Designing for Emerging Markets

Design of Products and Services

Indu

stria

l Des

ign

Engi

neer

ing

Designing for Emerging Markets

Design of Products and Services

Edited by

Prabhu KandacharIlona de Jongh Jan Carel Diehl

3

Colo

phon

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 ServicesIDE Master’s Projects - 3Edition March 2009ISBN 978-90-5155-052-8

© 2009 Delft University of TechnologyAll 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 TechnologyFaculty of Industrial Design EngineeringLandbergstraat 152628 CE DELFT

www.io.tudelft.nl/BoPPhone +31 (0) 15 278 3034Fax +31 (0) 15 278 1839E-mail p.v.kandachar@tudelft.nl j.c.diehl@tudelft.nl i.k.dejongh@tudelft.nl bop-io@tudelft.nl

4

On the right side of the pages with project summaries, the

specifi c 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

reference throughout this book, or as a search tool for cases

in a specifi c domain.

Education

Health

Food & Nutrition

Water

Energy

Housing

Materials

Connectivity

Designing & Tools

Entrepreneurship

€

People

Planet

Profit

Each project in this booklet is performed with thought for

all three pillars of responsible business: People, Planet

and Profi t. Sometimes however, a more nuanced focus is

distinguished. This distincton is indicated for each project

on the upper left side of the page, using the following

symbols.

Project Focus

€

Legend

€

56

Company Graduation date

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

page 116 .

Extreme road conditionsThrough intense user and context research in Cambodia,

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

Kamworks December 14, 2007

Mobile Solar Kiosk for Micro-EntrepeneursMiriam Reitenbach

In order to get an understanding on how the anticipated customer reacted 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-entrepreneur who sells products, consequently he interviewed the potential

customers.

57

technical requirements.

Interviews with potential customers of the solar products

revealed that Cambodians were not yet familiar with solar

energy in general and that the way of communicating and

explaining products forms a major criterion for the success

of the sales results.

The outcomes of this research were translated into a final

concept that was refined by means of iteratively building and

testing the prototype to guarantee not only the technical

feasibility of the mobile store, but also acceptance among

the future users - the micro-entrepreneurs.

Biking without pedaling The final design was a three-wheeled electric bicycle that

can be recharged by solar energy. By making use of this

renewable energy technology and being remarkably lighter

than existing mobile stores, this vehicle is less polluting than

traditional motorised stores and can contribute to promote

sustainable energy in an effective way. User tests showed

that an electric bike caught the attention of the customer

immediately as most rural people never saw someone

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

application of glass fibre reinforced plastic an attractive and

eye-catching form of the carrier could be achieved.

In the context of a holistic approach this project did not

only focus on the design and construction of the kiosk, but

also presented recommendations on how to communicate

to the local customers in an effective and adequate way,

such as a LED display and posters explaining the benefits

and cost savings of solar products. Additionally, a new

bilingual brand name and logo was created that made it

possible to communicate with Khmer customers as well as

Western stakeholders and contributes to a quality image of

the mobile solar kiosk.

Local Production and maintenanceWhen designing the mobile kiosk, only locally available

materials and production techniques were considered in

order to generate local income, as local manufacturing was

one of the greatest requirements for the design. These

manufacturing experts of the kiosk would also be able to

take care of the maintenance and reparations, keeping all

the work and the money local.

€The bilingual logo on the side of the glass fibre reinforced carrier.

www.kamworks.com

5

Photo: Jimmy Ho

6

Rice Fields near CulikBali, Indonesia

7

The number of student projects at the Faculty of Industrial

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

our students, often in collaboration with people living at the

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/

Pref

ace

Base of the Pyramid projects executed all over the world by students from Delft University of Technology, in the time period between 2004 and 2009.

8

Millennium Development GoalsThe extensive response to these ideas is likely due to the

limited success of developmental assistance to alleviate

poverty in the past 50 years. For more than 50 years, the

World Bank, donor nations, various aid agencies, national

governments, and civil society organizations have all fought

the good fi ght, but have not been able to eradicate poverty

yet. The adoption of the Millennium Development Goals

(MDG) by the United Nations only underscores that reality.

Poverty has remained one of the world’s most daunting

problems even as we enter the 21st Century. Prahalad

advocates an alternative approach to help the poor.

Science Spread over the WorldThe projects described in this book are a result of several

students, entrepreneurs and academic staff stimulated by

this strategy. The BoP concept is spreading to all parts of the

world, both within the rich and in the poor countries. This

is also refl ected by the geographical spread of the projects

executed at our Faculty, as can be seen in the picture on

the opposite page.

It can also be observed that the projects cover very

diverse needs, from Water to Energy, from Healthcare to

Education, and more. These projects could not have been

executed without the involvement of students, companies,

NGOs, and professors. Together they have set up a base

to develop a new knowledge domain full of challenges and

opportunities. Thank you all!

Prabhu KandacharFaculty of Industrial Design Engineering

Delft University of TechnologyMarch 2009

8

Prefaceby the affl uent west.

Although the BoP strategy to serve the underserved,

namely the poor in developing countries, has attracted the

attention of scientists and entrepreneurs worldwide, the

scientifi c publications in this area until now are often from

management sciences, often extending the concepts of

corporate social responsibility, sustainability, etc.

The uniqueness of our Faculty of Industrial Design

Engineering lies in its human centered approach. Needs are

the central driving force uniting technology and business.

By tradition our Faculty has propagated the practice of

designing products and services to meet the human needs.

The BoP strategy has stimulated us to look also at the needs

of the underserved, which represent a huge market and

was hitherto unattended.

The foundation for the BoP strategy was laid by Prahalad

& Hart2, in their publication published in the fi rst quarter

of 2002, promising fortune for entrepreneurs and at the

same time offering perspectives to the poor world majority

to escape from the poverty. This caught public attention

and unleashed an extensive response from academics,

businesses, NGOs and others. Prahalad’s book3 delves in

depth by proposing a framework for the active engagement

of the private sector and suggesting a basis for a profi table

win-win engagement. This vision of untapped great wealth

in the world waiting to be explored & exploited by human

ingenuity, by designing products and services to meet the

needs of the world’s poor, and then effi ciently manufacturing

& distributing by the capabilities of the modern corporation,

Prahalad contends, needs innovations.

2 The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Strategy+business,

issue 26, First quarter 2002, p. 1- 14 (Booz Allen Hamiliton)

3 The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty

Through Profi ts, ISBN-10: 0-13-146750-6; ISBN-13: 978-0-13-

146750-7 (Published 2004) Pages: 432.

9

Tabl

e of

Con

tent

s Project Focus 2

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 coffi ns 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 Purifi er 84

Mijntje de Caluwé Jul 29, 06 Knowledge Framework: Design4Billions 86

10

Elselien Epema Jul 7, 06 Product Service System for Plant Oil Stove 90

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 Microfi nance: 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 fi rst 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

Table of Contents

11

Intr

oduc

tion

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

Challenges for Industrial Design EngineersPrabhu Kandachar About two thirds of the world’s population of 6 billion people

spend their lives searching for food and shelter, fi ghting 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 GoalsThe developments in the last century have attracted the

attention of world leaders. At the Millennium Summit in

September 2000 the largest gathering of world leaders in

history adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, committing

their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme

poverty and set out a series of targets with a deadline

of 2015, which have become known as the Millennium

Development Goals1. The image on the left shows the eight

goals.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the world’s

time-bound and quantifi ed targets for addressing extreme

poverty in its many dimensions - income poverty, hunger,

disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion - while

promoting gender equality, education, and environmental

sustainability. Also included are basic human rights - the

right of each person on the planet to health, shelter, and

1 http://www.undp.org/mdg/basics.shtml

Eight Millennium Development Goals, to be achieved in 2015.Millennium Development Goals

12

security and there are specifi c aims at combating child

mortality, AIDS, Malaria and other diseases.

The MDGs are an agreed set of goals that can only be

achieved if all actors work together and do their part. Poor

countries have pledged to govern better, and invest in their

people through health care and education. Rich countries

have pledged to support them, through aid, debt relief, and

fairer trade.

As an institution which is an expert in designing products

and services to meet human needs, it could be that some

of the needs of the population at the Base of the Pyramid

are addressable by the expertise available at the Faculty

of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of

Technology. Most problems can be grouped in the domains

of education, healthcare, food & nutrition, water, energy,

housing, materials, connectivity, designing & tools, and

entrepreneurship. Each of these domains will be discussed,

giving an overview of the needs and problems. The rest

of the book presents student projects that aim at solving

problems within one or more of these domains, with

two different chapters: on page 74, an insight is giving

on “design and culture at the BoP”, and the epilogue on

page 126 refl ects on the student projects and draws some

preliminary conclusions about the lessons learned.

EducationAn essential ingredient for the full realization of human

capacity, education is considered to provide everyone the

opportunity to make a better life for themselves. Education

provides the basis for making informed choices, for seeing

beyond the immediate horizon and opportunities, and for

having a voice in public decision making. A sustainable

end to world poverty as we know it, as well as the path to

peace and security, requires that citizens in every country

are empowered to make positive choices and provide for

themselves and their families. This can only be achieved

if everyone is given a chance to learn in a high-quality

schooling environment at least through primary school.

At a country level, education is considered to be an

important determinant of economic growth and is frequently

hailed as one of the primary contributing factors to the

dramatic economic growth in East Asia. Individuals with a

strong educational attainment also have good earnings. A

greater access to good quality education is a key poverty-

reduction strategy advocated throughout the developing

world.

More and more children, youth and adults have a

chance to learn and the number of children in school

continues to grow. Today 680 million children are enrolled

in primary schools around the world. Yet, a lot more still

needs to be done. More than 100 million children, over

half of them girls, never get a chance to see the inside

of a classroom. Furthermore, the poor quality of education

provided, resulting from irrelevant and obsolete curricula,

overcrowded classrooms, untrained teachers, etc., causes

high incompletion rates.

Literacy empowers and nurtures inclusive societies and

contributes to the fair implementation of human rights. In

the case of mothers, literacy leads to an enhanced quality

of life for their families and improved education outcomes

Introduction

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

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

benefi t 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.

World Income Distribution 2000

14

the challenge of providing access to sustainable healthcare

in developing countries. Money is the single biggest barrier

to improving healthcare in the developing world. In many

countries people do not have enough food or access to a

clean water supply, no hospital or clinic in which to receive

treatment and few healthcare professionals to care for them.

Often the governments of these countries simply do not

have the resources needed to address the healthcare needs

of their people. The World Bank estimates that an annual

healthcare expenditure of $14 per person is the minimum

needed to provide the most fundamental services. Yet the

average expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa, for example, is

currently only $63.

Food and Nutrition Food security and insecurity are terms used to describe

people’s access to suffi cient quality and quantity of food.

They are affected by factors such as poverty, health, food

production, political stability, infrastructure, access to markets,

and natural hazards. Improved food security is important for

global reduction of hunger and poverty, and for economic

development. One aim of the Millennium Development

Goals (MDG) is to eradicate poverty and hunger, including

“to reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from

hunger” between 1990 and 2015. However, by 2003 the

proportion of world population that was undernourished

had only decreased from 20% to 17% (823 to 820 million

people). It is predicted that many regions will not reach

their MDG targets, particularly sub-Saharan Africa where

a third of the population is food insecure and there is an

3 The World Health Report 2006, http://www.who.int/

HealthcareDifferences in health standards between rich & poor

countries are very high. Life expectancy varies between

36 and 85 years. A child born in a rich country receives

vaccinations, adequate nutrition and good schooling. When

a girl becomes a mother she will benefi t from high-quality

maternity care. Growing older, she may eventually develop

chronic diseases, but excellent treatment and rehabilitation

services will be available. On the other hand, a child born in

a poor country has little chance of receiving immunizations

and a high probability of being underweight throughout

childhood. She will probably marry early and give birth

to many children without the assistance of a trained birth

attendant. One or more of her babies will die in infancy, and

she herself will be at high risk of death during childbirth.

If she survives middle age she, too, will develop chronic

diseases but, without access to adequate treatment, she will

die prematurely.

This illustrates what medicine and public health can

achieve, and shows unmet needs in a world of vast and

growing health inequalities. The key task of the global

health community is therefore to close the gap between

such contrasting lives. Real progress in health depends

vitally on stronger health systems based on primary health

care. Attention is needed across all levels of the health care

system to integrate health promotion and disease prevention

on the one hand and treatment for acute illness and chronic

care on the other.

Experiences from past decades, fi ghting against diseases

across the world, show that there are no easy solutions to

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

defi ciencies or imbalances in energy, protein and/or other

nutrients. Signs include wasting (thinness), stunting

(shortness), or being underweight (low weight for age due

to wasting/stunting). Protein-energy defi ciency is a leading

cause of child death in developing countries. Defi ciencies

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 defi ciency anaemia remains a major health

problem and can negatively impact on health, life expectancy,

work productivity and economies. It has been estimated that

iron defi ciency impairs the mental development of 40 to 60%

of children in developing countries. Also, vitamin A defi ciency

affects 40% of children, and is a factor in 1 million child

deaths per year. Thirdly, iodine defi ciency during pregnancy

Countries with a critical shortage of health service providers (doctors, nurses and midwives) are coloured dark. [World Health Organization, Global Atlas of

the Health Workforcehttp://www.who.int/globalatlas/default.asp]

Shortage of Health Service Providers

16

causes mental impairment in 18 million babies born every

year. Several strategies have been proposed to address

these problems. They include food fortifi cation, dietary

diversifi cation, dietary supplementation, nutrition education,

and public health measures to control intestinal parasites

and other infectious diseases. Also, when people do have

access to food, more effi cient and healthy food preparation

methods and tools can address the problem of unhealthy

preparation.

WaterThe most common substance on earth is water. Ninety-

seven percent of it is seawater, unfi t for human use. Of

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 infi nitely

renewable. However, water is not distributed evenly. Canada,

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 the coming 20 years as shown in the fi gure on the right4.

4 Water Scenarios in 2025, WBCSD, August 2006, http://www.wbcsd.org/

In developing countries, less than 10% of the naturally available water is withdrawn [Adapted from Grey and Sadoff, 2006, The Global Water Challenge].

Households (%) That Lack In-House Improved Connection to Drinking Improved Water Water Sanitation

China 41 23 56

Russia 19 4 13

Mexico 11 9 23

Colombia 15 8 14

Peru 28 19 28

In China two-fi fth of the households lack an in-house connection to water, almost a quarter lacks improved drinking water and more than half of all Chinese lack improved sanitation [United Nations Habitat].

The Global Water Challenge

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).

EnergyEnergy 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

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 fi rstly 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

is to connect the 1.6 billion people in developing countries

currently without access to modern energy services in an

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/

international/spiegel/0,1518,grossbild-685811-429968,00.html].

Worldwide Energy Consumption

18

environmentally benign manner. Other challenges include the

ongoing urbanization throughout the world creating higher

and higher energy demand densities, increasing demand for

mobility, especially in developing countries, and additional

energy needs for new processes such as desalination.

Clearly, meeting such a challenge requires a proactive & a

co-operative contribution from all involved.

In Africa, for instance, overcoming energy poverty is one of

the main challenges. The majority of Africans currently have

no access to modern energy services and technologies.

This has wide-ranging social and environmental

consequences. Lack of access to electricity means no

refrigeration for medicines or food, limits on what type of

businesses can be developed, as well as no effective lighting.

As a result, children cannot easily study in the evenings.

Most Africans, even in urban areas, still use fi rewood, crop

residues or charcoal for cooking and cook on ineffi cient

stoves, resulting in a high incidence of respiratory diseases

because of smoke. Many women and girls have to spend

hours collecting fi rewood, and cutting trees contributes to

deforestation.

There are also opportunities. A recent study5, by the

German Aerospace Center and Ecofys in The Netherlands,

commissioned by Greenpeace and Europe's Renewable

Energy Council. claims that half of the world's energy needs

in 2050 could be met by renewable energy and by improved

effi ciency. According to this study, alternative energy sources,

such as wind and solar, could provide nearly 70% of the

global electricity demand and 65% of global heat demand.

