Designing For Those In Need

“The majority of the world’s designers focus all their efforts on developing products and services exclusively for the richest 10% of the world’s customers. Nothing less than a revolution in design is needed to reach the other 90%.”
—Dr. Paul Polak, International Development Enterprises

That quote speaks truth. Web design, like other design disciplines, targets the affluent, those who can afford the products and services we promote. The Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York City has a current exhibition that highlights design with a more benevolent purpose. "Design For the Other 90%" demonstrates how design can be a dynamic force in saving and transforming the lives of poor and disadvantaged people, at home and around the world. Designers, engineers, students and professors, architects, and social entrepreneurs from all over the globe are devising cost-effective ways to increase access to food and water, energy, education, healthcare, revenue-generating activities, and affordable transportation for those who most need them. And an increasing number of initiatives are providing solutions for underserved populations in developed countries such as the United States.

A fascinating exhibit, it shows practical applications of design that benefit the poor. One of my personal favorites is the pot-in-pot cooler design. With the Pot-in-Pot, tomatoes last for twenty-one days, rather than two or three days without this technology. This allows poor farmers to generate more income from their produce in areas where refrigeration is scarce.

Even if you cannot visit the exhibition, the website provides an excellent online virtual tour in itself. Worth your time!