP customers
but are also more expensive. DSM’s major strengths are its it is essential to cooperate with local partners, who have
technical knowledge and one of DSM’s diagnostic tools; the direct contact and are trusted by the farmers.
iCheck, currently the only available tool measuring instantly
Building trust
animal health at farm-level.
A pilot project is essential for showing the farmers the
The external analysis showed the diversity within Indian
advantages of the system, for building trust and for proving
dairy farming; India is the worlds’ largest dairy producer,
the actual benefits of the feed premix, since trust appeared
but 80 % of the farmers have less than 3 animals. A focus
to be a very important element for the BoP consumers.
group discussion revealed that these farmers do not have
Concluded, there is an actual business opportunity for
the knowledge of the function of vitamins in premix feed.
DSM at the Base of the Pyramid. The Indian small-scale
Furthermore, their actual need is education and training on
dairy farm sector is a largely untapped market for the cattle
all kind of aspects concerning dairy farming; animal health,
feed industry. A pro-active approach is required to reach
feeding and dairying practices. Finally, some farmers lack
the farmers and to support the professionalization of the
the appropriate infrastructure for dairy procurement and
currently unorganized dairy sector.
have financial difficulties, due to their bounding to local
middlemen.
Animal Feed to Animal Health
Pivotal element in the strategic direction was the transition
from selling animal feed to delivering animal health. A
Product Service System model satisfies this demand by
offering a full package of education, training, micro-credit
and insurance, on top of the animal feed. Through this DSM
can address a broad range of needs of the farmers, which
€
also justifies a higher selling price with respect to other
feed products in the market. The iCheck plays herein a role, Participants of the focus group, held to gather user insights.
66

67. Cooking in rural China
€ Company Graduation date
Philips Consumer Lifestyle August 8, 2007 Isabella Hoi-Kee Wong
In China, every 90 seconds a life is lost due to indoor air
pollution. Philips DAP aims to bring sustainable solutions
On page 102 another graduation project is presented on the Philips
to the BoP regarding the reduction of respiratory problems
woodstove, by Leonie Ideler. After her graduation project the woodstove
due to indoor air pollution. Consumer tests have been
has been developed further, and Philips expects to launch the woodstove
conducted in India with prototypes of a smokeless and
in India in the first half of 2009. Recently a commercial pilot was completed
efficient woodstove developed by Philips Research. The
in India, from which a great deal was learned, and this was a study to find
consumer tests have generated useful insight in the context,
out how the woodstove was applicable to rural china. Philips realizes that
in the benefits for the consumer, and in the required
a new market is about to be entered and that their approach to marketing
product improvements. In parallel they are investigating
and distribution needs to be modified; Philips is currently optimizing their
opportunities to introduce the solutions in the Chinese Base
business case and their go-to market strategy.
of the Pyramid.
Similar usability issues
The product proposal of the Philips Bio stove is an integration of all the
The first field research in six provinces resulted in the
improvement areas, increasing the likelyhood of the product to be adopted by
rural Chinese households. However, the implementation plan of this product definition of the Chinese rural BoP and the target market.
proposal is the other half of the successful adoption of the Philips Bio stove. It also provides knowledge into the renewable energy
development and the market of high efficient low emission
biomass stoves in China. In the second field research,
twelve Philips woodstoves had been tested in two different
provinces beneath the Yangtze river. The findings show
similar usability problems but different needs and wishes
between the provinces. Two personas, which are one of the
outcomes of this extensive research are used as the starting
point of the concept development.
Adoptable proposition for the Chinese rural BoP
The Philips Bio stove is a highly efficient low emission biomass
stove electronically controlled with a smart user interface.
It is a replacement for the open fire, built in firewood stove
(with chimney) and coal briquette stove. It enables the user
to cook meals without smoke in their kitchen or coming out
67

68. of the chimney, without electricity consumption and with
lower consumption of wood or other biomass fuels. The
user interface enables carefree cooking, because it informs
you when to add fuel. The product is surrounded by other
services to decrease the risk for the Chinese rural BoP to
purchase the Philips Bio stove, such as government funding,
alternative payments options, guarantee arrangements and
after sales service & support.
Research in India in rural China has shown differences
and similarities in usability problems, wishes and needs.
The stoves can provide a solution for many people in other Twelve woodstoves were used by a variety of rural inhabitants of
countries in South East Asia, as long as the differences China living in two different provinces in China. The results were
used for the new concept.
and similarities are properly addressed in product
functionalities.
The ashes from the Philips First the flame regulator is set to the The desired The red pilot light is blinking Both pilot lights are on
Bio stove is removed by lowest level and then little pieces heating and a short beep sound occurs continously; ready for
lifting up the ash handle at of paper and little twigs are used to value is set to inform you to add/refill fuel. stir frying
the back of the stove. ignite the fire. Subsequently the ON by turning The user decide to turn the fl
button is pressed, both pilot lights the flame ame regulator to the highest
start to blink. Fuel is added as desired regulator. heating value, which is suitable
to increase the fire. for stir frying.
68

69. Company ate
Graduation date Fire4India
Servals Automation May, 2007 Integral Design Project
Executed by Veronie Croes, Bjørn-Evert van Eck Ras-
mussen, Swie Oei and Susan Oudshoorn.
Nowadays fuels such as wood are getting scarcer due
to depletion of natural resources such as deforestation.
Therefore the trend is to develop more sustainable
solutions, also in the cooking field. The goal of Servals is
to manufacture products that contribute to better living
circumstances for the poor people in India. Their vision
is “Bringing appropriate technology to the ‘base of the
pyramid’ to enhance their quality of life”. Their mission is to
develop a scaleable and sustainable business model using
native and rural technologies and manufacture socially
relevant and environment friendly systems. Servals wants to
create a sustainable business organization that contributes
to poverty alleviation in the areas of energy conservation
and water management.”
Eliminate kerosene
The way people cook in the current situation contributes
A future user testing the prototype. The picture on the top shows
the pumping. On the bottom the working stove is shown with a pan. to health problems and the green house effect. Servals has
been working on the development of a stove which only
needs plant oil to burn, yet kerosene was needed to support
the burning. Fire4India was hired to improve this burner and
eliminate the need of kerosene, as well as to design a stove
especially for the BoP target group. Servals wants to be
successful in the burner market as well as the stove market
and wants to achieve a higher penetration. An innovative
burner based on plant oil can create a strong position in
the market for Servals as there are only a small number of
direct competitors in a large and expanding market.
Urban vs Rural
Differences between urban and rural people in cooking
69

70. www.servalsgroup.blogspot.com
patterns and the use of cooking stoves were discovered in handles of the sliding mechanism are in the lower (most
the user study, as well as differences in living circumstances, left) position. In this situation the handle of the flame plate
the shops they visit etc. This indicates that these two groups is freely accessible, without the obstruction of the sliding
have to be serviced and reached in different ways. Although handles.
the stove satisfies the needs of both rural and urban poor,
Green prototype
on the short term only the urban poor will be targeted, as
The design of the stove has obvious similarities with the
rural people cook on wood they collect themselves, which is
existing kerosene wickstove. This makes the Wicket instantly
a lot cheaper than plant oil. Wood is not a competitive fuel
recognizable as a stove. It is important that the stove forms
for urban people. Also, urban poor can be reached through
a unity. Therefore the tank is placed below the burner
the distribution channels Servals is most familiar with.
and follows the same cylindrical shape as the frame. To
The rural poor are still an important target group for the
make clear that the stove operates on a different fuel than
plant oil stove, and should be targeted in a later stadium. By
existing stoves, the stove has a distinguishing green color.
first targeting urban poor, a critical user quantity is created
The handles are made in an eye-catching different color, so
that is necessary to:
it is instantly recognizable which parts can be touched. The
- Increase the amount of plant oil manufacturers
stove is mostly made out of recycled mild steel; a strong
- Prove the worth of stove to the rest of India’s poor and cheap material, largely available on the local market.
- Prove the worth of the plant oil as a fuel
The Wicket
Fire4India developed an innovative cooking stove which
burns on 100% crude plant oil and is able to burn on all
different kinds of plant oil. The stove, specially designed
for the Indian BoP market, creates more independence by
giving the possibility of extracting plant oil by the BoP people
themselves. The stove is designed in such a way that even
wrong usage can not lead to dangerous situations. The
pumping and poking movements are known to the users.
The handles to slide the caps up and down are positioned
in such a way that it is easy to make the rotating movement
with both hands. The flame plate is operated when the
The team and the working prototype.
70

71. Knowledge Gaps in
€ Company
Delft University of Tech.
Graduation date
Nov 27, 2006
Product Development
Yu-Kuan Chang
Multinational Corporations (MNCs) increasingly develop
new business models, products, and services to satisfy the
needs in new markets. From urban to rural areas, emerging
markets have extremely diverse groups of consumers with
different needs. In this project, the strategies of seven
multinational companies were analyzed in a case study
research. The companies included were Philips, VIA, Haier,
Motorola, Intel, Microsoft, and BenQ.
The objective of the project was to learn how MNCs
identify their roles and opportunities in emerging markets,
and how they develop new products and strategies for these
markets. Within the project, there was a particular focus
on how MNCs develop new products for people who earn
Yu-Kuan Chang took seven MNCs as case studies to gather their experience
less than three dollars per day. This segment represents the
and knowledge to learn for future product development for the BoP.
majority of the population in emerging markets.
Interviews with Managers
The data was gathered through interviews with MNC
managers who are influential to the company’s emerging
market strategies and innovation processes. Twelve
VIA: Bridging the Digital Divide interviews with participants from seven MNCs were
VIA seeks to develop a sustainable bridge over the digital divide of the conducted to collect knowledge and practical experiences.
80% of the world population that do not have access to the internet. Wihin each case, aspects of motivation, strategy, innovation
Therewith, the company makes vast information, education and process, difference, difficulty, challenge, etc were analyzed
commercial resources available and thus empowers many people in the and reported on. Some examples of the results for three
BoP. Their approach to emerging markets is based on four objectives: case studies are described in the boxes spread over these
· New markets: beyond ownership to access; pages.
· New environments: beyond city comfort to rural remoteness; The results reveal that similar motivations to enter the
· New usage models: from “one-to-one” to “one-to-many”; BoP market can lead to various product strategies and
· New products: from PCs to PHD appliances. development processes. The motivation on corporate social
71

72. responsibility is required to support the projects which aim
Intel: Breaking the Vicious Cycle
at the Base of Pyramid (BoP). These types of projects cannot
Intel identified a vicious circle in emerging markets. The cycle
only be evaluated by short-term return on investment, but
of less access to technology leading to less productivity and
need to be sustained by long-term visions on social return
knowledge; this in turn leads to less personal and business
on investment as well.
wealth. Intel believes that by investing in technology, this
Challenges in Innovation for the BoP cycle can be broken, and the emerging markets can be
The major challenges within innovation process include opened up to sustainable growth.
the opportunity identification, front-end research, product
The vicious cycle of lacking technology is broken by Intel’s
introduction and delivery. Most challenges arise because
approach to invest in technology to increase wealth in the BoP.
of the unfamiliarity with the local context and the distinct
infrastructure in emerging markets. Although MNCs have
strong global resources and networks, a sustainable local
enterprise network is necessary for MNCs to interact with
local the communities. Non-Governmental Organizations
play a vital role in the process in which they intend to
approach consumers at the BoP.
This project aimed to gather the best practises of all the
MNCs. However, a general strategy for emerging markets
could not be identified. This knowledge can be shared for
learning and future activities in the BoP.
Microsoft Research: Pay-As-You-Go Concepts
The ‘flexGo’ is a flexible alternative to traditional PC financing. It is a new concept
to make PC’s affordable for medium to low income communities by providing financing
options for buying a PC. By doing ethnographic research to understand the local context,
Microsoft research is able to develop ICT technology for the BoP. They believe this single
method can work in most emerging markets. Therefore they encourage their researchers
to work at BoP communities. The high level of uncertainty increases the importance of
several prototyping and user testing cycles before marketing the cheap PC.
72

