TOR156: Designing Products For Underserved Populations with Krista Donaldson of D-Rev

A great deal of the actual “work” delivered in the social sector comes in the form of services. Of these services, the lowest hanging fruit is skill building, often known as capacity building. But there are, of course, many other flavors of services - everything from helping to draft policies and plans, to the know-how behind running a power grid, to mapping service centers for at-risk youth. My point here is that delivering services is a tried and tangible means for getting your hands dirty helping others.

While not new by any account, one of the more exciting areas of the social sectors is the delivery of products. I think product delivery is especially interesting for a number of reasons. The design and delivery of products offer the opportunity for true leapfrog moments, and the measurement of success of a product is extremely tangible. Finally, in most cases the evolution of a product, as it iterates and is improved over time, is again extremely tangible.

But, as we already know, designing, delivering and properly servicing products is a challenging prospect, even in the best of circumstances. When you also add the challenges associated with emerging economies and context, those challenges are multiplied. This is why I’m excited to have Krista Donalson as my guest for the 156th Terms of Reference Podcast. Krista is the CEO of D-Rev, an organization that designs and delivers medical technologies that close the quality healthcare gap for under-served populations.

As you’ve come to expect from our guests, Krista has been driving innovation in product design, engineering, and international development for more than 15 years. And, Her work has won her acclaim as one of Fast Company’s Co.Design 50 Designers Shaping the Future, a TED speaker, and a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer.

You’re going to love this conversation about D-Rev’s origins, the choices made to focus their product lines and the challenges around finding high-quality suppliers and servicing. We also talk about my favorite aspect of their work - the never ending march towards making products that people are obsessed with.