Designed for the bottom of the pyramid
A case study of a Chinese phone brand in Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21790262 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Miao Lu (0000-0001-8455-8308, Chinese University of Hong Kong, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 24-39 |
| Publication date | 2021-01-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Chinese Journal of Communication (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1754-4769 • E-ISSN: 1754-4750 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17544750.2020.1752270 |
| OpenAlex | W3017389807 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 34 |
Through the case study of itel, a low-end Chinese phone brand, this article examines the cross-cultural design for the bottom of the pyramid population in Africa. Focusing on the process that an artifact comes into existence, this article shows that itel’s design practice has been shaped by local culture, infrastructure, and social structure, which may challenge, modify, and reshape global design norms. Being cost-sensitive, context-conscious, and demand-driven, itel develops a place-based design approach and business model. Through mapping and elaborating itel’s design network, this article demonstrates that design is not only about making artifacts but also about designing ways of knowing, seeing, and being. This study calls for a Southern perspective of design to acknowledge the heterogeneity of design culture and rethink the geopolitics of design
Advertising · Bottom of the pyramid · Business · Geography · Phone · Sociology · Strategic design · Computer Science · Crafts, Textile, and Design · Innovation and Socioeconomic Development · Innovative Human-Technology Interaction · Marketing
Window of the world
Mobile phone repair in Ghana
Digital vines
Using archival versions of apps to understand emerging digital ecosystems
Of Bloatware and Spreadsheets
Infastructuring the last mile
Hardware and data in the platform era
A digital cold war in Africa? Capitalist multiplicity, digital transformation, and shifting dependencies amid US–China tech rivalry
A Sociotechnical Approach to Smartphone Research
Transfer or Translation? Rethinking Traveling Technologies from the Global South
Designs for the Pluriverse
The Next Billion Users
Signal and Noise
The Mirage of Marketing to the Bottom of the Pyramid
Goodbye, iSlave
Software Studies
Local Histories/Global Designs
Looking at Shirley, the Ultimate Norm
Rethinking Design Thinking
Made in China
An analysis of information visualisation
Recycling modernity
Rethinking Design Thinking
Business as a development agent
What is a technological author? The pirate function and intellectual property
Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud
The Perception of the Environment
Seeing Like an Oil Company
Epistemic Disobedience, Independent Thought and Decolonial Freedom
| Unique citing works | 10 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,5 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 10 |