73. Photo: Prabhu Kandachar
73

74. Market for
Holi Colours
India
74

75. Design & Culture Design & culture in the
BoP Domain
Annemiek van Boeijen
Travelling is very common these days, at least for those who
can afford to. People are travelling all around the world,
looking for opportunities to make a fortune, escaping from
existing life, and looking for adventure. Travellers learn from
what is different and common, always comparing that what
they come across on their travels to what they know.
The students featured in this book have all travelled
to the country their project was focused on. The many
constraints (finance, resources, skills, legislation…) students
face in BoP projects are challenging; students really feel
they are provoked to be more creative, enterprising and
Onion model of Geert Hofstede focused. An aspect that motivates me to support these
students is that through BoP projects students will learn
1. Hofstede G. (2005), Cultures and organizations,
more about themselves. They get the chance to develop an
software of the mind. New York: McGraw-Hill
open mind and they can position their own truths into other
perspectives. I believe that experience abroad teaches the
students to be more effective, respectful of other cultures,
and to better understand their own culture and values. As a
student said ‘it is a life long experience’.
One of the main differences encountered by students
in BoP projects is the difference in culture. The cultural
anthropologist Geert Hofstede1 defined culture as the
system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviours and
artefacts that the members of a society use to cope with
their world and with one another (2005). The people that
we consider as the BoP live in cultures that differ greatly
from the cultures we live in. Our students have to put in
effort to understand the differences as well as what they
…..local habits, shared by a group….
photo: Toon Fey have in common with the people they design for.
Culture plays a role in the relationships between people
75

76. “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and
Design & Culture
narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain
and in the relationships between people and products. At the Faculty and new products in particular depends partly on the
of Industrial Design Engineering students are taught a holistic culture where the people live in. Culture is manifested in
design approach: they are taught to research and understand the different layers. Hofstede distinguishes four layers:
whole context before developing design solutions. Cultural theories Symbols Words, gestures, images, and objects
can help formulate relevant research questions. For instance, when manifested in a specific group such as
hierarchy in a society is stronger than the designer is used to, the consumer products, services, art, dialect
following questions might be relevant; Who will be the owner of Heroes People - alive or dead, real or fiction - that
the product? What kind of status will the product provoke? What have a specific meaning for a group of
will the that mean for the manifestation (functions, form, colours, people, such as Nelson Mandela for the
shape etc.) of the product? world, queen Beatrix for the Netherlands,
So how can we find the answers to these questions? Methods for the chief of a village
user and usage research need to take cultural aspects into account. Rituals Collective activities, not (just) to fulfil a
Designers should be aware that users might not feel comfortable technical function, but because of a social
to give their personal opinion, especially when living in a culture interest for the group such as a wedding
where community opinion is considered of more value than the ceremony, praying before dinner
opinion of an individual. In these cases, a group brainstorm session
Values A collective tendency to prefer a certain
as commonly practised in Europe will not work as expected.
course of events above another one,
Design management is another aspect where culture plays a big
expressed by qualifications such as good-
role. An example is found in the differences in power distances
bad, dirty-clean, ugly-beautiful.
between nations. In countries with relatively high power distance,
Although products are part of the outer layer, the
Western European students might feel limited in their freedom,
symbols, they are directly related to the inner layers.
misunderstood and unsupported. They will have to explore these
Therefore designers should understand all layers.
new feelings and find new ways of communication and learn to
I would like to end my deliberations by emphasizing
adjust. That is possible only when the designer is open to and
that culture is only one of the many aspects of a BoP
understands both the differences and the common features in
design project. Culture stresses the differences between
communication.
groups of people, but there are also universal and
For the manifestation of the new product, designers need to
inherited principles that lead to global shared solutions,
understand how the intended users will give meaning to the
and there are personal differences everywhere that
product, and how the new product will influence their social
require individual solutions, wherever your location in
system. How groups of people give meaning to products in general
the economic pyramid.
76

77. Photo: Stephen Boom
77

78. Boats
Cambodia
78

79. Reeling Machine for Silk
€ Company
Sharepeople (EYE) , Pradan
Graduation date
November 10, 2006
Yarn Producers
Annemarie Mink
PRADAN, an Indian NGO, attempts to reduce the vulnerability
of socio-economically disadvantaged communities. They
organize poor women into savings and credit groups,
and develop locally suitable sectoral activities to expand
economic opportunities in the hands of poor families.
One of their activities introduced in the villages of
Jharkhand and Bihar is the Tasar Silk reeling project. Being
a unique silk that grows in the wild, Tasar silk currently
lacks an own identity, as opposed to traditional cultivated
‘Mulberry silk’. Also, traditional technology, inefficient
production processes and exploitation by traders and money
lenders have crippled the activity of Tasar silk production.
Reeling is done by using a ‘reeling-cum-twisting’ machine
which produces coarse yarn and a re-reeling machine, which
takes care of re-reeling the yarn onto a standardized re-reel
3D models of the reeling machine (left) and the re-reeling machine (right) drum. Mink aimed to develop a re-design of the existing
‘reeling-cum-twisting’ machines. Lack of quality control,
safety and proper ergonomics are the barriers.
Re-design of the Reeling Machine
The main problem of the existing machine is lack of quality
control. Thickness, twist and colour vary widely, which
makes it difficult to establish a good quality standard for
the produced yarn. Therefore, entrepreneurs struggle to
get a good price for their yarn. Also, the machine has a
lot of unprotected moving parts, which cause concerns for
the safety of the workers. The machine is driven by human
powered pedalling, is noisy and has a fixed height, which all
cause ergonomics problems. The costs of the machine are
high in relation to its yarn production.
Second prototype of the reeling machine during user testing Together with PRADAN, Mink developed a number
79

80. www.icco.nl
www.pradan.net
www.sharepeople.nl
of criteria for the re-design. First criterion is to maintain re-design and the future profit for the silk reelers. She
a constant reeling speed, lessen physical problems and estimated that reelers can produce 1,9 times more yarn
enable a table-sized tool. Also, the machine should include than with the existing machines. Which means that reelers
a quality control mechanism and independently driven will increase their profit from 56 Rupees to 104 rupees a
spindles should enable lines to continue in case one of the day. Both from user and yarn production process evaluation,
four yarn lines breaks. The introduction of a motor and Mink concluded that the machines are safer, more energy
quality control brings extra costs, which must be nullified by efficient, more time efficient, more user-friendly, have
an increased quality and/or output of yarn. Mink divided the higher yield and the yarn produced from the machine is of
functions of the reeling machine into sub-problems using a better quality.
a morphological map. The main functions of the machine
Update
were: combining filaments, insertion of twist, taking up
After graduation, Mink was hired by the Dutch development
yarn, separate twisted and non-twisted yarn, spreading
organization ICCO to finish the project and produce a
yarns on take-up package, establishing transmission,
second, smaller and cheaper prototype. A student from the
separate driving take-up package and integrate re-reeling.
faculty of Mechanical Engineering was selected to help with
Mink developed product concepts based on three different
improving both the machines. Mr. Rahmouni did a great job
techniques: non-integrated re-reeling, indirect integrated
in helping to optimize both the machines and together they
re-reeling and direct integrated re-reeling. The concept
went to India to build the second prototypes. The outcome
of indirect integrated re-reeling was chosen based on the
was two smaller, cheaper, even more energy-efficient and
expected simple usage and production and because this
good working machines, understandable for the reeler and
concept offers the possibility of producing a new type of yarn
the manufacturer. Rahmouni will graduate soon on the
that opens up new markets. The yarn is guided and easy to
improvements of the re-design of the reeling machines.
control and reach in this concept. Prime advantage of the
The second generation prototypes are being adjusted to
concept is the estimated high yarn production rate. Mink
perfection and then a test-series of thirty machines will run
materialized the concept, which resulted in fully detailed
in a newly established reeling centre. If this is all working
design and a prototype was built in a local workshop.
well, the machines will be taken in full production and
Safe, Efficient and User-Friendly replace the currently used machines. Subsequently, the
An important aspect of developing products for the BoP machines will directly contribute to the improvement of the
women’s working comfort and to their income. Improvement
€
market, is the necessity for affordability and return on
investment. Mink calculated the estimated cost of the of income contributes directly to their livelihoods.
80

81. Support Tool for the
€ Company
Impact
Graduation date
Sept 21, 2006
Chinese Village Doctor
Marion de Groot
Every Chinese village has a village doctor. These are low
educated villagers that have received a basic medical
course, but function as a general practitioner. While they
This current doctor set know their patients well, they have very little contact
does not include more with more educated doctors, and no access to up-to-date
sophisticated tools. Next to
medical information resources.
that, village doctors do not
have appropriate medical This project aimed at developing a support tool to provide
knowledge, nor contact with the village doctors access to medical information, guide
experts.
them with medical decisions and link them to the national
medical network.
Barefoot Doctors
The Chinese healthcare system is built up of tiers: 3rd tier
(1000 beds, 2300 doctors), 2nd tier (650 beds, 600 doctors)
and 1st tier hospitals (50 beds, 100 doctors) and the rural
The LifeBox network involves information sharing Community Healthcare Points (CHP). The CHPs are manned
and distribution througout the network.
by an average of two village doctors, or ‘barefoot doctors’.
In 2004, 95% of the Chinese villages had a village clinic,
counting up to an average of one doctor per thousand
rural inhabitants. However, they often have received only
basic medical training and have little contact with the urban
hospitals and up-to-date medical information. The main
problems De Groot focussed on are a lack of (quality) tools,
appropriate medical knowledge, counter-effective behavior
of rural population and the small budgets rural hospitals
receive. The goal of De Groot’s project is to improve the
quality of this village doctor by developing a support tool.
The company Impact in Breda developed a self-monitoring
system for diabetics in the Netherlands: the set-top box.
The company saw potential in developing this system for
81

82. the village doctors in China. The Lifebox, as the support diagnoses. The reasons to use the box are the availability
tool is called, provided the starting point for the product of a TV in almost every community healthcare point and
development process. The design problem consisted out of the familiarity of the doctors with using a remote control.
understanding the context of healthcare in Chinese villages Lifeboxes are connected to (local) servers and hospitals via
and developing a dedicated interaction and implementation the phone network. This enables the sharing and updating
strategy. of information throughout the network of medical facilities.
The software of the LifeBox has three sections: a patient
Product Guidelines
guide, supporting the doctor with diagnosing patients, an
During the development, De Groot focused on trust between
education section providing course material from the higher
doctor, patient and product. She developed guidelines for
level hospitals or the district and an email box. The e-mail
the product based on context research and interviews from
box can contain messages from all the parties involved in
general practitioners.
the network, keeping the doctor up-to-date.
Based on context research she formulated guidelines
such as ‘the introduction of a new tool can be compared
to other tools the doctor uses. Since these are trusted, the
tool will be trusted as well’ and ‘the doctor should be able to
operate independently of the product’.
General practitioners were interviewed to gain insight
in how the village doctors could be supported with useful
information. These interviews resulted in a number of
guidelines for the product such as ‘information should be
organized around symptoms of diseases, to enable under-
educated doctors to find the right information quickly’ and
‘the product should end up with differential diagnosis and
indicate the probability of each possible diagnosis’.
The LifeBox
The product supports access to medical information,
communication with educated doctors and inclusion in the
national healthcare network. The LifeBox can store patients’ With the LifeBox village doctors have access to medical information,
health history and help the doctor navigate through the contact with educated doctors and inclusion in the national
healthcare network.
82

83. Design of a Malaria
€ Company
Philips Research
Graduation date
August 31, 2006
Diagnostics Device
Cathelijne Huis in ‘t Veld
Worldwide, up to 500 million clinical cases of malaria occur
every year, causing up to 2 million deaths. Amongst these
deaths are mainly young children. Currently, the gold
standard for diagnosis of malaria is microscopic research
(the best method available). This is a reliable method,
but trained microscopists are needed. Other methods that
are easier to perform are less reliable, cannot identify all
species, are more expensive or the tropical climates easily
influence their reliability.
Researchers at Philips Research, Care & Health
applications develop techniques that can make the diagnosis
as reliable as microscopic research, independent of the
skills of the operator and climatic conditions and are either
portable or non-invasive. To develop a successful product,
more knowledge must be gained to better understand the
context of malaria diagnosis. Consequently, Cathelijne Huis
in ‘t Veld aimed to develop a concept for a malaria diagnosis
Rendering of the computer model made of the malaria diagnosis device. device for the Indian context, in cooperation with Manipal
University. Next to the context research and design of a
concept, she also evaluated the BoP protocol of Stuart Hart
with respect to usage by students and Philips employees.
Alternative Medicins for Malaria
After the kick-off in the Netherlands, Huis in ‘t Veld
continued her literature and context research in India. The
healthcare service in India can be divided in three levels
(see graduation project of Jon Rodriguez).
In India there are many more types of healthcare
than allopathic healthcare. Ayurvedic medicine as well
as homeopathic medicine plays an important role in the
83

