Design for people, not awards | Tim Prestero | TEDxBoston
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0:11 - 0:14I've got a great idea
that's going to change the world. -
0:14 - 0:16It's fantastic, it's going
to blow your mind. -
0:16 - 0:17It's my beautiful baby.
-
0:18 - 0:21Here's the thing:
everybody loves a beautiful baby. -
0:21 - 0:23I mean, I was a beautiful baby.
-
0:23 - 0:26Here's me and my dad
a couple days after I was born. -
0:26 - 0:28So in the world of product design,
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0:28 - 0:30the beautiful baby's like the concept car.
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0:30 - 0:32It's the knockout.
-
0:32 - 0:35You see it and you go, "Oh, my God.
I'd buy that in a second!" -
0:35 - 0:38So why is it that this year's new cars
-
0:38 - 0:41look pretty much exactly
like last year's new cars? -
0:41 - 0:43(Laughter)
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0:43 - 0:45What went wrong between
the design studio and the factory? -
0:45 - 0:48Today, I don't want to talk
about beautiful babies, -
0:48 - 0:51I want to talk about the awkward
adolescence of design -- -
0:51 - 0:55those sort of dorky teenage years
-
0:55 - 0:59where you're trying to figure out
how the world works. -
1:00 - 1:01I'm going to start with an example
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1:01 - 1:04from some work that we did
on newborn health. -
1:04 - 1:05So here's a problem:
-
1:05 - 1:09four million babies around the world,
mostly in developing countries, -
1:09 - 1:12die every year
before their first birthday, -
1:12 - 1:14even before their first month of life.
-
1:14 - 1:15It turns out half of those kids,
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1:15 - 1:18or about 1.8 million newborns
around the world, -
1:18 - 1:20would make it if you could
just keep them warm -
1:20 - 1:23for the first three days,
maybe the first week. -
1:23 - 1:27So this is a newborn intensive care unit
in Kathmandu, Nepal. -
1:27 - 1:30All of these kids in blankets
belong in incubators -- -
1:30 - 1:31something like this.
-
1:31 - 1:34This is a donated Japanese Atom incubator
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1:34 - 1:37that we found in a NICU in Kathmandu.
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1:38 - 1:39This is what we want.
-
1:39 - 1:42Probably what happened is a hospital
in Japan upgraded their equipment -
1:42 - 1:46and donated their old stuff to Nepal.
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1:46 - 1:49The problem is, without technicians,
without spare parts, -
1:49 - 1:52donations like this
very quickly turn into junk. -
1:53 - 1:57So this seemed like a problem
that we could do something about. -
1:57 - 2:01Keeping a baby warm for a week --
that's not rocket science. -
2:01 - 2:02So we got started.
-
2:02 - 2:06We partnered with a leading medical
research institution here in Boston. -
2:06 - 2:09We conducted months
of user research overseas, -
2:09 - 2:12trying to think like designers,
human-centered design -- -
2:12 - 2:14"Let's figure out what people want."
-
2:15 - 2:17We killed thousands of Post-it notes.
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2:18 - 2:21We made dozens of prototypes
to get to this. -
2:21 - 2:24So this is the NeoNurture
infant incubator, -
2:24 - 2:28and this has a lot of smarts
built into it, and we felt great. -
2:28 - 2:30So the idea here is,
unlike the concept car, -
2:30 - 2:32we want to marry something beautiful
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2:32 - 2:35with something that actually works.
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2:35 - 2:37And our idea is that this design
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2:37 - 2:41would inspire manufacturers
and other people of influence -
2:41 - 2:44to take this model and run with it.
-
2:44 - 2:47Here's the bad news:
-
2:47 - 2:51the only baby ever actually put
inside the NeoNurture incubator -
2:51 - 2:54was this kid during a Time
magazine photo shoot. -
2:55 - 2:58So, you know, recognition is fantastic.
-
2:58 - 3:00We want design to get out
for people to see it. -
3:00 - 3:02It won lots of awards.
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3:02 - 3:04But it felt like a booby prize.
