In the past decades, emerging markets achieved
tremendous growth rates, resulting in rising attention and investments from all
over the world. However, many global and local companies are still shy on grasping
the substantial opportunities arising from this development. Others decided to
take the bet but failed to achieve their full potential, often because of a mismatch between their offering and local needs. My years working for a consulting
firm on Africa related topics confirmed this trend as I was faced with several clients
who were aware of the Africa opportunity but saw the continent as a big scary
spot on the map and didn’t know where or how to start looking into it. On the
other hand, many research and analyses that I performed showed that the population
is still struggling with day-to-day basic issues that could be addressed by those
same companies. It felt like all the ingredients for a great match were
available but the recipe was missing out or was at best very fuzzy.
Human-centered design might be the mean to close
this loop. This simple and efficient approach caught my eye lately as it has
been gaining momentum across various fields and industries. Through a collaborative and
inclusive process, it uses insights from the community as a starting block to
finding tailored solutions to specific needs. It is different as a problem-solving
technique in its emphasis on the discovery and interpretation phases where people
and their behaviors are thoroughly observed and distilled. This method is even
more relevant in an emerging markets context where people tackle their problems
with very simple solutions adapted to their reality and limited resources.
Using human-centered design, these solutions can be more easily scaled-up and
adapted to reach a larger target, more efficiently.
Quickly stepping back and thinking through this
lens, coming myself from an emerging country, Morocco, my brain is already
starting to make connections between observations and possible applications.
For example, one thing that pops up to my mind is how groups of people use a system
called “the Wheel” to save money and finance important expenses: Each month,
all members contribute a fixed sum, the total of which is given to one of them
based on a draw or an agreement. What if we could find inspiration in this
system to improve the bancarization rate? Another system is how independent grocery
shops created an informal network to enable people in different locations to
buy items for each other: The buyer gives money for a certain item to the grocery
shop manager who calls a fellow manager in the desired location asking him to
deliver the requested item to the beneficiary. The managers will later balance their accounts
through bank transfers. Can this idea help us rethink distribution strategies
to easily reach a larger pool of people?
Modern alternatives to these traditional systems
exist but the fact that the latter are still used means that needs are not
served in the most efficient way. A bottom-up approach like human-centered
design could be the missing link between those needs and the resources
available in the world. Companies and other organizations can use it as a
powerful tool to efficiently address any topic in any market. If adopted
on a large scale, this could generate an exponential number of sustainable and efficient solutions that can drastically improve the life of
billions of people. The next question is: How can we make that happen?
