Design Thinking
Design Thinking
Design thinking solves complex and unknown problems through a solution-based model. For example, the use of a design thinking model can achieve a solution to provide clean water to communities in Zimbabwe by using a design thinking model. The inaccessibility of clean drinking water in Zimbabwe has caused a rise in health problems such as cholera. The stages of achieving a solution will include empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping, and testing our solution to clean water. The mapping of strategies based on design thinking will ensure that clean water is accessible to countries worldwide. I propose choosing a solution to provide clean water in Zimbabwe by analyzing feasible solutions accomplished through design thinking.
The first stage is to empathize with the residents of Zimbabwe. The country lacks proper water and treatment systems. An empathic understanding of the conditions in which the people who lack clean water live is essential to ensure an in-depth analysis. A sanitation analysis in Zimbabwe shows that clean running water is unavailable in many homes (Sardar et al., n.d.). Often, a large population sources its water from wells or rivers, which are contaminated. Due to overdependence on rainwater, Zimbabweans are often frustrated by irregular weather seasons when rain may not fall. Empathizing with the end-user provides a bigger picture of the problem.
The second stage to providing clean water is to outline the problem statement. An analysis of information gathered during the empathizing phase shows that Zimbabwean citizens need water for home usage, agriculture, and running industries. Economic development is slowed when health problems such as water-borne disease outbreaks arise due to contaminated water (Sardar et al., n.d.). Clean drinking water is needed to fight the health problems which plague Zimbabwe. A lack of a proper waste disposal system complicates the lack of clean water as industries often dump their waste in water sources such as rivers. Therefore, poor management of water sources has led to the lack of clean water in Zimbabwe.
The lack of clean water has promoted the rise of diseases such as dysentery, cholera, diarrhea in Zimbabwe. Poor sanitation has compromised the health of the population. Cholera, caused by poor sanitation, has caused a rise in infant mortalities (Sardar et al., n.d.). For example, the 2008 cholera outbreak in the country was associated with the use of water sourced from contaminated sources (Sardar et al., n.d.). Health structures are overwhelmed when epidemics of water-borne diseases occur. In turn, economic production is affected. Therefore, the lack of clean water has led to the decreased efficiency of health systems as professionals combat avoidable health problems.
The third stage in providing a solution to clean water is ideating. In this stage, solutions for bringing clean water to Zimbabwean citizens are brainstormed. Drilling boreholes throughout the country is an initiative that would help citizens from walking long distances in search of clean water. Most households source their water from streams and shallow wells (Gondo & Kolawole, 2022). To ensure that clean water reaches everyone, treatment and proper water delivery to homesteads would have to be executed. Water sourced from rivers would also be treated before it is used. Therefore, controlling how water reaches users is essential to fight the lack of clean water.
Proposing policies for the provision of clean water in Zimbabwe is another idea to solve the lack of clean water in the country. Procedures for protecting natural resources in the country are often breached due to poor leadership and corruption. For example, waste disposal should have clear guidelines which ensure that water sources are protected. However, factories built next to water sources such as rivers dispose of their waste straight to these sources. In turn, people fall sick when using contaminated water (Sardar et al., n.d.). Therefore, the proposal and implementation of robust policies is essential to solving the lack of clean water.
The fourth stage in providing clean water in Zimbabwe is prototyping our ideas. The design team must try the solutions in Zimbabwe and evaluate them based on their performance. The most feasible of the proposed solutions is the application of policies that protect water sources from pollution. Supporting existing legislation passed by the government of Zimbabwe will ensure that the proposed guidelines are implemented. The existing approaches aim to restore water resources (Taonameso et al., n.d). Drilling boreholes is expensive and would require a lot of funding from donors. A clear view of communities in Zimbabwe with clean water is seen based on the overall feasibility of the solutions. At the end of prototyping, we evaluate all the solutions, such as drilling boreholes and proposing water protection policies.
The final stage is testing our solutions. Testing proposed policies to protect Zimbabwe’s water sources would involve applying these policies in a small community to check for effectiveness. Proposed policies would have to be shared with the community leadership and water supply workers. The government of Zimbabwe must regard water supply workers as critical service providers by providing satisfactory remuneration (Taonameso et al., n.d). In turn, the water supply workers reinforce the proposed policies because of their increased resources. The success of proposed policies depends on the reinforcement of the Zimbabwean government during the application of these policies. If breached, the cycle of lack of clean water will repeat itself. The Zimbabwean government may amend the guidelines to focus on the communities’ needs as the country develops. Therefore, testing and implementing the proposed policies with support from the Zimbabwean government will ensure that communities nurture ways to protect their water sources.
In conclusion, a solution to provide clean water in Zimbabwe involves empathizing with local communities, defining the problems they encounter while sourcing water, contributing new ideas on how to provide clean water, prototyping our solutions, and testing them. As the communities in Zimbabwe evolve, the government may amend the proposed policies. The design thinking approach is thus essential in creating a solution for providing clean water to communities in Zimbabwe.
References
Sardar, T., Mukhopadhyay, S., Bhowmick, A. R., & Chattopadhyay, J. (n.d.). An optimal cost-effectiveness study on Zimbabwe cholera seasonal data from 2008–2011. PLOS ONE. www.journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0081231.
Gondo, R., & Kolawole, O. D. (2022). Household water access and covid-19 in Karoi town, Zimbabwe. Scientific African. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468227622000540.
Taonameso, S., Mudau, L. S., Traoré, A. N., & Potgieter, N. (n.d.). Urban water conundrums in Zimbabwe – the role of water policy and its implementation gaps. Water Supply. www.iwaponline.com/ws/article/doi/10.2166/ws.2021.386/85265/Urban-water-conundrums-in-Zimbabwe-the-role-of.