Township Entrepreneur Research

Aim: Understand and identify potential and existing entrepreneurs from low-income areas with whom we could launch an entrepreneurship development programme

Role: Work with various entities and organisations to connect with (potential) entrepreneurs. Conduct research and provide Human-centred design knowledge and insight.

Activities:

Ethnographic Research

Synthesis and Analysis

Identify team roles and requirements to run the project

Location visits to research the contextual environment

Workshopping and defining potential solutions

My focus on this project was deep ethnographic research to understand and profile existing and hopeful entrepreneurs in the areas of Khayelitsha and Kylemore (Western Cape, South Africa). Before embarking on the interviews and conversations with entrepreneurs, from these areas, it was important to conduct contextual research and gain an understanding of these environments from people who are actively involved in empowering these entrepreneurs. The organisations I worked with to gain a connection to the entrepreneurs are Phamphama (University of Cape Town) and Vollar.

I create unique outlines and interview plans for the two different locations due to the unique nature of each and the types of entrepreneurs I would be conversing with at each location. There was also a selection process that needed to occur in order to identify the candidates to interview. The scope of information that was required was broad and therefore I had to select a diverse set of interviewees with various levels of expertise and experience as well as functioning in different industries.

The interviews held with Phamphama took place at a scheduled event held at the University of Cape Town. I interviewed both entrepreneurs from Khayelitsha and graduate students who were working with them (to address their business needs and guide them). This allowed me to gauge current activities to aid the entrepreneurs, their business activities as well as the repercussions of aid.

The interviews with Kylemore participants involved a mixture of existing entrepreneurs as well as ones aiming to start their own businesses. These interviews were done over a number of days, on location, in various points in Kylemore. This enabled me to gain an extensive understanding of their context and ways of work in the community. The research in Kylemore and its surrounding areas extended to researching larger businesses in the areas to understand market chains and activities.

The outcomes of the research were collated into Empathy maps to identify who was to be designed for.

After the collection of data, I took on a small role consulting on the potential next steps of the project. I worked together with a larger team to explore options of piloting a project to develop entrepreneurs (in low-income areas) with the use of the Vollar system, existing SEDA documentation and design tools. We had workshopped a number of options and began to explore an initial pilot but were halted due to delays in funding.