CULTURE-DRIVEN PRODUCT INNOVATION
DS 36: Proceedings DESIGN 2006, the 9th International Design Conference, Dubrovnik, Croatia
Year: 2006
Editor: Marjanovic, D.
Author: Moalosi, R.; Popovic, V.; Hickling-Hudson, A.
Section: DESIGN PROJECTS AND PROCESSES
Page(s): 573-578
Abstract
The paper explores how culture can be used as a source of product innovation within Botswana’s context but it has been observed that designers have not yet been able to encode cultural human factors to the same extent as cognitive and physical ones. Design should be embedded in users’ culture as it is seen as a mirror and agent of change within the society. The basis of this paper is that there is little in-depth research that can assist designers to use culture as a catalyst to designing innovative products. The paper concludes by discussing how designers can integrate socio-cultural factors by ‘conscious design effort’ rather than ‘incidentally’ in order to produce innovate, pleasurable and culturally sensitive products.
Keywords: culture, product innovation, Botswana