5 Report: Energy Revolution, Jan 2007

Housing and UrbanizationSome 1.2 billion people worldwide live on the equivalent

of less than one dollar per day. The United Nations Centre

for Human Settlements (UNCHS) has estimated that 1.1

billion people are living in inadequate housing conditions in

urban areas alone, and that fi gure is expected to double by

2030. UNCHS has also estimated that some approximately

35 million new housing units are required each year in

developing countries to accommodate growth in the number

of households during the period between 2000 and 2010

period. The bulk of these, some 21 million units, are required

to cater for the needs of the increasing number of households.

The rest is needed to meet the requirements of people who

are currently homeless or living in inadequate housing. In

other words, some 95,000 new urban housing units have to

be constructed each day in developing countries to improve

housing conditions to acceptable levels. Some 14 million

additional units would be required each year for the next

20 years if the current housing defi cit were to be replaced

by 2020. Among an estimated 100 million homeless people

around the world, available data suggest that increasing

proportions are women and children.

But the main event of the demographic change is in the

cities of the developing world — and most of it in squatter

cities, the teeming slums of the uninvited. A billion people

live in squatter cities now. Two billion more are expected by

2050. Squatters are nearly one-sixth of all humans now, one-

fourth to one-third in the nearby future.

Historically, cities have been the driving force in economic

and social development. At present approximately 307 million

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 fi fty

years the population of India has grown two and half times,

but Urban India has grown by nearly fi ve 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 fi gure 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 ResourcesDeveloping 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

20

further in application of material and resources by means

of industrial production wherein energy and raw materials

are fed continuously into the production process, resulting

in useful products as well as waste or other by-products.

Increasing concern worldwide for environmental protection

and growing economical constraints have led to development

and utilization of new materials based on renewable

resources such as natural fi bres and plant materials, as well

as recycling of industrial by-products.

Developing countries have often abundant local renewable

materials and basic expertise. For instance natural fi bres

produced from animals or plants are plentifully available in

developing countries. Animal fi bres are derived from sources

such as sheep, goats and rabbits, and the cocoon of the

silkworm. Vegetable fi bres are derived from the stem, leaf or

seed of various plants. Close to 30 million tonnes of natural

fi bres are produced annually in the world, of which cotton is

dominant with 20 million tonnes, wool and jute each around

2 to 3 million tonnes followed by a number of others.

Natural fi bres form an important component of clothing,

upholstery and other textiles for consumers, and many of

them also have industrial uses in packaging, papermaking

and in composite materials with many uses, including

automobiles.

Apart from their importance to the consumer and in their

various industrial uses, natural fi bres are an important

source of income for the farmers who produce them. In

some cases they are produced on large farms in developed

countries, but in many developing and least developed

countries proceeds from the sale and export of natural fi bres

contribute signifi cantly to the income and food security

of poor farmers and workers in fi bre industries. For some

developing countries natural fi bres are of major economic

importance, for example, cotton in some West African

countries, jute in Bangladesh and sisal in Tanzania. In other

cases these fi bres are of less signifi cance at the national level

but are of major local importance, as in the case of jute in

West Bengal (India) and sisal in northeast Brazil.

Challenges in this area include attaining economic growth

by designing and commercializing products based on such

local renewable natural resources without raising the

ecological pressure on the planet.

ConnectivityCommunications in the richer part of the world by means

of newspapers, radio, TV, telephones are self-evident. The

latest technology, mobile phones, has become indispensable

in the rich world. But they are even more useful in the

developing world, where the availability of other forms

of communication—roads, postal systems or fi xed-line

phones—is often limited. Even though there is a substantial

subscriber growth in much of the developing world, only

a small proportion of people (affordability is the “biggest

obstacle” to broader adoption) —around 5% in both India

and sub-Saharan Africa—have their own mobile phones.

Using cell phones, fi shermen and farmers check prices in

different markets before selling produce. Cell phones also

help people to fi nd work, allow quick and easy transfers

of funds and boost entrepreneurship. A village can share

phones and prepaid calling plans reduce the need for a bank

account or credit check.

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,

in short, a classic example of technology that helps people

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 benefi t 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 infl uencing

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

global economy. The digital divide is also a term used to

refer to the gap between people who have access to the In the sub-saharian Africa and South Asia, it is projected that people are

increasingly living without electricity [IEA 2002b].

Number of People Without Electricity1979-2030, by region

22

internet (the information haves) and those that do not (the

information have-nots). It can also refer to the skills people

have – the gap between people who are at ease using digital

technology to access and analyse information and those who

are not.

The digital divide is just as much a gap in understanding as

it is a gap in connectivity. There are often clear fundamental

differences between what is proposed by technology

visionaries, many of whom have never even seen a village,

and what is actually needed by end-users, many of whom

have never used a telephone or a computer.

A number of ICT initiatives offer a promise of closing the

gap that separates the some four billion people living in rural

communities from a future with greater literacy, productivity,

and quality of life. While the end goal is clear – broadband

connectivity everywhere – many ICT initiatives have faltered

due to a lack of a well-adapted, step-by-step approach that

considers social factors and the staging of capital investments

as well as technology.

Wireless technology has not only revolutionized the way

the developed world communicated; it also offers developing

countries an opportunity to “leap-frog” over wire line

infrastructures to the forefront of communications. However,

since many different types of wireless technologies exist, it

is important to choose the technology that best matches the

needs of these new markets. While some wireless techniques

have been very successful in urban areas, the rural ICT market

has its own set of unique requirements, including: low-cost,

low-power, scalability, robustness, and ease of use.

Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurs are regarded as bearers of risk, agents that

bring together the factors of production, or organizers of

innovation. Entrepreneurship is essential in developing

countries, as it has played an important role in economic

growth, innovation, and competitiveness, and it may also

play a role over time in poverty alleviation.

Over 400 million individuals in developing countries

are owners or managers of new fi rms. Of these, over 200

million are found in China and India alone, compared with

just 18 million entrepreneurs in the United States. Yet, in

one of the best general books on the state of research on

entrepreneurship, China is mentioned on two pages and

India is not mentioned at all6.

Entrepreneurs in developing countries face a different

set of circumstances than their counterparts in developed

economies. These differences are rooted in the underlying

economies in which they operate. Emerging markets lack a

stable or mature market and the consistency that such markets

offer. Consequently, the opportunity for entrepreneurship in

emerging markets is pervasive. While Western entrepreneurs

operate at the fringes of the economy, emerging market

entrepreneurs operate closer to the core – the needs and

opportunities are more widespread. Another difference lies in

the access to fi nancial resources. Internal fi nance comprises

the majority of fi nancing for small and medium enterprises

in most developing countries. Another major difference lies

in the access to technological advances which are largely

6 Amar Bhidé, The Origin and Evolution of New Businesses, New York: Oxford

University, 2000, ISBN-13: 978-0195131444

23

developed and held by developed countries.

Entrepreneurs are a crucial link in implementing designs

of products and services developed specifi cally 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

poor people.

Design and ResearchBack in 2002, an experiment was conducted to design a

product to serve rural healthcare needs of China, specifi cally A model for design processes for the Base of the Pyramid[Prabhu Kandachar, Jan 2008].

Focus of Base of the Pyramid Research Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering

Delft University of Technology

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 fi rst 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, fi rst quarter 2002.

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 fi gure at the left) for poor countries, but this

time within the context of alleviating poverty by means of

business endeavours.

25

Photo: Ilona de Jongh

26

Kids swimming and playing in fl ooded roadsJakarta, Indonesia

27

Company Graduation date Insect Repellent Lamp for the Indian MarketInge van de WouwInsect 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,

Japanese Encephalitis and Chikungunya. Malaria alone

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 profi table

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 fi eld 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.

Philips Consumer Lifestyle December 8, 2008

Two user researches in India (48 families in 2.5 months) provided very useful insights for the improvement and further development of the IRL.

€

28

CFL & portabilityWith the obtained information, several suggestions for

improvements were given. First of all, a compact fl uorescent

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 fl exibility; 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 fi eld 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

(€7.50) can be possible.

First reactionsWith the manufactured 13 prototypes a second fi eld test

was conducted in India. The response of the target group

on the improved IRL was very positive and it seemed that

the insect repellent functionalities, the energy saving lamp,

the portability and the two switches (different modes

possible) provided very useful benefi ts for them.

Currently, different departments of Philips have shown

interest in the IRL and possibilities are explored to bring the

product to the market.

www.philips.com

Two switches make it possible to use the lamp and repellent separately or together (day, evening and night mode).The blue night light that is lit when the repellent is active.

29

Company Graduation date

Movendi foundation strives to improve the quality of life for

physically disabled people. The foundation’s primary focus

is on developing countries and communities with a great

need for expertise in the fi eld of movement technology and

physical therapy. The goals are achieved through start-ups

and coaching projects using local knowledge and skills to

arrive at creative solutions for different problems faced by

the physically disabled. Movendi is also involved in setting

up rehabilitation workshops and training of local therapists

and technicians.

GhanaMovesMovendi 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 profi ted 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 benefi ts it

generated for disabled persons, Movendi wished to initiate

a similar venture in India. This project is an exploratory fi rst

step in that direction, identifying strategies and business

Movendi Foundation 2009

IndiaMoves; exploratory research studyAparna Bhaskar

Concept areas; a market analysis of these individual concept areas and new business opportunities and product service systems for self employment of

rural disabled within these areas are part of the results.

Cooka et al: A product-service system (PSS), also known as a function-

oriented business model, is a business model, developed in academia,

that is aimed at providing sustainability of both consumption and

production1.

1. M.B. Cooka, T.A. Bhamrab and M. Lemonc (2006). “The transfer and

application of Product Service Systems: from academia to UK manu-

facturing fi rms”. Journal of Cleaner Production (Elsevier Ltd) 14 (17):

1455–1465. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2006.01.018.

€

30

entrepreneur are presented.The second part of the project

focused on generating self employment opportunities

suitable for locomotor disabled persons. In order to do so,

it was imperative to analyse the Indian market situation.

This included study of the consumer markets, with special

attention to rural India, and an overview of lives of the poor

in rural India. On the basis of this research, seven product-

service-systems (PSS, see box on the left page) that can be

operated by rural disabled persons were developed.

Strategies & PSSsIdeas for product-service-systems are elaborated to levels

of market potential, consumer segmentation and role of

different stakeholders in the enterprise system. Ideas are

provided for enterprise alliances with private, governmental

and non-profi t sector.

The project was initiated by the Movendi team and the

results are primarily intended for use by Movendi. The

report and its content are meant to support future initiatives

by Movendi in India. The report provides a comprehensive

overview to disabled persons and disability sector in India,

and would be of value to future Movendi project teams in

India. However the content of report is of value to other

reader groups as well: Disability Institutions, Rehabilitation

organization and NGO’s in India: The report highlights new

possibilities and approaches for the betterment of locomotor

disabled in India. Organizations working in disability sector

are ideally placed with appropriate resources and prior

experience.

€

www.movendifoundation.org

opportunities.

Entrepreneurial businessesIn a country like India, the poor face numerous challenges

and poverty in itself is a handicap. The less fortunate

often have to deal with illiteracy, hunger and daily battle

for basic necessities, barely managing to make ends meet.

In addition to being born poor, if one has a disability, he/

she is confronted with an uphill battle at all stages of life.

The disabled poor are one of the most neglected and

marginalized communities with limited access to resources

and employment opportunities. These issues are magnifi ed

many times over when it comes to rural India. This strategic

design project focuses on identifying and developing

business opportunities that would empower the disabled

poor in rural India, by creating entrepreneurial businesses.

The fi rst step is research.

Disability at the BoP IndiaIn order to develop business opportunities, a thorough

analysis of disability at the BoP in India was performed; an

in-depth understanding of the disability sector and disabled

persons in rural India. The need for employment amongst

rural disabled was confi rmed and the target group was

defi ned clearly. It answers questions such as; who amongst

the rural disabled or what sections of the disabled population

require additional support in terms of employment? Who

amongst locomotor disabled are capable/ not capable of

taking up responsibility of entrepreneurship? Additionaly,

symbiotic business opportunities with benefi ts for Hindustan

Unilever Limited and Project India Moves & the disabled

31

Company Graduation date

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, ineffi cient 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 effi ciency 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’There is a need for clean, safe and affordable energy

solutions that can be available to BoP customers on the

Philips Light October 30, 2008

Energy as a consumer productAmbika Samabasivan

Opportunities in Base of the Pyramid markets: Powered by the four global energy providers, consumer electronic applications could include mobile

phone chargers, lanterns, radios, table fans and more.

€

32

short term. With the rise of renewable energy, it is possible

to think of energy as a consumer product, where customers

have greater choice, fl exibility and control over the range

of technology and solutions. This project defi nes a market

niche for Philips using supporting arguments from contextual

analysis, customer research and competitor mapping. This

market niche is labeled as ‘buy and play’ energy designed

to cater to small-scale household requirements, pertaining

to an energy output of <0.1kWh/day. Two categories of

products are of interest. The fi rst is individual appliances

with a built-in power source (~ <0.01kWh/day). The

second is an energy platform or a power pack (~0.1 kWh/

day) that would be fl exible enough to power two or more

applications.

Flexible set of solutionsThese products can be powered by four potential energy

technologies; human powered, solar PV, micro-wind

and pico-hydro. Applications can include mobile phone

chargers, lanterns, radios, table fans and so forth. It is

almost impossible to have one standardized solution for BoP

customers. Renewable energy choices are dependent on

geographical variations. Product choices are dependent on

household requirements. As in the case of the product, the

business system is infl uenced by a range of local factors;

the target customer group, value proposition, partner

network, available infrastructure and cost structures. To

serve such diverse markets, Philips needs to have a fl exible

set of solutions or a toolbox of options and conduct multiple

market experiments. This will help identify key value

propositions for BoP families and communities that can be

delivered in a unique way. To hone a keener competitive

edge, it is essential to work deeply with local communities

in order to bring out the variations in product needs and

desires, bringing about a feeling of ‘this is our solution’. To

achieve this, Philips must consciously work with a variety of

social organizations and informal partners. In addition, it is

crucial to invest in building local capacity to fulfi ll societal

and business goals. Small-scale ‘buy and play’ energy can

deliver a variety of benefi ts:

• Provide basic energy services to those who are

currently off the grid, taking the fi rst step towards energy

independence. Complete energy independence can be

achieved by a series of short steps, and ‘buy and play’

energy can be promoted as the fi rst step toward this goal.

• Offer energy services for those who expect to be

connected in the near future as a transition to the grid.

Communities living close to the grid are often temporary

and/or extra-legal settlements.

• Promote the use of renewable energy for those who are

connected to an often unreliable and expensive grid as a

back-up for power shortages, a grid supplement.

Global sustainabilityEnergy is an important enabler for a more modern lifestyle

for the poor. The wide range of energy services can have a

major impact in facilitating sustainable livelihoods, improving

health and education and signifi cantly reducing poverty.

By addressing the needs of base of the pyramid markets

through ‘buy and play’ energy, Philips hopes to fi rmly

establish itself as both a future-oriented business and a

committed contributor to global sustainable development.

www.philips.com

33

Company Graduation date

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 sourcesMilk is currently not affordable for the Vietnamese at

the Base of the economic Pyramid, as the dairy prices

in Vietnam are with an average of $0,82/kg the most

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

(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

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.

Synergy A design offi ce, 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

Friesland Foods & reggs October 24, 2008

PRO-PORTION Affordable milk for kidsLieke Pijpers

Storyboard of the strategy that makes milk protein affordable for children at the Base of the Pyramid in Vietnam.

KINDERGARTEN

MILK

INFORMATIVE MATERIALS

M

€

34

was possible to combine these necessities (portions) and

initiated the ‘pro-portion’ strategy. This approach proposes

that by combining the strengths of different organizations

such as local entrepreneurs, NGOs and multinationals, an

innovative business model could be achieved that creates a

win-win situation. On the one hand the needs of the BoP are

better fulfi lled, while on the other hand operations become

more cost-effective. The developed pro-portion strategy will

eventually increase the affordability of milk for the poor as

well as the profi tability for the stakeholders. A fi eld study

in Vietnam revealed that the most effective place to reach

young children is the kindergarten.

