A bottom-up framework for product development in humanitarian, poor, and emerging markets

Over 1.7 billion people lack basic sanitation, and 2 billion rely on contaminated drinking water, predominantly in low- and middle-income countries. Decentralized solutions offer a viable alternative to centralized systems but face barriers in governance, finance, and the Product Development Process (PDP).

This paper examines challenges across seven PDP stages—Function, Assembly, Deployment, Maintenance, Upscaling, Disassembly, and Transfer—through a two-step qualitative sequential design approach. Findings reveal critical gaps, including insufficient funding for maintenance, fragmented regulatory frameworks, and neglect of end-of-life management. Humanitarian markets prioritize speed over sustainability, poor markets demand low-cost designs but lack institutional support, and emerging markets face regulatory complexity and uneven scalability.

Practical recommendations include simplifying funding, adopting user-centered modular designs, and strengthening local capacity through partnerships. Future research should focus on governance reforms, sustainable maintenance, and scaling pathways to ensure innovations address the urgent needs of underserved populations. Theoretically, this paper advances understanding of how PDP challenges intersect with market typologies in resource-constrained contexts, offering a framework to analyze and address systemic barriers to innovation. This study contributes to the field of innovation for resource-constrained markets by providing actionable insights for technology providers, financers, and local implementers to address systemic governance, financial, and operational gaps in the PDP.