Teaching the Method, Not the Answer: Market-Based Sanitation in Karnali, Nepal

We worked through the process alongside the team rather than presenting conclusions to them. The sequence covered three stages. First, using human-centred design to understand the problem rather than assume it, through field enquiry with households, masons, suppliers and local government. Second, applying a design-thinking mindset to generate and test options against what the research surfaced. Third, thinking through commercialisation: how a working product becomes an available product. Prototyping took place in the remotest parts of Karnali and deliberately covered both halves of the problem. On the supply side, installing and testing portable, low-water sanitation options suited to mountain terrain and local artisan skill. On the demand side, prototyping the market development work itself, including promotional campaigns and advocacy approaches, because a product nobody knows about or wants is not a solution. Our core job was to help the team see their own context clearly enough to arrive at a prescription that fitted it.