Multi-stakeholder business modelThe proposed concept aims to provide the BoP children in

kindergarten with milk and informative materials. Three

times a week, the children are given a cup of milk, for

which their parents pay a contribution that is based on their

average level of purchasing power. Together with the milk,

educational material is provided to kindergartens, which

improves the quality of education and increases awareness

among the children on different topics. Every month will

have a different, important theme. The children that

structurally attended kindergarten during the course of one

theme receive a reward, which increases their motivation to

participate. Additionally, the information will be bundled in

educative comics, on which the kindergartens get a monthly

subscription and could start a library with. These comics

could be borrowed by the children and brought home to

read together with their family. The whole campaign will

www.frieslandfoods.comwww.reggs.nl

be embodied by a cartoon character, which teaches the

children about important lessons in life in an attractive

way. Altogether this concept increases the accessibility and

quality of preschool education and the children’s future

chances of success (health and academic performance).

The government benefi ts from the higher enrolment

of kindergartens and the increased mental and physical

development of children. This contributes to the national

goals on education and development. Organizations like

UNICEF and Unilever could benefi t from the opportunity

to communicate with young children. This allows them

to educate children on their rights or on the importance

of personal hygiene. Creating awareness among children

supports the strategic objectives of those commercial and

social organizations. Local communities clearly benefi t, as

it helps their children to develop themselves. It stimulates

parents to send their children to kindergarten, which in turn

enables them to work. On top of this, it creates teaching jobs

for the community. Teachers will earn some extra income in

exchange for distributing the milk in the classroom.

Last but not least, Friesland Foods can now serve poor

children they could not reach before. Although at cost price,

it supports their strategic goal of serving 1 billion customers

in 2015 globally. On a local level it increases their market

share in Vietnam and makes them market leader. In the long

run, Friesland Foods can benefi t from the created customer

loyalty among poor families. As soon as a poor family gains

purchasing power, they will be more inclined to purchase

Friesland Foods products.

35

Company Graduation date

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-profi t organizations (NGOs) and changing

local rural people into customers requires a complete

different strategy.

PSS for the BoPThe 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 fi nancial 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 fi rst discusses the possibility and opportunities of

doing business with the world poor, which are seldom been

considered as profi table 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 profi ts from many poor customers as when

they sell products with high profi ts to relatively few high-

income customers.

The concept of PSS is based on the insight people do

not necessarily need to own products in order to fulfi ll their

y

BushProof Sept. 23, 2008

BushProof Safe Water SubscriptionSierk Hennes

The Canzee Pump in use. This pump has already proved to be a very appropriate product for the circumstances in Madagascar and is an affordable

and reliable solution for water provision.

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needs. Substituting product components into services create

possibilities to better anticipate on customer requirements,

reduce resources and stimulate customer relationships.

In order to serve the Madagascar poor with their

Canzee hand pump, BushProof has to overcome different

problems companies in low–income countries face. People

are little aware of the positive effects of having access to

reliable drinking water, the current system of community

management does not result in lasting solutions and local

people have too little knowledge to execute diffi cult repairs.

Finally, people have little possibilities to save for major

expenditures needed to purchase and maintain expensive

products while the risk exists that pumps preliminary break

down due the hostile environment of Madagascar.

Shared subscription, no maintenance responsibilityA subscription that guarantees access to safe drinking

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 fi nancial

risk for the users. BushProof will regularly

visit the villages for periodical servicing

and quality checks creating the opportunity to build user

relationships and collect user feedback useful for further

product development.

People have to form user-groups with their neighbours

that are willing to share one subscription. User groups pay a

monthly contribution. As people share one subscription and

do not have to buy the pump, the system will be affordable

for most people in Madagascar.

The fi nancial analysis shows that if 25 families use one

subscription, a monthly contribution of €0,63 per family

is needed to maintain the pumps. Because revenues are

reinvested in creating new pumps and subscriptions, the

system is able to triple the amount of pumps within eight

years. A start-up investment of €90.000 will result in about

500 pumps serving approximately 75.000 people and still

realize an average yearly return of more than 10% (in 10

years).

www.bushproof.biosandfi lter.org

37

Photo: Mirjam Lindgreen

38

Girl Java, Indonesia

39

Company Graduation date

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 fi xed selling points which are

run by micro-entrepeneurs. Several physical expressions of

the brand had been defi ned prior to this project, along with

a concept for a mobile selling point (see page 56).

Sustainable brandsThe internal analysis showed the identity of Kamunasal,

based on the mother company Kamworks and the initial

Kamunasal product Angkor light (see page 116). The

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 factorsThrough 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, specifi cally for the Khmer

culture. The importance of various factors for customers

Solar shop in rural CambodiaKirsten Rijke

Kamworks August 2008

Above is the confi guration of the concept as a solar shop, and below as a theatre. Switching between the confi gurations is possible within minutes.

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and micro-entrepeneurs were determined separately, but

the models turned out to be rather similar. The decision

model is a rational one, where many factors play a role. The

three most important factors were found to be price, quality

and the fulfi lment of needs.

The results of the internal and external analysis

determined the course of the project. The results of the

project can be categorized in two distinctive parts:

• A defi nition of the Kamunasal proposition “light

and energy for a happy family” in the form of a

strategy.

• A complete concept for fi xed selling points based

on the Kamunasal proposition.

For a happy familyThe strategy points out that the distinction between the

Kamunasal and Kamworks businesses should be more clear,

also within the company. The strategy further describes

how Kamunasal can use the methods of MicroFranchising,

by fi rst setting up a business and fi nding the right formula.

The next step is replicating this successful business with

other micro-entrepreneurs by supporting them with the

Kamunasal formula. Finally the complete strategy for

Kamunasal results in a market proposition that describes

the brands attitude in terms of a fi ve-P model; product,

price, place, promotion, people. A design vision was

then formulated, in order to design the solar shop as an

expression of the Kamunasal proposition: “Design a concept

for a fi xed selling and service point for home lighting and

energy supply products and services of Kamunasal within

the rural areas of Cambodia.”

Visible stockThrough an ideation and conceptualization phase, a fi tting

concept is developed and further elaborated, resulting in a

Kamunasal solar shop; an adapted and furnished shipping

container. Inside the shop a displaying cabinet contains a

show and try-out model for each item. As rural customers

and micro-entrepreneurs in Cambodia prefer to have stock

placed visibly (which also helps keep a clear overview for

the micro-entrepreneur) each product type is placed in a

separate compartment, along with additional stock, see

images on the left.

A working solar home system is demonstrated and

explained through an educational display. The solar system

also provides the power for a number of battery charging

services offered in the shop.

A shop and a theatreThe Kamunasal solar shop can be transformed from a

shop into a small theatre. The theatre offers educational

video entertainment and testimonials from other

satisfi ed Kamunasal customers. The fl exible and inviting

shop provides a culturally appropriate, friendly familiar

environment for both consumer and micro-entrepreneur.

Adding a brand expression in the form of the Kamunasal

solar shop, with the right balance between informational

and sales aspects, supports the brand Kamunasal and its

high quality appearance.

€

www.kamworks.com

41

Company Graduation date

Cambodia has one of the lowest electrifi cation 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 effi ciency.

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 experienceThe 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 fi eld by test families. The product use,

performance and appreciation was monitored technically by

data logging and practically by a series of surveys. Based

on this extensive design research the pilot SHS was further

elaborated to a fi nal product design, ready for production.

Functional and aesthetic valueThe result of this project was the design of three types of

Kamworks August 2008

Solar Home System for rural CambodiaTom van Diessen

The family Chum Voung consist of 3 people and belongs to social class of 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 being a construction worker. The house is build traditionally, small but well

maintained and is located on the corner of a road next to a battery charging 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 replace their current use of a car battery and kerosene and is initialy installed

under a renting construction for 3 months.

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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 fi nal designs. Many customers are

already eagerly waiting for what could be seen as the new

generation of Solar Home Systems in Cambodia.

www.kamworks.com

43

Company Graduation date

Extracting Batana oil is the main way of making a living

for the Miskito women in La Mosquitia, a diffi cult 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 fi rewood 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

is assisting the Miskito in selling Batana. Moreover, this

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 defi nite 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 redesignThis redesign process has been done with participation of

ICCO and MOPAWI July 28, 2008

Redesign of a Smoke free Batana ExtractorLinda Schnieders

The cooker hood is placed close to the pan during frying of the kernels.

MOPAWI initiated the Ecofogon project in 2005 and since then has taken several steps in implementing the Ecofogon in La Mosquitia.

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44

various local stakeholders, accounting for cultural values

and traditions, local infrastructure and local resources. This

has resulted in a new concept with a number of essential

improvements compared to the existing stove. One of the

main adaptations has been the provision of a vertically

placed chimney connected to a cooker hood in combination

with correctly applying the so called rocket principle. Other

improvements include the use of a pan and a sieve to

separate the oil from the kernels, without the user being

in contact with the stove or the hot oil. Furthermore, the

dimensions of the entrance and the combustion chamber

are optimised to ensure a more effi cient combustion. The

new concept also provides arrangements for signifi cant

savings of fi re wood, which means enhanced environmental

sustainability. As a result of these improvements, the

women are not directly exposed to the hazardous smoke

anymore, resulting in less health threats. Moreover, because

of a more effi cient use of

fi re wood, environmental

degradation will be partly

addressed. Besides a new

design concept, a plan

for implementation of the

Ecofogon was developed

during this project.

ImplementationInstructions for end users

as well as constructors

are listed. Also a training

plan is included on how to build capacities among the future

constructors of the improved Ecofogon. The implementation

plan also includes the construction of a prototype and ways

to involve the end users and other stakeholders in further

shaping of the fi nal product.

In view of the potential health and environmental

benefi ts MOPAWI, a local NGO, is recommended to follow

up on the new concept by executing the implementation

plan. Financing sources need to be found for this purpose

and fi nancing partners are recommended to embark on

this project. It is expected that by doing so this project

contributes to the sustainable social economic development

and resilience of the minority tribe of the Miskito and

particularly their most vulnerable community members.

Use of the pan and sieve. Before removing the pan the skirt needs to be adjusted, N.B. In the right picture the irritating smoke

coming from the oil has not been visualized.

www.icco.nl/enwww.mopawi.org

45

Company Graduation date LUMEN light solutionIntegral Design ProjectExecuted 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.

No running costsFrom 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 effi ciency 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 householdsHouse 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

fl ammability and health hazards as well as the highly volatile

Kamworks June, 2008

An exploded view of the design; the Moonlight.

Most of the families of the fi nal user test were enthusiastic and even willing to buy the prototypes on the spot.

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fuel prices were the main drivers.

The fi eld research lead to several main conclusions: First,

people need a portable lamp. Different rooms are to be lit,

and most consumers cannot afford more than one lamp.

Furthermore, a dimmed light during the night was needed,

to orientate in the dark and to feel safe while saving energy

at the same time. The dimmed light only has to last for

a few hours per night, and about three hours of full light

are needed during the evening. In addition, the inventive

character of the Cambodians and the completely improvised

style of their houses called for a fl exible product that people

could use as they wished, without too many restrictions.

Poverty makes people use everything they have as long and

as effi ciently as possible and the usage of the new lamp will

not differ in that point.

Ampoul PreahchanThe fi nal design is called MoonLight (“Ampoul Preahchan” in

Khmer). It has a triangular shape and includes a cord that

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 fl ux 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 fi xed

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

a window open for charging. Currently, this anti-theft

technique is used for TV antennas, so this technique is not

new to the people.

The product mainly consists of two vacuum-formed outer

shells and two also vacuum-formed blisters that hold the

electronics together and buffer them at the same time for

possible shocks.

The fi nal user tests pointed out that the product is indeed

an appropriate solution for the stated problem. People could

easily understand and use the product: hanging it around

their neck and placing it at the walls and ceiling of their

houses. Most of the families of the fi nal user test were

enthusiastic and even willing to buy the prototypes on the

spot. These reactions were similar to Kamworks’ reactions;

Kamworks indicated they would like to start producing the

MoonLights as soon as possible.

Installing a 0.5 Wp solar panel on a pole, to prevent theft.

www.kamworks.com2008

47

Company Graduation date

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.

BatteriesStandardized batteries form a low investment for instant

energy. Batteries are available worldwide, are cost-effi cient

and fi t 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 NICEThrough 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

NICE April 4, 2008

A battery charging system for youngstersJudith Goor

A rendering of the design; the left side is for AA batteries and the right side for AAA batteries.

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48

group. Youngsters are very trend sensitive and care

much about their image. NICE batteries can add to their

appearance as being a high quality and popular product.

MembershipIn The Gambia, registration is unwanted by costumers. To

avoid the need of registration a different setup is needed;

new customers will pay a start-up fee to join the system,

and whenever NICE batteries get empty, they can be

switched for full ones in exchange for a small charging fee.

A NICE battery is the evidence of being a member of the

system. Customers receive different batteries every time

they exchange. In order to assure them a good quality, the

batteries will go through a quality check that fi lters 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 profi t is generated for NICE within a year.

Battery TestersWith 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

- Dispenser for full AAA- batteries

- Quality check to assure quality of the batteries

- Energy tester to test if the battery is fully charged

The systems are placed on the wall behind the NICE

reception desk. In this way the system is visible and triggers

the customers by the bright colors, shiny appearance and

blinking led lights. The employee can operate it from behind

his desk and keep a good overview.

A functional prototype of the system was built and was

ready to be tested in the NICE shop to continue with further

development of the product.

€

The prototype in use. The lights visualize the charging.

www.nice-gambia.com

49

Photo: Kees van Gastel

50

Man FishingCitarum River, Java, Indonesia

51

Company Graduation date

Funerals play a central role in Batswana culture. High death

rates, increasing expectations and funeral costs impoverish

citizens as they struggle to provide a dignifi ed burial for

their loved ones. The Everybody Company had identifi ed

this social need and had set about providing access to

affordable coffi ns throughout Southern Africa and developed

a pre-cut click-to-construct coffi n. The Everybody Coffi ns

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 Coffi n.

An in depth analysis of lengthy and extravagant burial

rituals highlighted why the Everybody Coffi n is not widely

accepted; functional, aesthetic and emotive aspects of the

Everybody Coffi n design make it inappropriate for product

placement within this consumer market.

The Coffi n IndustryThe market can be split up into two categories; state funerals

and consumer funerals. If a coffi n 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 coffi ns, and for the

consumer the advantage is in costs: these services are

provided for free. In the commercial coffi n industry price

is not the most important factor in coffi n design. Status,

protection and style (aesthetics) are key product values.

The funeral parlour network is currently responsible for

distributing and selling coffi ns as part of funeral service

packages. Although selling direct to the market appears as

Everbody Company Feb 8, 2008

The product and company name is ‘branded’ into the lid of the coffi n with a hot iron. In South Africa this would include the ‘Working for Water’ logo. People will know that they are buying a product that is supported by the government. The lining can be custom made or modifi ed in the villages.

These children, Elvis & Kabo, expressed an interest in constructing the coffi ns as a job. The elders in the village approved the full sized prototypes and

agreed to cooperate in the interests of the village.

Culturally appropriate coffi ns for BotswanaJan Willem Findlater

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an attractive alternative, doing so is a logistical challenge.

The infrastructure does not exist (or permit) coffi n sales

without distribution through the funeral parlour network.

It is therefore a challenge for product designers and

manufacturers to effectively provide access to affordable

coffi ns.

Investigation of coffi n purchasing behaviour in Botswana

showed, alongside the aforementioned product values of

status, protection and aesthetics, that culture orientated

coffi n design provided new product values which were

independent of costs. This fi nding is an opportunity to

reduce spiraling coffi n costs whilst improving the emotional

experience when choosing a coffi n. Flat, prefabricated

coffi ns are most suited for rural communities across

Botswana. This is currently the key product value of the

Everybody Coffi n. Re-designs of the Everybody Coffi n were

evaluated within rural communities. Unexpectedly, these

communities appreciated the re-designs differently. The

design could be used to create jobs in the rural areas, which

is a big need for rural communities. The design criteria

changed during the design process to refl ect the local

context. Continuous feedback during the re-design phases

noted improvements in aesthetic appeal, product function

and cultural orientation.

