Design for people, not awards
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0:00 - 0:03I've got a great idea that's going to change the world.
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0:03 - 0:04It's fantastic, it's going to blow your mind.
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0:04 - 0:07It's my beautiful baby.
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0:07 - 0:09Here's the thing, everybody loves a beautiful baby.
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0:09 - 0:11I mean, I was a beautiful baby.
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0:11 - 0:13Here's me and my dad a couple days after I was born.
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0:13 - 0:15So in the world of product design,
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0:15 - 0:18the beautiful baby's like the concept car.
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0:18 - 0:19It's the knock-out.
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0:19 - 0:22You see it and you go, "Oh, my God. I'd buy that in a second!"
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0:22 - 0:25So why is it that this year's new cars
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0:25 - 0:28look pretty much exactly like last year's new cars?
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0:28 - 0:30(Laughter)
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0:30 - 0:33What went wrong between the design studio and the factory?
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0:33 - 0:35Today I don't want to talk about beautiful babies,
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0:35 - 0:38I want to talk about the awkward adolescence of design --
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0:38 - 0:42those sort of dorky teenage years
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0:42 - 0:46where you're trying to figure out how the world works.
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0:46 - 0:50I'm going to start with an example from some work that we did on newborn health.
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0:50 - 0:52So here's a problem:
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0:52 - 0:54Four million babies around the world,
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0:54 - 0:56mostly in developing countries,
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0:56 - 0:58die every year before their first birthday,
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0:58 - 1:00even before their first month of life.
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1:00 - 1:04It turns out half of those kids, or about 1.8 million newborns around the world,
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1:04 - 1:06would make it if you could just keep them warm
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1:06 - 1:10for the first three days, maybe the first week.
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1:10 - 1:13So this is a newborn intensive care unit in Kathmandu, Nepal.
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1:13 - 1:16All of these kids in blankets belong in incubators --
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1:16 - 1:21something like this. So this is a donated Japanese Atom incubator
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1:21 - 1:23that we found in [unclear] in Kathmandu.
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1:23 - 1:25This is what we want.
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1:25 - 1:28Probably what happened is a hospital in Japan upgraded their equipment
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1:28 - 1:32and donated their old stuff to Nepal.
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1:32 - 1:35The problem is, without technicians, without spare parts,
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1:35 - 1:39donations like this very quickly turn into junk.
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1:39 - 1:42So this seemed like a problem that we could do something about.
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1:42 - 1:44Keeping a baby warm for a week,
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1:44 - 1:46that's not rocket science.
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1:46 - 1:48So we got started.
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1:48 - 1:51We partnered with a leading medical research institution here in Boston.
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1:51 - 1:55We conducted months of user research overseas,
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1:55 - 1:58trying to think like designers, human-centered design.
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1:58 - 2:01Let's figure out what people want.
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2:01 - 2:03We killed thousands of Post-it notes.
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2:03 - 2:05We made dozens of prototypes to get to this.
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2:05 - 2:09So this is the NeoNurture Infant Incubator,
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2:09 - 2:13and this has a lot of smarts built into it. And we felt great.
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2:13 - 2:15So the idea here is, unlike the concept car,
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2:15 - 2:17we want to marry something beautiful
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2:17 - 2:19with something that actually works.
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2:19 - 2:21And our idea is that this design
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2:21 - 2:25would inspire manufacturers and other people of influence
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2:25 - 2:28to take this model and run with it.
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2:28 - 2:31Here's the bad news:
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2:31 - 2:35The only baby ever actually put inside the NeoNurture Incubator
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2:35 - 2:38was this kid during a Time magazine photo shoot.
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2:38 - 2:41So recognition is fantastic.
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2:41 - 2:44We want design to get out for people to see it.
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2:44 - 2:45It won lots of awards.
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2:45 - 2:47But it felt like a booby prize.
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2:47 - 2:54We wanted to make beautiful things that are going to make the world a better place,
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2:54 - 2:57and I don't think this kid was even in it long enough to get warm.
