Deconstructing Product Design

Pot-in-Pot Cooler

Mohammed Abba, 1995

1. Successful design requires a deep understanding of the contexts in which a product will be used, and there is no substitute for getting in the field to observe and learn first-hand. It was this type of experience that enabled Mohammed Abba to identify a low-cost entry point for disrupting a very complex poverty cycle. Mohammed Abba comments: “I was at one time working as a regional consultant for the United Nations Development Program … I saw the hardships suffered by farmers. Farmers would produce a crop, but because this crop could not be preserved, it would spoil quickly, and as a result the farmers would throw out the crops. Or, if they did not throw them away, they would sell them below their production ...