84. www.philips.com
medical market in India. For malaria this means that Quick Malaria Diagnosis
allopathic medicine comes across most initial cases. When During her stay in India, Huis in ‘t Veld developed design
the disease is in the second or third stage and the patient solutions. The malaria diagnosis device should work
suffers from repetitive fever attacks, some people approach according to the technique of the automated microscope.
ayurvedic or homeopathic medicine. Allopathic medicine Integration in malaria control programs is needed to reach
generally makes most use of electronic equipment for both as many people as possible. This meant that the main users
diagnostic as well as treatment purposes. Doctors rely a are Auxiliary Nurse Midwifes (ANM) and mass screening
great deal on electronic devices. In the case of ayurvedic teams.
healthcare almost the same methods are being used for The main function of the device was to “enable a
diagnosis as allopathic medicine. It is mainly the treatment minimally instructed user in India to quickly state the
that differs. Instead of generating large and concentrated diagnosis of malaria, independent of any other facilities”.
doses of the effective drug, the complete natural form is After the analysis Huis in ‘t Veld proceeded with concept
being given to the patient. In this way the drugs are less development and optimization in the Netherlands. The
toxic but the healing process takes longer. concept had to conform to criteria of technology (the
There are approximately 156 different species of automated microscope), construction, safety, data
Plasmodium. Four are known to affect humans. Malaria communication, comfort, aesthetics and costs. During the
is treated in 5 phases. Since both allophatic and traditional development stage, potential users were involved to ensure
medicine have a common way of diagnosing malaria, the relevance and usability of the final product. This resulted in
project focussed on this part of the malaria care process. a portable device that can be transported and used by the
ANMs and in mass screening activities.
Five phases of malaria medical care.
84

85. Personal Water Purifier
€ Company
Vestergaard Fransen
Graduation date
August 4, 2006 Roelie Bottema
For 1.1 billion people, access to safe drinking water is
limited. Poor people suffer most, because they cannot
afford to buy drinking water. This results in more illnesses
and more pressure on women to transport the water. The
Danish company Vestergaard Frandsen (VF) has developed
LifeStraw, a product that purifies surface water for personal
use with filters. People can carry the mobile LifeStraw
anywhere, which is complemented by another water
purifying product at home. For Ghana, LifeStraw could be
lifesaving since 38% of the people do not have access to
safe drinking water and the majority of the people live in
Lifestraw Child is a smaller and slightly adapted version of the current
LifeStraw. The child can drink by sucking, squeezing or tumbling the bottle, or rural areas.
a combination of these. Roelie Bottema investigated several aspects of the
implementation of LifeStraw, focused on children under
the age of five. Also, she developed instruction manuals
and posters. In this way health workers can instruct people
better and more complete about the use and other issues
concerning the LifeStraw.
Drinking
Her user research demonstrated that people are not used
to pay for their water or treat their drinking water. Water is
rare and often polluted and women have to walk far to get
the water, especially in the dry season. Even though people
are aware of that, they do not have a choice rather than
The problem with
using this water.
drinking 'dirty' water Regarding LifeStraw, users did notice they need it:
is visualized. Also, ‘everyone should have one’ and ‘I do not have diarrhoea
the actions for using
any more’. Also, the appearance appealed to them and they
and maintaining the
products are explained associated status to the product user. When asked about
step by step.
85

86. www.vestergaard-frandsen.com
what LifeStraw actually did, people mentioned ‘It retracts named LifeStraw Child, a flexible bottle and a special
diseases from the water’ and ‘it stops dirt’. Participants often mouthpiece. The bottle has a one-way valve that lets air
talked of LifeStraw being a good product, but not everyone in but not out. On the transparent bottle, a volume scale
could afford it ($2.50). Also, they were afraid that the was added to give feedback to the mothers and a writable
product would be stolen. area included to personalize it or write the expiry date as
From this part of the research, Bottema recommended to reminder. Using a smaller LifeStraw makes the product
take care of disposal and replacement aspects. The existing easier to handle for children. In LifeStraw Child a valve is
LifeStraw could be improved by enabling personalization added which prevents the water to flow out of LifeStraw
and giving feedback on the level of sucking power and Child after sucking it up to a certain height. When pressure
effect of cleaning. is put on the valve, it does let air through, an aspect that
makes the product easier to clean by blowing.
Vulnerable Children
In her research, Bottema observed that children younger Instructions to Health Workers
than three years could not handle LifeStraw by themselves. In addition to developing LifeStraw Child, Bottema created
They do not understand how to suck the water. The child instruction material for usage of both LifeStraw and
does not understand why it does not get water in its mouth LifeStraw Child. She first concluded from the user research
immediately after sucking. Also, maneuvering the cup and which elements should be included. Focus should be on
LifeStraw at the same time is complicated for them. Because the relation of clean drinking water and health, what the
small children are most vulnerable for waterborne diseases LifeStraw product line does, and how to use and maintain
and LifeStraw is unsuitable, Bottema concluded that a child the products. Expiration and personal use are also aspects
version of the LifeStraw should be developed suitable for that should be stressed. She developed a manual for health
the children. workers and
Ideas were generated in brainstorm sessions, with a large poster
Vestergaard Frandsen employees in Ghana and also with for usage while
students at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, instructing people
Delft. Bottema elaborated on the ideas and made
compromises on price, feasibility and other requirements. An instruction
Two concepts were developed based on working principles manual for both
health workers
and production of the existing LifeStraw.
as users of the
The final proposal consists of a slightly modified LifeStraw, LifeStraw was
designed.
86

87. Knowledge Framework:
€ Company
Delft University of Tech.
Graduation date
July 29, 2006
Design4Billions
Mijntje de Caluwé
The strategy and business development for emerging markets
is growing; starting with the theory of Prahalad, while the
development of knowledge on product development for the
Base of the Pyramid is still lagging behind. Enterprises and
universities have difficulties in developing products for the
emerging markets: a lack of structured or systematically
ordered information inhibits efficient and effective product
development, also referred to as Design4Billions in this
project. Design4Billions aims at a market of approximately
4 billion people who earn less than four dollars a day.
The goal of the project of Mijntje de Caluwé was to
develop a knowledge framework for product development
for emerging markets. It should provide a knowledge source
for projects at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering.
Knowledge from experts was gathered on three topics:
knowledge, product development process and contextual
Screenshot of the online knowledge framework on the ‘stakeholders’ page.
aspects. A fourth was added after the interviews: risk
factor.
Product development for the BoP is carried out by a
number of companies. Yet little public knowledge exists
on how to deal with design related problems for emerging
markets. Through a series of explorative interviews with
eight experts, De Caluwé gathered knowledge and insights.
These were integrated in an online knowledge portal
(www.design4billions.com).
Designer Related Knowledge
Specific design related knowledge was subdivided in four
aspects: attitude, experience, information and skills. The
two main perspectives of designers were either an engaged,
87

88. www.design4billions.com
personal attitude towards the BoP, or an accidental financial, Governmental and Designer.
entering of this market segment. Individual experiences 3 Designers4Billions and their main focus points are
are important to designers, and are related to the product mentioned and described in the categories: knowledge,
brand, the role of the participant and the project context. context, process and risk.
For information gathering, multinational companies rely 4 Collaboration is stressed as the means to achieve
on consumer research, while small and medium sized successful product development in a BoP arena.
enterprises use Non-Governmental Organizations and the Additional features are provided in the form of ‘tips &
World Heath Organization to gain insight into their target tricks’, a BoP library, an inspiration page including links to
groups. For designers in the BoP, their social skills are most interesting websites, and a list of definitions.
valuable, an open mind, flexibility and communication are
key factors.
The product development process relates to five aspects:
strategy formulation, design requirements, product The Delft Innovation Model adjusted for emerging markets.
development, market introduction and product in use. The
process bottlenecks are the design requirements and the
products in use.
Framework
The perspective of the designer was central while
structuring the knowledge for future use by designers. The
online knowledge database contains all the information that
is gathered during the research project. The framework
organizes knowledge on product development for the BoP
in four main ‘chapters’:
1 Global village, which contains general information
about the place Design4Billions takes in a global world
context.
2 The stakeholders of product development for the BoP
are mentioned and described: Business, Humanitarian,
Local enterprises, Knowledge, Technological, User, Micro
88

89. Photo: Ferry
89

90. Girl Getting
Water in Favela
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
90

91. Product Service System
€ Company
Bosch & Siemens
Graduation date
July 7, 2006
for Plant Oil Stove
Elselien Epema
Car Wash Scenario New Business Do It Yourself Scenario
Several In developing countries, indoor air pollution and deforestation
scenarios for
In this scenario the PSS is a In this scenario the PSS pro- of land are the two main environmental and health problems
system that takes care of ev- vides the tools and needs implementation
erything. The POS user only through a new system, but of the plant occurring due to the use of biomass fuel for household
without helping the users ac-
has to address the need
tively oil stove were energy. Bosch and Siemens Home Appliances Group (BSH)
made. The and the University of Hohenheim have developed a plant oil
Service Do It Yourself most promising
cooking stove. Plant oil is abundant in rural areas of many
Vintage Scenario Familiar Scenario scenario was
In this scenario the PSS turns In this scenario the PSS turns the “vintage developing countries, so this market is very promising for
a current business into a com- a current business into a com- scenario”, shown implementing the stove. A pilot project with a non-profit
bination with the POS supply bination with the POS supply
in the lower left
and service and service focus was executed in the Philippines.
quadrant.
Elselien Epema developed a business plan to implement
Existing Businesses
the plant oil stove in the Philippine market. She wrote a
business plan and created a financial tool to demonstrate
the financial feasibility of the stove implementation plan.
Product Service System
POTC
The Product Service
System includes
distribution,
marketing and
after sales of the
plant oil stove and
supplements. All
partners should be
organized as shown
in the figure.
91

92. www.bsh-group.com
Safety, Time and Convenience oil stoves could be seen as a product service system. Both
Several households in the Philippines have been using products, including the stove and fuels, and service, such
prototypes of the plant oil stove. After a year, research as training and maintenance, should be delivered. To show
concluded that the advantages of the stove for the users are potential systems, Epema made several scenarios, each
safety, time, convenience and the package-size fuel. Also the consisting of goals and ideas for implementation.
uniqueness and use of new technology makes it interesting The most promising scenario was the ‘vintage scenario’,
for Philippines to use the stove. A plan to market the stove where a current business is modified into a combination of
successfully should focus on these points, according to stove supplier and service provider. By using an existing
Epema. However, affordability is always the first priority. business, the implementation would be easier and more
In her research, she focused on understanding the effective towards end users.
target group needs and possibilities. The target group The chain included three parties: the plant oil technology
is not aware of all predefined benefits such as improved centre, distribution and service centres and a cooperative.
health and environmentally friendly. She also surveyed The centres are responsible for marketing the stoves and
potential business partners or competitors and the current service and are set up by local entrepreneurs. Each selling
local market. Switching from wood and charcoal to plant point of the cooperative has a plant oil tank with a tap
oil would raise initial costs for both restaurants and system. Consumers bring their containers and fill these
households; however, switching from LPG to plant oil would with oil. No packaging is needed and the consumer can buy
be more profitable, because of reducing energy costs and exactly the amount he prefers.
initial investment.
Finance
Epema also extracted important business model factors
Product prices needs to be adjusted to the user’s financial
from literature. For business partners it is important to
possibilities by subsidizing by BSH. Also, users can pay in
organize clear local communication, take care of the
instalments. The financial model predicts that entrepreneurs
relationships and look for partners close to the local people.
can earn twice the minimum monthly income for a fulltime
All products should be affordable to the target group,
employee.
promotion, location and opening hours adjusted to local
The financial model is translated into a financial tool, to
conditions. High quality after-sale service would improve
visualize the influence of decisions and the sensitivity of
the use of the stove as well.
variables. Also, the subsidy and selling prices are defined.
Product and Service Epema recommended a lowering of material costs, local
The system for the distribution and service centre of plant production of the stove burner and an increased lifespan of
replaceable parts.
92

