Design for the other 90%

It could be argued that designing for ‘the other 90%’ is patronising and demeaning as it’s a western approach to solving a third world problem, dealing with complex dynamics that are often alien to our own. However, it is impossible to deny that although we are a long way off amending the bigger picture, small design interventions can make a huge difference to the quality of life in desperate times and situations, and some interventions, such as water sanitation facilities are unable to fall into the category of interference as it is a bare necessity for everyone.

‘Each year 2.2 million people die from diseases caused by lack of safe water and basic sanitation. The nature of the contamination is varied, viral, microbial, parasitic and chemical contaminates all contribute to this staggering death toll’1. Red Button Design have designed a water sanitation, transport and storage device for this specific problem – known as ROSS (Reverse Osmosis Sanitation System - seen below). It is aimed at the developing world, where clean water sources are not locally available. ‘The user would roll the ROSS unit to the water source and fill the tank before pushing it back to the community. As the device is moved the mechanical motion of the wheels drives a filtration system through the tank. Clean water can then be stored in the vessel and dispensed when needed’1.

This is just one of the many thousands of designs out there, trying to tackle current issue; undoubtedly many more designs will follow and it is important this trend continues.

1 http://www.thisisredbutton.co.uk/index.php?mod=ross
Images- http://www.thisisredbutton.co.uk/index.php?mod=ross