Local-First Product Design
Good product design starts with observation, not assumptions. This is especially true when building for a market that's different from where most tech products originate.
What "Local-First" Means
It's not just translation. It's designing from the ground up for:
Infrastructure reality: Inconsistent internet, power outages, older devices. Your app needs to work on a $50 Android phone with spotty 3G.
Payment patterns: Cash is still king. QR payments are growing fast. Credit cards are rare outside tourist areas.
Language and literacy: Khmer script rendering, mixed Khmer-English interfaces, voice-first for some users.
Social patterns: Group decisions, family businesses, trust networks that don't map to Western assumptions.
Examples from Our Work
KOOMPI laptops: We didn't just make cheap laptops. We made laptops that work reliably in hot, humid environments with inconsistent power. Small things matter—like power supplies that handle voltage fluctuations.
Baray payments: We started by watching how small shop owners actually manage money. They use multiple apps, keep paper records, and need to reconcile at end of day. We built for that workflow, not against it.
The Research Process
- Spend time in the field: Not just interviews, but observation. Watch people work.
- Start with paper prototypes: Test ideas before writing code.
- Build for the hardest case: If it works on a slow phone with bad internet, it works everywhere.
- Iterate locally: Test with real users, not just friends and family.
Common Mistakes
- Assuming everyone has smartphones and fast internet
- Designing for individual users when decisions are made by families or groups
- Ignoring offline functionality
- Building features that require behaviors people don't have
The Competitive Advantage
Understanding local context deeply is hard to replicate. Foreign companies can copy features, but they can't easily copy genuine understanding of how people live and work here.
This is our edge. We need to use it.