To design better tech, understand context | Tania Douglas

譯者: Thomas Tam 審譯者: Yanyan Hong

This is an equipment graveyard.

這是一個設備的墓地。

It's a typical final resting place

是非洲醫院的廢棄的醫療設備，

for medical equipment from hospitals in Africa.

最後慣常會來到的地方。

Now, why is this?

為何如此？

Most of the medical devices used in Africa are imported,

非洲使用的醫療設備 大多數是進口的，

and quite often, they're not suitable for local conditions.

很多時候，並不適合當地的條件。

They may require trained staff

這些醫療設備缺乏熟練的員工

that aren't available to operate and maintain and repair them;

操作、維護及修理；

they may not be able to withstand high temperatures and humidity;

也可能無法承受高溫和高濕度；

and they usually require a constant and reliable supply of electricity.

通常需要持續和可靠的電力供應。

An example of a medical device

有一個醫療設備進入墳墓的事例，

that may have ended up in an equipment graveyard at some point

一種超聲波監測儀器，

is an ultrasound monitor to track the heart rate of unborn babies.

用作追蹤未出生嬰兒的 心率是是否正常，

This is the standard of care in rich countries.

其實這是富裕國家的護理標準；

In low-resource settings, the standard of care is often

但在資源不足的境況下，

標準護理通常是

a midwife listening to the baby's heart rate

助產士通過號角聽嬰兒的心率。

through a horn.

Now, this approach has been around for more than a century.

這種做法已經存在了一個多世紀。

It's very much dependent on the skill and the experience of the midwife.

是要依賴助產士的經驗和技能。

Two young inventors from Uganda

兩位來自烏干達的年輕發明家，

visited an antenatal clinic at a local hospital a few years ago,

當幾年前他們還是資訊科技的學生，

when they were students in information technology.

參觀了當地一家醫院的產前診所。

They noticed that quite often,

他們經常注意到，

the midwife was not able to hear any heart rate

助產士用號角

when trying to listen to it through this horn.

聽不到任何嬰兒心率。

So they invented their own fetal heart rate monitor.

所以他們發明了自己的 胎兒心率監護儀。

They adapted the horn and connected it to a smartphone.

他們改裝號角，連接智能手機。

An app on the smartphone records the heart rate, analyzes it

手機上的應用程式會記錄 寶寶的心率並進行分析，

and provides the midwife with a range of information

為助產士提供寶寶狀況的

on the status of the baby.

一系列信息。

These inventors --

發明者——

(Applause)

（掌聲）

are called Aaron Tushabe and Joshua Okello.

是亞倫‧托薩貝和約書亞‧奧克羅。

Another inventor, Tendekayi Katsiga,

另一位發明家， 滕德卡伊‧卡特西加，

was working for an NGO in Botswana that manufactured hearing aids.

在博茨瓦納一個非政府組織的 製造助聽器機構工作。

Now, he noticed that these hearing aids needed batteries

他注意到助聽器需要電池，

that needed replacement,

需要常常更換電池，

very often at a cost that was not affordable

大多數他認識的用戶 承受不了需付的金額。

for most of the users that he knew.

In response, and being an engineer, Tendekayi invented

滕德卡伊作為一名工程師回應了，

他發明了可用於 助聽器的太陽能充電器，

a solar-powered battery charger with rechargeable batteries,

that could be used in these hearing aids.

及充電電池。

He cofounded a company called Deaftronics,

他作為創辦人之一的 Deaftronics 公司

which now manufactures the Solar Ear,

目前生產太陽能助聽器，

which is a hearing aid powered by his invention.

由他的發明衍生而來。

My colleague, Sudesh Sivarasu, invented a smart glove

我的同事蘇德什‧西瓦拉蘇，

為患痲瘋病的人發明了聰明手套。

for people who have suffered from leprosy.

Even though their disease may have been cured,

儘管他們的痲瘋已經治癒，

the resulting nerve damage will have left many of them

但之前造成的神經損傷

將會使多數痊癒的病人 手部失去了觸覺。

without a sense of touch in their hands.

This puts them at risk of injury.

促成有受傷的危險。

The glove has sensors to detect temperature and pressure

手套具有檢測溫度 和壓力的傳感器，

and warn the user.

並能發出危險警告；

It effectively serves as an artificial sense of touch

聰明手套可當作有效的人造觸覺，

並能防止痲瘋病癒者受傷害。

and prevents injury.

蘇德什發明了這種手套，

Sudesh invented this glove after observing former leprosy patients

是在觀察前痲瘋病人的日常活動後，

as they carried out their day-to-day activities,

and he learned about the risks and the hazards in their environment.

從中學到了環境 可能造成的危害及風險。

Now, the inventors that I've mentioned

我提到的發明家，

integrated engineering with healthcare.

將工程與醫療保健一體化。

This is what biomedical engineers do.

這是生物醫學工程師所做的。

At the University of Cape Town,

在開普敦大學，

we run a course called Health Innovation and Design.

我們有一門名為 「健康創新與設計」的課程

It's taken by many of our graduate students in biomedical engineering.

有許多生物醫學工程的研究生選修。

The aim of the course is to introduce these students

課程的目的是介紹給學生

to the philosophy of the design world.

有關設計世界的哲學。

The students are encouraged to engage with communities

鼓勵學生參與社區活動

as they search for solutions to health-related problems.

從而尋找解決有關健康問題的方法。

One of the communities that we work with is a group of elderly people

與我們合作的一個團體

是在開普敦的一群老年人。

in Cape Town.