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2:57 - 3:00So it turns out that design for inspiration
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3:00 - 3:03doesn't really --
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3:03 - 3:06I guess what I would say is, for us, for what I want to do,
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3:06 - 3:10it's either too slow or it just doesn't work, it's ineffective.
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3:10 - 3:13So really I want to design for outcomes.
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3:13 - 3:14I don't want to make beautiful stuff.
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3:14 - 3:16I want to make the world a better place.
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3:16 - 3:19So when we were designing NeoNurture,
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3:19 - 3:21we paid a lot of attention to the people who are going to use this thing --
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3:21 - 3:24for example, poor families, rural doctors,
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3:24 - 3:28overloaded nurses, even repair technicians.
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3:28 - 3:30We thought we had all our bases covered, we'd done everything right.
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3:30 - 3:33Well it turns out there's this whole constellation of people
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3:33 - 3:36who have to be involved in a product for it to be successful:
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3:36 - 3:39manufacturing, financing, distribution, regulation.
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3:39 - 3:44Michael Free at PATH says you have to figure out who will "choose, use and pay the dues"
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3:44 - 3:46for a product like this.
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3:46 - 3:48And I have to ask the question --
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3:48 - 3:51VC's always ask, "Sir, what is your business, and who is your customer?"
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3:51 - 3:54Who is our customer? Well here's an example.
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3:54 - 3:57This is a Bangladeshi hospital director outside his facility.
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3:57 - 4:00It turns out he doesn't buy any of his equipment.
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4:00 - 4:03Those decisions are made by the Ministry of Health
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4:03 - 4:05or by foreign donors,
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4:05 - 4:06and it just kind of shows up.
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4:06 - 4:09Similarly, here's a multinational medical device manufacturer.
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4:09 - 4:12It turns out they've got to fish where the fish are.
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4:12 - 4:16So it turns out that in emerging markets, where the fish are,
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4:16 - 4:19are the emerging middle class of these countries --
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4:19 - 4:22diseases of affluence: heart disease, infertility.
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4:22 - 4:27So it turns out that design for outcomes in one aspect
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4:27 - 4:30really means thinking about design for manufacture and distribution.
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4:30 - 4:32Okay, that was an important lesson.
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4:32 - 4:37Second, we took that lesson and tried to push it into our next project.
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4:37 - 4:40So we started by finding a manufacturer,
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4:40 - 4:41an organization called MTTS in Vietnam,
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4:41 - 4:45that manufactures newborn care technologies for Southeast Asia.
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4:45 - 4:47Our other partner is East Meets West.
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4:47 - 4:50This is an American foundation that distributes that technology
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4:50 - 4:53to poor hospitals around that region.
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4:53 - 4:55So we started with them saying, "Well what do you want?
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4:55 - 4:57What's a problem you want to solve?"
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4:57 - 4:59And they said, "Well let's work on newborn jaundice."
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4:59 - 5:03So this is another one of these mind-boggling global problems.
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5:03 - 5:07So jaundice affects two-thirds of newborns around the world.
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5:07 - 5:12Of those newborns, one in 10 roughly,
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5:12 - 5:14if it's not treated, the jaundice gets so severe
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5:14 - 5:17that it leads to either a life-long disability,
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5:17 - 5:19or the kids could even die.
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5:19 - 5:22There's one way to treat jaundice,
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5:22 - 5:24and that's what's called an exchange transfusion.
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5:24 - 5:27So as you can imagine, that's expensive and a little bit dangerous.
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5:27 - 5:30There is another cure.
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5:30 - 5:35It's very technological, it's very complex, a little daunting.
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5:35 - 5:38You've got to shine blue light on the kid --
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5:38 - 5:42bright blue light on as much of the skin as you can cover.
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5:42 - 5:45How is this a hard problem?
