Quicksand is a design consultancy based in India, specializing in human-centered design to create impactful solutions for emerging markets. The firm partners with global corporations and development organizations to address various sectors, including consumer goods and social impact projects. Their approach emphasizes meeting people, storytelling, and crafting experiences to drive innovation and understand consumer needs.

1. User-Centered
Design &
Innovation in
Emerging Markets
Quicksand | August 2015

2. Quicksand is a design thinking and
innovation consultancy based in
India. We work in emerging markets
helping partners navigate the
complex reality of turning ideas into
action.

3. Our strength is in human-centered
design - a powerful method to
translate consumer insights into high-
impact solutions. Our multi-
disciplinary team strikes the right
balance between creativity,
analytical rigor and deep consumer
understanding.

4. Our
work
spans a
variety of
sectors
Consumer Technologies
Google, Facebook , Nokia, Samsung
Consumer Goods
Unilever, Coca-Cola
Financial Services
IDFC, GIZ, The World Bank
Water & Sanitation
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,
PATH, London School of Hygiene &
Tropical Medicine
Education & Livelihoods
Cisco, International Youth Foundation,
One World South Asia
Cultural Industry
British Council, Dutch DFA, Goethe
Institut

5. Our
clients
are global
Europe
Nokia, Nesta, British Council, GIZ
United States
Google, The World Bank Group, Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, IDEO
Asia-Pacific
Unilever, Samsung, Design Singapore
India
Reliance, Coca-Cola, Wipro, IDFC

6. Our
reach
is global
As Quicksand
We have executed projects across
varied cultural and locational contexts.
As part of global networks
We are a leading partner in Reach,
which is a global network of design
researchers and thinkers.
Countries where Quicksand has executed projects
Countries where Quicksand has existing partners
DRAFT

7. We work with global corporations to envisage
new business opportunities
UNILEVER
Disruptive innovations for low income consumers

8. We work with international development partners to drive social
impact through innovation and design.
BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION
Tackling the urban sanitation crisis

9. We explore and incubate a future with no boundaries.
UNBOX (www.unboxfestival.com)
Incubated platform to explore cultural futures

10. Our Approach to
Human Centered Design

11. Our approach to future-focused
research and innovation is anchored in
principles of human centered design - a
process that is intrinsic to robust product
and service development

12. Quicksand’s articulation of the human
centered design process can be
summarized in three simple, yet
powerful steps
Meeting
People
Telling
Stories
Crafting
Experiences

13. Framing an opportunity through the
lens of what consumers need or desire is
perhaps the most critical first step in the
innovation journey.
Meeting
People
Telling
Stories
Crafting
Experiences

14. Meeting
People
Telling
Stories
Crafting
Experiences
What does the everyday lives of your users look like?
What are the motivations that prompt the behaviors we
observe? What is the larger ecology that influences their
behavior?
What are people’s aspirations and how do they fulfill those?
What role does culture have in shaping perceptions and
attitudes?

15. CGAP at the World Bank
User Centered Innovations for G2P Transfers
A research and design study to understand the manner in which direct
benefit transfers from the government, enabled through technology
platforms, impact the lives of end recipients.
The goal of the study was to capture a rich, nuanced picture of the end-
recipient experience in semi-urban, rural and tribal locations in Andhra
Pradesh and suggest design responses that can enrich the quality of the
G2P experience.

17. The solution almost always lies at the
intersection of multiple skills and
disciplines. Stories have the power to
bring together teams and provide a rich,
fertile ground for insights, ideas and
inspiration.
Meeting
People
Telling
Stories
Crafting
Experiences

18. Meeting
People
Telling
Stories
Crafting
Experiences
How do we build empathy for consumers amongst technology,
marketing, product & design teams?
Can the stories and insights be more easily accessed & shared?
Are there disruptive ideas that can influence how we think
about our solutions?
How can teams be more creative?

19. Unilever
Disruptive Innovations for BoP Consumers
A product development study to conceptualise a comprehensive business
and product strategy for Unilever’s household care category (toilet cleaning,
surface care and hand dishwashing) in emerging markets of India, China,
Indonesia, Nigeria and South Africa.
Efforts to address the unmet and unsolved home care needs of low income
consumers were focused around field research, ideation, concept generation
and co-creation of products and business models with users and experts in
each of these markets.

