Design Thinking And Innovation-Tim Brown.

Design Thinking for Social Innovation By Tim Brown & Jocelyn Wyatt

Stanford Social Innovation Review Winter 2010
Copyright  2010 by Leland Stanford Jr. University All Rights Reserved

Stanford Social Innovation Review 518 Memorial Way, Stanford, CA 94305-5015 Ph: 650-725-5399. Fax: 650-723-0516 Email: info@ssireview.com, www.ssireview.com

In an area outside Hyderabad, India, betweenthe suburbs and the countryside, a young
woman—we’ll call her Shanti—fetches water daily from the always-open local borehole that is about 300 feet from her home. She uses a 3-gallon plastic container that she can easily carry on her head. Shanti and her husband rely on the free water for their drinking and washing, and though they’ve heard that it’s not as safe as water from the NaandiFoundation-run community treatment plant, they still use it. Shanti’s family has been drinking the local water for generations, and although it periodically makes her and her family sick, she has no plans to stop using it. Shanti has many reasons not to use the water from the Naandi treatment center, but they’re not the reasons one might think. The center is within easy walking distance of her home—roughlya third of a mile. It is also well known and affordable (roughly 10 rupees, or 20 cents, for 5 gallons). Being able to pay the small fee has even become a status symbol for some villagers. Habit isn’t a factor, either. Shanti is forgoing the safer water because of a series of flaws in the overall design of the system. Although Shanti can walk to the facility, she can’t carry the 5-gallon jerricanthat the facility requires her to use. When filled with water, the plastic rectangular container is simply too heavy. The container isn’t designed to be held on the hip or the head, where she likes to carry heavy objects. Shanti’s husband can’t help carry it, either. He works in the city and DESIGNERS HAVE TRADIdoesn’t return home until after TIONALLY FOCUSED ON the water treatment center isENHANCING THE LOOK closed. The treatment center also requires them to buy a AND FUNCTIONALITY OF monthly punch card for 5 galPRODUCTS. RECENTLY, THEY lons a day, far more than they HAVE BEGUN USING DESIGN need. “Why would I buy more than I need and waste money?” TOOLS TO TACKLE MORE asks Shanti, adding she’d be COMPLEX PROBLEMS, SUCH more likely to purchase the AS FINDING WAYS TO Naandi water if thecenter alBy Tim Brown lowed her to buy less. PROVIDE LOW-COST HEALTH & Jocelyn Wyatt The community treatment CARE THROUGHOUT THE Illustration by center was designed to proJohn Hersey duce clean and potable water, WORLD. BUSINESSES WERE and it succeeded very well at FIRST TO EMBRACE THIS doing just that. In fact, it works NEW APPROACH—CALLED well for many people living in the community, particuDESIGNTHINKING—NOW larly families with husbands NONPROFITS ARE BEGINor older sons who own bikes NING TO ADOPT IT TOO. and can visit the treatment
Winter 2010 • STANFORD SOCIAL INNOVATION REVIEW

DESIGN
THINKING
FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION

31

The Sternins and colleagues from Save the Children surveyed four local Quong Xuong communities in the province of Than Hoa and asked for examples of “very,very poor” families whose children were healthy. They then observed the food preparation, cooking, and serving behaviors of these six families, called “positive deviants,” and found a few consistent yet rare behaviors. Parents of well-nourished children collected tiny shrimps, crabs, and snails from rice paddies and added them to the food, along with the greens from sweet potatoes. Although thesefoods were readily available, they were typically not eaten because they were considered unsafe for children. The positive deviants also fed their children multiple smaller meals, which allowed small stomachs to hold and digest more food each day. The Sternins and the rest of their group worked with the positive deviants to offer cooking classes to the families of children suffering from Design...