In the
Design for Africa blog post, which lists 33 secrets to social innovation in the developing world, I took particular notice of Amy Smith's challenge:
Try living for a week on $2 a day. According to Smith, one way to better understand how to design technologies for a population is to live under similar constraints. Her experiences living under constrained conditions have allowed her to greater appreciate the needs of her target populations and the value of simple technological designs.
I am personally intrigued by the concept of intentionally living under constrained conditions, such as on $2 a day for an entire week. I think this exercise would allow me to better understand what I take for granted in everyday life and subsequently to appreciate it more. Additionally, albeit in a small, indirect way, it may make me more aware and understanding of the hardships of people who do not have the same abundance of resources available to them that I do. Lastly, I hope that such an experience would help me to see design differently and to think of complex technologies in more simple and practical terms. This would help me to design technologies that are more useful and adoptable for the communities I work with.
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