anywhere in Asia, or, for that matter, in developing markets around the world. It enables communications and strengthens social connections—both dominant cultural characteristics. It’s also the cheapest fix possible to an inadequate landline infrastructure.

Yet the cell phone also enables counter-culture behavior. To pick but one example, mobile phones have made it possible for women to connect with and talk to anybody, anywhere, in private. That kind of freedom is quite radical for women in many South Asian cultures. But since it’s a natural byproduct of something that’s meeting the requirements of the dominant culture, this new empowerment of women is quietly becoming part of the social ecology.

Television is another prevalent technology that addresses both mainstream and countercultural tendencies. In the U.S. and China, watching TV together is often the primary “group activity” for families, perhaps because it lends a sense of collectivism within the dominant individualist environment. The average Indian family, on the other hand, uses TV to escape their dominant collectivist dominant order.

They thrive on films and soap operas in which characters rebel against the established societal order.

Products that can meet both mainstream and countercultural requirements without rocking the boat too much are going to be winners in emerging markets, generally speaking. And while they’re at it—with a look back at our three Indian scenarios— designers would be well served to make those products easy to use, both in their collectivist, dominant-culture mode and their individualist, countercultural mode.

For members of an emerging economy, dynamism—the explosive growth of a thriving market and a technological infrastructure that changes almost daily— coexists with the timelessness of an ancient culture. Life is lived in a kind of dual reality, in which choices must be made every day between ever more divergent sets of cultural requirements.

As an agent of change, the technology designer must bridge that divide, to make possible a life supported by the best of both worlds rather than one spent serving the demands of each. As the Scottish journalist James Cameron says when he

sees a changing India:

“I like the evening in India, the one magic moment when the sun balances on the rim of the world, and the hush descends, and ten thousand civil servants drift home on a river of bicycles, brooding on Lord Krishna and the cost of living [ 6].”

[ 6] Varma, P. Being Indian. New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2004, 103.

ABOUT ThE AUThOrS Apala Lahiri Chavan is the vice president, Asia for Human Factors International. She is an award- winning designer (Audi Design Award '96) and has started the new contextual innovation service at HFI. Contextual innovation develops breakthrough product/service concepts especially focused on emerging markets. Apala is learning to become a drummer; she believes that she was an anthropologist in her last life. Douglas Gorney is a graphic designer and the collaborative author of five books. He has also written for Outside and Moment magazines. After several years in the software industry, Douglas is currently a senior writer for Human Factors International. He is currently working on a book with one of Silicon Valley’s leading venture capitalists.

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