Category Archives: South Asia

Mapping global seasonality: national times of abundance and scarcity?

Posted on June 4, 2012 by

Connecting some dots made me think of this exercise. If national governments are increasingly looking at ways to bridge the informal economy with the formal, in order to provide more inclusive benefits to their citizens and at the same time … Continue reading →

Posted in ASEAN, Bottom of the Pyramid, Business Models, Culture, Philipines, User research, Banking, India, Informal & Flexible, Africa, Buyer Behaviour, Income, Rural, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Indigenous & Traditional, South Asia, Economy, Cashless transactions, Assumption filter, Migrant worker, South Africa, Kenya, global, Senegal, China | Leave a comment

Welcome to Bazaaristan: global informal economy being recognized

Posted on November 6, 2011 by

Across the globe, 1.8 billion people — a quarter of the world’s population — work off the books each day. They are paid in cash for the goods they sell and the services they provide, and due to their ubiquity, … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, ASEAN, Bottom of the Pyramid, Business Models, Culture, Economy, global, India, Informal & Flexible, Kenya, Literature review, Philipines, South Africa, South Asia, Sub Saharan Africa, Urban, User research, Value | Tagged , ,

The global prepaid economy – map

Posted on September 6, 2011 by
Posted in Airtime, ASEAN, Business Models, Economy, global, India, Kenya, Mobile platform, Philipines, South Africa, South Asia, Sub Saharan Africa

Worldwide informal economies – infographic

Posted on September 6, 2011 by

Source

Posted in Africa, ASEAN, Bottom of the Pyramid, Economy, India, Informal & Flexible, Kenya, Philipines, South Africa, South Asia, Sub Saharan Africa

Introducing Meena Kadri

Posted on January 1, 2010 by

New Zealand born Meena Kadri has an undergraduate degree in Anthropology and a Masters in Design. She has taught at design schools globally, notably for two years at the National Institute of Design in India. She currently resides in New … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Design, India, South Asia, Urban, User research

Seasonality and its influence on rural BoP household financial management

Posted on July 26, 2009 by

Fallow field, Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan India  January 2009 I first noticed the influence of seasonality on income halfway during the Indian fieldwork. On one hand, its but natural that the seasons are linked to a farmer's cash flow, dependent as … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Alternative currency, Assumption filter, Bottom of the Pyramid, Business Models, Buyer Behaviour, Cashless transactions, Culture, Economy, Expenses, Income, India, Loans, Philipines, Rural, Savings, South Asia, Strategy, User research

Observations: Rural BoP and the cash economy

Posted on July 22, 2009 by

Investment or Independence?          Photo Credit: Goverdhan Meena Across the board, the particular characteristic that most stood out during my conversations with the rural populace in India and The Philippines, as well as prior experiences elsewhere, was their … Continue reading →

Posted in Assumption filter, Bottom of the Pyramid, Buyer Behaviour, Cashless transactions, Culture, Economy, Expenses, India, Indigenous & Traditional, Migrant worker, Philipines, Project report, Rural, Savings, South Africa, South Asia, User research, Value

Some thoughts on community based models for sharing costs

Posted on April 29, 2009 by

We found that the key factor that makes 'prepaid' payment plans (whether its for electricity, mobile phones, water etc) so attractive to the BoP customer, in the context of their own behaviour patterns regarding the management of their personal finances. … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, ASEAN, Bottom of the Pyramid, Business Models, Buyer Behaviour, Culture, Design, Informal & Flexible, Loans, Rural, Savings, South Africa, South Asia, Sub Saharan Africa, User research, Value

An introduction to the values gap: a framework for interpretation

Posted on February 13, 2009 by

Believing as I do that the assumptions we make and the values we espouse influence the perspective from which we perceive the world and thus, the frame of reference which grounds the inferences we make from our observations, I thought … Continue reading →

Posted in Assumption filter, Bottom of the Pyramid, Buyer Behaviour, Culture, South Asia, Sub Saharan Africa, User research, Value