Jugaad Innovators are not in the business of coming up with
cool features that appeal to customers’ wants, rather Jugaad innovators aim to
make and deliver a good enough solution with limited functionality rather than
one with a dazzling array of features.
For instance, to address the high cost of electricity in
Filipino slums, Illac Diaz invented the Isang Litrong Liwanag which literally
means “A Liter of Light”. He made the eco-friendly solar bottle bulb. The solar
bottle bulb (commonly known as SLB) is simply a recycled plastic bottle filled
with bleach-treated water. The bottle is then fitted snugly into a hole in the
corrugated roof of makeshift homes in shanty towns. A SLB produces more light
than a conventional window might let in and it has no running cost or
maintenance cost to it. Diaz’s invention is a simple invention which serves the
purpose.
Nokia employs ethographers who spends long period of time
living with their target audience and understanding their needs and requirements.
One of the outcomes of this practice of Nokia was the Nokia 1100. The cell
phone came with a torch light because the ethographers saw that a lot of people
used the bright screen as source of light. Nokia 1100 has sold 25 crore units
around the planet, making it the best selling phone ever.
To create simple products that solve the purpose, large
companies usually take their high end offerings and strip them down to the
masses. This method usually fails, because the products are primarily designed
to cater to a different set of people and then modified to be used by another
set of people.
In October 2011 Aakash tablet was launched. It was promoted
as ‘the world’s cheapest tablet’. For a cost of Rs. 3000 and a further
subsidized cost of Rs. 1750 for students, Aakash came with a simplified user
interface and preinstalled with educational material. Aakash clearly cannot
match the computing power of the front running tablets like iPad, Nexus and
Surface because it is meant for a different target audience.
Jugaad Innovators not only infuse simplicity in their
products but in the way they interact with their customers too. From
understanding needs of the consumers before designing the products to giving
after sales services, Jugaad innovators keep it simple. We saw earlier how
SELCO provided solar lighting to over 125,000 Indian village homes by relying
on a vast network of grassroot entrepreneurs who became the distributors and
service station providers.
Jugaad Innovations are simple but not simplistic. There is
an important distinction between the two. Jugaad Innovators do not simplify
problem or give a simple partial solution to the problem. Instead, Jugaad
Innovators often embrace complexity but mask it with a simple user interface
for the customers.
For instance, in Kenya, there runs a simple system of
information distribution via SMS called Ushahidi. People can text message
information about earthquakes, hurricanes and similar cataclysmic events to a
centrally located server. The server then distributes the information to the
masses.
Sounds simple and easy to use, but there is a complex that
runs in the backend that compiles data from thousands of people, draws sense
out of the messages and sends them back to the ones who would be benefited by
the information.
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