Design and engineering for frugal product development

Crafted by the ingenuity and entrepreneurship of people in the lower income segment of society, many frugal innovations have been commercially applied to society at large. The combination of features such as a no-frills structure, robust functionality, quality and low cost is also making these innovations popular from the perspective of sustainability. As a result, these innovations have come a long way from their grassroots origins and are being increasingly applied in sophisticated settings as advanced frugal innovations. However, despite their significant potential for sustainable development, there is no methodical application of science and technology involved in the development of frugal innovations, particularly at the grassroots level. This chapter stresses the need for involving science in general and also presents a design approach for systematically creating frugal products from scratch. Rooted in traditional or classical design, the frugal design approach presented in this chapter facilitates and also quantifies minimal consumption of materials during the realization of frugal innovations.