India’s markets were closed and tightly regulated when I left the National Institute of Design in 1990. There was no Coca Cola, no global brands and products available in the market were for the most part reverse engineered from affordable, almost obsolete design drawings purchased from abroad. With long waiting lines for phone connections, cooking gas cylinders and such consumer durables as cars or motorcycles, customers purchased what was available and hankered for imported goods that were brought back by family members living abroad or surreptitiously available in ‘smuggler’s stores’ in port cities. Music, films, trends and the pace of life lagged behind the rest of the world.

Today everything has changed. The booming economies of India and China have astonished the developed world with their rapid rise as economic superpowers, communications technology has enabled exposure to global lifestyles, consumer gadgets and trends. An emerging class of aspiring consumers from developing nations are influencing the marketing strategies and product innovation of multinationals from around the world. At the same time, the global challenges of poverty, hunger, environmental degradation and climate change are broadcast into our living rooms and pop up on our computer screens. We are more aware than ever before that we are one world and the responsibility for sustainable development must begin with our generation today.

Poverty, culture and the environment are the three global megatrends that are already on the radar of every forward global company.

Volume not margins
The poor have become “the other 4 billion” customers as markets saturate in developed nations and companies must seek new pastures. They form an entirely new market for products, goods and services designed specifically for their needs, their constraints and income limitations. Volume of transactions, not profit margins are the foundation for any successful business model, service or product designed for this segment. Social entrepreneurs focus on offering win-win solutions, designing products and services for ‘the other 90%’ that aid sustainable development by seeking to provide means of obtaining potable water, affordable shelter, income generation and education without the need for handouts or charity.

One size does not fit all
As the world’s new consumers from the rapidly developing economies of India, China, Brazil and other overlooked or underserved markets gain access to global information networks, they become more demanding and sophisticated in their wants and needs. Products must be more than just localised for international markets, they must now be designed to fit local cultures, social and economic preferences and conditions. One size does not fit all in this world. Whether it is ever smaller cars, dustproof, rugged mobile phones with flashlights in India or cheaper computers specially designed for rural peasants in China, local needs must be met as markets grow too large to be ignored.

Global problems, local solutions
The issues of climate change and scarce natural resources need solutions today, answers to the challenges that face us, not just questions. Solutions, products and services that use the minimum of scarce resources, recycle or reuse materials, leave a minimal footprint on the environment and are sustainable have been extensively documented amongst the poor. But to our educated eyes they seem crude and primitive. So they are very often overlooked or ignored. Only the latest technology can provide us with solutions for the future, we seem to say.
What can we learn from these local inventions and innovations as we look towards creating a sustainable eco-friendly lifestyle? The technically proficient, the engineering experts, the world class designers are all who practice in conditions of abundance. They create with no shortage of materials, funds, resources, fuel or energy. If we need to design products and systems under maximum constraints using minimal resources, husbanding our natural resources and rationing our use, where better to begin seeking answers but amongst those who already live under these conditions?


Emerging challenges for design

Mikal Hallstrup of Danish strategic design consultancy, Designit.dk says that today we are at the point where we need sustainable solutions, rather than a search for the ‘next big thing’. He gives the example of Copenhagen’s S Train: by adding a simple request at the end of their announcement at every station asking passengers to take their daily newspapers with them and put them in the recycling bins – also placed conveniently close by – they were able to decrease the wasted papers left on the train as well as increase recycling by 80%. A simple innocuous solution that makes a big impact. Can we find such touchpoints where small innovations or design changes can improve not only the end result but also add some value to the brand and its public image?

Supply chains in today’s globalised world are such that designers are very rarely based in the same location where either their product will be manufactured or sold. Dave Tait, a designer based in Pretoria, South Africa adds that designers sitting in their air-conditioned offices in Milan or New York cannot effectively design solutions that must be used in diverse locations around the world, particularly for the poor in developing nations. They need to get out to the field and see the disparity in living conditions, differences in society and cultures in the markets where their products will be used. Design begins with listing constraints and assumptions – these must be challenged if we are to create relevant products for today’s needs.

Sustainability has entered the corporate agenda, not just that concerned with renewable energy sources, natural resources and environmental considerations but also in terms of social development. Ethical consumption, minimal footprints and the social benefits of corporate activity are changing the way products, services and business models are designed. Multiple perspectives are required for effective problem solving, here is where design can add value by bringing its qualities of empathy for the user, an aesthetic sensibility and sensitivity to the systems and processes traditionally focused on cost and efficiency alone. Intangible values not usually measured by accountants such as the quality of the experience, a sense of meaning and the value created now become as important as the profits made.

Holistic solutions for the collective future will require a multidisciplinary approach and a flexible mindset. One that is open to new ways of making, doing, creating. One that is willing to seek solutions from any and all sources, allowing for the give and take of knowledge. One that will look for solutions that can address the needs of people and the planet not simply the profits that are crucial to every business.

Niti Bhan is an engineer, an MBA and a design thinker who consults on new and emerging markets strategy with a particular focus on overlooked or underserved segments of the populace. With over 15 years of experience in the US, India and ASEAN, she has worked for global brands such as Hewlett-Packard, McCann Erickson and the Institute of Design, IIT, Chicago. She is a member of the advisory board for the UNESCO/Fellisimo Social Design Network and currently on the jury for “Heated Issue” – Design21’s competition on communication strategies for climate change.