Design For Resource-Limited Societies : Informational Behaviour Of Designers

There is a sharp contrast between High Resource Settings (HRSs), commonly seen in developedcountries and Low Resource Settings (LRSs), typically found in the marginalised sections of societiesaround the world. Product design for LRSs is crucial to satisfy unmet or under-served needs of thepeople living in LRSs. Supporting designers to develop successful products for LRSs demandsdeveloping an in-depth understanding of their design process, including their informational behaviour.In this research, using think aloud protocol analysis, we compared the designers’ informationalbehaviour in designing products for LRSs and HRSs, where HRSs is considered a baseline. The findingsindicate that designing products for LRSs is more information intensive, and that it influences theinformational activities of designers, thus indicating potential impact of a resource-setting on the waydesigners deal with information