Workshop on Human-Centered Design for Development at UPA2012

1. Human-Centered Design for
Development
Susan Dray
Dray & Associates, Inc.
http://www.dray.com
susan.dray@dray.com

2. Human-Centered Design for
Development (HCD4D)
• Introductions
• What’s it like in the “developing” world?
• A brief history of HCD4D
• Sharing experiences
• What do we want to tell UXPA about this (and how?)

3. Who Am I?
• First international ethnographic study in 1994
• Work in 24 countries since then
– On every continent except Antarctica
• Involved in multiple overlapping professional
communities
– UPA, SIGCHI, HFES, etc.
• Intense personal interest in “making a difference”
• Getting more and more involved in Human-Centered
Design For Development (HCD4D) community

4. What’s it like for the urban poor in the
“Developing” World?*
*Caveat: These are not universal; conditions vary widely

5. Poor (or lacking) infrastructure

6. Informal Dwellings

7. No sanitary facilities or Shared sanitation
(pit latrines)

8. No indoor water
(Must bring from communal tap)

10. Washing and bathing outside
(Must heat water on stove)

11. Informal markets

12. Open-air markets with no refrigeration

13. Crime

14. Electricity – not always available
(May be pirated or prepaid)

15. Cell phones
Phone kiosks in containers

16. Public phones outdoors

17. Public transport

18. Two-wheelers, bicylces, foot

19. Animal-powered rather than motor-powered

20. Human-powered

21. Other characteristics
• Lack of access to adequate healthcare
• Illiteracy or partial literacy
• Poor schools
• High levels of unemployment, especially among
youth (many of whom have dropped out of school)
• Food insecurity
• Etc.

22. What’s it like for the rural poor in the
“Developing” World?*
*Caveat: These are not universal; conditions vary widely

23. Smaller traditional dwellings

24. No indoor water
(Must bring from water source)

25. Water source may be miles away
(It’s women’s work to bring it to the home)

26. Transport unreliable and infrequent

29. Livelihood based on agriculture, little cash

30. No indoor stove

31. No electricity

32. Other characteristics

33. Other characteristics
• Lack of access to adequate healthcare
• Illiteracy or partial literacy
• Children left with grandparents while parents work
in cities to send money home
• High levels of unemployment, especially among
youth (many of whom have dropped out of school)
• Food insecurity
• Etc.

34. A Product Fails
• Product concept was a battery-operated
device to eliminate odors in refrigerators
• Engineers and executives were very excited
about it
• Positive responses in focus groups
• D&A was hired by client to do study of
refrigerators to support product development

35. Research For Product Development
• Ethnographic visits to 12 homes
– Focus on “video tour” of fridge
– Researcher paid particular attention to odors – both
observed and mentioned
• No one perceived an odor in their fridge
– Even fridges that the researcher found to be stinky
• No one thought the proposed product was a good
idea either during tour or during post-tour interview
– “Why would I spend $30 to put something that uses
batteries in my fridge, when I can buy a box of baking soda
for 50 cents?”

36. Did It Change Anything?
• Research was presented to client
– Videos of fridge “tours”
– Photos of interiors and of people placing the product
– Audio clips from interviews
– Negative fit and response was “loud and clear”
• Response was polite but cool
– Thanks a lot – here’s the door

37. And Yet…
One year later, the project was cancelled having
spent over $1 million USD more on it

38. A Development Project Fails*
• Internationally funded aid project to provide
modern concrete dam and canals to Nepalese
farmers
• Large project with professional design,
materials, and construction
– Consultation from top engineering firm
– State of the art
• Despite all this and massive funding, dam did
not deliver more water to farmers downstream
*As described in Freakonomics
Levitt & Dubner, 2009

39. What Happened?
• Traditionally, irrigation was small dams and crude
canals requiring maintenance
• Canal maintenance requires clearing obstructions and brush
• Traditionally, this work was shared by all farmers
• Although the dam did not require maintenance, the
distribution canals still did
• However, the traditional agreement between upstream
and downstream farmers broke down
• Farmers near the dam no longer motivated to maintain canals
because they got all the water they needed
• Therefore, downstream farmers got less water

40. What Do These Failures Have In Common?

41. Human International
Centered HCD4D Economic &
Design Community
Development

42. Early Community-Building
• Workshop at CHI 2007 (April, 2007; San Jose, US): UCD4D (1
day)
– 50+ participants from 14 countries
– NSF grant to cover “developing country” attendees from universities
and NGOs (Africa, S. Asia, Asia)
• SIG and Panel at INTERACT 2007 (September, 2007; Rio,
Brazil)
• Workshop at DIS 2008 (February, 2008; Cape Town, South
Africa) (2 – 3 days – optional “immersion” day preceding
workshop)
– Plan to video tape visits and create a documentary for use at CHI
• Workshop at CHI 2008 (April, 2008; Florence, Italy): HCI for
Community and International Development (2 days)

43. For more on the history (and more resources),
check out:
http://www.dray.com

44. Sharing Experiences
• Garren • Ben
• Michael • Jackie
• Ming • Anant
• Anat • Narender
• Brian • Keita
• Ryan • Andy
• Kami

45. Just Remember To…
Keep your heart on your feet (rather than on your
sleeve) so they take you in the right direction!