The new Everybody Coffi nBased on the feedback throughout the design process it

can be concluded that the design has improved in terms

of product acceptance. Regarding material selection, Bosa

(the fi nal design proposal of this project) utilises regionally

available waste wood. This necessitated a re-design of the

construction. The fi nal design may be considered as less

effi cient, heavier, more labour intensive and requires a

longer production time. On the other hand it is desirable in

the consumer market, adds value to the materials, reduces

toxifi cation of the ground water and is creates more jobs

in the rural areas. Product acceptance by funeral parlours

also improved. They identifi ed more with new aspects of the

design, primarily the ability to hold more stock, attractive

pricing and reductions in transportation costs.

During the process of this project new product values

were identifi ed. Using these product values for coffi n design

may help to positively change purchasing behaviour in

Botswana. This study indicates that a culturally appropriate

coffi n can be highly desirable and need not to be expensive.

Designers can play an essential role in helping societies

to change towards more fi nancially and environmentally

sustainable practices. It is their duty to help societies and

governments achieve their long term goals.

Unexpectedly, this study unveiled a great opportunity to

stimulate entrepreneurship in the rural areas. Cooperation

with Chiefs, tribes, Burial Societies and Church groups play

an essential role when implementing Everybody Coffi ns. For

the coffi n to realise its potential as a culturally appropriate

coffi n it requires the involvement of local craftsmen to

personalise each coffi n. This must be done commercially.

Government and NGO ‘hand outs’ can have a detrimenal

effect on proactive entrepreneurship in the rural areas.

Coffi n assembly can be seen as an ideal fi rst step to

economic empowerment.

www.everybodycoffi ns.com

53

Company Graduation date

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 fi nancially 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

minimal and little profi t can be made on the water. This way

DWL could start establishing the company by creating a

solid fi nancial background and gaining experience for water

“processing” (manufacturing and distribution) in a non-

western context.

Governmental WaterCurrently, 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

Dutch Water Limited February, 2008

Water4KenyaIntegral Design Project Executed by Elly Doek, Merijn Janssen , Regine van Limmeren, Charl Smit and Stefan Versluis.

A prototype of the Strolley: unlike the current competition, the Strolley complies with ergonomic demands.

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to 200% of the original price. Scarcity occurs several times

a year.

The proposed Product Service SystemSome boundary conditions were kept in mind. First of

all, DWL is a start-up company, with little investment

power. Furthermore sustainability was very important: the

PSS should be economically, ecologically, politically and

socially sustainable. The proposed PSS enables DWL to

provide the people of Mtwapa with clean, affordable and

reliable drinking water by selling the water at the gate and

distributing it to the houses of the customer by means of

human powered vehicles. The PSS provides the customer

with several additional advantages like fi xed prices, fi xed

quality and constant supply. In addition, the water is sold

in a special, sealed package which decreases the chance

of the water getting contaminated. The PSS consists of

the following product

elements: the water,

the vehicles, and the

packaging. The service

elements in the PSS are

selling at the gate and

delivery at home.

A subscription service is

offered for water delivery,

which ensures customers

of water delivery, also

in times of scarcity, and

ensures DWL of a certain

amount of regular clients. In addition, the subscription

allows for the possibility to pay off the deposit for the jerry

can in terms.

Three different stakeholders were determined for the PSS,

and solutions were offered for each of these stakeholders.

For customers; by offering clean, affordable and reliable

drinking water, customers are served with advantages

for health, living standards and fi nancial benefi ts. For

employees; Several new employees are to be hired in order

to make the PSS function properly. Being employed at

DWL comes with advantages concerning health (unlike the

current mikokoteni, the Strolley complies with ergonomic

demands), and are offered a fi xed salary. For DWL; The

PSS enables DWL to reach its vision by providing water to

people with a need for clean water, creating employment

and meanwhile establishing a solid fi nancial base.

€

Drinking

Processing water

No treatment

UseFilling package

Sealing package

Selling and returning package

Cleaning package

Sales channels

DWL source

Full package

Empty package

Coast Special is both sold at the gate as well as distributed to the houses of the customer.

A er use the package is returned to the factory to be cleaned for reuse.The empty jerry can is exchanged with a new one when new water is being bought. No new deposit needs to be paid if the seal is unbroken.

The jerry can is closed by a cap with integrated tap and sealed to prevent the package to be tampered with.

Coast Special is safe to drink directly from the jerry can; it does not need to be treated before use.

Consumer cycle

DWL processes the water from the source into high quality drinking water.

DWL cycle

1

2

3

45

6

9

8

7

www.dwlwater.com

55

Company Graduation date

One of the most important global problems is that of

poverty. Apart from the obvious humanitarian justifi cation,

fi nding 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 fi nd 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

other hand many smaller countries which are not developing

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 contextsConsidering 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

to companies looking to develop BoP products.

Solardew & ICCO Feb 1, 2008

Comparing Contexts; Solar Dew Technology Alexander van der Kleij

The working principles of the Solar Dew Technology .

In coastal areas the sea provides people with an unlimited source of brackish water, which in combination with the Solar Dew technology can provide a

steady source of clean drinking water.

€

56

The question is therefore to determine whether it is

possible to cluster these different markets. The fi rst step to

answering this question is to determine if it is possible to

design for multiple markets, each with a different context.

Therefore this project provided an insight into:

- What is context

- Requirements for research in a BoP environment

- How to structurally translate research results into a

product/business vision

- How to compare, evaluate and design for different

contexts

This was done by researching both Pakistan and Madagascar,

and developing a concept that is suitable for both.

The technologySolar Dew technology consists of two chambers separated

by a membrane. The contaminated feed water in the upper

chamber is absorbed by the membrane. As the feed water

is heated by the sun it can only evaporate downwards into

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 StationThe 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

drinking water problem. The purpose of this research was

to develop insight for the further development of a product

around a technological solution created by Solar Dew

International.

The fi nal design of the product is based around the insight

that people at the BoP are unable to make large investments

and in general are not concerned with the health benefi ts of

clean drinking water. The product has been designed based

on this understanding of the context, such that it can provide

a solution for both the Malagasy and the Pakistani context.

The product has taken on the form of a water station, run

by a local entrepreneur from which he sells water to the

people of the village. This allows the local entrepreneur to

earn a living, whilst the consumers can focus on their own

economic activities without the daily concerns of fetching

drink water. Although the design is still conceptual it gives a

clear indication of what the future may hold for both water

purifi cation solutions in general, and specifi cally for the

Solar Dew Technology.

€The water station, designed for local entrepeneurs.

www.solardew.com

57

Company Graduation date

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 fi ve 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

page 116 .

Extreme road conditionsThrough intense user and context research in Cambodia,

technical and usability criteria were defi ned, as well as

social and cultural infl uences. These formed the framework

of this project. The fi rst 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

Kamworks December 14, 2007

Mobile Solar Kiosk for Micro-EntrepeneursMiriam Reitenbach

In order to get an understanding on how the anticipated customer reacted on the mobile store, the Cambodian translator was asked to drive around

the rural areas to obtain feedback. In the fi rst place he acted as micro-entrepreneur who sells products, consequently he interviewed the potential

customers.

€

58

technical requirements.

Interviews with potential customers of the solar products

revealed that Cambodians were not yet familiar with solar

energy in general and that the way of communicating and

explaining products forms a major criterion for the success

of the sales results.

The outcomes of this research were translated into a fi nal

concept that was refi ned by means of iteratively building and

testing the prototype to guarantee not only the technical

feasibility of the mobile store, but also acceptance among

the future users - the micro-entrepreneurs.

Biking without pedaling The fi nal design was a three-wheeled electric bicycle that

can be recharged by solar energy. By making use of this

renewable energy technology and being remarkably lighter

than existing mobile stores, this vehicle is less polluting than

traditional motorised stores and can contribute to promote

sustainable energy in an effective way. User tests showed

that an electric bike caught the attention of the customer

immediately as most rural people never saw someone

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

application of glass fi bre reinforced plastic an attractive and

eye-catching form of the carrier could be achieved.

In the context of a holistic approach this project did not

only focus on the design and construction of the kiosk, but

also presented recommendations on how to communicate

to the local customers in an effective and adequate way,

such as a LED display and posters explaining the benefi ts

and cost savings of solar products. Additionally, a new

bilingual brand name and logo was created that made it

possible to communicate with Khmer customers as well as

Western stakeholders and contributes to a quality image of

the mobile solar kiosk.

Local Production and maintenanceWhen designing the mobile kiosk, only locally available

materials and production techniques were considered in

order to generate local income, as local manufacturing was

one of the greatest requirements for the design. These

manufacturing experts of the kiosk would also be able to

take care of the maintenance and reparations, keeping all

the work and the money local.

€The bilingual logo on the side of the glass fi bre reinforced carrier.

www.kamworks.com

59

Company Graduation date

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 KAFOsA 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 fi t. Right now this happens by cutting and welding; a

way which weakens the construction.

Customization and adjustabilityIn order to create solutions to these problems, an analysis

was done of the current issues, and requirements were

formulated. It was clear that the future orthosis technology

must offer custom support and correction; each orthosis is

to be tailored to the specifi c needs and dimensions of each

The Three Aid Foundation:

Graduation date

October 24, 2007

Better Brace Project Koos Munneke

Overview of the features of a knee-ankle-foot orthosisbuilt with the proposed technology.

€

60

patient. Also, the future orthoses should offer more comfort

than the current orthoses. Improving the construction

should increase the durability of the orthoses and to ensure

a good fi t over time, the orthosis should be adjustable. The

technology must be appropriate for the context of GTM;

utilising locally available and affordable materials and locally

maintainable machines.

ApproTechThe proposed solution consists of several changes in

the design of the product as well is the production of

the product. The fl at tubular profi le used for the upright

construction is strong yet lightweight. The combination

of the steel fl at bar brazed (i.e. copper welded) in the

fl at 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

technology was employed; the prototypes were produced

in the workshop of GTM using affordable materials from

the local market. In user tests it became clear that the level

of comfort has increased. Future observations will have to

prove if the durability and adjustability has increased also,

but as it seems now, the product is a success.

www.ttaf.org

Fitting of the new brace; user tests for comfort and durability.

61

Photo: Mirjam Lindgreen

62

Man and horse at workJava, Indonesia

63

Company Graduation date

In Madagascar, only three percent of the population in rural

areas is connected to the electricity network. In order to

fulfi ll 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 dangerousKerosene 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 fi ve years

old. Besides this, the lamps often cause fi res in rural homes.

Secondly, this way of lighting is unreliable and ineffi cient;

lamps are easily blown out, do not provide suffi cient 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

fi fth 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 keroseneSince LED lighting and solar cells are becoming less

expensive and more effi cient, 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.

BushΔProof October 19, 2007

Affordable Solar Lighting for rural MadagascarBernard Hulshof

A prototype of the BALL, developed as an alternative to kerosene lighting.

€

64

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 criteriaThe most important criteria stated by BushΔProof were:

- The product should be affordable

- The product should be desirable

- The product should be “BushΔProof”

“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 lightHulshof 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

1,2 lumen without losing effi ciency and saving the lifetime

of the batteries.

An exploded view of the BALL and the panel. BALL from top to bottom: non transparent housing part, power connector, electronics, rubber ring, transparent housing part. Panel from top to bottom: transparent housing part, solar panel and non transparent housing part.

Rendering of the ball in detail.

www.bushproof.biosandfi lter.org

65

Company Graduation date

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 identifi ed 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 fi nancially viable business case,

including business model and related product concept.

Successful StrategiesThe 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.

MethodTo reach the objective, three phases were executed; a

strategic analysis, the defi nition 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

DSM October 12, 2007

Holy Cow or Cash CowRutger Bonsel

A farmer milking her cow. Note that eighty percent of the farmers in India have less than 3 animals.

€

66

animal feed) in India revealed that the ruminant sector

currently is neglected, due to its unorganized and scattered

character. DSM faces tough competition from local feed

manufactures and has no direct leads to the farmers. Its

vitamins are from a higher quality than competitive products,

but are also more expensive. DSM’s major strengths are its

technical knowledge and one of DSM’s diagnostic tools; the

iCheck, currently the only available tool measuring instantly

animal health at farm-level.

The external analysis showed the diversity within Indian

dairy farming; India is the worlds’ largest dairy producer,

but 80 % of the farmers have less than 3 animals. A focus

group discussion revealed that these farmers do not have

the knowledge of the function of vitamins in premix feed.

Furthermore, their actual need is education and training on

all kind of aspects concerning dairy farming; animal health,

feeding and dairying practices. Finally, some farmers lack

the appropriate infrastructure for dairy procurement and

have fi nancial diffi culties, due to their bounding to local

middlemen.

Animal Feed to Animal HealthPivotal element in the strategic direction was the transition

from selling animal feed to delivering animal health. A

Product Service System model satisfi es 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 justifi es a higher selling price with respect to other

feed products in the market. The iCheck plays herein a role,

since it can monitor the actual use of the feed premixes

and can show the farmer instantly the effect of feeding on

fertility. Use of the system results in a benefi t for farmers

of €0,05 per animal per day, in terms of decreased health

costs and increased milk yield. To reach the BoP customers

it is essential to cooperate with local partners, who have

direct contact and are trusted by the farmers.

Building trustA pilot project is essential for showing the farmers the

advantages of the system, for building trust and for proving

the actual benefi ts of the feed premix, since trust appeared

to be a very important element for the BoP consumers.

Concluded, there is an actual business opportunity for

DSM at the Base of the Pyramid. The Indian small-scale

dairy farm sector is a largely untapped market for the cattle

feed industry. A pro-active approach is required to reach

the farmers and to support the professionalization of the

currently unorganized dairy sector.

€Participants of the focus group, held to gather user insights.

www.dsm.com

67

Company Graduation date

In China, every 90 seconds a life is lost due to indoor air

pollution. Philips DAP aims to bring sustainable solutions

to the BoP regarding the reduction of respiratory problems

due to indoor air pollution. Consumer tests have been

conducted in India with prototypes of a smokeless and

effi cient woodstove developed by Philips Research. The

consumer tests have generated useful insight in the context,

in the benefi ts for the consumer, and in the required

product improvements. In parallel they are investigating

opportunities to introduce the solutions in the Chinese Base

of the Pyramid.

Similar usability issuesThe fi rst fi eld research in six provinces resulted in the

defi nition of the Chinese rural BoP and the target market.

It also provides knowledge into the renewable energy

development and the market of high effi cient low emission

biomass stoves in China. In the second fi eld research,

twelve Philips woodstoves had been tested in two different

provinces beneath the Yangtze river. The fi ndings 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 BoPThe Philips Bio stove is a highly effi cient low emission biomass

stove electronically controlled with a smart user interface.

It is a replacement for the open fi re, built in fi rewood stove

(with chimney) and coal briquette stove. It enables the user

to cook meals without smoke in their kitchen or coming out

Philips Consumer Lifestyle August 8, 2007

Cooking in rural ChinaIsabella Hoi-Kee Wong

The product proposal of the Philips Bio stove is an integration of all the improvement areas, increasing the likelyhood of the product to be adopted by

rural Chinese households. However, the implementation plan of this product proposal is the other half of the successful adoption of the Philips Bio stove.

On page 102 another graduation project is presented on the Philips

woodstove, by Leonie Ideler. After her graduation project the woodstove

has been developed further, and Philips expects to launch the woodstove

in India in the fi rst half of 2009. Recently a commercial pilot was completed

in India, from which a great deal was learned, and this was a study to fi nd

out how the woodstove was applicable to rural china. Philips realizes that

a new market is about to be entered and that their approach to marketing

and distribution needs to be modifi ed; Philips is currently optimizing their

business case and their go-to market strategy.

€

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

countries in South East Asia, as long as the differences

and similarities are properly addressed in product

functionalities.

Twelve woodstoves were used by a variety of rural inhabitants of China living in two different provinces in China. The results were used for the new concept.

