Uncovering The Barriers: The Root Causes Of Frugal Design Failure

Frugal Design approach aims to develop "more value with less resources," especially for resource-scarce environments. Despite its potential, most frugal design initiatives do not achieve their proposed goals because of systemic inefficiencies and undiscovered constraints. This study examines the causes of failure in frugal design through an in-depth analysis of two case studies that were originally designed with frugal motives but, after being examined, did not satisfy established criteria of frugality. A three-step (Ishikawa diagram, prioritization, and Five Whys method) Root Cause Analysis (RCA) methodology with closed-loop product life cycle analysis was utilized. The analysis identified the 65 causes (56 inter-loop and 9 intra-loop), out of which 51 were critical ones, and reduced them to five major root causes, which were mainly associated with the inefficient use of key input resources: materials, energy, information, space, and time. The results highlight the need to embed resource optimization within every stage of the lifecycle to balance frugal design goals. This research adds to the emerging literature on sustainable and inclusive product development by providing a systematic approach to diagnose and resolve frugal design practice’s barriers.