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innovative approaches to empathy-driven consumer research

Innovative approaches to empathy-driven consumer research and design-led testing

Recognizing the important role of the private sector in food systems, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) launched the Private Sector Partnerships (PSP) initiative under its global Nutrition Strategy in 2017. Many private companies face several barriers that impede them from making nutritious fortified foods affordable and accessible to lower-income consumers in developing countries. The project's vision is to achieve sustainable nutritional impact at scale through innovations and new business models that help these companies overcome these barriers. 

Between 2017 and 2021, PSP provided support across the challenges faced by companies in developing commercial strategies for such fortified food products. ThinkPlace was a key member of PSP network, in our position as the Consumer Intelligence & Co-Design Hub, we conducted extensive consumer research and prototype testing around the world, driving innovation by highlighting the needs of users and bringing together diverse stakeholders.

ThinkPlace integrates both human-centred design and systems thinking approaches to provide a deep, rich understanding of the behavioural determinants affecting people’s capability to confidently, willing and effectively change. That change may come in the form of a social norm or harmful behaviour, or it can come in the form of decision-making around a product or service. By taking an approach that’s simultaneously human-centred and systems-oriented, we look to empathise with the lived experience of a problem or challenge space and leverage that into system-level interventions that have the most potential for bridging the gap between intention and action.

For example, as part of the Hub Consortia, ThinkPlace led a research and prototyping process with Danone to develop a high-nutrition yoghurt product in Nigeria. To do this, ThinkPlace conducted a series of research and prototyping sprints to understand the target consumer group and develop a series of low- and high-fidelity prototypes. More information on the process used to develop this product can be found in the Design-Led Testing module below. The Growth for Growth (G4G) network of service providers, including ThinkPlace, set up by the Foundation’s PSP program co-designed this strategy.

Throughout this project, ThinkPlace developed a range of innovative approaches to empathy-driven consumer research, and design led testing. Here are some of the key learnings from it.

Download the Learning Modules here

Growth for Growth Private Partnership Strategy ThinkPlace Bill Melinda Gates Foundation
 

 

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