Design for the Next Billion Customers

Monday, April 7, 2008

Niti Bhan and Dave Tait, having just returned from exploratory research in Africa to understand the mindset and consumer behavior at the bottom of the pyramid, share their insights for designers hoping to serve this population. This research was part of a larger study conducted by Experientia, an Italy-based international experience design consultancy.

“Design has a social function and its true purpose is to improve people’s lives.”
–Nokia Design Manifesto

This theme shows up, in one form or another, on most of the application essays made to design schools. Young designers aspire to improve people’s lives by creating products that matter. They dream of Eames, timeless designs and creating products that get called ’Classic.’ But the real world soon starts putting commercial demands on the designer’s time and talent, and the dream gets slowly wrapped up in dust, to be tucked away, as focus shifts to styling trendy products that catch the fickle consumer’s eye. Planned obsolescence influence the very consumerism and market forces that now demand ’New!’

Times change however, and today an opportunity to rediscover the timeless value of good design exists. As markets saturate across North America, Europe and Japan, global brands turn to the emerging market opportunities available in developing economies. Also known as ’the next billion consumers’ or the ’bottom of the pyramid’ (BoP), they have become the new target for design and innovation as rising incomes and growing economies make these aspiring consumers an attractive prospect. However, having been ignored until now, they are not as conditioned by mainstream global marketing.

Tasked with the challenge of designing for the ’next billion’ or the ’poor’ who live in a world so different from that outside your studio, where do you start?
Recent observations in the field on the BoP consumer’s lifestyle and buyer behavior in Africa led us to conclude that their product choices and decision-making criteria are based on an entirely different set of values than those that influence the design of most consumer products today. A combination of factors such as local culture and history, as well the daily experience of coping with a life of adversity, lead to a different mindset when it comes to purchasing patterns.

There have been many products that grasped the public’s imagination but failed to meet their goals, even as design was touted as a world-saving tool. Altruism has its place, but perhaps not in the practice of design; ’doing good’ casts a rosy glow over the decision-making process. Compromises get made as cost becomes the design’s criteria, not simply a constraint. Assumptions that filter our insights go unquestioned as the users’ undeniable and unmet ’needs’ are unmistakable. Good design that embodies value can get confused with charity.

Often, we are so intent on improving their lives that we forget that the poor are people too. They’re simply very different but equally demanding consumers whose expectations must be understood and respected if we’re truly to succeed.

A different mindset
Recent observations in the field on the BoP consumer’s lifestyle and buyer behavior in Africa led us to conclude that their product choices and decision-making criteria are based on an entirely different set of values than those that influence the design of most consumer products today. A combination of factors such as local culture and history, as well the daily experience of coping with a life of adversity, lead to a different mindset when it comes to purchasing patterns.

Uncertainty and chaos are a given in the informal economy that supports the majority at the bottom of the pyramid. Most do not have a regular job with a predictable salary, but manage to earn money through a variety of sources like selling crops or vegetables, hawking cigarettes and cold drinks or menial labor on daily wages. Income is more often than not irregular and unpredictable, and life becomes a balancing act on the edge between survival and disaster.

The first priority then is to meet the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. If there is change to spare, an impulse buy could be a newspaper or a soft drink for a treat. Every decision to spend beyond the basics is considered an investment that requires careful planning and research. Word of mouth is the most trusted medium, since it’s someone else’s real life experience–not simply a faceless marketing message splashed on a colorful billboard or blared on a radio.

So a ’wait and see’ attitude rather than ’try and buy’ becomes the norm. The product or service must be seen to stand the test of time and performance. The BoP consumer cannot afford to experiment with the ’new and improved’ over the ’tried and the true’. Brands that are chosen either have known benefits or are trusted in order to minimize risk.

Continue reading “Design for the Next Billion Customers

Source: Core77 (link opens in a new window)