UX 11

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User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012

Departments

Features

5 Integrating UX Design into Agile Software Development Meeting Marketplace Demands as a Leader

2 Editors’ Notes Behind the Scenes

6 The Magic of Mobile Money Identification Money Identification Made Easy

3 What’s News Where to Begin Work in Mobile UX Digesting the Expert Advice

By Joe Bugental

The World is Mobile

By Mindy Maxwell

By Jeff Gothelf

By Jennifer Sutton

10 The Fate of a Digital Slate Unexpected Issues with Deployment in Rural India

By Indrani Medhi, Anuj Tewari, Mohit Jain, and Edward Cutrell

12 Home Front Help Engaging Veteran’s Family Caregivers in Application Design

By Nancy Wilck

A Call for Help Mobile Money in Times of Crisis

By Gabrielle Smith

In the humanitarian response to the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, some aid agencies provided assistance in the form of cash grants, in addition to food, clothing, blankets, and shelter. Markets were still functioning, so people affected by the disaster could purchase the things they needed. Recipients welcomed these cash transfers and appreciated being able to make their own decisions about what to buy. Since then, there has been overwhelming evidence from many humanitarian relief efforts around the world, that cash transfers give people more dignity and flexibility in meeting their day-to-day needs.

The Challenge of Cash

Humanitarian aid provides assistance to those affected by crises including natural and man-made disasters. The movement of large amounts of cash to isolated or insecure environments presents obvious logistical, operational, and security challenges. The area of a disaster is chaotic, and any banking infrastructure that did exist may have disappeared.

In many of the poorest countries, people who require humanitarian aid are many miles from the nearest bank. Counting out and delivering cash to people by hand is time consuming and costly. There is a risk that some may get stolen or go missing before reaching those for whom it is intended. There is also a risk that delivery points, or recipients travelling home after collecting their cash, will be targets for robbery.

Since the emergence of the M-PESA mobile money product developed by the Kenyan mobile network operator Safaricom just five years ago, a variety of mobile money systems have emerged in eighty low or middle income countries in

Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Services are well established in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and the Philippines, and are becoming available in Nigeria, Niger, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

For the aid agencies, these new opportunities to deliver aid without the need to handle and transport cash may solve logistical and security challenges, so that cash can be delivered more efficiently and cost effectively than in-kind aid. Importantly, this can be done without the need to physically move or count hard currency, with all the costs and risks that this

involves. Recipients no longer need to travel to or queue at a distribution point. However, aid agencies also work with arguably the poorest people in the world, many of whom may lack awareness of, or previous experience with, mobile technology, and who live in isolated communities with limited infrastructure. In this context, relying on mobile technology could also become an additional burden for the agencies, rather than a tool for improving the effectiveness of delivering aid. With the rise of mobile money, a number of international aid agencies have run trials using these services to provide cash transfers to people affected in recent emergencies.

Evaluating the Use of Mobile Money Systems to Deliver Aid

In 2011, the Cash Learning Partnership (a consortium of Oxfam, the British Red Cross, Save the Children, Action Against Hunger, and the Norwegian Refugee Council) commissioned the international aid agency, Concern Worldwide, to investigate the use of emerging electronic payment systems for cash transfer programs in humanitarian contexts. The research focused on experiences of aid agencies using mobile money systems to deliver cash-based assistance to households in Kenya, Niger, Haiti, Cote d’Ivoire, and the Philippines.

There were numerous benefits and challenges of using mobile money systems experienced by the aid agencies. The most important benefits are:

The Rise of Branchless Banking

Recent advances in mobile technology in low income countries are changing this picture as “branchless banking” services have appeared.

These services allow aid agencies to transfer financial value directly, immediately, and electronically to the accounts of many recipients through pre-paid debit cards, chip-enabled cards, and mobile money systems on mobile phones. Of these, mobile money systems, which enable payments to be transferred from one person or organization to another through mobile phones, are especially important given the rise in mobile phone penetration across Africa and Asia. Users don’t need a bank card.

Instead, they use their phone to store value in a “mobile wallet,” exchange this stored value for cash through accredited agents, or transfer value between users. They can also purchase mobile air time or pay for goods.

Figure 2. Zeinabou training women in Abala Sani village, Niger how to use mobiles.

■■

■■

Figure 1. Amaram Moussa, recipient of cash transfer via mobile money, Niger.