-
3:05 - 3:07We wanted to make beautiful things
-
3:07 - 3:11that are going to make
the world a better place, -
3:11 - 3:14and I don't think this kid was even
in it long enough to get warm. -
3:15 - 3:20So it turns out that design
for inspiration doesn't really... -
3:20 - 3:23I guess what I would say is,
for us, for what I want to do, -
3:23 - 3:27it's either too slow or it just
doesn't work, it's ineffective. -
3:27 - 3:30So, really, I want to design for outcomes.
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3:30 - 3:33I don't want to make beautiful stuff;
I want to make the world a better place. -
3:34 - 3:35So when we were designing NeoNurture,
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3:35 - 3:39we paid a lot of attention to the people
who are going to use this thing, -
3:39 - 3:41for example, poor families, rural doctors,
-
3:41 - 3:45overloaded nurses,
even repair technicians. -
3:45 - 3:48We thought we had all our bases
covered, we'd done everything right. -
3:48 - 3:51Well, it turns out there's this
whole constellation of people -
3:51 - 3:54who have to be involved
in a product for it to be successful: -
3:54 - 3:56manufacturing, financing,
distribution, regulation. -
3:56 - 3:59Michael Free at PATH
says you have to figure out -
3:59 - 4:01who will "choose, use and pay the dues"
-
4:01 - 4:02for a product like this.
-
4:03 - 4:05And I have to ask the question
that VCs always ask: -
4:05 - 4:08"Sir, what is your business,
and who is your customer?" -
4:08 - 4:09Who is our customer?
-
4:10 - 4:11Well, here's an example.
-
4:11 - 4:14This is a Bangladeshi hospital director
outside his facility. -
4:14 - 4:17It turns out he doesn't buy
any of his equipment. -
4:17 - 4:20Those decisions are made
by the Ministry of Health -
4:20 - 4:21or by foreign donors,
-
4:21 - 4:22and it just kind of shows up.
-
4:23 - 4:26Similarly, here's a multinational
medical-device manufacturer. -
4:26 - 4:29It turns out they've got to fish
where the fish are. -
4:29 - 4:33So it turns out that in emerging
markets -- where the fish are -- -
4:33 - 4:36are the emerging middle class
of these countries -- -
4:36 - 4:39diseases of affluence:
heart disease, infertility. -
4:39 - 4:45So it turns out that design
for outcomes in one aspect -
4:45 - 4:48really means thinking about design
for manufacture and distribution. -
4:48 - 4:50OK, that was an important lesson.
-
4:50 - 4:54Second, we took that lesson and tried
to push it into our next project. -
4:54 - 4:57So we started by finding a manufacturer,
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4:57 - 4:59an organization called MTTS in Vietnam,
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4:59 - 5:03that manufactures newborn-care
technologies for Southeast Asia. -
5:03 - 5:05Our other partner is East Meets West,
-
5:05 - 5:07an American foundation
that distributes that technology -
5:07 - 5:10to poor hospitals around that region.
-
5:10 - 5:13So we started with them, saying,
"Well, what do you want? -
5:13 - 5:14What's a problem you want to solve?"
-
5:14 - 5:17And they said, "Let's work
on newborn jaundice." -
5:17 - 5:21So this is another one of these
mind-boggling global problems. -
5:21 - 5:25Jaundice affects two-thirds
of newborns around the world. -
5:25 - 5:29Of those newborns, one in 10 roughly,
-
5:29 - 5:32if it's not treated,
the jaundice gets so severe -
5:32 - 5:35that it leads to either
a life-long disability, -
5:35 - 5:37or the kids could even die.
-
5:38 - 5:39There's one way to treat jaundice,
-
5:39 - 5:42and that's what's called
an exchange transfusion. -
5:42 - 5:46So as you can imagine, that's expensive
and a little bit dangerous. -
5:46 - 5:48There is another cure.
-
5:48 - 5:53It's very technological,
it's very complex, a little daunting. -
5:53 - 5:56You've got to shine blue light on the kid.
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5:56 - 5:57(Laughter)
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5:57 - 6:01Bright blue light on as much
of the skin as you can cover. -
6:01 - 6:03How is this a hard problem?
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6:03 - 6:08I went to MIT. OK, we'll figure that out.
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6:08 - 6:10(Laughter)
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6:10 - 6:11So here's an example.
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6:11 - 6:16This is an overhead phototherapy device
that's designed for American hospitals, -
6:16 - 6:18and here's how it's supposed to be used.
