Why to be Wary of “Design for Developing Countries”

Krista Donaldson writes:

Much design for development work tends to be short-term ventures dependent on Western designers’ free time and/or the fiscal schedules of donor agencies. Understandably, the goal in these situations is a product. It makes sense; the design of an artifact seems like a manageable scope. But this short-termedness is all too well-known in most less industrialized economies. In Kenya, an expat colleague who was doing user testing of a cargo bicycle was told, “It’s fine for you if I buy this product and it breaks because you will go back home. Me? I’m stuck here with it.

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