93. Tricycle for Disabled
€ Company
Movendi FDN and MAK-D
Graduation date
July, 2006
Entrepreneurs
Integral Design Project - GhanaMoves
Executed by Rutger Bonsel, Sietse Cieraad, Stéph-
anie Reintjens and Imke Schepers
The Movendi Foundation, a Dutch Non-Governmental
Organization (NGO), aimed at helping physically disabled
in emerging markets, has projects in Kakinada, India.
The NGO also has founded several workshops in mobility
equipment, which are owned by local people. A team of the
second year Master course Integral Design Project searched
The two concepts, hip-spot and high-spot, were developed in
for new product-market opportunities for one of the local
cooperation with the local metal workshop Mak-D in Ghana.
metal workshops in Ghana, called MAK-D.
MAK-D Metal Works is a small metal workshop in Madina-
Accra and has one owner and seven employees. They focus
on the production of fences, furniture, vendor carriers and
tricycles for disabled. Due to a lack of financial support, the
company is not able to produce tricycles anymore. The aim
of this project was to support MAK-D in growing its business
in a sustainable manner. They approached the problem by
developing a new product that integrates the interests of
the company, the customers, the users of the product and
society.
Employing Disabled People
The team did market research in the medical sector, as well
as in several other sectors. They investigated the situation
of disabled children in Ghana, they visited rehabilitation
centres in Kumasi and Accra and interviewed local people
of Ghana.
From this explorative research they drew conclusions
that directed their process:
Prototypes of the concept were developed to enable
• The situation of young disabled children in Ghana is
user testing in the context of intended use.
93

94. www.movendifoundation.org
quite good, due to efforts of Liliane Funds and Nsawam donate the vendor carriers as an act of charity. In this
Orthopedic Centre. scenario, the disables people would become owner
• The Ghanaian society is annoyed by disabled who are of the vendor carrier and can become independent
begging on the street. entrepreneurs.
• Only a small portion of the disabled is actually begging,
High-Spot Tricycle
the major part of the disabled population is willing to
Two concepts were developed in cooperation with MAK-D:
work but cannot find employment.
The ‘Hip-spot’ and the ‘High-spot’. Both concepts were made
The team also identified that there is severe competition
into prototypes using the means available in the workshop.
in the metalwork sector, especially in fences and furniture.
The prototypes were tested by end-users, after which the
The sector is characterized by copy and imitation. And there
team choose the ‘high-spot concept’.
are no other producers of vendor carriers and tricycles in
The trade-tricycle ‘High-Spot’ enables disabled people in
Madina. From this the team concluded that:
Ghana to involve in street-trade, the sector that provides
• MAK-D is the only producer of mechanical products with
employment to the major part of the population of
wheels in its competitive environment.
Ghana. Before they were not able to do so, however more
• The trade sector is a lively sector; a major part of the
organizations are stimulating participation of disabled. The
Ghana economy is based on trading, where vendor
implementation of the product also had to attract attention
carriers are common.
for all MAK-D’s activities and gave a boost to the overall
From the external research a strategic product-market
business of MAK-D.
opportunity was formulated for MAK-D: Design of equipment
The team developed a step-wise marketing plan for
that enables the disabled to participate in trade business.
successfully launching the High-Spot. The implementation
Selling or Donating? plan is divided into five parts: the marketing strategy,
From a search for potential customers two possible scenarios product strategy, price strategy and financial issues, channel
and target groups emerged. The first scenario was to find management and communication strategy.
companies that sell provisions and are willing to sell their Furthermore, the team attracted the company Fanmilk
products trough disabled people using the MAK-D vendor to be seriously interested in supporting the disabled to get
carrier. In this case, the disabled will act as vendors that sell employment. Consequently, a pilot test was intiated with
the companies goods, and are thus indirectly employed by three vendor carriers to sell their products. This pilot was
€
the company. done in cooperation with the Ghana Society of Physically
The second scenario was to search for other companies, Disabled and Hope for Life and was enthusiastically received
NGOs or service clubs, rotaries etc. These parties would by the local stakeholders
94

95. Human Powered
€ Company
Inbar
Graduation date
June 21, 2006
Bamboo Splitting Tool
Willem Glasbergen
Bamboo grows in many parts of the world. Many of these
Compared to other natural areas have in common that a large part of the inhabitants
Strength/Mass per Volume materials, bamboo has live in poverty. This project was part of the objectives of
a very high strength to
stiffness ratio.
INBAR, International Organization for Bamboo and Rattan,
Stifness/Mass per Volume
which aims to develop rural livelihoods, environments and
businesses worldwide through bamboo and rattan. One of
the possible applications of bamboo is in the production
of matchsticks. INBAR developed a patented chemical
process for producing the burning heads, yet the sticks are
still produced manually and inefficiently. Willem Glasbergen
aimed to develop a more efficient way to produce the sticks
from bamboo in the local context and with local means.
Bamboo Splitting
Concrete Steel Wood Bamboo Glasbergen analysed the results of a previous project at the
faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, and performed a
number of tests to gain more insight into bamboo splitting.
Bamboo is a tall grass that belongs to the tribe called
‘Bambusae’. Compared to other natural materials, bamboo
has a very high strength to stiffness ratio. This makes it
useful for a multitude of applications, from construction
of large buildings to incense sticks and especially suited
for matchsticks. Currently, the splitting of bamboo into
matchsticks is done by hand using a knife, called the ‘dao’
(see figure on the left). This process is labour intensive
and inefficient compared to the efficiency of the patented
The Bamboo Splitter is very
efficient for local production of process of attaching the burning heads to the sticks.
matchsticks. First a slice tool is The goal of the tool was to produce good quality
used to produce long slices of
matchsticks, produce them more efficiently, adjusted to the
bamboo. After that, this manual
tool is used to produce sticks local context and produced locally.
from the long slices.
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96. www.inbar.int
The focus was on the relation between the tool and the
user, the production and transportation of the tool and Using the Bamboo Splitting Tool for Matchsticks
the economics of producing such a tool on a larger scale. 1 Bamboo is inserted into a feeder. The feeder has a spring
Therefore, a second analysis phase was done in India that pushes the bamboo into the machine, and in front of
(Andhra Pradesh) to understand the local context of rural the rotating blade.
India. The initial concept was redesigned and resulted in 2 A crank rotates the tool. This direct human powered
three concepts. One of the concepts was chosen and a rotation can also be replaced by bicycle power.
prototype was built by a local workshop. The prototype was 3 The slices are inserted into the machine, in a queue, which
also tested in India after which the results of the project is pushed towards the blade using gravitation as a force.
were documented in the Netherlands. 4 Sticks are produced with the same process as described in
step 3.
Agarbathi Production
The concept chosen is based on the principle of a blade
mounted on a large steel fly-wheel. The wheel rotates in a
case and has two openings for feeding the bamboo material.
Both bamboo halves and slices can enter the machine at
the same time. The slices and matchsticks will be collected The prototype of the human powered bamboo matchstick splitter
inside the wheel. The production of sticks is done in several demonstrated the potential for local production. On the left the
feeder mechanisms are visible; on the right the rotation crank is
steps, shown in the box on the right.
shown. The Bamboo Splitter is very efficient for local production
The process of building the machine in India resulted in of matchsticks. First a slice tool is used to produce long slices of
very useful information with regard to the local production bamboo. Next, people can use this manual tool to produce sticks
facilities. One of the most important conclusions of the from the slices.
project is to use a machine for producing slices and a
smaller manual tool to produce sticks. This will enable the
production of low cost matchsticks and meanwhile will
generate additional employment opportunities. For example,
the agarbathi (incense sticks) production in India is similar
to the production of matchsticks and can be improved as
€
well.
96

97. Improving the Climate of
€ Company
Helps International
Graduation date
June 16, 2006
Cooking Areas
Marike Bijtelaar
The traditional use of firewood as energy source for cooking
The ONIL
is popular among poor Guatemalans. However, the open fire
Stove has an
results in burns, eye problems and respiratory problems.
insulated ceramic
Helps International, a US Non-Profit Organization, developed
combustion
several wood combustion cooking stoves, resulting in a final
chamber that
concept with a chimney: the ONIL stove.
makes the fire
During the last five years of implementation of the stove,
burn hot enough
Helps evaluated the improved stoves. According to users
to consume the oil
the main benefit is saving firewood: 50-67% less than when
vapour, and thus
using open fires. However, 28% of the users still use open
uses all potential
fires for heating their homes and on special occasions.
wood energy.
Marike Bijtelaar traced the reasons for this and developed
In order to make the idea of the tabletop work, features for the ONIL stove to improve the usage.
the use of the current amount of radiation of
the ONIL stove had to be optimized. Using Open Fire
From user research, Bijtelaar formulated main reasons of
using the open fire: it provides heat and drives off humidity.
The social aspects of family gatherings and cooking large
meals are also important. In some regions, people use
the fire as a source of light. Other comments on the stove
were the relatively small working and cooking space and
continuous fire maintenance required. In the second part
of the user research, she investigated the awareness of
the people concerning the health problems. She concluded
that the interviewed women are aware of the problems and
disadvantages of open fires, but do not know an alternative
solution. Bijtelaar concluded that solutions to improve
the climate should be fixed, not influencing the cooking
activities, not produce any smoke, offer the possibility to
Heating by radiation: The smoke gases are lead through a metal sheet
radiator with a large surface area. When no space heating is needed, the gather around and decrease the use of firewood as energy
normal chimney outlet is used.
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98. www.helpsintl.org
source. made a prototype of the heater with a flat back surface and
tested this on a small scale.
Less Energy Demand
The second solution, a tabletop, can easily be placed around
Bijtelaar approached the problem with the ‘Trias Energetica’
the stove and creates a social meeting, working, sitting and
approach, starting with diminishing the energy demand.
eating place close to the stove. When people gather close
The second step is providing in the energy demand as much
to the stove, the relatively small amount of radiative heat
as possible with sustainable energy sources. The third step
produced by the stove is optimally used. She designed two
is using fossil fuels for the remaining energy demand.
concepts, with the distinction based on the construction
She summarized important aspects in a scoring card and
on the stove: stacking or clamping. Both concepts were
analysed the energy demand for heating the cooking area.
prototyped and tested with women of the target group.
The scoring card lead to practical solutions, but Bijtelaar
The tests proved that the tabletop indeed invites people
concluded that a demand for space heating remained, even
to sit closer to the stove.
with applying the solutions.
The chimney heater can
After generating ideas, she categorized them and
produce space heating
selected two directions: optimally using the radiative heat
at the cooking area and
of the stove by gathering around it and using the heat of
Guatemalan women
the smoke in the chimney. Main arguments: they do not
were able to control
require extra fuel, cooking performance is maintained and
the valve system that
the stove body elements do not need adjustment. Both
produced heat. Also,
ideas were elaborated further, with detailing alternatives for
from the test results,
every sub solution.
Bijtelaar recommended
Chimney Heater and Tabletop further development
The chimney heater can be placed on the stove instead of of both features, and
the standard chimney. The heater uses the waste heat of suggested material,
the chimney gases for space heating and can be switched construction and shape
on and off by a valve system. The chimney pipe enters and improvements.
leaves the heater at the bottom and the top of the heater,
so the exhaust gases contact the complete surface of the With a prototype the
chimney heater. Users could operate the heater by a valve functioning of the chimney
placed inside the heater that controls the gas flow. Bijtelaar heater to heat the cooking
area was tested.
98

