Abstract
Agriculture is the most important occupation for most Indian families. It is a vital sector in India's economy, contributing 16% to the Gross Domestic Product and 10% to total exports. India is a leading producer of wheat, rice, pulses, and spices. However, there is a significant gap between agricultural production and storage capacity, leading to food waste and uneven availability of food grains. This problem is particularly acute for marginal farmers who cannot afford storage facilities. To address this issue, a participatory design study was conducted with marginal farmers to gain insights and aspirations for designing affordable and mobile storage solutions. The participatory design approach involved the active participation of farmers in the design process, using prototypes and mockups created using available materials. The mockups and prototypes were used as a medium for the farmers to express their ideas, problems, and solutions related to post-harvesting and storage. This process played a crucial role in gaining a deeper understanding of the farmers' needs from their perspective, and helped to design affordable and mobile storage space for marginal Indian farmers. The research was an essential step towards improving the storage capacity for marginal Indian farmers, reducing food waste, and ensuring a more efficient storage of food grains. The use of participatory design approach allowed a more tangible and practical approach to understand the farmers' requirements and design solutions accordingly.
Keywords
Participatory Design; Agriculture; Co-creation; Farmers; Design Research
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2023.127
Citation
Sharma, A.,and Sharma, N.(2023) Uncovering Tacit Needs through Prototyping: Designing Post-Harvest Storage Solutions for Marginal Farmers in India, in Silvia Ferraris, Valentina Rognoli, Nithikul Nimkulrat (eds.), EKSIG 2023: From Abstractness to Concreteness – experiential knowledge and the role of prototypes in design research, 19–20 June 2023, Milan, Italy. https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2023.127
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Uncovering Tacit Needs through Prototyping: Designing Post-Harvest Storage Solutions for Marginal Farmers in India
Agriculture is the most important occupation for most Indian families. It is a vital sector in India's economy, contributing 16% to the Gross Domestic Product and 10% to total exports. India is a leading producer of wheat, rice, pulses, and spices. However, there is a significant gap between agricultural production and storage capacity, leading to food waste and uneven availability of food grains. This problem is particularly acute for marginal farmers who cannot afford storage facilities. To address this issue, a participatory design study was conducted with marginal farmers to gain insights and aspirations for designing affordable and mobile storage solutions. The participatory design approach involved the active participation of farmers in the design process, using prototypes and mockups created using available materials. The mockups and prototypes were used as a medium for the farmers to express their ideas, problems, and solutions related to post-harvesting and storage. This process played a crucial role in gaining a deeper understanding of the farmers' needs from their perspective, and helped to design affordable and mobile storage space for marginal Indian farmers. The research was an essential step towards improving the storage capacity for marginal Indian farmers, reducing food waste, and ensuring a more efficient storage of food grains. The use of participatory design approach allowed a more tangible and practical approach to understand the farmers' requirements and design solutions accordingly.