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5:45 - 5:48So I went to MIT,
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5:48 - 5:51Okay, we'll figure that out. (Laughter)
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5:51 - 5:54So here's an example. This is an overhead phototherapy device
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5:54 - 5:57that's designed for American hospitals.
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5:57 - 6:00And here's how it's supposed to be used.
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6:00 - 6:03So it's over the baby, illuminating a single patient.
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6:03 - 6:05Take it out of an American hospital,
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6:05 - 6:07send it overseas to a crowded facility in Asia,
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6:07 - 6:09here's how it's actually used.
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6:09 - 6:12The effectiveness of phototherapy is a function of light intensity.
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6:12 - 6:15So these dark blue squares show you where it's effective phototherapy.
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6:15 - 6:18Here's what it looks like under actual use.
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6:18 - 6:19So those kids on the edges
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6:19 - 6:22aren't actually receiving effective phototherapy.
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6:22 - 6:25But without training, without some kind of light meter,
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6:25 - 6:27how would you know?
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6:27 - 6:29We see other examples of problems like this.
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6:29 - 6:30So here's a neonatal intensive care unit
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6:30 - 6:33where moms come in to visit their babies.
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6:33 - 6:35And keep in mind, Mom maybe just had a C-section,
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6:35 - 6:37so that's already kind of a bummer.
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6:37 - 6:39Mom's visiting her kid.
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6:39 - 6:42She sees her baby naked, lying under some blue lights,
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6:42 - 6:44looking kind of vulnerable.
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6:44 - 6:47It's not uncommon for Mom to put a blanket over the baby.
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6:47 - 6:51From a phototherapy standpoint, maybe not the best behavior.
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6:51 - 6:54In fact that sounds kind of dumb.
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6:54 - 6:56Except, what we've learned
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6:56 - 7:00is that there's no such thing as a dumb user -- really is what we've learned.
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7:00 - 7:02There are only dumb products.
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7:02 - 7:03We have to think like existentialists.
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7:03 - 7:05It's not the painting we would have painted,
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7:05 - 7:07it's the painting that we actually painted.
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7:07 - 7:10It's the use -- designed for actual use.
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7:10 - 7:11How are people actually going to use this?
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7:11 - 7:16So similarly, when we think about our partner MTTS,
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7:16 - 7:19they've made some amazing technologies for treating newborn illnesses.
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7:19 - 7:21So here's an overhead warmer and a CPAP.
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7:21 - 7:24They're inexpensive, really rugged.
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7:24 - 7:27They've treated 50,000 kids in Vietnam with this technology.
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7:27 - 7:28But here's the problem:
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7:28 - 7:30Every doctor in the world, every hospital administrator,
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7:30 - 7:35has seen TV -- curse those "E.R." reruns.
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7:35 - 7:40Turns out they all know what a medical device is supposed to look like.
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7:40 - 7:43They want Buck Rogers, they don't want effective.
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7:43 - 7:46It sounds crazy, it sounds dumb,
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7:46 - 7:48but there are actually hospitals who would rather have no equipment
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7:48 - 7:51than something that looks cheap and crummy.
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7:51 - 7:54So again, if we want people to trust a device,
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7:54 - 7:56it has to look trustworthy.
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7:56 - 7:57So thinking about outcomes,
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7:57 - 8:00it turns out appearances matter.
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8:00 - 8:02So we took all that information together.
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8:02 - 8:04We tried, this time, to get it right.
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8:04 - 8:06And here's what we developed.
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8:06 - 8:08So this is the Firefly Phototherapy Device,
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8:08 - 8:11except this time we didn't stop at the concept car.
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8:11 - 8:15So from the very beginning we started by talking to manufacturers.
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8:15 - 8:18Our goal is to make a state-of-the-art product
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8:18 - 8:20that our partner MTTS can actually manufacture.
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8:20 - 8:24So our goal is to study how they work, the resources they have access to,
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8:24 - 8:27so that they can make this product.
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8:27 - 8:30So that's the design for manufacture question.