Improved security for staff and recipients of aid Speedier delivery of aid, with fewer “opportunity costs” for recipients

14 User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org

■■

The introduction of aid recipients to mobile phones and banchless banking are benefits that last beyond the emergency

With the adoption of new ways of working and the growing pains associated with an emerging technology, there are inevitable glitches. Agencies working in complex

for whom it was intended. Agencies can reconcile accounts through web-based systems that designated staff can access in order to view the processing of payments and transaction expenditures.

In a mobile money system, much of the risk of handling cash is fielded by the service providers and their network of agents, rather than by the aid agency. These organizations already have the systems and processes in place to manage transactions quickly, securely, and efficiently. For the mobile network operators and banking institutions, aid programs present opportunities to reach a previously untapped market, the so-called unbanked. Service providers tend to offer aid agencies preferential rates, in recognition of the value of the humanitarian market.

Using mobile money systems also increases feelings of personal security. This is an important factor for both aid agency field staff and recipients, particularly in areas notorious for robbery. Cash transfer recipients using mobile money systems in poor urban areas are satisfied that their money can be kept securely on the phone. Receiving money this way is also more discreet than publically queuing

“The research provides some evidence from Haiti and Niger that recipients of aid can access cash transferred to them via mobile money more quickly than they can access cash transferred by hand.” emergency zones, and with the poorest sections of society, also face challenges supporting electronic cash benefits, including: ■■ ■■

■■

Poor network and infrastructure Low literacy and lack of experience with technology among aid recipients Lack of experience with mobile money in the humanitarian community

■■

Improved Security

Agencies agree that a major benefit of using mobile money systems is the reduced opportunity for fraud or for diversion of intended funds.

It is easier to track payments, which can reduce corruption and increase confidence that the right amount of money ends up in the hands of those

outside the bank, so it is considered less likely to be stolen.

Reduced Opportunity Costs

The research provides some evidence from Haiti and Niger that recipients of aid can access cash transferred to them via mobile money more quickly than they can access cash transferred by hand.

This reduced opportunity cost can prove very significant to poor households where every hour of the day can be important for earning a living. This benefit depends on a welldeveloped mobile money agent network with sufficient cash funds—emergency situations can create some difficulties for small-time agents with a small cash flow. Mobile money systems

User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org 15

14 A Call for Help Mobile Money in Times of Crisis

By Gabrielle Smith

18 Mobile Data Collection Tools for Getting Better Data in the Field

By William Souza and Karla Okada

24 The Money Machine Helping Baby Boomers Retire

By Aaron Marcus

Managing Editors Aga Bojko: abojko@usercentric.com J.O. Bugental: jobugental@gmail.com Founding Editor Charles B. Kreitzberg: charlie@cognetics.com Editor-In-Chief Emeritus Aaron Marcus: Aaron.Marcus@amanda.com Editors Cynthia Cortez Kamishlian: ckamish@speakeasy.net

3 Rubes Cartoon

Christine Danko: cdanko@earthlink.net

30 Book Review It’s Finally Here! A Book about User Experience Management Reviewed by Chelsey Glasson

32 The View From Here Mobile Money for Financial Inclusion in India

Senior Editor Christopher Koster: chris.koster@smithkoster.com

By Lucas Wxyz

By Leigh Rubin

Director of Publications Susan Dray: susan.dray@dray.com

By Neel Chowdhury

More information about these articles is available at http://upassoc.org/upa_publications/ user_experience/current_issue/index.html

UPA Vision

To be the premier professional association advancing the field of UX worldwide.

UPA Mission

The UPA supports people who research, design, and evaluate the user experience of products and services.

UPA Goals & Objectives:

1. To become the authoritative source on the practice of usability, UCD, and user experience.

2. To facilitate professional development and education within the UX field.

3. To promote the business value of user experience, research, design and evaluation to business and other entities.

4. To foster a community of user experience professionals through knowledge sharing and networking by A. Providing effective UPA governance B. Enhancing and providing the value of UPA membership

Gerry Gaffney: gerry@infodesign.com.au Chelsey Glasson: chelsey.glasson@gmail.com Paul Linton: paul.linton@pb.com Mindy Maxwell: mlmaxwell73@gmail.com Alice Preston: aliceflute@gmail.com Whitney Quesenbery: whitneyq@wqusability.com Pascal Rettig: pascal@cykod.com Martha Sippel: azuwrite@comcast.net Craig Tomlin: wcraigtomlin@gmail.com Original Cover Art Tom Biby: tombiby@hotmail.com