A recent class project had the task of addressing hearing loss

最近一個課堂項目的任務

是解決老年人聽力損失的問題。

in these elderly people.

The students, many of them being engineers,

學生中許多是工程師，

set out believing that they would design a better hearing aid.

相信自己會設計出更好的助聽器。

They spent time with the elderly,

學生們花時間在老年人身上，

chatted to their healthcare providers and their caregivers.

並與照顧者及醫療保健提供者討論。

They soon realized that, actually, adequate hearing aids already existed,

學生很快就意識到助聽器早就有了，

but many of the elderly who needed them and had access to them

許多需要的老年人曾經也接觸過，

didn't have them.

但並未擁有它們。

And many of those who had hearing aids

還有很多有助聽器的人

wouldn't wear them.

卻不願意戴上。

The students realized

學生了解到

that many of these elderly people were in denial of their hearing loss.

許多老年人拒絕承認 自己的聽力衰退，

There's a stigma attached to wearing a hearing aid.

認為配戴助聽器是一種恥辱。

They also discovered that the environment in which these elderly people lived

學生還發現在居住的環境上，

did not accommodate their hearing loss.

並未配合老年人衰退聽力的需要。

For example, their homes and their community center

例如在老人的家園和社區中心，

were filled with echoes that interfered with their hearing.

有許多干擾他們聽覺的迴聲。

So instead of developing and designing a new and better hearing aid,

學生因此放棄開發 和設計更好的助聽器，

the students did an audit of the environment,

卻對環境進行了檢測，

with a view to improving the acoustics.

以期改善聲學效果。

They also devised a campaign to raise awareness of hearing loss

他們還策劃了一項運動， 提高對聽力損失的意識，

and to counter the stigma attached to wearing a hearing aid.

並消除配戴助聽器所帶來的恥辱感。

Now, this often happens when one pays attention to the user --

當人們關注服務對象時， 經常會發生一種情況——

在這種情況下，是那些老年人

in this case, the elderly --

and their needs and their context.

與他們的需求和背景，

One often has to move away from the focus of technology

人們經常要擺脫聚焦於技術

and reformulate the problem.

才能重新看待問題。

This approach to understanding a problem through listening and engaging

通過參與和傾聽來理解問題的方法

is not new,

並不新鮮，

but it often isn't followed by engineers,

但工程師只著意於

who are intent on developing technology.

技術開發的一方面。

One of our students has a background in software engineering.

我們的一名學生 擁有軟件工程的背景，

He had often created products for clients

他經常為客戶編程軟件解決方案，

that the client ultimately did not like.

但最終客戶都不喜歡。

When a client would reject a product,

客戶拒絕接收他們的產品，

it was common at his company

是他的公司常有的事情，

to proclaim that the client just didn't know what they wanted.

公司只宣稱客戶不了解 自己的需要而已。

Having completed the course, the student fed back to us

課程完成後，這個學生反饋，

that he now realized that it was he who hadn't understood

他了解到是自己不明白

what the client wanted.

客戶想要什麼。

Another student gave us feedback

另一名學生也給了反饋，

that she had learned to design with empathy,

說工程教育教她用「同感設計」，

as opposed to designing for functionality,

是與「功能設計」

which is what her engineering education had taught her.

相反的理論。

So what all of this illustrates is that we're often blinded to real needs

所有這一切都說明了 我們經常只顧追求工程技術，

in our pursuit of technology.

卻忽視實際的需要。

But we need technology.

但是我們需要技術。

We need hearing aids. We need fetal heart rate monitors.

我們需要助聽器。 及胎兒心率監測器。

So how do we create more medical device success stories from Africa?

那麼我們如何在非洲創造更多 醫療設備的成功案例？

How do we create more inventors,

我們如何能栽培更多的發明家，

rather than relying on a few exceptional individuals

而不是依靠一些能夠感知真正需求

who are able to perceive real needs

並以有效方式回應的少數特殊個人？

and respond in ways that work?

Well, we focus on needs and people and context.

我們關注是人的需求和環境。

"But this is obvious," you might say,

你可能會說：「明顯地，

"Of course context is important."

環境也很重要。」

But Africa is a diverse continent,

但非洲是一個多元化的大陸，

with vast disparities in health and wealth and income and education.

無論在健康、財富、收入 和教育各方面都存在巨大差距。

If we assume that our engineers and inventors already know enough

如果我們假設工程師 和發明人已經足夠了解

about the different African contexts

不同非洲人的背景，

to be able to solve the problems of our different communities

能夠解決不同

及最邊緣化的社區問題，

and our most marginalized communities,

then we might get it wrong.

那麼我們就可能弄錯了。

But then, if we on the African continent

儘管我們身處非洲大陸

don't necessarily know enough about it,

對它並不一定有足夠的了解，

then perhaps anybody with the right level of skill and commitment could fly in,

那麼任何具備適當技能和承諾的人，

spend some time listening and engaging

都可以花一點時間傾聽和參與

and fly out knowing enough to invent for Africa.

足以重新認識非洲的人和事。

But understanding context is not about a superficial interaction.

要理解背景，不是膚淺的接觸，

It's about deep engagement

而是深入參與

and an immersion in the realities and the complexities of our context.

並沉浸在複雜的現實中。

And we in Africa are already immersed.

而我們已經身處非洲，

We already have a strong and rich base of knowledge

擁有強大而豐富的知識基礎

from which to start finding solutions to our own problems.

可作解決自己問題的方法。

So let's not rely too much on others

當我們生活在擁有

無盡潛能人才的非洲大陸時， 我們就需要自立自强。

when we live on a continent that is filled with untapped talent.

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）