Design thinking involves coming up with creative, innovative and functional solutions to human problems. Frugal engineering is a way to provide new goods and services to the population at the 'bottom of the pyramid'. At the heart of both these processes is understanding the needs of the customer (referred to as the step of inspiration in Design thinking for innovation by Tim Brown and Jocelyn Wyatt). The rickshaw bank in India can be considered to be a good example of both these processes.
The problem: Rickshaw pullers in India who are unable to get rid of their debt by paying off the high rental fees for the rickshaw. Consequently they are never able to own their own rickshaw and get out of the cycle of poverty.
The solution: An innovative design of the rickshaw leading to a bigger yet lighter and safer rickshaw. The space at the back is lent out to corporations as advertising space (a mode of revenue generation).The rickshaw pullers can now afford to have their own rickshaw and also enjoy social benefits such as accident insurance and health care.
As Dr. Pradip Sarmah mentions in the video, there were three aspects to this problem: the technical, the financial and the social aspects. Can’t we all (highly gifted students at one of the world’s leading universities) think of ways of solving social problems around us in similar ways?
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