Peer reviews

Wawen Chan
Jennifer Widjaja
Guida Arezzi
Susanna Li
Danielle Taouk

Designing for Disaster Rationale

Rationale

Nutri-test: Assisting subsistence farmers in recovering from drought, fire and heatwaves.

In August of 2010, Europe experienced a heatwave of unprecedented magnitude. During this period, Russia suffered the most severe temperatures. The impact of the heatwave was accentuated by the drought conditions which Russia had been experiencing since late June 2010, and the emergence of numerous wildfires across the country. It is typical that heatwaves are accompanied by wildfires and drought, as these disasters are highly related.

The real-time effect of the extreme temperatures must not be understated. During the heatwave, an estimated 55,000 people died from heat related illness. However, the major obstacle to recovery came from the fires and drought It is estimated that as much as 30% of Russia’s crop harvests were destroyed by fire and drought. This had placed an immediate strain on food supplies. Buckwheat, a staple of the Russian diet, was severely affected. As a result, Russia froze all exports of buckwheat du to fears that domestic supplies would be insufficient to meet domestic demand.

As this assignment was focused on providing assistance to people in developing countries, I focused on the needs of subsistence farmers. Unlike Australia, subsistence farming is still relatively common in rural Russia. These farmers rely on their farmed crop as their primary source of food. As such, the devastation of the fire and drought had an even more extreme effect on subsistence farmers than the general Russian public.

My design was focused on assisting the farmers in recovering from this devastation as quickly as possible, with as little cost as possible. My research highlighted that extreme temperatures alter nutrient levels in soil as well as affecting acidity levels. This poses a particular problem to subsistence farmers as no information is readily available on local soil conditions. The nutrient levels and soil acidity both play a tremendous role in the success of crop. By providing a simple method of evaluating these conditions a farmer could save money from avoiding unnecessary fertilisers, as well maximising recovery crop yields by planting suitable crop.

Existing methods typically require laboratory assistance which is not available to subsistence farmers. DIY kits currently involve complicated titration processes and are generally accompanied by pages of instructions, which again are not suited to the education or skill set of subsistence farmers.

The Nutri-test deals with these issues by using simple litmus paper. The item is disposable, and packaging is minimal, which saves on production costs and transport costs. The instructions, and results are all provided in pictorial form, which allows for anyone to readily understand the application and results of the test.

Reflection of Designing for Disaster

Reflections

The current brief required a design to meet the needs of people in the developing world, who have fallen victim to natural disaster. This focus placed a number of constraints on the type of design.

In many ways, the need to design for people in such dire situations accentuates the general requirements sought in responsible design. Items must be highly functional, affordable and easily distributed. Designing to these constraints has been a refreshing means of directing my efforts and ensuring that I avoid designing-for-design. By this I mean the concept of designing a product which is mor

e novelty than function.

I started with a variety of concepts to assist people in managing/surviving a heat-wave. However, while these concepts seemed entirely acceptable as consumer products, they didn’t seem essential. And thus they didn’t seem to meet the needs of people (in poverty) dealing with disaster.

This was an important distinction that I recognized in my design process. I became cogni

sant of the distinction between convenience products and essential products.

In developing my final concept, the Nutri-Test soil tester, I continually tried to draw it back to functionality and usability by subsistence farmers. The underlying concept was ensuring that the product needed to be inexpensive while being easy to use. Incorporating visual instructions was a key element to developing the final product. While the product form was designed for disposable, one-off use.

Another driving point to my design, was to ensure that the design was simple. In many ways, designing with simplicity in mind was more challenging. It forced a sense of economy in my designs, which I have often over-looked.

In terms of future design projects I think I will draw from this experience to continue to be critical of the nature of my design. Is it necessary? Is it economical in form and material?