Arvind Lodaya — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 19:43:04 GMT

I am about to commence an exploration of “design by users” approach for first-time users of mobile telephones in rural India. I find this article very useful and one of the few that actually asserts the belief that people are creative and can become key drivers of new innovation. This contradicts the widely-held belief that users don’t know what they really need or want – it is (only) the designer who has this insight/ability. Of course, the challenge lies in designing the tools & techniques to involve and enable the users to design in such a way that it dovetails into the conventional corporate R&D processes. I would welcome any suggestions or references in this regard: email me at lodaya_at_gmail.com please. Big thanks to Marty and Preetham for flagging this important and unattended opportunity.

Boxes and Arrows: Comments by Arvind Lodaya