Crafting a sustainable future for the artisan sector
Amidst the global Covid-19 pandemic, a startup emerged to connect artisans with resources. We envisioned how this organic movement could become a valuable partner for social entrepreneurs in a sector pervaded with complex, systemic issues.
MY ROLE
Design Researcher
Strategist
Analyst
METHODS
Design Research
Ecosystem Mapping
Design Strategy
Opportunity Analysis
TEAM
Nam Phuong Thi Doan
PARTNER
200 Million Artisans (200MA) is a social enterprise that supports self-reliance and innovation in India's artisan sector by bridging gaps in information, resources, partnerships. Their goal is to build a global network and community of social impact entrepreneurs focused on sustainable production led by artisans.
THE BRIEF
200MA started as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic that left millions of traditional craftsmen and women without work and no means of survival. Being a volunteer-run organization, in order to achieve their long-term goal of building a global network, they needed to design a sustainable and viable value proposition for 200MA in the short-to-medium term.
Our engagement was a 12-day design sprint focused on generating a positioning and proposition for 200MA.
UNDERSTANDING THE LANDSCAPE
The Artisan Ecosystem in India - a diverse and ancient tradition under threat
We started with exploratory research to understand the artisan ecosystem.
India’s handicrafts industry is an important economic and cultural asset and artisans are the backbone of India’s non-farm rural economy. With their uniqueness and resilience, artisans have fostered social inclusion, economic growth & creativity.
Over 30 years, the number of artisans has decreased by about 30% due to social & economic changes.
Most artisans work as a family unit or micro to small and medium enterprises as part of the unorganized sector without job security or a safety net.
We dove deeper into the interconnected challenges of complex ecosystem at various levels:
“Many young people don’t want to follow in their parents’ footsteps, seeing craft as having less status and social mobility than… an Uber driver. Why would so many skilled workers want to leave unless there was an inherent lack of recognition and respect for their work?"
— Ritu Sethi, chairperson at the Craft Revival Trust
We mapped the supply chain from raw materials to the artisans, through various intermediaries, finally to the market, and tried to identify where 200MA can meaningfully engage in this value chain.
TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE PROPOSITION
To arrive at solution spaces, we went back to what we heard from our stakeholders - the social entrepreneurs on the platform, the link between 200MA and the artisans it aims to empower.
We identified the top three challenges that users face regarding the role that 200MA currently plays in their lives. From these, we reframed the problems that 200MA needs to address as it considers its sustainable value proposition.
IDEATION & CONCEPTS
Synthesizing learning from secondary and primary research, we generated the first set of ideas which we tested with two experts from the social entrepreneurship and arts industry domains. Building on their feedback, we arrived at three solution concepts.
Each of the solutions was analyzed through the lens of desirability, feasibility, and viability. We also proposed a timeline for when each solution may be most relevant as an offering.