Business and Advertising

UPA Executive Director John Kasper: executive-director@upassoc.org; (630) 980-4997 Advertising Sales Director Nicole Tafoya: publications@upassoc.org; (630) 980-4997 Membership Director Elizabeth Goins: member_services@upassoc.org; (630) 980-4997

Publishing

Custom Publisher

Production Manager Suzanne Manning: suzanne@redmatmedia.com Production Editor Ann McGuire: ann@redmatmedia.com Art Director Ryan Swanson: ryan@redmatmedia.com

User Experience (UX) Published four times a year by the Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA), 140 N. Bloomingdale Rd., Bloomingdale, IL 60108-1017.

(630) 980-4997. Fax (630) 351-8490. office@ upassoc.org; www.usabilityprofessionals.org. UX magazine is a benefit of membership in the UPA. Copyright © 2012 by the Usability Professionals’ Association. All rights reserved. ISSN: 1540-4668.

Inquiries regarding reprints or permission to photocopy should be made to the UPA. Opinions expressed in UX articles and advertisements are those of the authors and advertisers, respectively, and should not be considered as expressions of official policy of the UPA.

User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org 1

Editors’ Notes

Behind the Scenes This ground-breaking issue of UX is interesting for many reasons, not

least of which is the deployment of one of our editorial staff members as a “guest” editor. Well, why not? Mindy has significant personal experience in the mobile realm, she’s got contacts with other potential experts, and she’s an excellent editor. We are all proud of the job she’s done with this issue.

Are you, too, a potential guest editor? Do you have a pet subject you’d like to see UX address—something like the cloud, or collaborative work, globalization and specific locales, or trust and ethics in UX design? Please let me know.

Or are you interested in adding a working editor’s notch to your resumé?

Our volunteer staff is always interested in growing with new talent. If you’d like to contribute a day or so each calendar quarter to join us, please get

The World is Mobile “The world is mobile,” as Lucas Espinosa Menendez (known as Lucas

Wxyz on the Web) so aptly states in the opening line of his article on mobile UX. Mobile, indeed. The theme of this special issue of UX magazine explores the ever changing and diverse world of mobility, with a

“Mobile phones continue to proliferate our planet at a rate not comparable to that of any other technology to date.”

in touch. Or seek me out in Las Vegas; I’ll be recruiting at UPA’s annual conference, June 4-8, 2012.

Working with the UX team provides new learning and skills-building experiences; it can also be fun. We’re not an “editorial board” passing judgment on our colleagues’ research-based writing; we advocate anecdotedriven stories and a conversational tone.

Also consider submitting an article proposal, as Mindy once did. (Check the guidelines on the UPA/Publications website.) Many of our editors began working with us as authors. Likewise, some of our regular editors also appear as authors, or as “guest” editors.

Joe Bugental Managing Editor

where they happen to reside in the world. To someone in a developed country, the mobile experience likely includes a smartphone that’s loaded with myriad apps. Assuming network coverage is available, this experience translates to anytime, anywhere access to unlimited amounts of information and data, coupled with the ability to instantly communicate with friends, family, and colleagues around the globe. All of this is easily achieved at the touch, tap, or pinch of your mobile device.

If you’re in a developing country, your “mobile experience” may be significantly different. Maybe you own your own phone; if you do not, there is a good chance that you have access to one through family or friends.

Because of limited literacy, prohibitive cost, and lack of consistent power supply, smartphones are often not accessible. You may use mobile phones to communicate with family and friends, to conduct business, and in some cases to receive targeted messaging or to send and receive payments.

Whatever your experience, we stand to learn if we take a step back from our own experience and observe the many innovators around the world who continue to find new and creative ways to use mobile devices to improve their own lives and experience, and the lives and experiences of others. The innovators may be savvy developers in fancy labs, or at the other end of the spectrum, they may be uneducated villagers in a remote and rural corner of the world trying to find a viable means to a positive end.

The articles in this issue explore a broad range of mobile solutions, used in a variety of contexts, to solve challenging and diverse problems.UX

special focus on the use of mobile devices in health and financial domains, specifically, mHealth and mBanking.

Mobile phones continue to proliferate our planet at a rate not comparable to that of any other technology to date, creating new and interesting ways to access information and to communicate, and presenting new opportunities for those who were previously unable to realize the benefits of technology.

