#trauma pack

This case study explores the effectiveness of using a design thinking approach for the development of appropriate, transformative medical product solutions for Zambia. Findings are presented from an initial 10-day field trip to Zambia by an interdisciplinary team that undertook preliminary ethnographic research. As a consequence of taking a design thinking approach and focusing on factors relating to the desirability, viability and feasibility of possible solutions it has been possible to identify new development opportunities, including some surrounding rural trauma and childbirth.

In an attempt to meet the needs of the world’s poor, user-centric methodologies have been applied to the development of appropriate product solutions, with growing popularity. However, despite the popularity of these approaches there have been criticisms surrounding their development within industrialised nations and calls for an analysis of their contextual suitability for developing regions. In response to these calls this paper conducts a comparative study of the application of Human-centred design’s (HCD) process of rapid-prototyping and user testing in the context of the UK and Zambia. The findings of the study present an overview of the benefits that can be gained through HCD’s application in the UK and Zambia context, whilst also identifying contextual elements that placed restrictions on their use and which resulted in compromises needing to be made. These elements included: varied comprehension of the product development process and language and literacy barriers.