human-centered design for development (hcd4d): workshop at u(x)pa2012

Human-Centered Design for Development

Susan DrayDray & Associates, Inc.http://www.dray.comsusan.dray@dray.com

Human-Centered Design for Development (HCD4D)

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

Who Am I?

• First international ethnographic study in 1994

• Work in 24 countries since then– On every continent except Antarctica

• Involved in multiple overlapping professional communities– UPA, SIGCHI, HFES, etc.

• Intense personal interest in “making a difference”

• Getting more and more involved in Human-Centered Design For Development (HCD4D) community

What’s it like for the urban poor in the “Developing” World?*

*Caveat: These are not universal; conditions vary widely

Poor (or lacking) infrastructure

Informal Dwellings

No sanitary facilities or Shared sanitation (pit latrines)

No indoor water(Must bring from communal tap)

Washing and bathing outside(Must heat water on stove)

Informal markets

Open-air markets with no refrigeration

Crime

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

Cell phonesPhone kiosks in containers

Public phones outdoors

Public transport

Two-wheelers, bicylces, foot

Animal-powered rather than motor-powered

Human-powered

Other characteristics

• Lack of access to adequate healthcare• Illiteracy or partial literacy• Poor schools • High levels of unemployment, especially among

youth (many of whom have dropped out of school)• Food insecurity• Etc.

What’s it like for the rural poor in the “Developing” World?*

*Caveat: These are not universal; conditions vary widely

Smaller traditional dwellings

No indoor water(Must bring from water source)

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

Transport unreliable and infrequent

Livelihood based on agriculture, little cash

No indoor stove

No electricity

Other characteristics

Other characteristics

• Lack of access to adequate healthcare• Illiteracy or partial literacy• Children left with grandparents while parents work

in cities to send money home• High levels of unemployment, especially among

youth (many of whom have dropped out of school)• Food insecurity• Etc.

A Product Fails

• Product concept was a battery-operated device to eliminate odors in refrigerators

• Engineers and executives were very excited about it

• Positive responses in focus groups

• D&A was hired by client to do study of refrigerators to support product development

Research For Product Development• Ethnographic visits to 12 homes

– Focus on “video tour” of fridge– Researcher paid particular attention to odors – both

observed and mentioned

• No one perceived an odor in their fridge– Even fridges that the researcher found to be stinky

• No one thought the proposed product was a good idea either during tour or during post-tour interview– “Why would I spend $30 to put something that uses

batteries in my fridge, when I can buy a box of baking soda for 50 cents?”

Did It Change Anything?

• Research was presented to client– Videos of fridge “tours”– Photos of interiors and of people placing the

product– Audio clips from interviews– Negative fit and response was “loud and clear”

• Response was polite but cool– Thanks a lot – here’s the door

And Yet…

One year later, the project was cancelled having spent over $1 million USD more

on it

A Development Project Fails*• Internationally funded aid project to provide

modern concrete dam and canals to Nepalese farmers

• Large project with professional design, materials, and construction– Consultation from top engineering firm– State of the art

• Despite all this and massive funding, dam did not deliver more water to farmers downstream

*As described in FreakonomicsLevitt & Dubner, 2009

What Happened?

• Traditionally, irrigation was small dams and crude canals requiring maintenance • Canal maintenance requires clearing obstructions and brush• Traditionally, this work was shared by all farmers

• Although the dam did not require maintenance, the distribution canals still did

• However, the traditional agreement between upstream and downstream farmers broke down• Farmers near the dam no longer motivated to maintain canals because

they got all the water they needed• Therefore, downstream farmers got less water

What Do These Failures Have In Common?

HCD4DHuman CenteredDesign

InternationalEconomic &Community Development

Early Community-Building

• Workshop at CHI 2007 (April, 2007; San Jose, US): UCD4D (1 day)– 50+ participants from 14 countries – NSF grant to cover “developing country” attendees from

universities and NGOs (Africa, S. Asia, Asia)

• SIG and Panel at INTERACT 2007 (September, 2007; Rio, Brazil)

• Workshop at DIS 2008 (February, 2008; Cape Town, South Africa) (2 – 3 days – optional “immersion” day preceding workshop)– Plan to video tape visits and create a documentary for use

at CHI

• Workshop at CHI 2008 (April, 2008; Florence, Italy): HCI for Community and International Development (2 days)

For more on the history (and more resources), check out:

http://www.dray.com

Sharing Experiences

• Garren• Michael• Ming• Anat• Brian• Ryan• Kami

• Ben• Jackie• Anant• Narender• Keita• Andy

Just Remember To…

Keep your heart on your feet (rather than on your sleeve) so they take you in the right direction!