People’s “mobile experiences” can be vastly different depending upon 2 User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org

Mindy Maxwell Guest Editor

What’s News

Where to Begin Work in Mobile UX

Digesting the Expert Advice The rise of smartphones and tablets has changed the world in a way simi-

lar to the PC back in the 1980s.

In 2011 there were 4 billion mobile phone users. About 1.08 billion were using smartphones. By 2014, the number of Internet users on mobile devices is likely to equal the number on desktop computers, and by 2015, mobile will be the platform of choice.

In 2010, during the D8 Conference, Walt Mossberg from All Things Digital, conducted an interview with Steve Jobs. Jobs compared the PC (and Macs) to a truck, explaining that back when most car users lived in the countryside, a truck was the perfect solution—big, strong, and with lots of space to carry all the things produced on the farm. But when people started to move to the big cities, the trucks became too big and stopped serving the needs of new users. Those in the countryside continued to need the trucks.

Those in the city needed something more practical.

In other words, someone who only uses a PC for email and web browsing does not need 8GB of RAM and dual-core processors. Something smaller and simpler is a better solution. Yet the person working on HD video still needs more than iMovie for the iPad to get the job done. They might need “the truck”…and a big one at that.

posted on the web. Some articles might not fit your immediate needs, but you never know when they’ll come in handy for different situations.

10 Tips for Mobile Usability Testing

After a look around the Web for articles on usability testing for mobile devices, I stumbled upon a number of interesting pieces. The following is from Optimal Usability, on what they’ve learned from their experience testing mobile UX: 1. Start with low fidelity designs.

2. Test in crowded places.

3. Use chocolate as a lure.

4. First sentence has to win people.

5. Ask a couple of screener questions.

6. Keep sessions short.

7. When people say they’d do something, get them to show you how.

8. Have two people run the testing.

9. Don’t assume that people know the jargon, like App Store or iCloud.

10. Test with an interactive prototype once you’ve ironed out the early interface bugs.

Rubes™ By Leigh Rubin

With mobile devices, we see, and will continue to see, a rise in processing capability, much as we did with PCs, but the needs are different and the road will not be the same. In fact, there are those who argue that it is more important to have a fast connection to 3G or Wi-Fi than to a high-speed processor. The demand is for better screens and better usability. So where do we, the UX consultants, fit in?

Everywhere! With more and more mobile applications and smartphones around, the possibilities are increasing every day. User research, mobile testing, and interface design (for both devices and applications) are just some ideas that come to mind.

Every day more and more information becomes available for UX professionals. It’s good to keep an open mind when reading what’s been

Enjoy a different, hilarious Rubes® cartoon everyday on your iPhone. http://itunes.apple.com/app/rubes-zoo-on-the-go/id500663910?mt=8

“By 2014, the number of Internet users on mobile devices is likely to equal the number on desktop computers…”

“…And in the wake of massive layoffs, management is pleased to report a significant reduction of employee time spent in unproductive meetings.”

User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org 3

What’s News

Optimal Usability does not talk about anything fancy, or something only they can do. There is no need for fancy equipment or a lab. It’s all about the users: how to get to them, and what to get from them.

Constraints in the Interaction Model

In User Interface Engineering, Jared M. Spool wrote at length about the challenges and opportunities in mobile UX design. Two highlights from the article include: What is true for desktop will not apply to mobile.

■■ There is no place for sloppiness: cut down functionality to improve the experience.

■■

There is a tendency to think that mobile users are always on the go and use their computers only in their spare time. This might be true, but many mobile users could also find themselves surfing the Web. This might be even more true for tablets. Still, designing for mobile requires cutting down functionality for increased focus on the tasks.

Spool also has some interesting ideas on additional topics: The way the dialog is conducted has shifted. It is a two-way communication with the app asking questions and the user providing answers.

■■ Small screens and touch keyboards are radically different.

■■ A new language of gestures came along with touch screens.

■■ New devices come with new functions.

■■

That’s right! Create an unlimited number of projects, tasks and questions for an entire year with a Loop11 annual licence. Best of all, you can test on any internet device.

Beginning Research

The guys and gals at UserCentric just published a white paper on the “Top 5 Questions on Mobile Usability Testing.”

They are: 1. Do I have to build a fully functional prototype before I test with users?

