Children’s Eye Care for VisionSpring

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Message Children’s Eye Care VisionSpring, a New York-based social enterprise with operations throughout the developing world, supplies tens of thousands of people with affordable eyeglasses—and creates sustainable jobs in the process. Historically, its clients have been older adults who need glasses in order to continue their work as tailors, jewelers, farmers, and more. But a recent grant from USAID enabled VisionSpring to broaden its scope to serve children and adolescents, too. VisionSpring approached IDEO, which had additional financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation, for its expertise in human-centered design and its experience with social-impact projects in India. The team’s objective was three-fold: develop a scalable system for providing affordable, comprehensive eye care to families; assist VisionSpring personnel in learning the principles of human-centered design (HCD); and experiment with a new mode of client engagement. Although VisionSpring understood adults in Base of the Pyramid markets in India and their needs related to eye care, the organization was less familiar with the specific needs and concerns of children and adolescents. Working with IDEO—which in the process created standard tools for HCD teaching and coaching—VisionSpring identified its goals, established a framework for a human-centered approach to reaching them, and conducted field research. The latter included working with VisionSpring to observe and interview teachers, students, and authority figures in several remote villages. In analyzing the data collected, some overarching themes emerged: Children want to be treated like adults; they enjoy being compared to movie stars; and they frequently influence their mothers’ decisions. Armed with this knowledge, the IDEO and VisionSpring team split into groups and built prototypes for an eye camp for kids, a screening and awareness program for schools, and a promotional campaign through self-help groups. In testing at least a dozen different prototypes (e.g., banners, take-home kits, ID cards, group networks, data management systems) the team further refined its approach. IDEO coached VisionSpring staff, as needed, along the way. As of June 2009, in India, VisionSpring has conducted 5 eye camps for children, screened 1600 children, provided transportation to the local eye hospital for 130 children, and provided glasses for 46 children. It has also repeated the HCD process by encouraging a team of University of Michigan MBA students to use it for selling UV protection sunglasses through the Vision Entrepreneur channel and is in the process of using the HCD toolkit to develop a standardized approach for innovation. Read about IDEO on the VisionSpring blog here. http://www.ideo.com/work/childrens-eye-care

VisionSpring, a New York-based social enterprise with operations throughout the developing world, supplies tens of thousands of people with affordable eyeglasses—and creates sustainable jobs in the process. Historically, its clients have been older adults who need glasses in order to continue their work as tailors, jewelers, farmers, and more. But a recent grant from USAID enabled VisionSpring to broaden its scope to serve children and adolescents, too.

VisionSpring approached IDEO, which had additional financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation, for its expertise in human-centered design and its experience with social-impact projects in India. The team’s objective was three-fold: develop a scalable system for providing affordable, comprehensive eye care to families; assist VisionSpring personnel in learning the principles of human-centered design (HCD); and experiment with a new mode of client engagement.

Although VisionSpring understood adults in Base of the Pyramid markets in India and their needs related to eye care, the organization was less familiar with the specific needs and concerns of children and adolescents. Working with IDEO—which in the process created standard tools for HCD teaching and coaching—VisionSpring identified its goals, established a framework for a human-centered approach to reaching them, and conducted field research. The latter included working with VisionSpring to observe and interview teachers, students, and authority figures in several remote villages.

In analyzing the data collected, some overarching themes emerged: Children want to be treated like adults; they enjoy being compared to movie stars; and they frequently influence their mothers’ decisions. Armed with this knowledge, the IDEO and VisionSpring team split into groups and built prototypes for an eye camp for kids, a screening and awareness program for schools, and a promotional campaign through self-help groups. In testing at least a dozen different prototypes (e.g., banners, take-home kits, ID cards, group networks, data management systems) the team further refined its approach. IDEO coached VisionSpring staff, as needed, along the way.

As of June 2009, in India, VisionSpring has conducted 5 eye camps for children, screened 1600 children, provided transportation to the local eye hospital for 130 children, and provided glasses for 46 children. It has also repeated the HCD process by encouraging a team of University of Michigan MBA students to use it for selling UV protection sunglasses through the Vision Entrepreneur channel and is in the process of using the HCD toolkit to develop a standardized approach for innovation.

Read about IDEO on the VisionSpring blog here.

A scalable system for providing vision exams and eyeglasses to families in poor, remote communities

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Project date: 2009

Facts & Figures

As of September 2010, in India, VisionSpring has conducted 29 eye camps for children, screened 11,000 children, provided transportation to the local eye hospital for 320 children, and provided glasses for 187 children.