The ashes from the Philips Bio stove is removed by lifting up the ash handle at the back of the stove.

First the fl ame regulator is set to the lowest level and then little pieces of paper and little twigs are used to ignite the fi re. Subsequently the ON button is pressed, both pilot lights start to blink. Fuel is added as desired to increase the fi re.

The desired heating value is set by turning the fl ame regulator.

The red pilot light is blinking and a short beep sound occurs to inform you to add/refi ll fuel. The user decide to turn the fl ame regulator to the highest heating value, which is suitable for stir frying.

Both pilot lights are on continously; ready for stir frying

69

Company Graduation date

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 fi eld. 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 keroseneThe way people cook in the current situation contributes

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 RuralDifferences between urban and rural people in cooking

Servals Automation

ate

May, 2007

Fire4IndiaIntegral Design Project Executed by Veronie Croes, Bjørn-Evert van Eck Ras-mussen, Swie Oei and Susan Oudshoorn.

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.

70

patterns and the use of cooking stoves were discovered in

the user study, as well as differences in living circumstances,

the shops they visit etc. This indicates that these two groups

have to be serviced and reached in different ways. Although

the stove satisfi es the needs of both rural and urban poor,

on the short term only the urban poor will be targeted, as

rural people cook on wood they collect themselves, which is

a lot cheaper than plant oil. Wood is not a competitive fuel

for urban people. Also, urban poor can be reached through

the distribution channels Servals is most familiar with.

The rural poor are still an important target group for the

plant oil stove, and should be targeted in a later stadium. By

fi rst targeting urban poor, a critical user quantity is created

that is necessary to:

- Increase the amount of plant oil manufacturers

- Prove the worth of stove to the rest of India’s poor

- Prove the worth of the plant oil as a fuel

The WicketFire4India 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 fl ame plate is operated when the

handles of the sliding mechanism are in the lower (most

left) position. In this situation the handle of the fl ame plate

is freely accessible, without the obstruction of the sliding

handles.

Green prototypeThe design of the stove has obvious similarities with the

existing kerosene wickstove. This makes the Wicket instantly

recognizable as a stove. It is important that the stove forms

a unity. Therefore the tank is placed below the burner

and follows the same cylindrical shape as the frame. To

make clear that the stove operates on a different fuel than

existing stoves, the stove has a distinguishing green color.

The handles are made in an eye-catching different color, so

it is instantly recognizable which parts can be touched. The

stove is mostly made out of recycled mild steel; a strong

and cheap material, largely available on the local market.

The team and the working prototype.

www.servalsgroup.blogspot.com

71

Company Graduation date

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

less than three dollars per day. This segment represents the

majority of the population in emerging markets.

Interviews with ManagersThe data was gathered through interviews with MNC

managers who are infl uential to the company’s emerging

market strategies and innovation processes. Twelve

interviews with participants from seven MNCs were

conducted to collect knowledge and practical experiences.

Wihin each case, aspects of motivation, strategy, innovation

process, difference, diffi culty, challenge, etc were analyzed

and reported on. Some examples of the results for three

case studies are described in the boxes spread over these

pages.

The results reveal that similar motivations to enter the

BoP market can lead to various product strategies and

development processes. The motivation on corporate social

Knowledge Gaps in Product DevelopmentYu-Kuan Chang

VIA: Bridging the Digital Divide

VIA seeks to develop a sustainable bridge over the digital divide of the

80% of the world population that do not have access to the internet.

Therewith, the company makes vast information, education and

commercial resources available and thus empowers many people in the

BoP. Their approach to emerging markets is based on four objectives:

· New markets: beyond ownership to access;

· New environments: beyond city comfort to rural remoteness;

· New usage models: from “one-to-one” to “one-to-many”;

· New products: from PCs to PHD appliances.

Yu-Kuan Chang took seven MNCs as case studies to gather their experience and knowledge to learn for future product development for the BoP.

Delft University of Tech. Nov 27, 2006€

72

responsibility is required to support the projects which aim

at the Base of Pyramid (BoP). These types of projects cannot

only be evaluated by short-term return on investment, but

need to be sustained by long-term visions on social return

on investment as well.

Challenges in Innovation for the BoPThe major challenges within innovation process include

the opportunity identifi cation, front-end research, product

introduction and delivery. Most challenges arise because

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 identifi ed. This knowledge can be shared for

learning and future activities in the BoP.

Intel: Breaking the Vicious Cycle

Intel identifi ed a vicious circle in emerging markets. The cycle

of less access to technology leading to less productivity and

knowledge; this in turn leads to less personal and business

wealth. Intel believes that by investing in technology, this

cycle can be broken, and the emerging markets can be

opened up to sustainable growth.

Microsoft Research: Pay-As-You-Go Concepts

The ‘fl exGo’ is a fl exible alternative to traditional PC fi nancing. It is a new concept

to make PC’s affordable for medium to low income communities by providing fi nancing

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.

The vicious cycle of lacking technology is broken by Intel’s approach to invest in technology to increase wealth in the BoP.

73

Photo: Prabhu Kandachar

74

Market for Holi ColoursIndia

75

Des

ign

& C

ultu

reTravelling 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 (fi nance, resources, skills, legislation…) students

face in BoP projects are challenging; students really feel

they are provoked to be more creative, enterprising and

focused. An aspect that motivates me to support these

students is that through BoP projects students will learn

more about themselves. They get the chance to develop an

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 defi ned 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

have in common with the people they design for.

Culture plays a role in the relationships between people

Design & culture in the BoP DomainAnnemiek van Boeijen

Onion model of Geert Hofstede

1. Hofstede G. (2005), Cultures and organizations, software of the mind. New York: McGraw-Hill

…..local habits, shared by a group….photo: Toon Fey

76

Design &

Cultureand new products in particular depends partly on the

culture where the people live in. Culture is manifested in

different layers. Hofstede distinguishes four layers:

Symbols Words, gestures, images, and objects

manifested in a specifi c group such as

consumer products, services, art, dialect

Heroes People - alive or dead, real or fi ction - that

have a specifi c meaning for a group of

people, such as Nelson Mandela for the

world, queen Beatrix for the Netherlands,

the chief of a village

Rituals Collective activities, not (just) to fulfi l a

technical function, but because of a social

interest for the group such as a wedding

ceremony, praying before dinner

Values A collective tendency to prefer a certain

course of events above another one,

expressed by qualifi cations such as good-

bad, dirty-clean, ugly-beautiful.

Although products are part of the outer layer, the

symbols, they are directly related to the inner layers.

Therefore designers should understand all layers.

I would like to end my deliberations by emphasizing

that culture is only one of the many aspects of a BoP

design project. Culture stresses the differences between

groups of people, but there are also universal and

inherited principles that lead to global shared solutions,

and there are personal differences everywhere that

require individual solutions, wherever your location in

the economic pyramid.

and in the relationships between people and products. At the Faculty

of Industrial Design Engineering students are taught a holistic

design approach: they are taught to research and understand the

whole context before developing design solutions. Cultural theories

can help formulate relevant research questions. For instance, when

hierarchy in a society is stronger than the designer is used to, the

following questions might be relevant; Who will be the owner of

the product? What kind of status will the product provoke? What

will the that mean for the manifestation (functions, form, colours,

shape etc.) of the product?

So how can we fi nd the answers to these questions? Methods for

user and usage research need to take cultural aspects into account.

Designers should be aware that users might not feel comfortable

to give their personal opinion, especially when living in a culture

where community opinion is considered of more value than the

opinion of an individual. In these cases, a group brainstorm session

as commonly practised in Europe will not work as expected.

Design management is another aspect where culture plays a big

role. An example is found in the differences in power distances

between nations. In countries with relatively high power distance,

Western European students might feel limited in their freedom,

misunderstood and unsupported. They will have to explore these

new feelings and fi nd new ways of communication and learn to

adjust. That is possible only when the designer is open to and

understands both the differences and the common features in

communication.

For the manifestation of the new product, designers need to

understand how the intended users will give meaning to the

product, and how the new product will infl uence their social

system. How groups of people give meaning to products in general

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain

77

Photo: Stephen Boom

78

BoatsCambodia

79

Company Graduation date

3D models of the reeling machine (left) and the re-reeling machine (right)

Second prototype of the reeling machine during user testing

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, ineffi cient

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

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 MachineThe main problem of the existing machine is lack of quality

control. Thickness, twist and colour vary widely, which

makes it diffi cult 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 fi xed height, which all

cause ergonomics problems. The costs of the machine are

high in relation to its yarn production.

Together with PRADAN, Mink developed a number

Sharepeople (EYE), Pradan November 10, 2006

Reeling Machine for Silk Yarn ProducersAnnemarie Mink

€

80

of criteria for the re-design. First criterion is to maintain

a constant reeling speed, lessen physical problems and

enable a table-sized tool. Also, the machine should include

a quality control mechanism and independently driven

spindles should enable lines to continue in case one of the

four yarn lines breaks. The introduction of a motor and

quality control brings extra costs, which must be nullifi ed by

an increased quality and/or output of yarn. Mink divided the

functions of the reeling machine into sub-problems using

a morphological map. The main functions of the machine

were: combining fi laments, insertion of twist, taking up

yarn, separate twisted and non-twisted yarn, spreading

yarns on take-up package, establishing transmission,

separate driving take-up package and integrate re-reeling.

Mink developed product concepts based on three different

techniques: non-integrated re-reeling, indirect integrated

re-reeling and direct integrated re-reeling. The concept

of indirect integrated re-reeling was chosen based on the

expected simple usage and production and because this

concept offers the possibility of producing a new type of yarn

that opens up new markets. The yarn is guided and easy to

control and reach in this concept. Prime advantage of the

concept is the estimated high yarn production rate. Mink

materialized the concept, which resulted in fully detailed

design and a prototype was built in a local workshop.

Safe, Effi cient and User-FriendlyAn important aspect of developing products for the BoP

market, is the necessity for affordability and return on

investment. Mink calculated the estimated cost of the

re-design and the future profi t for the silk reelers. She

estimated that reelers can produce 1,9 times more yarn

than with the existing machines. Which means that reelers

will increase their profi t from 56 Rupees to 104 rupees a

day. Both from user and yarn production process evaluation,

Mink concluded that the machines are safer, more energy

effi cient, more time effi cient, more user-friendly, have

higher yield and the yarn produced from the machine is of

a better quality.

UpdateAfter graduation, Mink was hired by the Dutch development

organization ICCO to fi nish the project and produce a

second, smaller and cheaper prototype. A student from the

faculty of Mechanical Engineering was selected to help with

improving both the machines. Mr. Rahmouni did a great job

in helping to optimize both the machines and together they

went to India to build the second prototypes. The outcome

was two smaller, cheaper, even more energy-effi cient and

good working machines, understandable for the reeler and

the manufacturer. Rahmouni will graduate soon on the

improvements of the re-design of the reeling machines.

The second generation prototypes are being adjusted to

perfection and then a test-series of thirty machines will run

in a newly established reeling centre. If this is all working

well, the machines will be taken in full production and

replace the currently used machines. Subsequently, the

machines will directly contribute to the improvement of the

women’s working comfort and to their income. Improvement

of income contributes directly to their livelihoods. €

www.icco.nl www.pradan.net

www.sharepeople.nl

81

Company Graduation date

The LifeBox network involves information sharing and distribution througout the network.

This current doctor set does not include more

sophisticated tools. Next to that, village doctors do not

have appropriate medical knowledge, nor contact with

experts.

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

know their patients well, they have very little contact

with more educated doctors, and no access to up-to-date

medical information resources.

This project aimed at developing a support tool to provide

the village doctors access to medical information, guide

them with medical decisions and link them to the national

medical network.

Barefoot DoctorsThe 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

Community Healthcare Points (CHP). The CHPs are manned

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

Support Tool for the Chinese Village DoctorMarion de Groot

Impact Sept 21, 2006€

82

diagnoses. The reasons to use the box are the availability

of a TV in almost every community healthcare point and

the familiarity of the doctors with using a remote control.

Lifeboxes are connected to (local) servers and hospitals via

the phone network. This enables the sharing and updating

of information throughout the network of medical facilities.

The software of the LifeBox has three sections: a patient

guide, supporting the doctor with diagnosing patients, an

education section providing course material from the higher

level hospitals or the district and an email box. The e-mail

box can contain messages from all the parties involved in

the network, keeping the doctor up-to-date.

the village doctors in China. The Lifebox, as the support

tool is called, provided the starting point for the product

development process. The design problem consisted out of

understanding the context of healthcare in Chinese villages

and developing a dedicated interaction and implementation

strategy.

Product GuidelinesDuring the development, De Groot focused on trust between

doctor, patient and product. She developed guidelines for

the product based on context research and interviews from

general practitioners.

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 fi nd the right information quickly’ and

‘the product should end up with differential diagnosis and

indicate the probability of each possible diagnosis’.

The LifeBoxThe product supports access to medical information,

communication with educated doctors and inclusion in the

national healthcare network. The LifeBox can store patients’

health history and help the doctor navigate through the

With the LifeBox village doctors have access to medical information, contact with educated doctors and inclusion in the national healthcare network.

83

Company Graduation date Design of a Malaria Diagnostics DeviceCathelijne Huis in ‘t Veld

Rendering of the computer model made of the malaria diagnosis device.

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

infl uence 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

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 MalariaAfter 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

Philips Research August 31, 2006€

84

medical market in India. For malaria this means that

allopathic medicine comes across most initial cases. When

the disease is in the second or third stage and the patient

suffers from repetitive fever attacks, some people approach

ayurvedic or homeopathic medicine. Allopathic medicine

generally makes most use of electronic equipment for both

diagnostic as well as treatment purposes. Doctors rely a

great deal on electronic devices. In the case of ayurvedic

healthcare almost the same methods are being used for

diagnosis as allopathic medicine. It is mainly the treatment

that differs. Instead of generating large and concentrated

doses of the effective drug, the complete natural form is

being given to the patient. In this way the drugs are less

toxic but the healing process takes longer.

There are approximately 156 different species of

Plasmodium. Four are known to affect humans. Malaria

is treated in 5 phases. Since both allophatic and traditional

medicine have a common way of diagnosing malaria, the

project focussed on this part of the malaria care process.

Quick Malaria DiagnosisDuring her stay in India, Huis in ‘t Veld developed design

solutions. The malaria diagnosis device should work

according to the technique of the automated microscope.

Integration in malaria control programs is needed to reach

as many people as possible. This meant that the main users

are Auxiliary Nurse Midwifes (ANM) and mass screening

teams.

The main function of the device was to “enable a

minimally instructed user in India to quickly state the

diagnosis of malaria, independent of any other facilities”.

After the analysis Huis in ‘t Veld proceeded with concept

development and optimization in the Netherlands. The

concept had to conform to criteria of technology (the

automated microscope), construction, safety, data

communication, comfort, aesthetics and costs. During the

development stage, potential users were involved to ensure

relevance and usability of the fi nal product. This resulted in

a portable device that can be transported and used by the

ANMs and in mass screening activities.

Five phases of malaria medical care.

www.philips.com

85

Company Graduation date Personal Water Purifi erRoelie Bottema

The problem with

drinking 'dirty' water is visualized. Also,

the actions for using and maintaining the

products are explained step by step.

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

a combination of these.

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 purifi es surface water for personal

use with fi lters. 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

rural areas.

Roelie Bottema investigated several aspects of the

implementation of LifeStraw, focused on children under

the age of fi ve. 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.

DrinkingHer 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

using this water.

Regarding LifeStraw, users did notice they need it:

‘everyone should have one’ and ‘I do not have diarrhoea

any more’. Also, the appearance appealed to them and they

associated status to the product user. When asked about

Vestergaard Fransen August 4, 2006€

86

named LifeStraw Child, a fl exible bottle and a special

mouthpiece. The bottle has a one-way valve that lets air

in but not out. On the transparent bottle, a volume scale

was added to give feedback to the mothers and a writable

area included to personalize it or write the expiry date as

reminder. Using a smaller LifeStraw makes the product

easier to handle for children. In LifeStraw Child a valve is

added which prevents the water to fl ow out of LifeStraw

Child after sucking it up to a certain height. When pressure

is put on the valve, it does let air through, an aspect that

makes the product easier to clean by blowing.