2. Should we test with the user’s device or provide a device for testing?

3. What devices/user groups should we include in testing?

4. Do you see differences between iPhone and Android users? Do I need to include both in my study?

5. When is lab testing versus remote testing appropriate?

Beginning Design

When it comes to designing the user experience, Smashing Magazine has published a great set of guidelines. This is a more technical article and requires a careful read. Here are the points to consider: 1. Define UI brand signatures.

2. Focus on the portfolio of products.

3. Identify the core user stories.

4. Optimize UI flows and elements.

■■ Speed up perceived performance.

■■ Optimize individual UI elements.

5. Define UI scaling rules.

6. Use a performance dashboard.

7. Champion dedicated UI engineering skills.

■■ Smart loading ■■ Background loading

Designing on the Go

UI Sketcher is a great application that allows users to create mobile sketches. It is easy to use and very responsive, creating designs that export to PDFs or PNGs. It’s affordable and connects to Dropbox.

Staying up-to-date is difficult in these changing times, but it is also what makes working with mobile UX so exciting.

There is room for trial and error, and all that has been done will be put to the test in the next couple of years, as much of the world shares the web experience on mobile devices.UX —Lucas Wxyz About the Author Lucas Espinosa Menendez, also know as Lucas Wxyz, just completed his BS at KEA Media/IT in eConcept Development, with a focus on UX and User Testing. He is currently working as a user researcher and junior UX consultant at SnitkerGroup in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Integrating UX Design into Agile Software Development

Meeting Marketplace Demands as a Leader

By Jeff Gothelf

UX asked Jeff Gothelf to share his thoughts about leadership in incorporating UX design into Agile software development. Here, in edited form, is his response.

After three and a half years as director of User Experience (UX) at TheLadders,

I was asked to lead my UX team’s integration into an Agile development process.

In that task, I took a hard look at the way we were currently working and how this matched with our organization’s needs. I also looked at the way the technology products marketplace was working.

The speed and frequency with which software products are getting to market has increased dramatically from years to a matter of months, or in some extreme cases,

significantly fewer feature-rich products.

The project management tool Basecamp (basecamphq.com) is a good example. Their developers took a look at the feature bloat, the

“Companies that are accustomed to long development-and-release cycles are being disrupted by smaller companies that are willing to validate their business models with significantly fewer feature-rich products.” to weeks. Companies that are accustomed to long development-and-release cycles are being disrupted by smaller companies that are willing to validate their business models with

software platform, and the long release cycles of something like Microsoft Project, and re-imagined its most useful features—and only those features—in a web-based offering. The

result has been wildly successful. Basecamp’s developers constantly adjust in frequent iterations of design, updating their product based on real customer feedback.

Becoming a Leader

After hypothesizing and refining several different approaches to the integration of the organization’s development needs with marketplace demands, it became clear to me that simply shifting the way the UX team worked was not enough.

Agile and UX integrations typically start by trying to cram everything the UX team is doing, pre-Agile, into the shorter time frames (often just two weeks long) of the sprint. This approach usually fails because there simply is not enough time to go through the entire UX toolkit with the full depth previously allowed by a waterfall project or a longer iterative design schedule.

Instead, team members (that is, from both software engineering and UX design) need to focus on how better to communicate with each other to reduce their reliance on highly detailed documentation. The specifications and other traditional deliverables take too much time to produce and require many signatures before others on the team, never having read the documentation, can even begin their work.

This approach simply does not compute. continued on page 28

User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org 5

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continued from page 5 Our entire development team culture (again, comprising both software engineering and UX design) had to adjust—to be more inclusive, collaborative, and transparent.

Agile adoption requires a shift in the organizational mindset towards a productdevelopment philosophy more than just another methodology. By accepting a level of comfort with the ambiguity of Agile’s short- to mid-term window of visibility, the organization becomes much more flexible and, thus, able to react to market

Liquidnet, and Wireless Generation, all of which came recommended as companies that had succeeded with such integration.

The insight the people at these companies provided was tremendously helpful in giving me a direction, and I built on the details from those conversations. Some felt they had succeeded, and others felt they failed.

All of their ideas were valuable. The integration of Agile UX was, in itself, a highly iterative learn/fail/iterate effort that revealed itself gradually.

