Empower Don't Patronize

Can one design for another? Yes, it is what we as designers do. Can one design for another of another culture? This question is entirely more complex with an entirely more complicated answer. The simple answer is also yes. The real answer is some can and most cannot. Why is it that some humanitarian designs work and many do not? I believe it is utterly arrogant and patronizing for a designer living a comfortable life in a “developed” country to think they can a solve “the” problem, which they have identified from afar, of a person/people from another culture. It toes a precarious line of a neo imperialistic attitude to believe that we (those that have) know what is best for them (those in need).


Living in Ghana when I was young I saw and experienced things that, though I did not know it at the time, would have a profound and lasting impact on me that will remain with me for the rest of my life. While considering this assignment I was reflecting on my time immersed within the Ghanaian culture and would like to share a memory that I believe has relevance to the above question. Some friends who thought we might enjoy a taste of “home” invited my parents and I to lunch at a “western” hotel. The hotel, as I reflect back, was so symbolic of colonial arrogance and lack of understanding. It was a five-story hotel of which only two stories were complete, the third partially finished and the remaining two raw concrete structures only. We ate on the terrace, which was located by the pool out back. The pool being an Olympic size swimming pool, complete with high diving platform, that was bone dry. Obviously the hotel had been under construction when the British pulled out of Ghana and as soon as they did the locals stopped construction and never finished it. This particular one was made use of “as is”, but there are/were many examples of projects that were abandoned and left once the British did. In their colonial arrogance the British believed they were helping bring “civilization” to the poor Ghanaian people. As soon as they, and all their “infinite wisdom”, left the Ghanaians said “sure whatever pal…..thanks for the big flower pot” and went back about their lives.


So it is with humanitarian design. Assuming that we know what is best for them is ridiculous. They may not have the same education as we do, they may not have the same opportunities that we do, they may not have the same access that we do but none of this makes them less intelligent than us. Nor does it make them less capable of ideation. They MAY need our help in executing the solution but do they really need us to tell them what their problem is? I am not trying to say that we should not try and/or leave those in need to their own devices, rather advising that we need to consider how we go about helping. Nor am I trying to convey a sense of hopelessness because there are successes like the solar cooker.


The most successful designs come from a deep understanding of the user group. How can this be achieved? By empowering those in need to indentify and solve the problems they face. By involving them, or better yet them allowing us to be involved, in the entire design process. At the very least by immersing ourselves in the culture and living with the issues we can gain perspective on the problem(s). Want to design a better wheel chair try living in a wheel chair for a while. Want to design a portable shelter for homeless people try being homeless for a while. I guarantee you’ll gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of their plight. Informing someone in need that “X, Y &Z” is what they need will only breed resentment. Look at the problem and the solution of both the successes and failures and ask yourself and others “Why did it succeed/fail?” Showing willingness to help is the first and most important step. So I commend the failures as well as the successes because those that failed, whatever the reason, at least tried which is more than most have done. We should all try if we do the world will be a better place.