Monthly Archives: April 2009

Some thoughts on community based models for sharing costs

Posted on April 29, 2009 by Niti Bhan

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 →

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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 | Comments Off on Some thoughts on community based models for sharing costs

Increasing the customer’s span of control seems to imply success

Posted on April 28, 2009 by Niti Bhan

We broke down the basic concept of the 'pay as you go' or prepaid mobile plan – in general, discounting the details of the various different strategies and pricing/time plans of different countries as a way to begin understanding what … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

The Philippines: User profiles from extended stay

Posted on April 27, 2009 by Niti Bhan

I lived with Fe Mainar who runs a sarisari shop in Gines Patag in Iloilo Province in The Philippines from the 20th of February 2009 to March 1st 2009. While I was unable to formally interview as many people as … Continue reading →

Posted in ASEAN, Bottom of the Pyramid, Culture, Informal & Flexible, Philipines, Rural, User research | 1 Comment

India: User profiles based on field observation & interviews

Posted on April 27, 2009 by Niti Bhan

From the 30th of December 2008 to the 6th of January 2009 I was in rural India, in Sawai Madhopur district in the northwestern state of Rajasthan. There I met with and spoke to a number of people, all deriving … Continue reading →

Posted in Bottom of the Pyramid, Culture, India, Indigenous & Traditional, Rural, User research | 1 Comment

Malawi: User profiles based on interviews conducted by John Lumbe

Posted on April 27, 2009 by Niti Bhan

Here are the user profiles [6MB PPT file] documented after receiving the reports on the interviews conducted by John Lumbe in Malawi. Unlike the other two locations where I went into the field to observe, listen and learn, here we … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Bottom of the Pyramid, Culture, Rural, Sub Saharan Africa, Urban, User research | 1 Comment

Quick summary of workshop findings

Posted on April 23, 2009 by Niti Bhan

Our workshop officially ended today although there's still a lot of 'mopping up' to be done not to mention the final documentation. We had the opportunity to analyze groups of users observed and interviewed by me in rural Rajasthan (India) … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Alternative currency, ASEAN, Assumption filter, Banking, Bottom of the Pyramid, Business Models, Buyer Behaviour, Cashless transactions, Culture, Economy, Expenses, Income, India, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Loans, Philipines, Rural, Savings, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, User research, Value | 4 Comments

The BoP are people too – a shift in storytelling

Posted on April 13, 2009 by Niti Bhan

Reading the recent post on "Portfolios of the Poor: How the Poor Live on Less Than $2 a Day" by Rob Katz on nextbillion.net, it struck me that this might be an early signal of a shift away from simply … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, ASEAN, Banking, Bottom of the Pyramid, Business Models, Buyer Behaviour, Culture, Economy, Expenses, Income, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Literature review, Rural, Savings, South Africa, Sub Saharan Africa, Urban, User research | Comments Off on The BoP are people too – a shift in storytelling

Where are we now?

Posted on April 12, 2009 by Niti Bhan

Design Factory, TKK, Helsinki Finland April 6th 2009 We've been busy the last couple of weeks primarily preparing for the critical phase of this project – the user research analysis and concept design workshop – and also my relocation to … Continue reading →

Posted in Bottom of the Pyramid, Business Models, Culture, Rural, User research, Value | Comments Off on Where are we now?