99. Safe Drinking Water
€ Company Graduation date
Philips Domestic Appliances April 28, 2006 Maria Nguyen
Worldwide, 6000 children die every day due to water-related
diseases. The average distance women in Asia and Africa
have to walk for water is 6 kilometres. These two aspects
are examples of typical problems that occur within the Base
of the Pyramid (BoP). People at the BoP have to cope with
these problems daily, while safe, sufficient, affordable,
accessible and acceptable drinking water is a basic human
right. The goal of this project was to make a sustainable
design proposal for a safe drinking-water system that is
adoptable by the BoP in India, fitting within the mission and
scope of the new sustainable business initiatives of Philips
The redesign of the Water4Life concept included improvements on the closing Domestic Appliances.
of the lid, the ease of cleaning and the installation and maintenance of the The Water4life filter concept has been developed by
filter. Details of the proposed solutions are shown at the right.
DSM. This multinational company develops amongst others
industrial chemicals and performance materials. They
developed the filter membrane for the Water4life concept.
This was incorporated into a product and tested in user
research to obtain user insights. The product proposition for
this project was based on the outcomes of this user research.
Furthermore, for a successful adoption of the product by the
target group, a well worked out implementation strategy
was developed.
Water Filtering
Potential users in India evaluated the Water4life concept.
The research was carried out in cooperation with three
Non-Governmental Organizations during twelve weeks
in Pune and Madurai (villages and slums) in India with
twenty participants. The research consisted of four parts:
The add-on concept for existing water vessels was observation of current situation, usability tests, follow-
developed to fit on any water vessel available.
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100. www.philips.com
up observation, and group evaluation discussions. The difficulties with closing the lid and do not understand the
objectives were aimed at: usability insights regarding the order of the actions they have to perform. Tests with the
Water4life prototype, gathering data about the performance plastic prototype indicated that users do not understand
of the Water4life concept under local conditions and how to use the valve and spill much water.
collecting user feedback. After the introduction of the improved concept, Nguyen
Nguyen used the user research results to generate held group discussions with local users. They resulted in
criteria for the product development phase. The concept comments about the taste, smell and clearness of the water.
development resulted in two product proposals. The first They also indicated a preference for stainless steel. She also
is an improved version of the existing Water4life water found that the pumping action needed too much effort from
purifier. The second product proposal is based on the the users and the maximum volume of the concept was too
observation of the multitude of water vessels existing in small. An affordable price was determined on around 500
the Indian households, and is developed as an add-on to INR (€10).
these vessels.
Entrepreneurial Women
The main goal of the implementation strategy was to
create awareness regarding water and health issues.
Other important factors are the distribution route and the
availability of after sales services. Some of the guidelines
included ‘use of low-cost promotion tools’ and ‘training in
product use’. The key to entering the Indian BoP community
is the entrepreneurial woman responsible for promotion,
sales and after-sales service. Women are chosen for this job
because they are known and trusted by the community.
The research in the current situation shows a strong
preference for metal kitchenware, time-consuming water
practices and very little awareness regarding health &
water. The usability test showed that users forget to use A schematic representation of the strategy shows the various
stakeholders and their relations.
filter caps and do not press sides of the caps. The user
test with the metal prototype showed that people have
100

101. Photo: Linda Schnieders
101

102. Girls in Favelas
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
102

103. Adoptable Woodstove
€ Company
Philips Consumer Lifestyle
Graduation date
April 4, 2006 Leonie Ideler
By using the Philips wood stove indoor air pollution could substantially At the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) in India, cooking is one
decrease, therefore related health problems could decrease as well.
of the most time-consuming activities during the day.
People at the BoP usually cook with solid fuels on simple,
inefficient stoves that fill their houses with smoke. Philips
has developed a woodstove which decreases the amount
of health-damaging pollutants in solid fuel emissions. Ideler
developed this idea towards a product proposal and an
implementation strategy to increase the adoption chance
of this product by the rural BoP in India. Also, she defined
guidelines for conducting user research and designing
products for the BoP.
Analysing the Philips stove, it was found that fast cooking
and less fuel consumption are achieved by the product’s high
efficiency. A fan blowing heated air through the fire and the
PROMOTION ROUTE AWARENESS ROUTE
low mass are the main reasons for this high combustion-
Philips
All aspects for and heat transfer efficiency. From previous projects and
implementing
training encountered barriers she formulated requirements for the
awareness the Philips
consumer teaching Powerstove product and implementation plan.
insights are covered in
the four routes Stove Saves Money and Time
NGO State government
of awareness, To gain more insight into the current way of cooking and
promotion, the interaction with the Philips prototype, she conducted
promotion funding production and
finance. Every
user research in India. Twenty-four households tested the
consumer
satisfaction route has its prototype for at least eight cooking sessions (four days).
and problems Anganwadi centres specific tools Although the response was very positive, it was concluded
to reach its
that some aspects of the product could still be improved.
goal. Goal of
the awareness She also used consumer insights in the promotion strategy:
> convince men > convince women
routes is to the smokeless stove does not darken the walls and ceiling
communicate
and eyes will not tear or get irritated. Also, less fuel
Community the negative
consumption results in saving money.
long term health
effects of smoke. The problems encountered in the user research were divided
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104. www.philips.com
into categories concerning safety, preparation of Indian attention to the Philips woodstove and its benefits. Both the
bread and comfort of use. In solving these subproblems, production and financial routes include local partnerships to
the focus was more on the urgent issues, leaving the more simplify purchasing a Philips woodstove.
complex and less urgent for later on in the development Tools to reach the goals are for example instalments,
process. Great attention was paid to user comfort, for product demonstrations and leaflets, wall paintings and
example by improving the user interface of the stove. posters. One of the most important tools in each route
is working with partnerships. By explaining the four Ps,
Implementation of the Powerstove
namely product, price, place (distribution) and promotion,
There are no successfully adopted products on the market to
Ideler illustrated possible routes to plan the implementation
fill the gap between the traditional cook stove and the ‘clean’
in rural India.
and efficient LPG stove, which is too expensive for the target
group. Also, fuel availability is very unreliable, especially in Update
rural areas. The implementation strategy should be well- After Ideler’s graduation project the woodstove has been
designed to create a successful and sustainable business developed further. Philips expects to launch the woodstove
around the new Philips Powerstove. The theory of Prahalad in India in the first half of 2009. Recently a commercial pilot
was a dopted, by paying extra attention to distribution to was completed in India, from which a great deal was learned.
reach the target group. Unfortunately there were some delays in the project due to
Potential stakeholders located in India were identified to a technical lifetime issue. This has recently been solved
help get information, products and services to the majority and local production is currently being prepared for. Philips
of the target group. The most effective way for reaching the realizes that a new market is about to be entered and that
target group is by using Anganwadi centres, who provide their approach to marketing and distribution needs to be
service at the doorsteps of the community by trained health modifyied; Philips is currently optimizing their business
personnel and can be seen as the Indian government’s case and their go-to market strategy. As the initial focus
doorway into a village for its welfare programmes. is on successfully launching the product in India, plans for
Covering all aspects of implementation, four routes were introduction in other countries have not been defined yet.
defined; awareness, promotion, production and financial
routes include the various stakeholders involved and their The visual feedback and interface was also improved.
actions needed to get the Powerstove to the consumer. The
awareness route should focus on the negative effects of
smoke caused by a traditional stove. Promotion should pay
104

105. Water Supply in
€ Company
Delft University of Tech.
Graduation date
April, 2006
Slums:P.I.P.A. System
Fernando Del Caro Secomandi
Local users and other Water supply in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is in
stakeholders are
critical condition, especially for the poor. Even though
mapped, including
both proponents and approximately 90% of the population living in the city’s 752
opponents. Del Caro slums (a.k.a. favelas) manage to be connected to the main
Secomandi noticed that water distribution infrastructure, the situation is far from
most of the favelas
sustainable. An alarming 10% of those living in the slum
are controlled by
drug dealers or other lack access to an improved source of water.
armed militias, which The water supplier uses a purification process including
influences the parties
tons of chemicals and produces waste that is thrown back
willing to be part of the
system. in the river afterwards. The pumps that distribute the water
through the city use enormous amounts of energy. Constant
leakage and illegal connections consume about 50% of
Uphill
water
the clean water. The water supply company Cedae, looses
source profit because they are not able to install water meters and
Hybrid system
consumers are not always able to pay.
P.I.P.A. System Provides Safe Water
The P.I.P.A. System is an alternative for providing safe water.
It converts rainwater into drinking water without using extra
Floor level installation energy or chemicals. The system is fully independent from
Setup of the P.I.P.A. system has many options, so each user can choose other sources or expensive infrastructure and untrained
the most appropiate and effcient way of gathering rainwater. users can operate it.
The design is user-oriented and fits into the daily life of
Rapid granular filter Porous ceramic filter people seamlessly. Local culture, in particular the common
kite playing of children, inspired the form. The collection
surface can be rolled up, so people can still use the rooftop
for normal activities. Also, the frame structure provides the
opportunities for the addition of other products, such as
security fences and clothes dryers.
The operation is based on free and clean water from the
System operation includes multi-stage filtration, storage and distribution.
105

106. sky. Total costs are kept to a minimum by simple construction, a country to economic growth, improve current physical
inexpensive technology and material use, small installation and immaterial infrastructure, and innovation at the Base
costs and it rarely needs maintenance. It can be partially of the Pyramid can be profitable and transferable to other
or even entirely produced within the community, utilizing countries.
local labour and technologies, as well as readily available It was concluded that PSS research should to a greater
materials. extent focus on the opportunities that are present in the
The stakeholders of the system were mapped, both developing countries’ context, rather than trying to directly
proponents and opponents. It was noticed that most transfer literature knowledge.
of the favelas are controlled by drug dealers or other
armed militias. Violence is a major issue to consider when
developing products or services for use in favelas.
He assessed alternative business models on
environmental, socio-cultural and economic criteria. After
a SWOT analysis he concluded a mixed-model of two
proposals would be best. A local cooperative is formed
with investments of Favela-Bairro, a major government
program running with money from the Inter-American
The collection surface can be rolled up to use the rooftop in
Development Bank, including the community association
another functionality. Additions to the structural frame are possible
and a Non-Governmental Organization. After installing all to enhance this, such as fences and clothes dryers.
P.I.P.A. systems, the cooperative will provide maintenance
and additional accessories and services.
Literature Conclusions
After analyzing the literature available on PSS and the
design, a number of relevant issues dealing with the
relationship between PSS and developing countries’ context
were presented. These issues were categorized under
drivers, benefits or opportunities. The opportunities that
were found were: scanning the PSS context, anticipation
of unsustainable technology application in the search of
106

107. Contextualizing Products
€ Company
Philips Design
Graduation date
February 2, 2006 Jon Rodriguez
Sustainable business helps provide better healthcare
solutions for the world’s poorest people. Creating products
requires understanding of the context and the people.
Philips had done research into this subject and has
gathered a large amount of data through both professional
and student projects. However, this data did not fit the
specific designer’s informational needs during the product
development process. Jon Rodriguez aimed to develop a
design toolbox that provides insight into the healthcare
context in rural India.
First the boundaries of the project were explored.
The tool should be used at the beginning of product
The developed tools combine both descriptive and experimental development to identify opportunities. Also, it should build
information which have been identitied as fundamental for
on existing knowledge within Philips. Target audiences are
getting insight into contexts that designers are not familiar with.
design students and professionals as well as managers
and technical developers. To visualize the different users,
Rodriguez created personas, resulting in usage scenarios
of the toolbox.
Three different personas have been developed for the test of the toolbox, one
From a first exploratory workshop, it was concluded that
patient and two healthcare providers. The scenarios explain the interaction
between the personas and put some of the problems in their context. professional designers as well as students need experiential
information to design for an unfamiliar context. Secondly,
getting insight in a context is a process, in which one
receives experiential information and interacts with other
people. The workshop gave hints to some interesting ideas
to develop.
The content and characteristics of the tools are visualized
in a pyramid (see figure on the left). All personas use
the descriptive parts, such as the introductory overview.
Experiential information should trigger idea generation. The
professional designer would use information in a workshop.
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108. www.philips.com
Students, who eveluated this model, even wanted to participants received the booklet with more information and
experience the complexities of the Indian rural healthcare the login for the website.
situation by going to India. At the first day of the workshop, each participant took one
persona, read the scenario corresponding to the persona
Tools
and was asked to role-play this persona. After developing
The final toolbox consists of several tools. The summary tool
scenarios themselves, the second day they created solutions
was an introductory presentation to Indian rural healthcare.
and mock-ups to play this scenario. The students showed
Facts and figures are shown about India, and photographs
their solutions to the health problem in an informance or
of medical environments and service users provide insight
informative performance to a multidisciplinary audience:
in a global overview. A booklet was made to structure more
experts from Philips design, Philips research and Philips
profound information on the context. More background
Medical Systems.
of this information was presented at a secured website,
The main contributions were that the experience
including papers on the topics.
workshop gave insight into Indian rural healthcare; it could
To experience the context, several tools were developed.
be used to prepare designers to work in the context and
Three video personas were developed; a patient, a nurse
helped focusing on the relevant topics. In short the role-
and a doctor. Then these the problems were put in their
play made the (lack) of knowledge participants had about
context by creating scenarios for several diseases, seen
the context explicit. The bodystorming created an embodied
from the different points of view of the personas.
and common understanding of the ideas and concepts
Finally, perhaps the most important tool was developed,
that were generated. The presentation of the ideas to the
based on learning gained about how to use role-play in
audience of experts allowed for communicating the ideas
design. A combination of the tools mentioned before was
and concepts in their context.
used and was combined with role-play in order to increase
It was concluded that putting designers in the shoes of
the engagement with the context and a role-play guidebook
the people they are designing for does increase the insight
was written. Red health issue cards and green solution cards
in people’s needs and engagement and understanding of
help designers to generate ideas and encourage creativity.
the context.
Workshop with Students
Rodriguez tested the toolbox in a two-day workshop, with
a group of tool users: students. The test followed the same
order as the toolbox sequence, starting with an introduction
with the summary tool a week in advance. Afterwards the
108