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6:18 - 6:23It's over the baby,
illuminating a single patient. -
6:24 - 6:26Take it out of an American hospital,
-
6:26 - 6:28send it overseas
to a crowded facility in Asia, -
6:28 - 6:30here's how it's actually used.
-
6:30 - 6:34The effectiveness of phototherapy
is a function of light intensity. -
6:34 - 6:37These dark blue squares show you
where it's effective phototherapy. -
6:38 - 6:40Here's what it looks
like under actual use. -
6:40 - 6:43So those kids on the edges aren't actually
receiving effective phototherapy. -
6:43 - 6:47But without training,
without some kind of light meter, -
6:47 - 6:48how would you know?
-
6:49 - 6:51We see other examples
of problems like this. -
6:51 - 6:53Here's a neonatal intensive care unit,
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6:53 - 6:55where moms come in to visit their babies.
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6:55 - 6:57And keep in mind that Mom
maybe just had a C-section, -
6:57 - 6:59so that's already kind of a bummer.
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6:59 - 7:01Mom's visiting her kid.
-
7:01 - 7:04She sees her baby naked,
lying under some blue lights, -
7:04 - 7:06looking kind of vulnerable.
-
7:06 - 7:09It's not uncommon for Mom
to put a blanket over the baby. -
7:10 - 7:14From a phototherapy standpoint,
maybe not the best behavior. -
7:14 - 7:16In fact, that sounds kind of dumb.
-
7:16 - 7:19Except, what we've learned is that
if the focus -- -
7:19 - 7:23I think that this was one of the hardest
lessons for me to learn is that -- -
7:23 - 7:25Oh! to learn how not push the button --
-
7:25 - 7:26(Laughter)
-
7:27 - 7:31So one of the hardest lessons
that I learnt was that, it is not -- -
7:32 - 7:35When the focus is on outcomes,
it's not about -- -
7:35 - 7:38there is no such thing as a dumb user,
really, it's what we've learnt, -
7:38 - 7:40there are only dumb products.
-
7:40 - 7:42We have to think like existentialists:
-
7:42 - 7:44it's not the painting
we would have painted, -
7:44 - 7:46it's the painting
that we actually painted. -
7:46 - 7:48It's the use -- designed for actual use.
-
7:48 - 7:51How are people actually going to use this?
-
7:51 - 7:54So, similarly, when we think
about our partner MTTS, -
7:54 - 7:58they've made some amazing technologies
for treating newborn illnesses. -
7:58 - 8:00So here's an overhead warmer and a CPAP.
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8:00 - 8:03They're inexpensive, really rugged.
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8:03 - 8:06They've treated 50,000 kids
in Vietnam with this technology. -
8:06 - 8:07But here's the problem:
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8:07 - 8:10Every doctor in the world,
every hospital administrator, -
8:10 - 8:15has seen TV -- curse those "ER" reruns!
-
8:15 - 8:19Turns out they all know what a medical
device is supposed to look like. -
8:19 - 8:22They want Buck Rogers,
they don't want effective. -
8:23 - 8:25It sounds crazy, it sounds dumb,
-
8:25 - 8:28but there are actually hospitals
who would rather have no equipment -
8:28 - 8:30than something that looks
cheap and crummy. -
8:30 - 8:33So again, if we want
people to trust a device, -
8:33 - 8:35it has to look trustworthy.
-
8:35 - 8:36So thinking about outcomes,
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8:36 - 8:39it turns out appearances matter.
-
8:39 - 8:41We took all that information together.
-
8:41 - 8:43We tried, this time, to get it right.
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8:43 - 8:45And here's what we developed.
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8:45 - 8:47This is the Firefly phototherapy device,
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8:47 - 8:50except this time,
we didn't stop at the concept car. -
8:50 - 8:54From the very beginning, we started
by talking to manufacturers. -
8:54 - 8:57Our goal is to make
a state-of-the-art product -
8:57 - 9:00that our partner MTTS
can actually manufacture. -
9:00 - 9:04Our goal is to study how they work,
the resources they have access to, -
9:04 - 9:06so that they can make this product.
