From Operational Conditions to Design Knowledge

Situated Problem Reformulation in an Infrastructure-Constrained Development Context

Abstract

Design interventions in development contexts often treat local conditions as information added after a problem is defined. This article examines how situated operational evidence becomes epistemically active when it creates friction with an initial assumption and is interpreted into a reformulation of the problem. Using the O-Waste electric mobility component in The Gambia, it traces four episodes involving routes, payload, procurement, and autonomy. The study proposes a sequence linking initial assumption, evidential friction, situated interpretation, design consequence, and validation boundary, distinguishing design reasoning from claims that still require operational validation.