When designing a project for social change, focus on the long run social or environmental impact it will create. That message rang true through all the panelists' presentations at "Creative Design for Affordability: Innovations for the World's Biggest Challenges," one of four Johnson School panels at Entrepreneurship@Cornell's Celebration 2009, held on campus, April 16-17, 2009. Moderated by Reena Jana, innovation editor at BusinessWeek, speakers at this event shared their own successes and advice for future entrepreneurs as they examined how organizations approach the idea of creative design for affordable products in developing nations, how they obtain funding, and how the products are deployed to target markets.Making sure people have affordable access to clean water is one of the worldwide challenges panelists addressed, including Kevin McGovern, chairman and CEO of McGovern Capital LLC, who shared stories of his company's clean drinking water projects. One Latin American project involves a consumer-designed home delivery system that provides efficient access to clean water at a much lower cost than traditional methods. McGovern Capital also concentrates on clean coal initiatives to combat respiratory and environmental issues in areas such as South America and China.
A product designer at IDEO, Liz Johansen has also had the opportunity to work on clean water programs. Partnering with a global non-profit organization, the Acumen Fund, IDEO has uncovered major contamination issues due to improper storage methods throughout the developing world. Through research and utilization of user-centered design, IDEO and Acumen have begun to develop prototypes, additional partnerships, and solution proposals for the problem.
User-centered design is a component that Liz stressed throughout her presentation. "Get into the field early and often and make sure that you are creating a technology that people really want to use," she emphasized, "Having end-users assist in the design process will help you to avoid setbacks."
Panelist Christopher Fong, through his work with Google.com and Google.org, participated in a project called the Google Internet Bus Project, a venture focused on educating people in rural India about the Internet and how it may benefit their lives. A bus filled with several colorful, large-screen computer work stations traveled to 17 different cities to enable citizens to interact with the Internet as a resource for communication, education, and information.
In spite of the worldwide recession, Fong offered some good news about the realities of funding projects today. "Google Ventures and other companies are always looking for the next great idea," he said. He advised aspiring entrepreneurs to make the most of networking events, noting that "people are always looking to invest in social initiatives."
— Liz Johansen, product designer at IDEO
Most importantly, all five panelists agreed, you must believe in your cause. According to Lin, when you are "in it for the long haul to make the maximum impact you can make," you are already on your way to success.
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