109. Online Microfinance:
€ Company
Microsoft & KIVA & DUT
Graduation date
Sept 14, 2006
into(context)
Cale Thompson
Microfinance has proven to be able to stimulate economical
and social development in developing countries around
the world. The young African organization KIVA started an
initiative in early 2005 to enable individual people all over
world to lend money to entrepreneurs in the developing
world. For example African entrepreneurs post their business
plans on the KIVA site to attract capital for micro loans from
people all over the (developed) world. Through the use of
ICT KIVA is delivering new opportunities to access capital
for micro loans by partnering with existing Micro Finance
Institutions (MFI). KIVA has thus created a channel through
which those MFI’s can market their borrower’s stories via
In all stages, local people helped and cooperated in understanding the
the Internet to access inexpensive capital from individual
problem and the design of solutions. This people-driven approach results in a
context sensitive understanding of the problem. The solution is again tested lenders.
in the actual context of the intended use.
Borrower’s Information Online
Microsoft Research began the digital inclusion programme
to try to develop solutions to overcome the barriers that
face the developing world in gaining access to the resources
that are necessary for sectors like education, agriculture,
finance, governance and health. The Microsoft Digital
Inclusion Initiative (DII) programme supports projects that
try to overcome the digital divide between developed and
developing world and that investigate the role of ICT in this
context. The problem KIVA addresses fits the goal of DII.
The KIVA concept had problems getting the borrowers’
stories online. Remarkably, interest and capital flowing
from online lenders was not the limiting factor; instead
the bottleneck was the ability of the partners to post the
Testing the MiMoSo in the field. After taking a photograph with a mobile borrower’s information on the web. The users, or borrowers,
phone it is uploaded to the KIVA website.
109

110. www.KIVA.org
must have access to the Internet and become familiar values and behaviours within the system. During this two-
with web navigation and content management. However month period Thompson identified bottlenecks regarding
many environmental factors can limit their ability to do so both the system and available technologies. Concepts and
easily. The goal of this multidisciplinary project led by Cale prototypes were generated to solve the bottleneck problems
Thompson was to do research on appropriate technology in the third phase. The prototypes were tested in the field
interaction forms for MFI working in Uganda, Kenya and and evaluated qualitatively by users and quantitatively
Tanzania. against the existing micro-lending system.
into(context) Miracle Mobile Solution
The main goal of the project into(context) was to do The project ended up with the development of the Miracle
research and improve the interface between the technology Mobile Solution (MiMoSo). This is a piece of software that
and the MFI’s. The project consisted of five main stages allows Multi Media Service (MMS) messages to be sent from
including research preparation, context research, concept a mobile phone to an individual KIVA email address. Via the
generation, prototype testing and dissemination. email address, the text and image are parsed and uploaded
Driven by a people-centred design approach, the project to the KIVA website where they can be seen by lenders.
started with asking questions in Africa rather than arriving Ultimately, the MiMoSo was tested in its intended context
with an answer. This approach reflected the fact that the in Africa and has been implemented by KIVA. The project
technology should eventually fit the people and not the demonstrated the strength of a people-centred approach
other way around. through the successful context-fit solution that was
The research started with benchmarking existing developed. It also showed that the cell phone is a legitimate
practices for facilitating microfinance through technology. A technology platform to facilitate web-based activities.
stakeholder mapping of the context of microfinance system
provided a clear picture of individual stakeholder goals,
Entrepreneurs can
upload their business
plans to the KIVA
website via their
mobile phones.
Lenders can access
the KIVA website and
provide microloans to
the entrepeneurs.
€
110

111. Creating Market Insight
€ Company
Philips Medical Systems
Graduation date
Dec 23, 2005
for Designers
Jonathan Stranders
Philips Medical Systems (PMS), a large manufacturer of
medical diagnostic and treatment equipment, is currently
involved in creating business opportunities to serve the
rural healthcare market of India. The healthcare market
of rural India has many contrasting aspects compared to
the western healthcare market. This concerns the type of
patients, diseases, healthcare infrastructure and healthcare
approaches. Jonathan Stranders focused on the widespread
market of tobacco users in rural India, because of the high
prevalence of one of the most common cancers in India,
Especially the Indian youth increasingly uses tobacco. Tobacco industry
oral cancer, is enhanced by tobacco use.
nowadays aggressively markets (filtered) cigarettes instead of smokeless
tobacco products (chewing tobacco and spit tobacco). To develop solutions that successfully meet the healthcare
needs of the rural population, product designers must
first get a good insight in the market to really understand
the rural patient in relation to the involved stakeholders.
However, thorough market research is time-consuming and
expensive. Moreover, gathered information and experience
are often lost because of its nature. Information like this is
hard to communicate and transfer to other designers and
succeeding projects. Stranders has developed a supporting
software tool to create insight during the market analysis
phase in product development.
Web-Based Database
The Market Insight Tool (MarkIT) meets the designer’s
information needs on three aspects. Using a persona-
scenario approach designers can empathize with the target
group. To benchmark this information, the scenarios are
enriched with experts who give their opinion on various
A tool can help to bridge the gap from an undetermined and vague Western
mindset of the rural healthcare context in India towards a more specified, issues. Also, the tool includes a glossary to give background
unambiguous and defined awareness.
111

112. www.philips.com
information on unclear topics and words. zoom into the market situation on micro-level: individual
The tool is web-based in order to be accessed by Philips persons. That helps both strategic and practical designers
designers all over the world. The database structure enables to get more insight in the needs, but strategic designers
other employees, such as market researchers, to insert new demand more statistics next to personas. Designers
information effectively. In this way, the tool functions as an evaluated the tool during other stages of the development
interactive communication platform. process as a useful support and source of inspiration.
Because of the visual orientation of designers, Stranders
Insight in Market Context
concluded that the prototyped tool had too much text
The tool was prototyped and tested with a group of
instead of pictures and movies. Hence the content of the final
product designers. Stranders asked what they thought of
version should have a better balance between textual and
the web-based database structure and the contents. The
visual information. Also, the tool should be validated using
tests showed that MarkIT succeeds in communicating the
real experts. The MarkIT tool does succeed in structuring
healthcare market to product designers in a structured way
the information on the market and enhances the individual
and that it saves time during the first phases of a product
insight of designers in the specific situation.
development project. Using personas helped designers to
MarkIT meets
the designer’s
information needs
by making use of
the persona-scenario
approach in order
to empathize with a
rural person.
112

113. Photo: Jaap Daalhuizen
113

114. Man at Home
Chongming Island,
China
114

115. Device for Early Oral
€ Company
Philips Medical Systems
Graduation date
Nov 11, 2005
Cancer Detection
Suzanne Hendrikse
Oral cancer is a major health problem in the rural areas
of India, 50 to 70% of the cancer cases are oral cancer.
Early detection in the pre-malignant state of oral cancer
can prevent surgical intervention. Philips aimed, via a
partnership with Manipal University of higher education in
India, to develop a portable device for early detection of
oral cancer. The product is meant for use in the rural areas
by local medical staff and in local facilities. Furthermore,
the detection should be done using the Light Inducing
Fluorescence (LIF) technique. The project fits the Philips
social responsibility programme.
Oral Cancer Detection
In rural India, limited medical facilities and staff are available. Chewing
Oral cancer has a long process of developing from a pre-
tobacco is a popular practise, but it is also a major cause of oral cancer. cancerous, non-malignant state into lethal oral cancer.
In addition to low oral hygiene in addition, oral cancer occurs often. Early detection and a corresponding change in life-style of
the patients can eliminate the risk factors that cause the
cancer. This should prevent the necessity to remove the
lesions surgically in a later stage. Factors that complicate
the detection and treatment of cancer are stigma on cancer
and low awareness of the disease.
The social factor of developing a cancer detection device
is an important aspect of the design problem. Chewing
tobacco is a mayor cause of oral cancer and a popular
product in India. The oral hygiene of people in rural India
is also low, and limited medical facilities and staff are
available. These social aspects have been major factors that
determined the design of the detection device.
The demonstration model of the oral cancer detection Light Induced Fluorescence
device showed advantages such as three colour When oral tissue is exposed to high-energy light, it emits
diagnosis, simple interface and precise handling.
115

116. www.philips.com
a diffuse, low energy light. The resulting spectrum can be medical staff from urban areas to rural areas on the short
analysed and gives insight into the health of the tissue. term. On the long term, community health workers should
This method is called Light Induced Fluerescence (LIF) be trained to detect cancer at an early stage and handle the
technique. By using LIF, oral cancer can be detected even detection device.
before it becomes visible to the eye. The advantages of
LIF detection are its speed, the fact that one can avoid
unnecessary biopsies and a painless procedure.
The development of the device started with understanding
the problem of early cancer detection in the context of rural
India. A multidisciplinary approach was used to understand
the problem from eight different perspectives. This resulted
in a list of design guidelines that was context sensitive.
Insights from for example physicists, patients, dentists,
etc lead to the rich basis on which the product was further
developed. Sub problems were solved individually and
integrated into a demonstration model. This was optimized
and developed into a final product design.
Early Cancer Detection Device
The design phase started with designing and making a
demonstration model to show relevant strong points: three
colour diagnosis, simple interface and precise handling.
The limitations that surfaced from feedback were low
safety of the probe, low portability, unfriendly appearance
and unsatisfactory housing compartments. The final
design featured improved functionality on the portability,
measurement, interface and manufacturability.
The implementation of the product asks for an active
approach of early cancer detection, which the current staff
does not yet have. Hendrikse recommends transferring
116

117. Solar Lighting
€ Company
Ecofys / Kamworks
Graduation date
October 28, 2005 Stephen Boom
About 90% of the Cambodian households have no access
The lighting resembled the
form of the Angkor Wat, to a secure and reliable electricity infrastructure for lighting.
which is a traditional temple They mostly (55%) use car batteries as electricity storage
Cambodians are proud of.
to power television and lighting. Providing these people with
safe and reliable electric lighting is a small, but important
step to overcome their impoverished situation. Kamworks,
a start-up solar company considered Cambodia’s problems
and solar resources as an opportunity for local production of
solar lighting products. The lights should fit to the purchase
power of rural households. The company started a project
in cooperation with Ecofys, in which Boom researched the
market and designed the solar lighting product.
Translating Needs
Prior to the product development phase of the project,
field research was conducted in Cambodia; visiting and
researchgin people in rural areas. Both qualitative and
quantitative aspects of the lighting needs of the target group
were reserached. A translator translated the questions
and answers for the research, but sometimes informed
the respondents too much, or when they talked for half
an hour, he simply translated it with a short ‘yes’. Boom
showed people pictures of available lighting solutions and
confronted them with a solar lantern. This survey resulted in
understanding the requirements that a new solar powered
product should fulfill.
They mentioned the product should be affordable and of
high quality. The plastic look of the lantern was associated
with modern, high quality and status (instead of for example
bamboo). Generally, people thought that solar energy was
Angkor Light can be placed on a table or hung from the ceiling.
117

