Perspectives on context, design teams and diffusion of technological innovations in low-resource settings: A practical approach based on sub-Saharan African projects

A human-centered design approach for creating science/engineering-driven solutions or innovations, referred to as “connect-the-dots,” is presented. Dots symbolize the best questions and the connections reveal the best order in which these questions should be answered. In this approach, the number of customer or user behavioral changes are critically analyzed, revealing the overall context in which the solution or innovation will operate; especially to undergraduate students creating solutions to problems from settings that are less familiar, from cultural, economic, and geopolitical viewpoints. Solutions or innovations that result in minimal user behavior changes are preferred. Additional benefits include better incorporation of systems theory thinking, ease with which team multidisciplinarity and diversity can be identified, and seamlessly integrating design and research.