In my current presentation about my

“If the product development organization has bought in on Agile, but management is still making waterfall-style demands, the clash will cause the project to fail. The entire company must agree to work this way.” feedback and, consequently, to unexpected changes. If the product development organization has bought in on Agile, but management is still making waterfall-style demands, the clash will cause the project to fail. The entire company must agree to work this way.

By bringing these ideas to the organization as a whole, at the company level (that is, involving business management, engineering, and marketing), I was able to get buy-in from them for this cross-functional, transparent philosophy while securing a seat at the management table, as not only a UX and design leader, but as a process and organization leader.

Taking It On the Road

I have been given permission to make a presentation about leadership in Agile UX design based on my company’s experience, which I plan to give at conferences.

My introduction to Agile UX began with a significant amount of research, including interviewing others who had tried to integrate UX and Agile. I spoke with people at Salesforce.com, Wal-Mart.com, Citrix,

experience, I share what I have learned with UX and design team leaders and organizational leaders who are currently navigating Agile transformations. Almost all individual contributors, managers, and leaders who are seeking a more collaborative workplace, and a changed relationship with their colleagues, stand to learn some useful ideas. The current version of my presentation is located at slideshare.net/jgothelf. The presentation, just like the philosophy, is a work in progress. I welcome feedback. That’s the Agile way.UX About the Author Jeff Gothelf is author of the upcoming book Lean UX: Getting Out of the Deliverables Business (O’Reilly, 2012). He has recently founded a product design and innovation studio in New York City called Proof. In past roles, including as director of User Experience at TheLadders.com, he gained extensive experience as an interaction designer, Agile practitioner, user experience team leader, and blogger.

The Magic of Mobile Money Identification Money Identification Made Easy

By Jennifer Sutton

Have you ever wondered how blind people identify U.S. bills without help? Most

people never give it a thought, but people like bank tellers and cab drivers, even random strangers in stores, ask me how I, as a blind person, identify money. There’s no magic to it, nor has there been, until recently.

Blind people who don’t have enough vision to see bills aren’t born with a “special extra sense” that permits us to identify bills by touch. However, we can definitely learn to recognize coins by sound and touch. In fact, I’m quite good at that. On occasion, I mention to people that they dropped a dime, quarter, nickel, or penny. But U.S. bills are an entirely different matter.

money identification for blind people in the U.S. is the availability of accessible mobile phones and the accompanying applications, or apps. And most of these apps are quite affordable.

As a new iPhone user, for the first time just a few weeks ago, I successfully identified my change without sighted assistance, simply by placing the bill under

“In recent years, assistive technology has made it possible to identify paper money.

Blind people can use scanners and special computer software that recognizes the bill and speaks its denomination aloud.”

In recent years, assistive technology has made it possible to identify paper money.

Blind people can use scanners and special computer software that recognizes the bill and speaks its denomination aloud.

Alternatively, there are handheld devices, costing a few hundred dollars apiece, that identify money. But the true revolution in

my phone’s camera. Then, I could fold my bills in the different ways I always do, and place them in my wallet. This kind of independence may seem like a small matter, but it is liberating not to have to rely on others when handling cash—no more holding up the line in the store or wondering whether I received the correct change.

6 User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org

A Little History about U.S. Bills and the Blind Community

For about twenty years, many in the blind community have attempted to convince the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) to make bills independently identifiable by blind and visually-impaired people. Some possible methods include different sizes, tactile markings, and different colors. You may have observed strategies like these implemented in many countries. However, the U.S. Treasury Department has been reluctant to implement currency changes due to the initial cost, changes for businesses and vending machines, and other challenges.

An article by Darren Burton in the American Foundation for the Blind’s AccessWorld from March 2011, “A Tech Geek Talks Money: An AFB TECH Lab Rat Discusses the Accessibility of Financial Technology,” (http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub. asp?DocID=aw120302) indicates the American Council of the Blind sued the U.S. Treasury in 2002 “for their failure to design paper currency that is easily identifiable by people with vision loss.” After several years, the BEP issued a notice requesting comments on the strategies to be proposed to the Secretary of the Treasury, according to the Federal Register. The notice states that the three main options under consideration are as follows: 1. Tactile Feature. As part of the next currency redesign, BEP will develop and deploy a raised tactile feature that builds upon current tactile feature technologies.

The tactile feature will be unique to each Federal Reserve note denomination that it may lawfully change, and will provide users with a means of identifying each denomination by way of touch.