118. www.ecofys.com
www.kamworks.com
expensive and would not provide enough energy during Angkor Light
the rainy season. Apparently, creation of awareness of the The final design was a vacuum-formed quality lantern
advantages of solar energy would be an important sales called Angkor Light. The design appealed to Cambodia's
issue. national symbol, the temples of Angkor, which Cambodians
Boom also investigated the local distribution and are very proud of. Vacuum forming is an appropriate
production possibilities for solar lanterns. A questionnaire technology for a start-up company like Kamworks. It
about solar lanterns among retailers concluded that more combined the advantages of low investments and simple
than half of them were interested in selling solar lanterns, processes. The technology was applicable for relatively low
with a maximum price of $50 and a profit of 10%. The production volumes (up to 10,000 per year). The moulds
product should be easy to understand, because the retailers could be produced locally and were cheap in comparison
did not want to be responsible for the consequences for with injection moulding. The Angkor Light used replaceable
malfunctioning. Quality and availability of spare parts was quality electrical components. The product would fit to an
an important issue for them. international standard (“PV-GAP”) to encourage quality
solar products for the global market.
Vacuum Forming and Reflector Combined
Boom finally built a second prototype, which would be
Field research resulted in three product-market combinations
used for a more profound market evaluation of the product
(PMC) of affordable lighting for rural people. The first was
in Cambodia.
extending the lifetime of car batteries, the next combination
was a solar powered headlight. The third PMC, a mobile Awarded
solar lantern, has been selected for further elaboration. The World Bank 2006 Development Marketplace awarded
In a technical analysis Boom selected the light source, Kamworks with $174,000 for developing an innovative
battery type and solar cells. Next, he generated several distribution model. The model aims at training young
product sketches. Boom detailed a combination of two Cambodians to become micro-entrepreneurs in a
solution clusters, vacuum forming and using a reflector. project called “Rural electrification through solar micro-
Several concepts were generated using the reflector in entrepreneurship in
different ways. He chose a lamp with a separate reflector Cambodia”. It is also
that could be placed on top of the lamp and built a starting up assembly of
prototype. Fifteen potential end-users living in the rural its own solar products,
areas of Cambodia evaluated the product's functionality, to start with the ‘Angkor
robustness and appearance as positive. Light’.
118

119. Adoptability of the
€ Company
Philips Domestic Appliances
Graduation date
October 21, 2005
U-Specs
Roseliek van de Velden
Philips has been operating worldwide for many years,
yet they have mainly targeted at the top segment of the
markets. Philips is now entering the largest segment of the
market in India, the Base of the Pyramid (BoP), and needs
suited approaches and business models to reach the people
that live from an income beneath the poverty line. The
theory of Prahalad provides a business model to deal with
the circumstances in the BoP, yet very little is known about
actual product development for the BoP.
In this graduation project guidelines were developed
for product development for the BoP in India, based on a
case study on U-Specs. U-Specs is a concept for affordable
spectacles that can be adjusted to compensate for refractive
error by the user.
Participatory research resulted in useful local knowledge to develop solutions.
Cultural Context
Product development for the BoP involves designers (and
a company) that develop products for a different cultural
context. In this project participatory techniques were used
to do consumer research and understand the needs of the
people in the BoP, to understand how users would adopt
the U-Specs and to check the scenario that described the
implementation of the product in the Indian BoP context.
Users were involved to give insight into, for example, how
the problems concerning sight impairment were interpreted.
This showed that instead of being viewed as a health
problem, sight impairment is seen by the consumers as a
well-being problem.
The analysis was started with the definition of search fields, after
First a difference between the needs of the consumers
which the u-specs were analyzed. An idea generation and scenario
development phase followed. Finally guidelines were defined for and the ones of the government and Non-Governmental
future product development for the Indian BoP.
119

120. www.philips.com
www.u-specs.org
Organizations (NGOs) was detected. The NGOs and
government see a problem in uncorrected refractive General guidelines
errors that are causing sight impairment. They see that it · Partnering with NGOs and governmental bodies necessary;
is hampering education, causing rehabilitation costs, and · In the BoP an open mind is a prerequisite for success;
causes a loss of productivity. The consumers however usually · Transparency; communicate intentions of stakeholders;
do not recognize sight impairment and its consequences as · Organization should facilitate shared decision making;
a problem. They rather ignore that there is a problem at · Volunteers could enable experimental BoP projects;
all. · Consumers have different priorities than NGOs and
The barriers that existed in the India BoP were linked to Government
the competences of Philips to find opportunities for product Process
development. · Find the barriers of a problem before trying to solve it;
· Map Barriers to Core Competences;
Guidelines
· Use local experts’ knowledge for interpretation of data.
The case study resulted in a list of guidelines for product
development for the BoP in India. The guidelines were Remote product development guidelines
categorized in four groups, namely general guidelines, · Gain input from different locations to make the product
guidelines to optimize the process, remote product suitable for a broad target group;
development guidelines and adoptability guidelines. These · Increase respondent feedback: propose multiple options;
guidelines are described at the right. · Increase feedback on conflicts with proposed scenarios by
forming groups of similar stakeholders in user research;
Barriers were
· Provide sufficient input to prevent biases;
linked to core
competences · Detailed content needed for input design workshop.
of Philips DAP
Adoptability guidelines
to ensure a
successful · Accessibility, empowerment and reliability are the most
product important aspects for adoptability by the BoP market;
NGO development
· The adoptability is best considered in both product design
process.
and scenario;
· Use the guidelines on implementing aspects of adoptability:
accessibility, compatibility, reparability, empowerment,
affordability, desirability, reliability, usability and comfort.
120

121. Natural Fibres in Doors
€ Company
NPSP Composieten BV
Graduation date
November 18, 2005
and Windows
Joan Boekhoven
NPSP Composites BV produces composites based on natural
and conventional fibres. The company intends to promote
usage of natural materials like flax- and jute-reinforced
composites. They have developed an innovative production
method that could be used in combination with natural
fibres. The labour intensive manufacturing process made
production in low wage countries sound profitable. The
company chose for India for expanding their production
Boekhoven based her final
process for three reasons. First, India is rich in natural
design on the 'thick' concept,
that replaced conventional fibres. Second, India has low wages for labour. Third, NPSP
materials like wood and wanted to provide for some of the profound needs of the
reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC).
very poor, such as housing. In this project the possibilities
of manufacturing fibre-composite products in India were
explored.
Rising Costs in Building Sector
After an internal analysis of NPSP, an overview of the
Coir fibre Wood Polyurethane
foam strengths and weaknesses of the company was created.
Local potential business partners could increase their own
Mould
production capacity and benefit from the knowledge transfer
Details
Coir fibre mat of NPSP. In this way, NPSP could give the composite sector
the opportunity to specialize. The most promising partners
Polyurethane for a joint venture with NPSP were the companies Festel
foam
Doors and Water Tanks, and Technocraft.
Woven fibre coir mats are From an external analysis, Boekhoven concluded that
Wooden
placed in a metal mould,
frame specific knowledge on composites is not commonly available.
covered by polyurethane
foam and another mat. Also, the building sector is dealing with rising costs of
The mould is closed and Coir fibre mat
conventional materials such as wood, cement, concrete and
the polyester resin sucked
steel, because of its increasing scarcity.
inside. Mould
After an hour the product Using the formulated strengths and weaknesses with
can be discharged.
121

122. www.npsp.nl
the found opportunities and threats, three product- in a choice for the thick concept, which was elaborated
market combinations were formulated. The first included further.
developing a product to lower the rural housing costs. Also,
Low Costs and Weight
in the field of hygiene, a product to improve more people’s
The final design proposal could meet all criteria. Its purchase
bathing and sanitary conditions could be developed.
costs would be 28% lower than its wooden alternative. It
Another product would provide easier access to water. For
was found that highly decorated and arched designs would
all three combinations, the design problems were identified
appeal to Indians. Moreover, the environmental sound
and product ideas were generated. After selection, by using
material is maintenance free; it is corrosion resistant, no
nine weighted criteria, it was decided to elaborate within
painting or pesticides are needed and it will not swell like
the house & construction field.
wood does.
Thick Window and Door Frames It would be manufactured using the vacuum assisted-
The goal was to consider procedures of building houses in resin transfer moulding process in which NPSP is specialized
urban as well as in rural areas. The costs of a basic house (see figure on the left page). A prototype (scale of 4 on 1)
were calculated and the elements that might be replaced by was manufactured to show details and possible decoration.
natural fibre reinforced composite products were identified. To conclude the project, a marketing strategy for the final
These were window frames and shutters, doorframes and product was developed. This included xtensive discussions
shutters, sometimes even entire roofs. Based on a number on the four aspects of the marketing mix: product, price,
of reasons, it was decided to develop windows and doors, place and promotion.
but mainly since these parts contribute most to the total
costs of a house (23% of the total costs). However, the
prices of existing alternatives could hardly be met, so to The fringes were created
with clay and some
have a product with an edge over the competition, an arch
creativity. Alongside the
or decoration was added. door shutter its clay
There were two design concepts, the major difference details can be seen. It
was chosen to decorate
laid in the thickness of the frames.. Within the thick
this door with Lord
concept conventional materials like wood and RCC could Ganesh who is supposed
be replaced; the thin concept replaced materials like steel to bring luck and
and coir. Evaluating the advantages and disadvantages on prosperity.
production, costs and appearance of both concepts resulted
122

123. Small scale cassava
€ Company
Intermech Engineering Ltd 2004
Graduation date
starch processing
Dirk Smallenbroek
All over the world the demand for starch is rapidly growing.
Traditional starch sources (potato) in the western world have
reached their limits in growing capacity. At this moment
in Tanzania all starch is being imported, although the
agricultural industry supplies sufficient amounts of starch
containing crops and is capable of increasing production.
Cassava, a tropical tuber, is one of these starch containing
crops. Now the main part of the cassava production is used
for human consumption. The cassava is processed. Grated,
dried and milled to flour, which is the base for various
meals.
Intermech is a Tanzanian company designing and
manufacturing cassava graters, at this moment used for local
small scale processing of cassava for human consumption.
This grater is also suited for the first step of the winning
of starch from cassava. For the next steps of this process
a machine line was to be designed, fitting on to the grater
qua philosophy and capacity, manufactured by Intermech
and capable of supplying high quality cassava starch for the
Tanzanian industry.
Promoting Cassava
For Tanzania it is now important to take the step towards
producing big scale amounts of cassava, in order to provide
starch to the world market. This can be achieved by promoting
the planting of cassava amongst the small farmers all over
Tanzania. The goal is that with the development of this
machine and giving the people an opportunity to increase
the value of their harvested cassava, we can contribute to
the scale up of the amount of cassava grown in Tanzania.
In Tanzania the cassava starch winning is still done the traditional way.
The possibility for local farmers to process their harvested
123

124. www.intermech.biz
crops into agricultural products which are better to store and For Tanzania it is now important to take the step of
to transport will result in a decrease in post harvest losses. growing cassava on a larger scale so it can become an
Additionally, the processing of cassava offers the farmers an important supplier of starch to the world market. With this
opportunity to add value to their harvested crops, creating project a small step is set towards a more sustainable and
the possibility of investing in their own farming company. better economic developed future for Tanzanian cassava
This way the first step to further mechanize the cultivation farmers.
and irrigation of the land and thus increasing the efficiency.
This will be resulting in the important growth of the national
agriculture output. Furthermore, this way of processing
offers a change of cooperation between local farmers and
local industry, reducing the distance in supply chain and
stimulating the local agriculture.
Local demands and needs
Within this project it has been demonstrated that a small
group of people can give the start to tackle a large national
problem (how to promote cassava, so the agricultural
production and security of the national food demand is
increased) when the problem is approached from the
bottom up. It has also shown that small production
companies in less developed countries do not necessary
need to copy the designs of existing machines of (inter)
national competition. With the implementation of the basics
of the design process these companies can come up with
unique innovative products that are designed to fulfil the
specific (local) needs. Since these products and machines
are designed and manufactured in Tanzania, they meet the
local circumstances (for example no running water) and
demanded scale much better. Besides this, the repair and The University team & the Intermech team with the prototype.
maintenance of the machines can be executed locally. €
124