Instructions to Health WorkersIn addition to developing LifeStraw Child, Bottema created

instruction material for usage of both LifeStraw and

LifeStraw Child. She fi rst concluded from the user research

which elements should be included. Focus should be on

the relation of clean drinking water and health, what the

LifeStraw product line does, and how to use and maintain

the products. Expiration and personal use are also aspects

that should be stressed. She developed a manual for health

workers and

a large poster

for usage while

instructing people

what LifeStraw actually did, people mentioned ‘It retracts

diseases from the water’ and ‘it stops dirt’. Participants often

talked of LifeStraw being a good product, but not everyone

could afford it ($2.50). Also, they were afraid that the

product would be stolen.

From this part of the research, Bottema recommended to

take care of disposal and replacement aspects. The existing

LifeStraw could be improved by enabling personalization

and giving feedback on the level of sucking power and

effect of cleaning.

Vulnerable ChildrenIn her research, Bottema observed that children younger

than three years could not handle LifeStraw by themselves.

They do not understand how to suck the water. The child

does not understand why it does not get water in its mouth

immediately after sucking. Also, maneuvering the cup and

LifeStraw at the same time is complicated for them. Because

small children are most vulnerable for waterborne diseases

and LifeStraw is unsuitable, Bottema concluded that a child

version of the LifeStraw should be developed suitable for

the children.

Ideas were generated in brainstorm sessions, with

Vestergaard Frandsen employees in Ghana and also with

students at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering,

Delft. Bottema elaborated on the ideas and made

compromises on price, feasibility and other requirements.

Two concepts were developed based on working principles

and production of the existing LifeStraw.

The fi nal proposal consists of a slightly modifi ed LifeStraw,

An instruction manual for both health workers as users of the LifeStraw was designed.

www.vestergaard-frandsen.com

87

Company Graduation date

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 diffi culties in developing products for the

emerging markets: a lack of structured or systematically

ordered information inhibits effi cient 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

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 Specifi c design related knowledge was subdivided in four

aspects: attitude, experience, information and skills. The

two main perspectives of designers were either an engaged,

Knowledge Framework: Design4BillionsMijntje de Caluwé

Screenshot of the online knowledge framework on the ‘stakeholders’ page.

Delft University of Tech. July 29, 2006€

88

fi nancial, Governmental and Designer.

3 Designers4Billions and their main focus points are

mentioned and described in the categories: knowledge,

context, process and risk.

4 Collaboration is stressed as the means to achieve

successful product development in a BoP arena.

Additional features are provided in the form of ‘tips &

tricks’, a BoP library, an inspiration page including links to

interesting websites, and a list of defi nitions.

personal attitude towards the BoP, or an accidental

entering of this market segment. Individual experiences

are important to designers, and are related to the product

brand, the role of the participant and the project context.

For information gathering, multinational companies rely

on consumer research, while small and medium sized

enterprises use Non-Governmental Organizations and the

World Heath Organization to gain insight into their target

groups. For designers in the BoP, their social skills are most

valuable, an open mind, fl exibility and communication are

key factors.

The product development process relates to fi ve aspects:

strategy formulation, design requirements, product

development, market introduction and product in use. The

process bottlenecks are the design requirements and the

products in use.

FrameworkThe 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

The Delft Innovation Model adjusted for emerging markets.

www.design4billions.com

89

Photo: Ferry

90

Girl Getting Water in FavelaRio de Janeiro, Brazil

91

Company Graduation date

Bosch & Siemens July 7, 2006

In developing countries, indoor air pollution and deforestation

of land are the two main environmental and health problems

occurring due to the use of biomass fuel for household

energy. Bosch and Siemens Home Appliances Group (BSH)

and the University of Hohenheim have developed a plant oil

cooking stove. Plant oil is abundant in rural areas of many

developing countries, so this market is very promising for

implementing the stove. A pilot project with a non-profi t

focus was executed in the Philippines.

Elselien Epema developed a business plan to implement

the plant oil stove in the Philippine market. She wrote a

business plan and created a fi nancial tool to demonstrate

the fi nancial feasibility of the stove implementation plan.

Product Service SystemPOTC

Product Service System for Plant Oil StoveElselien Epema

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 fi gure.

New Business

Do It YourselfService

Existing Businesses

Vintage Scenario

Car Wash Scenario

In this scenario the PSS is a system that takes care of ev-erything. The POS user only has to address the need

In this scenario the PSS turns a current business into a com-bination with the POS supply and service

Familiar Scenario

Do It Yourself Scenario

In this scenario the PSS pro-vides the tools and needs through a new system, but without helping the users ac-tively

In this scenario the PSS turns a current business into a com-bination with the POS supply and service

Several scenarios for

implementation of the plant

oil stove were made. The

most promising scenario was the “vintage

scenario”, shown in the lower left

quadrant.

€

92

Safety, Time and ConvenienceSeveral households in the Philippines have been using

prototypes of the plant oil stove. After a year, research

concluded that the advantages of the stove for the users are

safety, time, convenience and the package-size fuel. Also the

uniqueness and use of new technology makes it interesting

for Philippines to use the stove. A plan to market the stove

successfully should focus on these points, according to

Epema. However, affordability is always the fi rst priority.

In her research, she focused on understanding the

target group needs and possibilities. The target group

is not aware of all predefi ned benefi ts such as improved

health and environmentally friendly. She also surveyed

potential business partners or competitors and the current

local market. Switching from wood and charcoal to plant

oil would raise initial costs for both restaurants and

households; however, switching from LPG to plant oil would

be more profi table, because of reducing energy costs and

initial investment.

Epema also extracted important business model factors

from literature. For business partners it is important to

organize clear local communication, take care of the

relationships and look for partners close to the local people.

All products should be affordable to the target group,

promotion, location and opening hours adjusted to local

conditions. High quality after-sale service would improve

the use of the stove as well.

Product and ServiceThe system for the distribution and service centre of plant

oil stoves could be seen as a product service system. Both

products, including the stove and fuels, and service, such

as training and maintenance, should be delivered. To show

potential systems, Epema made several scenarios, each

consisting of goals and ideas for implementation.

The most promising scenario was the ‘vintage scenario’,

where a current business is modifi ed into a combination of

stove supplier and service provider. By using an existing

business, the implementation would be easier and more

effective towards end users.

The chain included three parties: the plant oil technology

centre, distribution and service centres and a cooperative.

The centres are responsible for marketing the stoves and

service and are set up by local entrepreneurs. Each selling

point of the cooperative has a plant oil tank with a tap

system. Consumers bring their containers and fi ll these

with oil. No packaging is needed and the consumer can buy

exactly the amount he prefers.

FinanceProduct prices needs to be adjusted to the user’s fi nancial

possibilities by subsidizing by BSH. Also, users can pay in

instalments. The fi nancial model predicts that entrepreneurs

can earn twice the minimum monthly income for a fulltime

employee.

The fi nancial model is translated into a fi nancial tool, to

visualize the infl uence of decisions and the sensitivity of

variables. Also, the subsidy and selling prices are defi ned.

Epema recommended a lowering of material costs, local

production of the stove burner and an increased lifespan of

replaceable parts.

www.bsh-group.com

93

Company Graduation date Tricycle for Disabled EntrepreneursIntegral Design Project - GhanaMovesExecuted by Rutger Bonsel, Sietse Cieraad, Stéph-anie Reintjens and Imke Schepers

Prototypes of the concept were developed to enable user testing in the context of intended use.

The two concepts, hip-spot and high-spot, were developed in cooperation with the local metal workshop Mak-D in Ghana.

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

for new product-market opportunities for one of the local

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 fi nancial 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 PeopleThe 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:

• The situation of young disabled children in Ghana is

Movendi FDN and MAK-D July, 2006€

94

donate the vendor carriers as an act of charity. In this

scenario, the disables people would become owner

of the vendor carrier and can become independent

entrepreneurs.

High-Spot TricycleTwo concepts were developed in cooperation with MAK-D:

The ‘Hip-spot’ and the ‘High-spot’. Both concepts were made

into prototypes using the means available in the workshop.

The prototypes were tested by end-users, after which the

team choose the ‘high-spot concept’.

The trade-tricycle ‘High-Spot’ enables disabled people in

Ghana to involve in street-trade, the sector that provides

employment to the major part of the population of

Ghana. Before they were not able to do so, however more

organizations are stimulating participation of disabled. The

implementation of the product also had to attract attention

for all MAK-D’s activities and gave a boost to the overall

business of MAK-D.

The team developed a step-wise marketing plan for

successfully launching the High-Spot. The implementation

plan is divided into fi ve parts: the marketing strategy,

product strategy, price strategy and fi nancial issues, channel

management and communication strategy.

Furthermore, the team attracted the company Fanmilk

to be seriously interested in supporting the disabled to get

employment. Consequently, a pilot test was intiated with

three vendor carriers to sell their products. This pilot was

done in cooperation with the Ghana Society of Physically

Disabled and Hope for Life and was enthusiastically received

by the local stakeholders€

quite good, due to efforts of Liliane Funds and Nsawam

Orthopedic Centre.

• The Ghanaian society is annoyed by disabled who are

begging on the street.

• Only a small portion of the disabled is actually begging,

the major part of the disabled population is willing to

work but cannot fi nd employment.

The team also identifi ed that there is severe competition

in the metalwork sector, especially in fences and furniture.

The sector is characterized by copy and imitation. And there

are no other producers of vendor carriers and tricycles in

Madina. From this the team concluded that:

• MAK-D is the only producer of mechanical products with

wheels in its competitive environment.

• The trade sector is a lively sector; a major part of the

Ghana economy is based on trading, where vendor

carriers are common.

From the external research a strategic product-market

opportunity was formulated for MAK-D: Design of equipment

that enables the disabled to participate in trade business.

Selling or Donating?From a search for potential customers two possible scenarios

and target groups emerged. The fi rst scenario was to fi nd

companies that sell provisions and are willing to sell their

products trough disabled people using the MAK-D vendor

carrier. In this case, the disabled will act as vendors that sell

the companies goods, and are thus indirectly employed by

the company.

The second scenario was to search for other companies,

NGOs or service clubs, rotaries etc. These parties would

www.movendifoundation.org

95

Company Graduation date Human Powered Bamboo Splitting ToolWillem Glasbergen

Compared to other natural materials, bamboo has a very high strength to

stiffness ratio.

Bamboo grows in many parts of the world. Many of these

areas have in common that a large part of the inhabitants

live in poverty. This project was part of the objectives of

INBAR, International Organization for Bamboo and Rattan,

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 ineffi ciently. Willem Glasbergen

aimed to develop a more effi cient way to produce the sticks

from bamboo in the local context and with local means.

Bamboo SplittingGlasbergen 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 fi gure on the left). This process is labour intensive

and ineffi cient compared to the effi ciency of the patented

process of attaching the burning heads to the sticks.

The goal of the tool was to produce good quality

matchsticks, produce them more effi ciently, adjusted to the

local context and produced locally.

Inbar June 21, 2006

The Bamboo Splitter is very effi cient for local production of matchsticks. First a slice tool is used to produce long slices of

bamboo. After that, this manual tool is used to produce sticks

from the long slices.

Strength/Mass per Volume

Stifness/Mass per Volume

Concrete BambooWood Steel

€

96

The prototype of the human powered bamboo matchstick splitter demonstrated the potential for local production. On the left the feeder mechanisms are visible; on the right the rotation crank is shown. The Bamboo Splitter is very effi cient for local production of matchsticks. First a slice tool is used to produce long slices of bamboo. Next, people can use this manual tool to produce sticks from the slices.

€

Using the Bamboo Splitting Tool for Matchsticks

1 Bamboo is inserted into a feeder. The feeder has a spring

that pushes the bamboo into the machine, and in front of

the rotating blade.

2 A crank rotates the tool. This direct human powered

rotation can also be replaced by bicycle power.

3 The slices are inserted into the machine, in a queue, which

is pushed towards the blade using gravitation as a force.

4 Sticks are produced with the same process as described in

step 3.

The focus was on the relation between the tool and the

user, the production and transportation of the tool and

the economics of producing such a tool on a larger scale.

Therefore, a second analysis phase was done in India

(Andhra Pradesh) to understand the local context of rural

India. The initial concept was redesigned and resulted in

three concepts. One of the concepts was chosen and a

prototype was built by a local workshop. The prototype was

also tested in India after which the results of the project

were documented in the Netherlands.

Agarbathi ProductionThe concept chosen is based on the principle of a blade

mounted on a large steel fl y-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

inside the wheel. The production of sticks is done in several

steps, shown in the box on the right.

The process of building the machine in India resulted in

very useful information with regard to the local production

facilities. One of the most important conclusions of the

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.

www.inbar.int

97

Company Graduation date

The traditional use of fi rewood as energy source for cooking

is popular among poor Guatemalans. However, the open fi re

results in burns, eye problems and respiratory problems.

Helps International, a US Non-Profi t Organization, developed

several wood combustion cooking stoves, resulting in a fi nal

concept with a chimney: the ONIL stove.

During the last fi ve years of implementation of the stove,

Helps evaluated the improved stoves. According to users

the main benefi t is saving fi rewood: 50-67% less than when

using open fi res. However, 28% of the users still use open

fi res for heating their homes and on special occasions.

Marike Bijtelaar traced the reasons for this and developed

features for the ONIL stove to improve the usage.

Using Open FireFrom user research, Bijtelaar formulated main reasons of

using the open fi re: 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 fi re as a source of light. Other comments on the stove

were the relatively small working and cooking space and

continuous fi re 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 fi res, but do not know an alternative

solution. Bijtelaar concluded that solutions to improve

the climate should be fi xed, not infl uencing the cooking

activities, not produce any smoke, offer the possibility to

gather around and decrease the use of fi rewood as energy

Improving the Climate of Cooking AreasMarike Bijtelaar

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

normal chimney outlet is used.

In order to make the idea of the tabletop work, the use of the current amount of radiation of

the ONIL stove had to be optimized.

The ONIL

Stove has an

insulated ceramic

combustion

chamber that

makes the fi re

burn hot enough

to consume the oil

vapour, and thus

uses all potential

wood energy.

Helps International June 16, 2006€

98

made a prototype of the heater with a fl at back surface and

tested this on a small scale.

The second solution, a tabletop, can easily be placed around

the stove and creates a social meeting, working, sitting and

eating place close to the stove. When people gather close

to the stove, the relatively small amount of radiative heat

produced by the stove is optimally used. She designed two

concepts, with the distinction based on the construction

on the stove: stacking or clamping. Both concepts were

prototyped and tested with women of the target group.

The tests proved that the tabletop indeed invites people

to sit closer to the stove.

The chimney heater can

produce space heating

at the cooking area and

Guatemalan women

were able to control

the valve system that

produced heat. Also,

from the test results,

Bijtelaar recommended

further development

of both features, and

suggested material,

construction and shape

improvements.

source.

Less Energy DemandBijtelaar approached the problem with the ‘Trias Energetica’

approach, starting with diminishing the energy demand.

The second step is providing in the energy demand as much

as possible with sustainable energy sources. The third step

is using fossil fuels for the remaining energy demand.

She summarized important aspects in a scoring card and

analysed the energy demand for heating the cooking area.

The scoring card lead to practical solutions, but Bijtelaar

concluded that a demand for space heating remained, even

with applying the solutions.

After generating ideas, she categorized them and

selected two directions: optimally using the radiative heat

of the stove by gathering around it and using the heat of

the smoke in the chimney. Main arguments: they do not

require extra fuel, cooking performance is maintained and

the stove body elements do not need adjustment. Both

ideas were elaborated further, with detailing alternatives for

every sub solution.