2. Large, High-Contrast Numerals. Consistent with current practice, BEP will continue its practice of adding large, high-contrast numerals and different and distinct color schemes to each denomination that it is permitted by law to alter to further assist visually impaired citizens.

3. Supplemental Currency Reader Program.

BEP also proposes to recommend to the Secretary of the Treasury a supplemental measure that will be taken in order to provide access to U.S. currency. This measure would involve a process to loan and distribute currency readers to the blind and visually impaired at no cost to them. BEP believes this process will ameliorate difficulties stemming from the transition that will occur during the co-circulation of notes with and without a tactile feature, and large, high contrast numerals, a transition which will persist for many years after the introduction of the tactile-enhanced note.

Availability of Apps on Mobile Phones

In 2011, with the release of an iPhone app called EyeNote (http://www.eyenote.gov),

the Treasury Department was among those who took an exciting step to address the issue of money identification, at least for iPhone users. iPhone users can use EyeNote, as well as IQ Engine’s oMoby (http://omoby. com/pages/index.php), or the LookTel Money Reader (http://www.looktel.com/ products#products-money-reader) from IPPLEX for spoken currency recognition.

While the LookTel product currently costs $9.99 in the Apple app store, the other two options are free. What a pleasure it is to have several choices at my fingertips, and all three apps work with all generations of the iPhone.

Though I do not use an Android-based phone, I was pleased to notice that New Designs Unlimited LLC developed a new app named Darwin Wallet (http://www. androidzoom.com/android_applications/ productivity/darwin-wallet_bzvwd.html) that is now available for Android phones.

When you place a bill in front of the camera, Darwin Wallet (for Android 2.2 and above) recognizes and speaks the value of U.S., UK, Canadian, EU, and Australian paper currencies.

My Experiences with Money Identification on the iPhone

As mentioned earlier, I was thrilled to be able to identify and sort my change by myself. I’ve tried all three apps—LookTel, EyeNote, and

oMoby—and all three products were useful.

I was confident while using them and recognized the value of each. oMoby is versatile; it can identify many objects, but works best on products. You can take a picture of an object like a jelly jar, and oMoby can probably find it. Although money-identification is not its primary purpose, it is handy to have on my phone. EyeNote requires me to activate the camera, so I prefer the LookTel product for its speed and ease of use.

In fact, the LookTel product was so easy to use that it fooled me; I tried to make it harder to use than it actually is. When I opened LookTel, I didn’t hear anything on my screen after exploring the screen with the iOS’s built-in screen reader, VoiceOver. I was looking for a button to activate my camera, but there isn’t one; it’s not necessary. All I had to do was to put the bill on a flat surface, hold the phone a few inches above the bill, and VoiceOver said, “Five dollars.” It was much easier than fumbling with bills as I walked with a sighted friend, having to remember to check my money when I was next at my computer, or even having to activate a button on the phone’s screen to take a picture of the bill.

In addition, LookTel offers a software application, Money Reader for Mac (http:// www.looktel.com/blog/looktel-releasesmoney-reader-for-macintosh-osx), users who

Additional Accessibility Resources

Here are some resources to help get you started when considering accessibility on different platforms: Strategies proposed to the Secretary of the Treasury in the Federal Register: ■■ https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2010/05/20/ 2010-12091/meaningful-access-to-united-states-currency-forblind-and-visually-impaired-persons

■■

■■

General mobile accessibility guidelines: ■■ Resources for Mobile Accessibility Guidelines from Henny Swan’s blog posted September 7, 2011. http://www.iheni.com/mobile-accessibility-guidelines/ Learning more about Android Accessibility: ■■ All Android phones with Android version 1.6 or later have free built-in support for speech output and accessibility. Android is customizable even if not all applications are accessible. To offer the most accessible results on the Android platform, it’s ideal to focus on building for Ice Cream Sandwich.

■■ For demonstrations, see the “EyesFreeAndroid’s channel” on

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/EyesFreeAndroid “Android Accessibility” provides and introduction to using Android phones for people with no or low vision who want their phone to speak: http://eyes-free.googlecode.com/svn/ trunk/documentation/android_access/index.html Android developers: “Designing for Accessibility” provides Android developer tips: http://developer.android.com/guide/ practices/design/accessibility.html

Learning More about iOS Accessibility: ■■ “iOS App Accessibility” from the Humanizing Technology blog by Léonie Watson, February 21, 2011 http://www.nomensa.com/blog/2011/ios-app-accessibility/ ■■ A demonstration of “iOS Accessibility Features” by MacAdvisorUK on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_lm7WZeo-4 ■■ Apple developer “iOS Accessibility” technology overview http://developer.apple.com/technologies/ios/accessibility.html

User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org 7

want to use a Mac instead of, or in addition to, their iPhone.

