02/10/2025
Designing for Impact: A Human-Centered Approach to Maternal Nutrition.
At the ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป lab, we are often supporting iDEโs country offices to explore and understand how we can empower entrepreneurs to create impact in novel sectors and market ecosystems. When this occurs, w๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฑ๐ผ๐น๐ผ๐ด๐ ๐๐ผ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฝ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป, ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ ๐๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐, ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ (๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ-๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐) ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ (๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐). Once that is done, we can begin to ideate possible products and services, and the business models which may be ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ.
This is exactly the research process that the iDE Innovation lab team has been conducting, in collaboration with the SHE by iDE team for the ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ง๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐ก๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐. Working in the Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MICYN) sector, the team has been trying to understand what they key issues are that impact nutrition, especially for mothers and babies in the first 1000 days of life, a crucial window which establishes the foundations for a childโs future.
This information will help us to work with entrepreneurs, healthcare workers and other key actors to deliver sustained behavior change, in relation to exclusive breastfeeding and high quality complementary feeding for working mothers, mainly women garment factory workers.
To help us understand the sector, weโve been hard at work conducting feminist action research, with a focus on mapping out womenโs health and nutrition journeys in the first 1000 days of their childโs life. As such, weโve spoken with women to understand their care work responsibilities and how this impacts their other priorities in life. We also spoke with their mothers, husbands, health care providers and maternity product and service providers to holistically map out the journeys of these women, and identify needs which the market currently does not address.
Once weโve addressed these unmet needs, we ideate potential products and services and use a participatory and visual approach to test the potential of these service models with potential end-users and with the suppliers who may play a role in providing these services.
This is a small puzzle piece in the process we undertake when we are attempting to create impact by empowering entrepreneurs at the last mile! How do you apply Human Centered Design? How do you embed women-centered approaches to your work to create inclusive services?