125. Photo: Jaap Daalhuizen
125

126. Toilet in a Rural
Village
Chongming Island,
China
126

127. Epilogue The first learning experiences
of Design for the BoP
J.C. Diehl
After browsing through all these Base of the Pyramid
(BoP) graduation and IDP projects, one can state that a
huge challenge for the design world lies ahead. Large as
well as medium sized enterprises are becoming more and
more interested in exploring the BoP to alleviate poverty
and other sustainability problems as well as to exploit new
consumer markets. The Base of the Pyramid is becoming
both a strategic focus for long-term growth and critical for
promoting social equity in line of the global companies’
sustainable policies. However, these markets remain
poorly understood and success stories are far and few in-
between.
For a company or designer to be successful in these
emerging and developing markets, it takes a lot more than
Table 1: Summary of the identified differences in the Product Innovation just making minor modifications to existing products. They
Process (Chang 2006). will have to develop new business and product innovation
practices, capable of establishing a mutual value creation
process between themselves and local stakeholders, as well
Process Differences in the Product Innovation Process
as to have a deep understanding of these new contexts,
Motivation on CSR, new business model creation, and the issues and the opportunities related to the targeted
Strategy
local and NGO partnerships, Greenfield opportu-
Formulation areas (Simanis and Hart 2006).
nities, influences from government policy
Design Brief
Ethnographic research, NGO partnerships, Eco-Efficiency and Socio-Cultural Preferences
local university collaboration, study local life,
Formulation The challenge lies in the creation of accessible and
live with the poor, listening deeply
affordable solutions to fit the local economical and socio-
Product NGO partnerships, local university cultural preferences, without expanding the current use
Development collaboration (on pilot testing)
of environmental resources (Rocchi 2006). The target
NGO Partnerships (training, distribution, here is not only the poverty of the people in the BoP, but
Product
collect feedback), new channels, new busi- also the context in which they live, which tends to lack
Launch
ness models, local ecosystem setup
traditional utilities, such as electricity, water, and gas (i.e.
in rural Africa less than 2% of the population is connected
127

128. Epilogue
to the electricity grid). In addition ICT and transportation important is the willingness to listen deeply to the local
infrastructures are also often very weak. The outcomes people and local stakeholders, and understand what they
of the Intocontext project demonstrate that sometimes need, not what product innovators think they need.
alternative solutions (mobile phone instead of internet via For example the demand for renewable electricity based
PC) are available but not used (see page 108). Most BoP light is a ‘derived demand’: no one wants electricial light
communities are fragile ecologically, so new products and in itself but rather for the services it can provide (ESMAP
services need to be very eco-efficient (Sethia 2005). In that 2000). The biggest unmet need is not for better illumination
perspective the Kamworks projects (see page 38, 40, 56 but for safety from fire, savings, and greater independence.
and 116, on replacing kerosene lights solar powered lights) There should be added value in the products, which can be
and the Philips Woodstove project (see page 102, on a recognized by consumers at the BoP. Second, markets in
dramatic increase of efficiency and avoidance of negative developing countries are not well developed, so it is necessary
health impacts) are convincing examples what Designing to develop basic channels and business models and value
for the BoP can mean. chains in order to bring the products to the customers. The
observed differences in the product innovation process are
Critical Phases in Designing Products
summarized in Table 1.
From our experiences, we have learned that most
Consequently, a basic starting point for successful product
companies active in the BoP state the front end research
innovation for the BoP is to understand people’s needs
(Design Brief Formulation) and Product Delivery (Product
and to interact with the material, economical and socio-
Launch) as the two most critical phases in developing
cultural world. Therefore, both researchers and designers
products for the BoP market (See table on the right) (Chang
should engage with the cultures directly. A unique set of
2006). First, it’s critical to adapt products so that the fit the
design and business tools and practices adapted from social
context and resources of the target group. Most challenges
anthropology, ethnography and Participatory Rural Appraisal
derive from the unfamiliarity with the local context and the
(PRA) is being developed, applied and evaluated (Hart
distinct infrastructure in emerging markets. Although some
2004; Diehl and Kuipers 2008; Simanis and Hart 2008) for
companies do have strong global resources and networks,
designers and entrepreneurs.
a sustainable local enterprise network is necessary for them
to interact with the local community. Non-Governmental Design Tools
Organizations (NGOs) play in this context a vital role in At the moment, various design tools (such as personas,
the innovation process of several companies, especially cultural probes, scenarios and user profiles in context-of-
when they intend to approach consumers at the BoP. Most use) are available to capture insights related users’ needs,
128

129. aspirations and behaviour in their original contexts (Leonard
and Rayport 1997; Sanders 2000; Rodríguez, Diehl et al.
2006). These new context and participatory techniques can
introduce the end-user into the design process by co-design
and get deeper information than the common focus groups
or observational research methods (Sanders 2000; Gaver,
Boucher et al. 2005).
However most of them only have been applied in the
‘Developed Markets’. Currently we, at Delft University of
Technology, are testing and evaluating these kind of context
tools in emerging and developing markets in practice
(Rodriguez, Diehl et al. 2006; Rodrigues, Thompson et al.
2007). In that perspective we can say that there is still a lot
to learn with regard to which design tools and approaches
fit the best in the context of designing new product (service)
solutions for the BoP.......
We are looking forward to go through this learning
process together with you!
Chang, Y.-K. (2006). Innovation for the Next Billions:
Case Study of 7 Multinationals that Develop Products for
Emerging Markets. Industrial Design Engineering. Delft,
Delft University of Technology. MSc.
Diehl, J. C. and H. Kuipers (2008). Design for the Base of
the Pyramid: Student Field Projects ub Cambodia. DesignED,
Hong Kong.
ESMAP (2000). Energy Services for the World’s Poor.
129

130. Washington, WorldBank.
Gaver, W., A. Boucher, et al. (2005). “Cultural probes and
the values of uncertainty.” Interaction 11(5): 53-56.
Hart, S. (2004). Base of the Pyramid Protocol, Cornell
University.
Leonard, D. and J. Rayport (1997). “Sparking innovation
through empathic design.” Harvard Business Review 75(6):
102-113.
Rocchi, S. (2006). Unlocking new markets. P. Design.
Eindhoven, Philips Design.
Rodrigues, J., C. Thompson, et al. (2007). Multistakeholder
approach for people centered solutions: Welcome to East
Africa. Include 2007: Designing with People. Royal College
of Art, London.
Rodriguez, J., J. C. Diehl, et al. (2006). Design toolbox
for contextualizing users in emerging markets. IEA2006,
Maastricht, Elsevier.
Rodríguez, J., J. C. Diehl, et al. (2006). “Gaining insight
into unfamiliar contexts: A design toolbox as input for using
role-play techniques.” Interacting with computers 18 (5):
956-976.
Sanders, E. B. (2000). Generative tools for codesigning:
Collaborative Design. London, Springer Verlag.
Sethia, N. (2005). “At the Bottom of the Pyramid:
Responsible Design for Responsible Business.” Design
Management Review 16(Summer 2005).
Simanis, E. and S. Hart (2006). “Expanding Possibilities at
the Base of the Pyramid.” Innovations 1(1): 43-51.
Simanis, E. and S. Hart (2008). BoP Protocol: Towards
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130

131. We would like to say thanks, for these interesting projects,
Acknowledgements inspired & inspiring students and enthusiastic colleagues.
Without the help and effort of all these people, this book
would not have been as it is now.
Thanks to Ana Maria Alvarez, Loucas Papantoniou, Stephanie
Wirth and Doortje van de Wouw, Elly Doek, Merijn Janssen,
Regine van Limmeren, Charl Smit, Stefan Versluis, Veronie
Croes, Bjørn-Evert van Eck Rasmussen, Swie Oei, Susan
Oudshoorn, Rutger Bonsel, Sietse Cieraad, Stéphanie,
Reintjens and Imke Schepers, Aparna Bhasker, Inge
van de Wouw, Ambika Samabasivan, Lieke Pijpers, Sierk
Hennes, Kirsten Rijke, Tom van Diessen, Linda Schnieders,
Judith Goor, Jan Willem Findlater, Alexander van der Kleij,
Miriam Reitenbach, Koos Munneke, Bernard Hulshof, Rutger
Bonsel, Hoi-Kee Wong, Yu-Kuan Chang, Annemarie Mink,
Marion de Groot, Cathelijne Huis in ‘t Veld, Roelie Bottema,
Mijntje de Caluwé, Elselien Epema, Willem Glasbergen,
Marike Bijtelaar, Maria Nguyen, Leonie Ideler, Fernando Del
Caro Secomandi, Jon Rodriguez, Cale Thompson, Jonathan
Stranders, Suzanne Hendrikse, Stephen Boom, Roseliek van
der Velden, Joan Boekhovenand H.S. Smallenbroek.
We also would like to thank the following academic staff,
who supported students in their projects: Petra Badke-
Schaub, Annemiek van Boeijen, Casper Boks, Han Brezet,
Jan Buijs, Henri Christiaans, Katrijn Coninx, Marcel Crul,
Richard Goossens, Erik Jan Hultink, Remco van der Lugt,
Heimrich Kanis, D. Keskin, Henk Kuipers, Johan Molenbroek,
Kaj Morel, Sylvia Mooij, Ingo Oldenkamp, Joost Prins, Jan
Schoormans, S. Silvester, Dirk Snelders and K.S.S. Talke.
Thanks everyone! And we hope you will all keep working
towards achieving those millenium development goals, we
will certainly keep doing our best!
131

132. About the Editors
Prabhu Kandachar Jan Carel Diehl
Currently Professor of Industrial Design After finishing his study in Industrial
Engineering (IDE) and Chairman of the Design Engineering he worked
Department of Design Engineering, he several years as a consultant in
received a B.E. degree in Mechanical ecodesign. In his present position he
Engineering at the Mysore University is assistant professor for the Design
and his M.E. and Ph.D. in Mechanical for Sustainability (DfS) program at the Faculty of Industrial
Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. Design Engineering at the Delft University of Technology in
After a stint of 5 years at the Materials Science and Technology The Netherlands. Within the DfS program he is managing
department at Delft, he worked at Fokker for 15 years, in the international projects on sustainable product innovation
various technical & management positions. His teaching and especially in emerging markets. The main focus of his
research interests at IDE are focused on materializing design research is the know-how transfer and implementation
ideas, addressing manufacturing technology related to product of sustainable product innovation into an international
design and materials; technology and materials selection in context. He is has been working with companies and
design; and more. He is currently directing research work universities in about 40 countries world-wide. Next to his
on development of products & services for healthcare in position at the TU Delft he is consultant for UNIDO and
developing countries and is involved in research on ethical UNEP and invited lecturer at universities in amongst others
aspects of product development for the BoP. He has given Portugal, Colombia, Turkey, Japan and Austria. He is co-
several keynote lectures on this topic and has about 100 author of the UNEP Design for Sustainability manual for
publications on his work. Developing Economies (D4S DE).
Ilona de Jongh
Born on Curaçao, a tiny island in the Caribbean, she received her Masters degree in Integrated Product
Design - specialized in design for health care - at the faculty of IDE in 2008. She believes that design
and design-thinking can cause social change, can improve life and can help towards a sustainable living
for everybody on this planet, and is working with several organizations and companies all over the
world to prove this. She currently runs the solution development firm Sprout Design, is chapter head of
Project H Design New York, and works with Delft University of Technology on several projects in Design
for Emerging Markets.
132

133. Designing for Emerging Markets
The Base of the Pyramid strategy is to serve the underserved.
Both scientists and entrepreneurs are exploring this strategy,
economically and socially motivated. The key to success is
focusing on the needs of people in their own environment.
The strength and uniqueness of Industrial Design Engineering
lies in its human centred approach to design.
This book describes projects concerning products and services Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering
for the Base of the Pyramid. This is the third publication in
IDE Master Projects - 3
the series of graduation and other Masters’ program projects Landbergstraat 15
at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, specifically 2628 CE Delft, The Netherlands
aimed at product, service and system design for the Base of
the Pyramid. www.io.tudelft.nl/bop
BoP-IO@tudelft.nl
+31 (0) 15 278 3034