Chimney Heater and TabletopThe chimney heater can be placed on the stove instead of

the standard chimney. The heater uses the waste heat of

the chimney gases for space heating and can be switched

on and off by a valve system. The chimney pipe enters and

leaves the heater at the bottom and the top of the heater,

so the exhaust gases contact the complete surface of the

chimney heater. Users could operate the heater by a valve

placed inside the heater that controls the gas fl ow. Bijtelaar

With a prototype the functioning of the chimney heater to heat the cooking area was tested.

www.helpsintl.org

99

Company Graduation date

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, suffi cient, 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, fi tting within the mission and

scope of the new sustainable business initiatives of Philips

Domestic Appliances.

The Water4life fi lter concept has been developed by

DSM. This multinational company develops amongst others

industrial chemicals and performance materials. They

developed the fi lter 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 FilteringPotential 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:

observation of current situation, usability tests, follow-

Safe Drinking WaterMaria Nguyen

The add-on concept for existing water vessels was developed to fi t on any water vessel available.

Philips Domestic Appliances April 28, 2006

The redesign of the Water4Life concept included improvements on the closing of the lid, the ease of cleaning and the installation and maintenance of the

fi lter. Details of the proposed solutions are shown at the right.

€

100

diffi culties with closing the lid and do not understand the

order of the actions they have to perform. Tests with the

plastic prototype indicated that users do not understand

how to use the valve and spill much water.

After the introduction of the improved concept, Nguyen

held group discussions with local users. They resulted in

comments about the taste, smell and clearness of the water.

They also indicated a preference for stainless steel. She also

found that the pumping action needed too much effort from

the users and the maximum volume of the concept was too

small. An affordable price was determined on around 500

INR (€10).

up observation, and group evaluation discussions. The

objectives were aimed at: usability insights regarding the

Water4life prototype, gathering data about the performance

of the Water4life concept under local conditions and

collecting user feedback.

Nguyen used the user research results to generate

criteria for the product development phase. The concept

development resulted in two product proposals. The fi rst

is an improved version of the existing Water4life water

purifi er. The second product proposal is based on the

observation of the multitude of water vessels existing in

the Indian households, and is developed as an add-on to

these vessels.

Entrepreneurial WomenThe 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

fi lter caps and do not press sides of the caps. The user

test with the metal prototype showed that people have

A schematic representation of the strategy shows the various stakeholders and their relations.

www.philips.com

101

Photo: Linda Schnieders

102

Girls in FavelasRio de Janeiro, Brazil

103

Company Graduation date

All aspects for implementing

the Philips Powerstove

are covered in the four routes of awareness,

promotion, production and fi nance. Every

route has its specifi c tools

to reach its goal. Goal of

the awareness routes is to

communicate the negative

long term health effects of smoke.

By using the Philips wood stove indoor air pollution could substantially decrease, therefore related health problems could decrease as well.

At the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) in India, cooking is one

of the most time-consuming activities during the day.

People at the BoP usually cook with solid fuels on simple,

ineffi cient stoves that fi ll 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 defi ned

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

effi ciency. A fan blowing heated air through the fi re and the

low mass are the main reasons for this high combustion-

and heat transfer effi ciency. From previous projects and

encountered barriers she formulated requirements for the

product and implementation plan.

Stove Saves Money and TimeTo gain more insight into the current way of cooking and

the interaction with the Philips prototype, she conducted

user research in India. Twenty-four households tested the

prototype for at least eight cooking sessions (four days).

Although the response was very positive, it was concluded

that some aspects of the product could still be improved.

She also used consumer insights in the promotion strategy:

the smokeless stove does not darken the walls and ceiling

and eyes will not tear or get irritated. Also, less fuel

consumption results in saving money.

The problems encountered in the user research were divided

Philips Consumer Lifestyle April 4, 2006

Adoptable WoodstoveLeonie Ideler

consumer satisfaction

and problems Anganwadi centres

State government

Philips

promotion

awareness teaching

> convince men

funding

consumer insights

CommunityCommunity

> convince women

PROMOTION ROUTE AWARENESS ROUTE

training

NGO

€

104

attention to the Philips woodstove and its benefi ts. Both the

production and fi nancial routes include local partnerships to

simplify purchasing a Philips woodstove.

Tools to reach the goals are for example instalments,

product demonstrations and leafl ets, wall paintings and

posters. One of the most important tools in each route

is working with partnerships. By explaining the four Ps,

namely product, price, place (distribution) and promotion,

Ideler illustrated possible routes to plan the implementation

in rural India.

UpdateAfter Ideler’s graduation project the woodstove has been

developed further. Philips expects to launch the woodstove

in India in the fi rst half of 2009. Recently a commercial pilot

was completed in India, from which a great deal was learned.

Unfortunately there were some delays in the project due to

a technical lifetime issue. This has recently been solved

and local production is currently being prepared for. Philips

realizes that a new market is about to be entered and that

their approach to marketing and distribution needs to be

modifyied; Philips is currently optimizing their business

case and their go-to market strategy. As the initial focus

is on successfully launching the product in India, plans for

introduction in other countries have not been defi ned yet.

into categories concerning safety, preparation of Indian

bread and comfort of use. In solving these subproblems,

the focus was more on the urgent issues, leaving the more

complex and less urgent for later on in the development

process. Great attention was paid to user comfort, for

example by improving the user interface of the stove.

Implementation of the PowerstoveThere are no successfully adopted products on the market to

fi ll the gap between the traditional cook stove and the ‘clean’

and effi cient LPG stove, which is too expensive for the target

group. Also, fuel availability is very unreliable, especially in

rural areas. The implementation strategy should be well-

designed to create a successful and sustainable business

around the new Philips Powerstove. The theory of Prahalad

was a dopted, by paying extra attention to distribution to

reach the target group.

Potential stakeholders located in India were identifi ed to

help get information, products and services to the majority

of the target group. The most effective way for reaching the

target group is by using Anganwadi centres, who provide

service at the doorsteps of the community by trained health

personnel and can be seen as the Indian government’s

doorway into a village for its welfare programmes.

Covering all aspects of implementation, four routes were

defi ned; awareness, promotion, production and fi nancial

routes include the various stakeholders involved and their

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

The visual feedback and interface was also improved.

www.philips.com

105

Company Graduation date

Water supply in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is in

critical condition, especially for the poor. Even though

approximately 90% of the population living in the city’s 752

slums (a.k.a. favelas) manage to be connected to the main

water distribution infrastructure, the situation is far from

sustainable. An alarming 10% of those living in the slum

lack access to an improved source of water.

The water supplier uses a purifi cation process including

tons of chemicals and produces waste that is thrown back

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

the clean water. The water supply company Cedae, looses

profi t because they are not able to install water meters and

consumers are not always able to pay.

P.I.P.A. System Provides Safe WaterThe P.I.P.A. System is an alternative for providing safe water.

It converts rainwater into drinking water without using extra

energy or chemicals. The system is fully independent from

other sources or expensive infrastructure and untrained

users can operate it.

The design is user-oriented and fi ts into the daily life of

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

Rapid granular fi lter Porous ceramic fi lter

Water Supply in Slums:P.I.P.A. SystemFernando Del Caro Secomandi

System operation includes multi-stage fi ltration, storage and distribution.

Uphill water

sourceHybrid system

Floor level installation

Setup of the P.I.P.A. system has many options, so each user can choose the most appropiate and effcient way of gathering rainwater.

Local users and other stakeholders are

mapped, including both proponents and opponents. Del Caro

Secomandi noticed that most of the favelas

are controlled by drug dealers or other armed militias, which infl uences the parties

willing to be part of the system.

Delft University of Tech. April, 2006€

106

a country to economic growth, improve current physical

and immaterial infrastructure, and innovation at the Base

of the Pyramid can be profi table and transferable to other

countries.

It was concluded that PSS research should to a greater

extent focus on the opportunities that are present in the

developing countries’ context, rather than trying to directly

transfer literature knowledge.

sky. Total costs are kept to a minimum by simple construction,

inexpensive technology and material use, small installation

costs and it rarely needs maintenance. It can be partially

or even entirely produced within the community, utilizing

local labour and technologies, as well as readily available

materials.

The stakeholders of the system were mapped, both

proponents and opponents. It was noticed that most

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

Development Bank, including the community association

and a Non-Governmental Organization. After installing all

P.I.P.A. systems, the cooperative will provide maintenance

and additional accessories and services.

Literature ConclusionsAfter 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, benefi ts or opportunities. The opportunities that

were found were: scanning the PSS context, anticipation

of unsustainable technology application in the search of

The collection surface can be rolled up to use the rooftop in another functionality. Additions to the structural frame are possible to enhance this, such as fences and clothes dryers.

107

Company Graduation date

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 fi t the

specifi c 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

development to identify opportunities. Also, it should build

on existing knowledge within Philips. Target audiences are

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.

From a fi rst exploratory workshop, it was concluded that

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 fi gure 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.

Contextualizing ProductsJon Rodriguez

The developed tools combine both descriptive and experimental information which have been identitied as fundamental for

getting insight into contexts that designers are not familiar with.

Philips Design February 2, 2006

Three different personas have been developed for the test of the toolbox, one patient and two healthcare providers. The scenarios explain the interaction

between the personas and put some of the problems in their context.

€

108

participants received the booklet with more information and

the login for the website.

At the fi rst day of the workshop, each participant took one

persona, read the scenario corresponding to the persona

and was asked to role-play this persona. After developing

scenarios themselves, the second day they created solutions

and mock-ups to play this scenario. The students showed

their solutions to the health problem in an informance or

informative performance to a multidisciplinary audience:

experts from Philips design, Philips research and Philips

Medical Systems.

The main contributions were that the experience

workshop gave insight into Indian rural healthcare; it could

be used to prepare designers to work in the context and

helped focusing on the relevant topics. In short the role-

play made the (lack) of knowledge participants had about

the context explicit. The bodystorming created an embodied

and common understanding of the ideas and concepts

that were generated. The presentation of the ideas to the

audience of experts allowed for communicating the ideas

and concepts in their context.

It was concluded that putting designers in the shoes of

the people they are designing for does increase the insight

in people’s needs and engagement and understanding of

the context.

Students, who eveluated this model, even wanted to

experience the complexities of the Indian rural healthcare

situation by going to India.

ToolsThe fi nal toolbox consists of several tools. The summary tool

was an introductory presentation to Indian rural healthcare.

Facts and fi gures are shown about India, and photographs

of medical environments and service users provide insight

in a global overview. A booklet was made to structure more

profound information on the context. More background

of this information was presented at a secured website,

including papers on the topics.

To experience the context, several tools were developed.

Three video personas were developed; a patient, a nurse

and a doctor. Then these the problems were put in their

context by creating scenarios for several diseases, seen

from the different points of view of the personas.

Finally, perhaps the most important tool was developed,

based on learning gained about how to use role-play in

design. A combination of the tools mentioned before was

used and was combined with role-play in order to increase

the engagement with the context and a role-play guidebook

was written. Red health issue cards and green solution cards

help designers to generate ideas and encourage creativity.

Workshop with StudentsRodriguez 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

www.philips.com

109

Company Graduation date

Microfi nance 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

the Internet to access inexpensive capital from individual

lenders.

Borrower’s Information OnlineMicrosoft 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,

fi nance, 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 fi ts the goal of DII.

The KIVA concept had problems getting the borrowers’

stories online. Remarkably, interest and capital fl owing

from online lenders was not the limiting factor; instead

the bottleneck was the ability of the partners to post the

borrower’s information on the web. The users, or borrowers,

In all stages, local people helped and cooperated in understanding the problem and the design of solutions. This people-driven approach results in a context sensitive understanding of the problem. The solution is again tested

in the actual context of the intended use.

Testing the MiMoSo in the fi eld. After taking a photograph with a mobile phone it is uploaded to the KIVA website.

Microsoft & KIVA & DUT Sept 14, 2006

Online Microfi nance: into(context)Cale Thompson

€

110

values and behaviours within the system. During this two-

month period Thompson identifi ed bottlenecks regarding

both the system and available technologies. Concepts and

prototypes were generated to solve the bottleneck problems

in the third phase. The prototypes were tested in the fi eld

and evaluated qualitatively by users and quantitatively

against the existing micro-lending system.

Miracle Mobile SolutionThe project ended up with the development of the Miracle

Mobile Solution (MiMoSo). This is a piece of software that

allows Multi Media Service (MMS) messages to be sent from

a mobile phone to an individual KIVA email address. Via the

email address, the text and image are parsed and uploaded

to the KIVA website where they can be seen by lenders.

Ultimately, the MiMoSo was tested in its intended context

in Africa and has been implemented by KIVA. The project

demonstrated the strength of a people-centred approach

through the successful context-fi t solution that was

developed. It also showed that the cell phone is a legitimate

technology platform to facilitate web-based activities.

must have access to the Internet and become familiar

with web navigation and content management. However

many environmental factors can limit their ability to do so

easily. The goal of this multidisciplinary project led by Cale

Thompson was to do research on appropriate technology

interaction forms for MFI working in Uganda, Kenya and

Tanzania.

into(context)The main goal of the project into(context) was to do

research and improve the interface between the technology

and the MFI’s. The project consisted of fi ve main stages

including research preparation, context research, concept

generation, prototype testing and dissemination.

Driven by a people-centred design approach, the project

started with asking questions in Africa rather than arriving

with an answer. This approach refl ected the fact that the

technology should eventually fi t the people and not the

other way around.

The research started with benchmarking existing

practices for facilitating microfi nance through technology. A

stakeholder mapping of the context of microfi nance 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.

€

www.KIVA.org

111

Company Graduation date

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,

oral cancer, is enhanced by tobacco use.

To develop solutions that successfully meet the healthcare

needs of the rural population, product designers must

fi rst 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 DatabaseThe 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

issues. Also, the tool includes a glossary to give background

Creating Market Insight for DesignersJonathan Stranders

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 specifi ed,

unambiguous and defi ned awareness.

Especially the Indian youth increasingly uses tobacco. Tobacco industry nowadays aggressively markets (fi ltered) cigarettes instead of smokeless

tobacco products (chewing tobacco and spit tobacco).

Philips Medical Systems Dec 23, 2005€

112

zoom into the market situation on micro-level: individual

persons. That helps both strategic and practical designers

to get more insight in the needs, but strategic designers

demand more statistics next to personas. Designers

evaluated the tool during other stages of the development

process as a useful support and source of inspiration.

Because of the visual orientation of designers, Stranders

concluded that the prototyped tool had too much text

instead of pictures and movies. Hence the content of the fi nal

version should have a better balance between textual and

visual information. Also, the tool should be validated using

real experts. The MarkIT tool does succeed in structuring

the information on the market and enhances the individual

insight of designers in the specifi c situation.

information on unclear topics and words.

The tool is web-based in order to be accessed by Philips

designers all over the world. The database structure enables

other employees, such as market researchers, to insert new

information effectively. In this way, the tool functions as an

interactive communication platform.

Insight in Market ContextThe tool was prototyped and tested with a group of

product designers. Stranders asked what they thought of

the web-based database structure and the contents. The

tests showed that MarkIT succeeds in communicating the

healthcare market to product designers in a structured way

and that it saves time during the fi rst phases of a product

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.

www.philips.com

113

Photo: Jaap Daalhuizen

114

Man at HomeChongming Island, China

115

Company Graduation date

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 fi ts the Philips

social responsibility programme.

Oral Cancer DetectionOral cancer has a long process of developing from a pre-

cancerous, non-malignant state into lethal oral cancer.

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.

Light Induced FluorescenceWhen oral tissue is exposed to high-energy light, it emits

Device for Early Oral Cancer DetectionSuzanne Hendrikse

In rural India, limited medical facilities and staff are available. Chewing tobacco is a popular practise, but it is also a major cause of oral cancer.

In addition to low oral hygiene in addition, oral cancer occurs often.

The demonstration model of the oral cancer detection device showed advantages such as three colour

diagnosis, simple interface and precise handling.

Philips Medical Systems Nov 11, 2005€

116

a diffuse, low energy light. The resulting spectrum can be

analysed and gives insight into the health of the tissue.

This method is called Light Induced Fluerescence (LIF)

technique. By using LIF, oral cancer can be detected even

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 fi nal product design.

Early Cancer Detection DeviceThe 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 fi nal

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

medical staff from urban areas to rural areas on the short

term. On the long term, community health workers should

be trained to detect cancer at an early stage and handle the

detection device.

www.philips.com

117

Company Graduation date

About 90% of the Cambodian households have no access

to a secure and reliable electricity infrastructure for lighting.

