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Bringing Innovations to Market

Project Goal

Maximize income generation and reduce manual labor for low-income individuals through the development of bicycle-based innovations.

Project Update:Feild testing the first prototype. Click here.

• immersion + research
• transforming + designing
• implementing + finalizing
• fortifying + measuring

Overview

Design Impact will partner with NIF to assess and develop their current portfolio of bicycle innovations. NIF has collected several concepts and prototypes from rural innovators, but has not been able to successfully move the innovations to market. Design Impact will assess the feasibility and marketability of these concepts with the NIF team and refine the best concepts for production and marketing in an effort to positively impact rural economies.

Project Updates

• April 2012: Feild testing the first prototype: Click here to read the PDF
• March 2012: Ergonomic Research and Exploration: Click here to read the PDF

• February 2012: Stakeholder Interview: Click here to read the PDF.

• January 2012: Photo essay on project context: Click here to view images.

Fellow

Mario Varon studied Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Design. As the Director of Operations at Ahmsa, Mario facilitates social and economic development in Bogotá.

Josh Treuhaft studied industrial design at the Umeå Institute of Design. He is currently the Design Director at an early-stage start-up called New York Compost.

Partner

Location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat

The National Innovation Foundation works to promote India as an inventive and creative society devoid of social and economic handicaps that inhibit the diffusion of grassroots innovations. NIF aims to provide institutional support in scouting, spawning, sustaining and scaling-up grassroots innovations, and assists in their transition to self-sustaining initiatives.

Outcomes

• Improved marketability of products through redesign
• Improved access to new markets