Product design is a key aspect of human intelligence and creativity, attracting not only experts but also people without any formal design training. Although numerous people in developing countries design and manufacture products in metalworking microenterprises in the informal sector, there is still little knowledge about their design process. This paper aims to fill this gap in design knowledge. We aim to investigate the design processes in metalworking microenterprises in the informal sector of Tanzania. In particular, we aim to explore how these microenterprises identify consumer needs and requirements, how they determine the specifications for the product, how they generate and evaluate alternative product concepts, and how they define product details. To address these aims, semistructured interviews were carried out in metalworking microenterprises operating in the informal sector of Tanzania. The findings reveal many facets of their design processes, providing a sound basis upon which design methods and tools can be developed to support their design activities.

Codesign with resource-constrained people living in developing countries is crucial for sustained adoption and use of designed solutions. Several studies have investigated codesign with resource-constrained people. It is, therefore, important to understand what has been investigated and learnt so far as well as to plan for further scholarly exploration of this field. To address this, I applied a systematic literature review (SLR) approach to understand main sources, definitions, and theoretical perspectives regarding codesign with resource-constrained people. The SLR also aimed to understand inputs and outputs of codesign as well as factors influencing the codesign process. The findings portray a multifaceted picture regarding these aspects of codesign. I discuss implications of review findings for the practice of codesigning solutions with resource-constrained people, identify concerns that researchers should have about this field, and offer suggestions for future research in this field of codesign.

The base of the world income pyramid, typically known as the Base of the pyramid (BOP), represents low-income people living in developing countries. Co-design with BOP people is crucial for sustained adoption and use of products and services. Based on interviews with practising designers, we identify barriers and enablers that the designers encounter in undertaking various tasks in the process of co-designing with these marginalised people. The findings suggest that a broad range of factors, related to the BOP context, co-design processes and methods, organisational issues, and aspects of collaboration, support or hinder activities in the co-design process. Consideration of these factors, as perceived by the designers, can lead to more impactful co-design with BOP people.

Product design is a key aspect of human intelligence and creativity, attracting not only experts but also workers and self-employed without any formal design training. Although numerous people in developing countries design and manufacture simple products in metalworking microenterprises, there is very little systematic knowledge about their design process. This paper aims to fill this gap in design knowledge. We aim at investigating some aspects of design process in the metalworking microenterprises in Tanzania. The findings reveal how they identify needs, and generate and evaluate concepts.

The field of autonomous vehicles is gaining wide recognition in the industry, academia as well as socialmedia. However, there is a lack of knowledge on expectations of people regarding this topic. To this end,this paper analyses extant research on perceptions of people in various countries about semi-autonomous andautonomous vehicles. Secondly, based on the findings of this analysis, we developed a questionnaire togauge the perceptions of the people in Sweden regarding such vehicles. The findings have important implications for the design of AVs in Sweden, and possibly other countries.

There is a growing demand for humanitarian aid around the world as the number of displaced people has reached an unprecedented level. At the same time, the number of community-based design and fabrication makerspaces has been growing exponentially. Recently the humanitarian sector has become interested in how these spaces can help marginalized populations, including migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. However, there have been few efforts to document what types of design projects marginalized populations develop in these spaces. More broadly, knowledge on design with and by marginalized people remains underdeveloped. This study responds to this gap in knowledge, by analyzing cases from three makerspaces that support migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Greece. Ethnographic studies are conducted of twenty-three design projects emerging from these spaces. These projects are analyzed using the framework of Max-Neef’s fundamental needs to show how they simultaneously address functional and non-functional needs. For researchers, this study contributes to knowledge on design with and by marginalized people. For practitioners, this study helps to document the impact of humanitarian makerspaces by showing how design projects emerging from these spaces can address the needs of marginalized people. © 2022 Corsini, Jagtap, & Moultrie.

Paternalism is an instance of someone making a decision on behalf of someone else. A professional designer can exhibit paternalism through conceptualizing, defining, and selecting current or preferable situations or while finalizing outcomes for stakeholders. Paternalism is thus, a critical ethical dimension related to the design profession. The design academy and community must theorize paternalism if we are to avoid or reduce it. Paternalism may be present at three critical junctures of design decision making. Our three-layer framework examines paternalism as it relates to design process decisions, decisions about participation in design, and normative framework decisions. The circular model represents the hierarchy of paternalistic decision making: any effort to overcome paternalism at the (inner) design level or (middle) participatory level will be ineffective if it is present in the (outer) normative layer. We discuss the extent of possible exhibitions of paternalism and the challenges to avoiding it in decisions at each layer, and contrast these briefly with overtly paternalistic design approaches, such as design for behavior change. We find that design may be inherently paternalistic, at times may need to be that way (in certain contexts especially, where expertise is required for decisions to be made accurately), and that it is up to the individual designer whether they exhibit paternalism in their design decisions or not.

Designing frugal innovations is crucial to alleviate problems faced by peo-ple living in low resource settings. Many design studies have been undertaken in such low resource settings. These studies are discussed using a variety of names such as ‘frugal innovations’, ‘appropriate technology’, ‘design for the Base of the Pyramid (BOP)’, ‘product service systems for BOP’, ‘community development engineering’, ‘design for development’, etc. There is an important need to know in what context these studies were undertaken. In order to gain an in-depth understanding of the con-textual aspects of these studies, we review a wide range of literature, focussing on design studies in this field. The review findings show a multifaceted picture, revealing a large variety in examination and presentation of contextual aspects such as income, design sectors, countries, rural-urban, and gender. Based on the review findings, we offer recommendation for practice, education and research of designing frugal innova-tions in low resource settings.

People living in low-resource settings at the base of the world income pyra-mid (i.e. Base of the Pyramid — BOP) face several constraints. To satisfy their unmet needs, integrated frugal innovations are necessary. Several studies, discussed using many names such as ‘design for Base of the Pyramid’, ‘design for development’, ‘prod-uct service systems’, ‘frugal innovations’, ‘humanitarian engineering’, ‘appropriate technology’, etc., have explored the design of such integrated frugal innovations for the BOP. Based on ten key design aspects, gleaned from such studies, this paper aims at developing an Integrated Design Methodology for designing frugal innovations for the BOP (Frugal-IDeM). We have related the key design aspects with the various phases in the design and development process. The Frugal-IDeM also includes recommendations for how to implement the key design aspects.

Co-design, design process, human behaviour, poverty, base of the pyramid (BOP)Co-design with marginalised people is crucial for sustained adoption and use of frugal innovations or Product Service Systems (PSS). Interviews were conducted with eighteen designers to identify barriers and enablers that they encounter in co-designing with marginalised people. The findings suggest that the factors supporting or hindering this co-design relate to the context of marginalised societies, co-design processes and methods, organisational issues, and aspects of collaboration. Consideration of these factors can lead to more impactful co-design with marginalised people.