3 Lessons To Guide Designing Better Financial Tech for the Developing World from GRID Impact

Check out this article 3 Lessons To Guide Designing Better Financial Tech For The Developing World” on Fast Company Exist from Alexandra Fiorillo’s op-ed on GRID Impact’s financial inclusion work in Pakistan. Alex is founder and principal at GRID Impact, our partner in the Human-Centered Design lab. Here’s a sneak peek:

  1. Promote individual use, but don’t be too prescriptive
  2. Design for skills education
  3. Design for local relevance

Read more here!

 

Meet our Partners: GRID Impact

GRID Impact logo

Meet GRID Impact

We’re partnering with GRID Impact based in Denver, Colorado for the first lab, Human-Centered Design, the teams will go through starting in early May. GRID Impact is a global research, innovation and design firm that specializes in human-centered approaches to complex social and economic challenges. They create scalable social impact in domains such as financial inclusion, sanitation, agriculture and alternative energy.

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Their Approach

GRID Impact applies a hybrid methodology of behavioral research and design to economic and human development challenges. They combine the evidence-based insights and diagnostic approach of behavioral science with the creative problem-solving and iterative, collaborative processes of human-centered design for more predictable, longer lasting results. Ultimately, they believe this approach produces products, programs and services that respond to how human beings actually behave as well as their needs, preferences and desires.

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Photo Credit: GRID Impact

Human-Centered Design (HCD)

Human-centered design (HCD) is a creative and adaptive problem-solving approach to bringing novel ideas to life that allows “designers” to understand how individuals will likely use and interact with a product by bringing human beings (“users”) into the process. This collaborative and participatory design process relies on rapid, iterative prototyping and design methods.  Resulting designs don’t always solve the behavioral challenge – just because someone says they like a proposed solution does not mean they will use it. Data and testing are often the missing components.

Check out more of their HCD resources on their website and look for an intro to HCD post next week.