Can design save the world?

Last month I wrote briefly about a story I heard on the radio regarding an exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt museum called Design For The Other 90%.  It is a collection of design ideas to improve the lives of people in developing countries, and I really admired the effort.  Until an article by David Stairs called Why Design Won't Save The World made me rethink the whole thing again...

David argues that even thought the idea behind this exhibition might be noble, it is poorly executed and ultimately misconstrued:

Essentially, Design For the Other 90% is shot through with well-intentioned nostrums, familiar statistics, and a messianic calling to open peoples’ eyes to the disparities of the world.

He continues to tell a story from his life to accentuate this point:

Not long ago I visited Gulu, the epicenter of northern Uganda’s twenty-year insurgency, with my friend David Latim. David was born in Gulu, but fled to Kampala after escaping from the Lord’s Resistance Army in 1995. One day, I recounted a particularly gruesome scene in the movie, Hotel Rwanda. He responded by describing a similar massacre he had personally witnessed as a young man in Gulu. Before he was half-finished with his story, I blushed with shame at the realization that I was comparing my movie-going experience to his life experience. My well-intended faux pas is emblematic of the challenge facing outsiders, who cannot begin to imagine the vicissitudes of life in such distant places.

His point is that designers cannot begin to understand the complexities of the cultures in these developing countries, and therefore cannot design effectively for them.  He goes into a lot more detail, but I wanted to skip to his final paragraph, which sums up his views and on which I would to comment:

Is there a realistic response designers from developed countries can offer? A starting point might be to recognize that in many cases, we don’t need to remake other people or their societies in our image and likeness. The idea of design intervention — sustainable or otherwise — may feel very intrusive to people who are still reeling from 150 years of colonial intervention. (You don’t just waltz into a patriarchal society and aggressively advocate equal opportunity for women, or deliver pumps and boreholes to peasant farmers without understanding the sociology of migratory herdsmen). Living among other people and learning to appreciate their values, perspectives and social mores is an excellent tool of design research.  Education is also a wonderful access point, as is a required second language. But how many design curricula are supporting, let alone implementing such global initiatives?

Now, as someone who grew up in one of these "developing countries", and who intends to return in a few years, I tried to look at this issue from the perspective of a "consumer" of these design ideas.  Then I put my user experience & design hat back on to make sense of it all, and I have the following response to David's views.  Even though I appreciate his viewpoint and he is clearly passionate about his own altruistic efforts, I do think he is being too critical of the Design For The Other 90% effort, for the following reasons:

• Designers rarely get it right the first time.  Unless you're Apple, you're very rarely going to design a product that works perfectly as soon as you put it out -- no matter how much upfront design research and anthropological work you do.  Design research is mostly qualitative in nature and until a product is "stress-tested" you won't know all the flaws and areas for improvement.  And let's be honest, misfires happen!  So if some of these designs don't immediately seem to hit the mark, that's ok.  Bad ideas are ok as long as they lead you to better ideas...
• Leading by example is not a bad thing.  When designers from developed countries show an interest in the developing world and apply their skills to better the lives of the world's poor, I think it's a good thing even if mistakes are made along the way.  Yes -- these countries should develop their own curriculums for design and raise up designers who can tackle the unique problems they face, but you need someone to spark the flame, right?  Designers interacting with users in these countries can do just that, and even if it might feel paternalistic to some, this "teaching people to fish" approach is what is needed.  You need experts to train upcoming experts...
• Let's take what we can get.  I think any good-intentioned attention the developing world gets is positive in its own unique way.  Is it weird to see Brad and Angelina talking about impoverished nations?  Yes -- but they are raising awareness and getting people interested in the plights of these nations.  Can someone who lives in these countries be inspired and touched by flawed yet good-intentioned efforts by designers who take the time to apply their skills to these unique problems, and build long-lasting relationships along the way?  I think they can...

Which brings me back to the main question I started with: can design save the world?  Probably not, but I think it can do its part, as this exhibition clearly shows.  And besides, who are we to stand in the way of those who are trying...