Design-Driven Sustainable Poverty Alleviation: A Case Study of Precise Identification and Resource Optimization in Rural Areas

China’s transition from precise poverty alleviation to rural revitalization represents a critical development stage. This study aims to explore how a design-driven approach can achieve sustainable poverty alleviation and development by addressing challenges such as relative poverty, imprecise targeting, insufficient endogenous motivation, and the risk of returning to poverty. Understanding the inherent relationship between poverty alleviation and sustainable development is crucial for deepening precise poverty alleviation strategies and promoting rural revitalization. This study employs the TOPSIS method to accurately identify target groups for poverty eradication and select optimal poverty alleviation strategies based on multidimensional poverty governance criteria. A case study of Village M in Guangdong Province is conducted, where questionnaire surveys and sampling methods are used to establish the TOPSIS model for precise identification and the design of targeted interventions to support poverty eradication. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches are applied to ensure comprehensive analysis and results. The findings indicate that targeted design interventions, particularly those leveraging local bamboo resources, led to a significant increase in the annual per capita income of identified families by approximately 176.32%, from RMB 3146 (approximately USD 431) to RMB 8700 (approximately USD 1192). This design-driven approach effectively stimulated the innovation consciousness of impoverished farmers, demonstrating the critical role of sustainable design strategies in optimally matching resources to the needs of the poor. This study contributes to the development of a novel framework integrating design methodologies with poverty alleviation strategies, providing empirical evidence on the effectiveness of these interventions. The findings highlight the importance of user-centered design in promoting sustainable development and underscore the need to incorporate design-driven methodologies in poverty alleviation efforts.