A problem family — different problems, same issues

designed for the wrong person

16 problems across 7 fields

These 16 problems share a failure mode that inverts what most designers expect: the intervention was designed for the wrong person. As the collection grew, widening the family's definition beyond behavior-change interventions unlocked 6 new members — assistive technology designed without disabled users, indigenous data platforms built on colonial frameworks, neurodivergent students assessed by neurotypical rubrics, emergency latrines built without accessibility. The wrong-stakeholder/equity pattern manifests through design and systems-level interventions, not just behavioral ones. The 'fundamental attribution error' framing remains among the most powerful reframings in the collection.

The intervention failed because it was designed to change the wrong person — fixing students instead of institutions, training patients instead of redesigning devices, imposing solutions instead of understanding context.

Ways this shape shows up

Health equity design exclusion. Assistive technology, patient-designed devices, maternal mortality, biomass fuel — health interventions designed without the patient's lived experience
Education assessment mismatch. Deaf science terminology, neurodivergent assessment, rural STEM teacher — evaluation frameworks that penalize non-dominant experience
Digital access/sovereignty. Indigenous data sovereignty, refugee disability digital access — digital platforms built on frameworks that exclude the populations they serve
Environmental justice. Urban food security, solar waste recycling — environmental interventions that ignore community context

The 16 problems in this family

the female farmer the app forgotbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium

data governance built without askingbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium

entitled, but unenrolledbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh

every test assumes one kind of brainbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium

fixing the student instead of the institutionbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh

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

also in designed for a world that doesn’t exist here, the context you didn’t design for

hospital machines at the kitchen tablethe rules got in the wayhigh

the test said no, the doctor prescribed anywaybuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh

built for the clinic, worn at homebuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh

antivenom waits at hospitals victims can't reachthe economics don't workhigh

also in the context you didn’t design for

no id, no aidthe rules got in the waymedium

also in the rulebook was written for a world that no longer exists

latrines that fifteen percent cannot usebuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh

twenty-five million trees burned for dinnerbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh

also in the context you didn’t design for

digitized aid that disabled refugees can't reachit fell between the crackshigh

also in the context you didn’t design for

therapy designed for a clinic, needed in a campbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh

also in the context you didn’t design for

Confidence: high = Tier-1 source — a primary expert source, fully fact-checked · medium = Tier-2/3 source — analyst, conference, or community source, fact-checked · needs sourcing = flagged for deeper sourcing — help us source it · the dot's size is its tier; a dashed dot needs sourcing

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designed for the wrong persondesigned for the wrong person

Ways this shape shows up

The 16 problems in this family

designed for the wrong persondesigned for the wrong person

Ways this shape shows up

The 16 problems in this family

designed for the wrong person

designed for the wrong person