They mostly (55%) use car batteries as electricity storage

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 fi t 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 NeedsPrior to the product development phase of the project,

fi eld 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 fulfi ll.

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

Solar LightingStephen Boom

Angkor Light can be placed on a table or hung from the ceiling.

Ecofys / Kamworks October 28, 2005

The lighting resembled the form of the Angkor Wat,

which is a traditional temple Cambodians are proud of.

€

118

Angkor LightThe fi nal design was a vacuum-formed quality lantern

called Angkor Light. The design appealed to Cambodia's

national symbol, the temples of Angkor, which Cambodians

are very proud of. Vacuum forming is an appropriate

technology for a start-up company like Kamworks. It

combined the advantages of low investments and simple

processes. The technology was applicable for relatively low

production volumes (up to 10,000 per year). The moulds

could be produced locally and were cheap in comparison

with injection moulding. The Angkor Light used replaceable

quality electrical components. The product would fi t to an

international standard (“PV-GAP”) to encourage quality

solar products for the global market.

Boom fi nally built a second prototype, which would be

used for a more profound market evaluation of the product

in Cambodia.

AwardedThe World Bank 2006 Development Marketplace awarded

Kamworks with $174,000 for developing an innovative

distribution model. The model aims at training young

Cambodians to become micro-entrepreneurs in a

project called “Rural electrifi cation through solar micro-

entrepreneurship in

Cambodia”. It is also

starting up assembly of

its own solar products,

to start with the ‘Angkor

Light’.

expensive and would not provide enough energy during

the rainy season. Apparently, creation of awareness of the

advantages of solar energy would be an important sales

issue.

Boom also investigated the local distribution and

production possibilities for solar lanterns. A questionnaire

about solar lanterns among retailers concluded that more

than half of them were interested in selling solar lanterns,

with a maximum price of $50 and a profi t of 10%. The

product should be easy to understand, because the retailers

did not want to be responsible for the consequences for

malfunctioning. Quality and availability of spare parts was

an important issue for them.

Vacuum Forming and Refl ector CombinedField research resulted in three product-market combinations

(PMC) of affordable lighting for rural people. The fi rst was

extending the lifetime of car batteries, the next combination

was a solar powered headlight. The third PMC, a mobile

solar lantern, has been selected for further elaboration.

In a technical analysis Boom selected the light source,

battery type and solar cells. Next, he generated several

product sketches. Boom detailed a combination of two

solution clusters, vacuum forming and using a refl ector.

Several concepts were generated using the refl ector in

different ways. He chose a lamp with a separate refl ector

that could be placed on top of the lamp and built a

prototype. Fifteen potential end-users living in the rural

areas of Cambodia evaluated the product's functionality,

robustness and appearance as positive.

www.ecofys.comwww.kamworks.com

119

Company Graduation date

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.

Cultural ContextProduct 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.

First a difference between the needs of the consumers

and the ones of the government and Non-Governmental

Participatory research resulted in useful local knowledge to develop solutions.

The analysis was started with the defi nition of search fi elds, after which the u-specs were analyzed. An idea generation and scenario

development phase followed. Finally guidelines were defi ned for future product development for the Indian BoP.

Philips Domestic Appliances October 21, 2005

Adoptability of the U-SpecsRoseliek van de Velden

€

120

Organizations (NGOs) was detected. The NGOs and

government see a problem in uncorrected refractive

errors that are causing sight impairment. They see that it

is hampering education, causing rehabilitation costs, and

causes a loss of productivity. The consumers however usually

do not recognize sight impairment and its consequences as

a problem. They rather ignore that there is a problem at

all.

The barriers that existed in the India BoP were linked to

the competences of Philips to fi nd opportunities for product

development.

GuidelinesThe case study resulted in a list of guidelines for product

development for the BoP in India. The guidelines were

categorized in four groups, namely general guidelines,

guidelines to optimize the process, remote product

development guidelines and adoptability guidelines. These

guidelines are described at the right.

Barriers were linked to core competences of Philips DAP to ensure a successful product development process.

NGO

General guidelines

· Partnering with NGOs and governmental bodies necessary;

· In the BoP an open mind is a prerequisite for success;

· Transparency; communicate intentions of stakeholders;

· Organization should facilitate shared decision making;

· Volunteers could enable experimental BoP projects;

· Consumers have different priorities than NGOs and

Government

Process

· Find the barriers of a problem before trying to solve it;

· Map Barriers to Core Competences;

· Use local experts’ knowledge for interpretation of data.

Remote product development guidelines

· Gain input from different locations to make the product

suitable for a broad target group;

· Increase respondent feedback: propose multiple options;

· Increase feedback on confl icts with proposed scenarios by

forming groups of similar stakeholders in user research;

· Provide suffi cient input to prevent biases;

· Detailed content needed for input design workshop.

Adoptability guidelines

· Accessibility, empowerment and reliability are the most

important aspects for adoptability by the BoP market;

· The adoptability is best considered in both product design

and scenario;

· Use the guidelines on implementing aspects of adoptability:

accessibility, compatibility, reparability, empowerment,

affordability, desirability, reliability, usability and comfort.

www.philips.comwww.u-specs.org

121

Company Graduation date

NPSP Composites BV produces composites based on natural

and conventional fi bres. The company intends to promote

usage of natural materials like fl ax- and jute-reinforced

composites. They have developed an innovative production

method that could be used in combination with natural

fi bres. The labour intensive manufacturing process made

production in low wage countries sound profi table. The

company chose for India for expanding their production

process for three reasons. First, India is rich in natural

fi bres. Second, India has low wages for labour. Third, NPSP

wanted to provide for some of the profound needs of the

very poor, such as housing. In this project the possibilities

of manufacturing fi bre-composite products in India were

explored.

Rising Costs in Building SectorAfter an internal analysis of NPSP, an overview of the

strengths and weaknesses of the company was created.

Local potential business partners could increase their own

production capacity and benefi t from the knowledge transfer

of NPSP. In this way, NPSP could give the composite sector

the opportunity to specialize. The most promising partners

for a joint venture with NPSP were the companies Festel

Doors and Water Tanks, and Technocraft.

From an external analysis, Boekhoven concluded that

specifi c knowledge on composites is not commonly available.

Also, the building sector is dealing with rising costs of

conventional materials such as wood, cement, concrete and

steel, because of its increasing scarcity.

Using the formulated strengths and weaknesses with

Mould

Coir fi bre mat

Polyurethane foam

Wooden frame

Coir fi bre mat

Mould

Woven fi bre coir mats are placed in a metal mould, covered by polyurethane

foam and another mat. The mould is closed and

the polyester resin sucked inside.

After an hour the product can be discharged.

Boekhoven based her fi nal design on the 'thick' concept,

that replaced conventional materials like wood and

reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC).

Coir fi bre Wood Polyurethane foam

Details

NPSP Composieten BV November 18, 2005

Natural Fibres in Doors and WindowsJoan Boekhoven

€

122

in a choice for the thick concept, which was elaborated

further.

Low Costs and WeightThe fi nal design proposal could meet all criteria. Its purchase

costs would be 28% lower than its wooden alternative. It

was found that highly decorated and arched designs would

appeal to Indians. Moreover, the environmental sound

material is maintenance free; it is corrosion resistant, no

painting or pesticides are needed and it will not swell like

wood does.

It would be manufactured using the vacuum assisted-

resin transfer moulding process in which NPSP is specialized

(see fi gure on the left page). A prototype (scale of 4 on 1)

was manufactured to show details and possible decoration.

To conclude the project, a marketing strategy for the fi nal

product was developed. This included xtensive discussions

on the four aspects of the marketing mix: product, price,

place and promotion.

the found opportunities and threats, three product-

market combinations were formulated. The fi rst included

developing a product to lower the rural housing costs. Also,

in the fi eld of hygiene, a product to improve more people’s

bathing and sanitary conditions could be developed.

Another product would provide easier access to water. For

all three combinations, the design problems were identifi ed

and product ideas were generated. After selection, by using

nine weighted criteria, it was decided to elaborate within

the house & construction fi eld.

Thick Window and Door FramesThe goal was to consider procedures of building houses in

urban as well as in rural areas. The costs of a basic house

were calculated and the elements that might be replaced by

natural fi bre reinforced composite products were identifi ed.

These were window frames and shutters, doorframes and

shutters, sometimes even entire roofs. Based on a number

of reasons, it was decided to develop windows and doors,

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

have a product with an edge over the competition, an arch

or decoration was added.

There were two design concepts, the major difference

laid in the thickness of the frames.. Within the thick

concept conventional materials like wood and RCC could

be replaced; the thin concept replaced materials like steel

and coir. Evaluating the advantages and disadvantages on

production, costs and appearance of both concepts resulted

The fringes were created with clay and some creativity. Alongside the door shutter its clay details can be seen. It was chosen to decorate this door with Lord Ganesh who is supposed to bring luck and prosperity.

www.npsp.nl

123

Company Graduation date

Intermech Engineering Ltd 2004

In Tanzania the cassava starch winning is still done the traditional way.

Small scale cassava starch processingDirk SmallenbroekAll 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 suffi cient 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 fl our, 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 fi rst step of the winning

of starch from cassava. For the next steps of this process

a machine line was to be designed, fi tting on to the grater

qua philosophy and capacity, manufactured by Intermech

and capable of supplying high quality cassava starch for the

Tanzanian industry.

Promoting CassavaFor 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.

The possibility for local farmers to process their harvested

€

124

For Tanzania it is now important to take the step of

growing cassava on a larger scale so it can become an

important supplier of starch to the world market. With this

project a small step is set towards a more sustainable and

better economic developed future for Tanzanian cassava

farmers.

crops into agricultural products which are better to store and

to transport will result in a decrease in post harvest losses.

Additionally, the processing of cassava offers the farmers an

opportunity to add value to their harvested crops, creating

the possibility of investing in their own farming company.

This way the fi rst step to further mechanize the cultivation

and irrigation of the land and thus increasing the effi ciency.

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 needsWithin 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 fulfi l the

specifi c (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

maintenance of the machines can be executed locally. €The University team & the Intermech team with the prototype.

www.intermech.biz

125

Photo: Jaap Daalhuizen

126

Toilet in a Rural VillageChongming Island, China

127

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

just making minor modifi cations to existing products. They

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

as to have a deep understanding of these new contexts,

and the issues and the opportunities related to the targeted

areas (Simanis and Hart 2006).

Eco-Effi ciency and Socio-Cultural PreferencesThe challenge lies in the creation of accessible and

affordable solutions to fi t the local economical and socio-

cultural preferences, without expanding the current use

of environmental resources (Rocchi 2006). The target

here is not only the poverty of the people in the BoP, but

also the context in which they live, which tends to lack

traditional utilities, such as electricity, water, and gas (i.e.

in rural Africa less than 2% of the population is connected

Epilo

gue The fi rst learning experiences

of Design for the BoP

Table 1: Summary of the identifi ed differences in the Product Innovation Process (Chang 2006).

Process

Ethnographic research, NGO partnerships, local university collaboration, study local life, live with the poor, listening deeply

Motivation on CSR, new business model creation, local and NGO partnerships, Greenfield opportu-nities, influences from government policy

Differences in the Product Innovation Process

NGO Partnerships (training, distribution, collect feedback), new channels, new busi-ness models, local ecosystem setup

Strategy Formulation

Product Development

Product Launch

Design Brief Formulation

NGO partnerships, local university collaboration (on pilot testing)

128

important is the willingness to listen deeply to the local

people and local stakeholders, and understand what they

need, not what product innovators think they need.

For example the demand for renewable electricity based

light is a ‘derived demand’: no one wants electricial light

in itself but rather for the services it can provide (ESMAP

2000). The biggest unmet need is not for better illumination

but for safety from fi re, savings, and greater independence.

There should be added value in the products, which can be

recognized by consumers at the BoP. Second, markets in

developing countries are not well developed, so it is necessary

to develop basic channels and business models and value

chains in order to bring the products to the customers. The

observed differences in the product innovation process are

summarized in Table 1.

Consequently, a basic starting point for successful product

innovation for the BoP is to understand people’s needs

and to interact with the material, economical and socio-

cultural world. Therefore, both researchers and designers

should engage with the cultures directly. A unique set of

design and business tools and practices adapted from social

anthropology, ethnography and Participatory Rural Appraisal

(PRA) is being developed, applied and evaluated (Hart

2004; Diehl and Kuipers 2008; Simanis and Hart 2008) for

designers and entrepreneurs.

Design ToolsAt the moment, various design tools (such as personas,

cultural probes, scenarios and user profi les in context-of-

use) are available to capture insights related users’ needs,

to the electricity grid). In addition ICT and transportation

infrastructures are also often very weak. The outcomes

of the Intocontext project demonstrate that sometimes

alternative solutions (mobile phone instead of internet via

PC) are available but not used (see page 108). Most BoP

communities are fragile ecologically, so new products and

services need to be very eco-effi cient (Sethia 2005). In that

perspective the Kamworks projects (see page 38, 40, 56

and 116, on replacing kerosene lights solar powered lights)

and the Philips Woodstove project (see page 102, on a

dramatic increase of effi ciency and avoidance of negative

health impacts) are convincing examples what Designing

for the BoP can mean.

Critical Phases in Designing ProductsFrom our experiences, we have learned that most

companies active in the BoP state the front end research

(Design Brief Formulation) and Product Delivery (Product

Launch) as the two most critical phases in developing

products for the BoP market (See table on the right) (Chang

2006). First, it’s critical to adapt products so that the fi t the

context and resources of the target group. Most challenges

derive from the unfamiliarity with the local context and the

distinct infrastructure in emerging markets. Although some

companies do have strong global resources and networks,

a sustainable local enterprise network is necessary for them

to interact with the local community. Non-Governmental

Organizations (NGOs) play in this context a vital role in

the innovation process of several companies, especially

when they intend to approach consumers at the BoP. Most

Epilogue

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

fi t 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.

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

Next Generation BoP Strategy.

131

We would like to say thanks, for these interesting projects,

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!

Ackn

owle

dgem

ents

132

About the EditorsPrabhu Kandachar

Currently Professor of Industrial Design

Engineering (IDE) and Chairman of the

Department of Design Engineering, he

received a B.E. degree in Mechanical

Engineering at the Mysore University

and his M.E. and Ph.D. in Mechanical

Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.

After a stint of 5 years at the Materials Science and Technology

department at Delft, he worked at Fokker for 15 years, in

various technical & management positions. His teaching and

research interests at IDE are focused on materializing design

ideas, addressing manufacturing technology related to product

design and materials; technology and materials selection in

design; and more. He is currently directing research work

on development of products & services for healthcare in

developing countries and is involved in research on ethical

aspects of product development for the BoP. He has given

several keynote lectures on this topic and has about 100

publications on his work.

Jan Carel Diehl

After fi nishing his study in Industrial

Design Engineering he worked

several years as a consultant in

ecodesign. In his present position he

is assistant professor for the Design

for Sustainability (DfS) program at the Faculty of Industrial

Design Engineering at the Delft University of Technology in

The Netherlands. Within the DfS program he is managing

the international projects on sustainable product innovation

especially in emerging markets. The main focus of his

research is the know-how transfer and implementation

of sustainable product innovation into an international

context. He is has been working with companies and

universities in about 40 countries world-wide. Next to his

position at the TU Delft he is consultant for UNIDO and

UNEP and invited lecturer at universities in amongst others

Portugal, Colombia, Turkey, Japan and Austria. He is co-

author of the UNEP Design for Sustainability manual for

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 fi rm 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.

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

for the Base of the Pyramid. This is the third publication in

the series of graduation and other Masters’ program projects

at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, specifically

aimed at product, service and system design for the Base of

the Pyramid.

Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering

Landbergstraat 15

2628 CE Delft, The Netherlands

www.io.tudelft.nl/bop

BoP-IO@tudelft.nl

+31 (0) 15 278 3034

Designing for Emerging M

arkets IDE Master Projects - 3