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8:30 - 8:31When we think about actual use,
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8:31 - 8:34you'll notice that Firefly has a single bassinet.
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8:34 - 8:36It only fits a single baby.
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8:36 - 8:40And the idea here is it's obvious how you ought to use this device.
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8:40 - 8:42If you try to put more than one kid in,
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8:42 - 8:43you're stacking them on top of each other.
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8:43 - 8:44(Laughter)
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8:44 - 8:49So the idea here is we say, you want to make hard to use wrong.
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8:49 - 8:51In other words, you want to make the right way to use it
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8:51 - 8:53the easiest way to use it.
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8:53 - 8:56Another example: Again, silly mom.
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8:56 - 8:59Silly mom thinks her baby looks cold, wants to put a blanket over the baby.
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8:59 - 9:02Well that's why we have lights above and below the baby in Firefly.
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9:02 - 9:04So if mom does put a blanket over the baby,
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9:04 - 9:07it's still receiving effective phototherapy from below.
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9:07 - 9:09Last story here:
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9:09 - 9:11I've got a friend in India who told me
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9:11 - 9:14that you haven't really tested a piece of electronic technology
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9:14 - 9:17for distribution in Asia
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9:17 - 9:19until you've trained a cockroach to climb in
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9:19 - 9:21and pee on every single little component on the inside.
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9:21 - 9:23(Laughter)
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9:23 - 9:25You think it's funny.
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9:25 - 9:27I had a laptop in the Peace Corps,
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9:27 - 9:29and the screen had all these dead pixels on it.
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9:29 - 9:31And one day I looked in, they were all dead ants
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9:31 - 9:34that had gotten into my laptop and perished --
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9:34 - 9:35those poor ants!
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9:35 - 9:38So with Firefly, what we did is --
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9:38 - 9:40the problem is electronics get hot
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9:40 - 9:43and you have to put in vents or fans to keep them cool --
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9:43 - 9:45in most products.
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9:45 - 9:49We decided that I can't put a "do not enter" sign next to the vent.
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9:49 - 9:51We actually got rid of all of that stuff.
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9:51 - 9:53So Firefly's totally sealed.
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9:53 - 9:54These are the kinds of lessons --
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9:54 - 9:57as awkward as it was to be a pretty goofy teenager,
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9:57 - 9:59much worse to be a frustrated designer.
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9:59 - 10:02So I was thinking about, what I really want to do is change the world.
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10:02 - 10:05I have to pay attention to manufacturing and distribution.
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10:05 - 10:08I have to pay attention to how people are actually going to use a device.
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10:08 - 10:13I actually have to pay attention. Really, there's no excuse for failure.
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10:13 - 10:14I have to think like an existentialist.
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10:14 - 10:16I have to accept that there are no dumb users,
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10:16 - 10:18that there's only dumb products.
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10:18 - 10:20We have to ask ourselves hard questions.
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10:20 - 10:23Are we designing for the world that we want?
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10:23 - 10:25Are we designing for the world that we have?
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10:25 - 10:27Are we designing for the world that's coming,
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10:27 - 10:29whether we're ready or not?
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10:29 - 10:32I got into this business designing products.
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10:32 - 10:36I've since learned that if you really want to make a difference in the world,
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10:36 - 10:38you have to design outcomes.
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10:38 - 10:39And that's design that matters.
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10:39 - 10:41Thank you.
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10:41 - 10:44(Applause)
- Title:
- Design for people, not awards
- Speaker:
- Timothy Prestero
- Description:
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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. (Filmed at TEDxBoston.)
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 11:05
Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for Design for people, not awards | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Design for people, not awards | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Design for people, not awards | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Design for people, not awards | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Design for people, not awards | ||
Ireneusz Rojkowski edited English subtitles for Design for people, not awards | ||
Rudi Feijó accepted English subtitles for Design for people, not awards | ||
Alex M. Chang edited English subtitles for Design for people, not awards |
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 11/6/2015.