A problem family — different problems, same issues

designed for a world
that doesn’t exist here

24 problems across 13 fields

These 24 problems go beyond technology designed for rich settings failing in poor ones. They include heat stress in farm workers, mercury exposure in small-scale mining, and detecting substandard medicine in the field, all cases where formal systems can't account for informal economies. The test that separates this family from the “the solution exists but nobody can afford it” family is price. If the technology were free, those problems would be solved and these would not. The barrier is infrastructure, institutional support, and understanding the constraints the user lives with.

Making the technology free wouldn't solve these problems. The barriers are harder to see: no electricity, no trained technicians, no supply chain, and designers who never visited the place.

The 24 problems in this family

rots before it reaches the roadtested in the wrong worldhigh

sealed bags that stay on the shelfbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh

harvested, then losttested in the wrong worldmedium

also in the solution exists but nobody can afford it

every field varies, every sensor averagesthe economics don't workhigh

also in the solution exists but nobody can afford it

monitoring built for new buildings, not old onesit fell between the crackshigh

scaffolding collapses without warningit fell between the crackshigh

the building has no twintested in the wrong worldhigh

also in the model was never trained on this

deep water wind, deeper costsit fell between the crackshigh

too thin to catch, too potent to ignorebuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh

predictable power, prohibitive pricethe economics don't workhigh

also in the solution exists but nobody can afford it

the vaccine froze and nobody noticedthe economics don't workmedium

also in the solution exists but nobody can afford it

invisible to the systembuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh

also in designed for the wrong person, the context you didn’t design for

sterilized and still infectioustested in the wrong worldhigh

oxygen machines that drown in humiditytested in the wrong worldhigh

also in the context you didn’t design for

adult pills for children's cancerthe economics don't workhigh

also in the solution exists but nobody can afford it

protection invented, not deliveredthe economics don't workhigh

also in the solution exists but nobody can afford it

one in ten pills is a liebuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium

also in it worked in the lab, the context you didn’t design for

the water plant runs on outdated softwarebuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium

also in built to be open. now under attack

tunnels without lightbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium

heat kills farmworkers nobody monitorsbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium

also in the context you didn’t design for

nobody taught the boda riderthe economics don't workhigh

arsenic removed in the lab, not in the villagetested in the wrong worldhigh

also in the solution exists but nobody can afford it

too slow to catch the pathogen before outbreaktested in the wrong worldhigh

also in it worked in the lab

the price of a full pitthe economics don't workhigh

Confidence: high = from a primary expert source (Tier 1) · medium = from an analyst, conference, or community source (Tier 2 or 3) · needs sourcing = flagged until we find a better source · the dot's size is its tier; a dashed dot needs sourcing

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designed for a worldthat doesn’t exist here

The 24 problems in this family

designed for a worldthat doesn’t exist here

The 24 problems in this family

designed for a world
that doesn’t exist here

designed for a world
that doesn’t exist here