20. Rural Water
Ecosystem Map
Unilever - Kiteboarding | Quicksand 2011
WATER WELLS
Shared by 2-3 households or
owned privately. Used for all
household purposes.
CANAL WATER
Runs in front of households.
Utensils and clothes are
brought out and washed here.
HAND PUMPS
Is becoming obsolete because
of community taps being
installed & bad water quality.
BORE TANK
Government installed infra-
structure, supplied through
community water taps.
COMMUNITY TAPS
Taps shared by 4-5 homes in
the community. Water is
supplied for a limited time.
1. Ethnographic Research
: Deep dives in households
in various geographies in
Africa and Asia
2. Co-design Workshops :
Bringing a workshop setting alive
with artifacts and tools from the
context
3. Context Mapping : Visual synthesis of as
outputs to explain complex systems
4. Fatta Boxes {Inspiration boxes} :
Rich-media outputs that bring the research
alive, being used in an ideation workshop
with key stakeholders
5. Quick Concepting : Live
visualisations and quick sketches
illustrating ideas for a product-service
prototype

21. A well designed product or a system is a
standout experience first - finding
ways to articulate that early on, even in
rudimentary ways, can create a clear
roadmap for how an opportunity may be
brought to fruition.
Meeting
People
Telling
Stories
Crafting
Experiences

22. Meeting
People
Telling
Stories
Crafting
Experiences
Experience is such an intangible - how do we make that more
real?
Product development can take forever - are there quick, low
cost ways of testing concepts?
How do we deliver a well crafted, consistent experience when
there are multiple experts working independently?

23. PATH
Low-cost household water treatment and storage
products (HWTS)
Developing a low cost water treatment and storage product that can
mobilize uptake and sustained use of HWTS products and practices
amongst the rural poor.
The product development phase was preceded by an in-depth, six-month
longitudinal study of people’s water practices by placing product surrogates
within consumer homes. The study findings informed the design and
development phase which in turn was a collaboration between engineering,
technology and manufacturing teams spread over India, US and China.

24. User Interactions
Testing product prototypes with
lead users in-context

25. Beta Prototypes
Product renderings of the final
prototype

26. Why HCD?
Why Quicksand?
An Emerging Market Perspective

27. Human Centered Design is perhaps
uniquely positioned to address the
challenges of cross-cultural innovation
Meeting
People
Telling
Stories
Crafting
Experiences

28. Meeting
People
Telling
Stories
Crafting
Experiences
How does culture and context begin to challenge assumptions
around what works and what doesn’t?
How do teams divided by geography and culture gain access
to consumer insights in a manner that is immersive and rich?
Are there local resources and expertise that can help jump
start product development?

29. 29
Human-Centered Approach to
Service Design & Innovation
Quicksand will use its core expertise in human centered design and service
innovation to envisage solutions that address the possibilities and
constraints of the client brief.
Insights &
Opportunities
Concept
Development
Prototyping &
Validation
Generating insights and
opportunities through
ethnography, contextual
observations and
participatory research
Building concepts and a
pipeline of innovation for
the different business lines
through expert engagement
and creative brainstorming
Lo fidelity prototyping to
test and validate concepts
with end user groups. Re-
iterate the innovation
pipeline and build an
implementation plan

30. 30
Project Plan
Generating insights and
opportunities through
ethnography, contextual
observations and
participatory research
Building concepts and a
pipeline of innovation for
the different business lines
through expert engagement
and creative brainstorming
Lo fidelity prototyping to
test and validate concepts
with end user groups. Re-
iterate the innovation
pipeline and build an
implementation plan
8-10 weeks 6-8 weeks
Synthesis workshops with
internal team
Insights and opportunities
report
DELIVERABLES
Creative brainstorming
workshops with internal
teams and external experts
Ideation toolkit
Concept visualizations
Lo-fidelity prototypes of
leading concepts
Testing and validation
report
Insights &
Opportunities
Concept
Development
Prototyping &
Validation

31. Quicksand
It’s about the people

32. We are part of REACH - a global consortium of highly skilled
and experienced design research firms.
REACH (www.globaldesignresearch.com)

33. www.quicksand.co.in