-
9:06 - 9:09So that's the design
for manufacture question. -
9:09 - 9:11When we think about actual use,
-
9:11 - 9:14you'll notice that Firefly
has a single bassinet. -
9:14 - 9:15It only fits a single baby,
-
9:16 - 9:20and the idea here is it's obvious
how you ought to use this device. -
9:20 - 9:21If you try to put more than one kid in,
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9:21 - 9:23you're stacking them on top of each other.
-
9:24 - 9:25(Laughter)
-
9:25 - 9:31So the idea here is you want
to make it hard to use wrong. -
9:31 - 9:33In other words, you want to make
the right way to use it -
9:33 - 9:35the easiest way to use it.
-
9:35 - 9:41Another example -- again, silly Mom.
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9:41 - 9:45Silly Mom thinks her baby looks cold,
wants to put a blanket over the baby. -
9:45 - 9:48That's why we have lights
above and below the baby in Firefly, -
9:48 - 9:50so if Mom does put a blanket
over the baby, -
9:50 - 9:53it's still receiving effective
phototherapy from below. -
9:54 - 9:55Last story here:
-
9:55 - 9:57I've got a friend in India who told me
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9:57 - 10:00that you haven't really tested
a piece of electronic technology -
10:01 - 10:03for distribution in Asia,
-
10:03 - 10:05until you've trained a cockroach
to climb in and pee -
10:05 - 10:07on every single little
component on the inside. -
10:08 - 10:09(Laughter)
-
10:09 - 10:11You think it's funny.
-
10:11 - 10:13I had a laptop in the Peace Corps,
-
10:13 - 10:15and the screen had all these
dead pixels on it. -
10:15 - 10:18And one day I looked in --
they were all dead ants -
10:18 - 10:20that had gotten
into my laptop and perished. -
10:20 - 10:21Those poor ants.
-
10:21 - 10:23(Laughter)
-
10:23 - 10:26So with Firefly, what we did is --
the problem is electronics get hot, -
10:26 - 10:30and you have to put in vents
or fans to keep them cool -- -
10:30 - 10:31in most products.
-
10:31 - 10:36We decided we can't put a "Do not enter"
sign next to the vent. -
10:36 - 10:38We actually got rid of all that stuff.
-
10:38 - 10:39So Firefly's totally sealed.
-
10:41 - 10:42These are the kinds of lessons --
-
10:42 - 10:44really this point --
-
10:44 - 10:46when we were doing the NeoNurture,
very frustrating -- -
10:46 - 10:49I mean as awkward as it was
to be a pretty goofy teenager, -
10:49 - 10:51much worse to be a frustrated designer.
-
10:51 - 10:53These lessons --
-
10:53 - 10:56so I was thinking, "What I really
want to do is change the world. -
10:56 - 10:59I have to pay attention
to manufacturing and distribution. -
10:59 - 11:03I have to pay attention to how people
are actually going to use a device. -
11:03 - 11:06I actually have to pay attention,
I can't accept -- -
11:06 - 11:08really there is no excuse for failure.
-
11:08 - 11:10I have to think like an existentialist.
-
11:10 - 11:13I have to accept that there
are no dumb users, only dumb products." -
11:13 - 11:15We have to ask ourselves hard questions.
-
11:15 - 11:18Are we designing
for the world that we want? -
11:18 - 11:21Are we designing
for the world that we have? -
11:21 - 11:23Are we designing
for the world that's coming, -
11:23 - 11:25whether we're ready or not?
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11:25 - 11:28I got into this business
designing products. -
11:28 - 11:32I've since learned that if you really want
to make a difference in the world, -
11:32 - 11:33you have to design outcomes.
-
11:33 - 11:35And that's design that matters.
-
11:35 - 11:36Thank you.
-
11:36 - 11:43(Applause)
- Title:
- Design for people, not awards | Tim Prestero | TEDxBoston
- Description:
-
Timothy Prestero thought he'd designed the perfect incubator for newborns in the developing world -- but his team learned a hard lesson when it failed to go into production. A manifesto on the importance of designing for real-world use, rather than accolades.
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. - Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 11:45
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Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Design for people, not awards | Tim Prestero | TEDxBoston | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Design for people, not awards | Tim Prestero | TEDxBoston | ||
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The English transcript was updated on 3/1/2017.