Both LookTel products can also identify currency from other countries. This flexibility will be most helpful when I next travel with my new iPhone. After a day or two, I can identify Euros by touch, and this app will help remind me of the different sizes and denominations.

After using each of the three apps, I far prefer the LookTel product. The cost is worth the ease of use, so I’m more than happy to support the company with its innovative approach. And based upon what I have seen in the product preview on the LookTel website (http://www.looktel. com/products), I cannot wait to experience the new capabilities that will be offered in the next product release. Additional LookTel solutions under development include identifying objects and landmarks, personalized image databases, remote sighted assistance, and a text reader.

The Future Seems Bright

Using mobile devices to access these easy and inexpensive money identification apps makes me hopeful about the future. Accessibility on the Android platform is gradually improving, so perhaps soon we won’t need specialized and expensive approaches to bill identification. If blind people can access apps on phones that will permit easy purchasing at the same time—and at the same cost—as the sighted community, we will truly be integrated into the mainstream of mobile money.

Even now, although I have not yet had a chance to test all of the apps I’d like to, a range of banking and financial management apps are accessible.

If you are involved in building, designing, or testing an iPhone or Android app, please consider accessibility for a wide range of users, including those with disabilities. You might be surprised to find how easy and fun it can be to test these apps for yourself. Maybe you don’t need to identify your money with your

phone, but think about the various things you can do with your smartphone when it talks to you. Join the many app developers, like those making identification of money possible, who are committed to providing an easy user experience for everyone.UX About the Author Jennifer Sutton has expertise in the implementation of information access standards with respect to print publications, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0), Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, and Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act. Since June of 2009, Jennifer has participated as an invited expert in the World Wide Web Consortium’s Education and Outreach Working Group. Jennifer enjoys partnering with usability experts to conduct web site assessments and write technical documentation. She holds a Masters degree in English from the University of Oregon.

Keynote Speaker June 5, 2012, 9:00 am - 10:30 am

Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D., the Henry R. Kravis Professor of Leadership and Organizational Psychology at Claremont McKenna College, will be presenting Myths and Truths About Leadership and Developing Your Personal Leadership at the 2012 UPA International Conference on Tuesday, June 5, 2012, from 9:00 am - 10:30 am.

UPA has secured a block of rooms at the host hotel, The M Resort Spa Casino at the discounted group rate of $125 per night exclusive of taxes and gratuities.

The discounted group rate is available 3 days before and 3 days after the workshop on a space available basis.

Reservations will be taken on a first-come first-serve basis until the contracted block is full.

Any unbooked rooms will be released to the general public on May 14, 2012. So book early to receive the group rate.

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UPA 2012 will explore all the opportunities usability professionals have to be leaders that shape not just human experiences, but also the business and technology world. Themes of influence, power, authority, and initiative will be prevalent as we develop strategies for encouraging Leadership in our field by: • Exploring the differences between leadership and management and understanding how a title doesn’t make a leader; • Designing experiences that demonstrate the vision and problem-solving skills inherent in our profession; • Leveraging our personal experiences with leadership to help others develop influence in their organizations; • Acknowledging other fields and professions that can inform our professional growth; and • Exploring the need for everyone to demonstrate leadership and ways to make that happen.

The 2012 UPA conference program will provide inspiration and motivation through talks, events, and experiences to increase our attendees’ passion for leading the way. In addition, the conference aims to provide sessions to help build and grow leadership skills so that our attendees leave with both the desire and means to lead.

Register online through May 21, 2012!

8 User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org

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The Fate of a Digital Slate

Unexpected Issues with Deployment in Rural India

By Indrani Medhi, Anuj Tewari, Mohit Jain, and Edward Cutrell

As many UX professionals know, unexpected issues seen in the context of actual

deployment can trump an initial rosy impression about the usability of a system. These kinds of surprises can be especially dramatic when working in the area of ICT4D (Information and Communication Technology for Socio-Economic Development), where technology applications are designed to alleviate poverty among economically disadvantaged populations.

This article describes a case study of the deployment of a prototype low-cost digital slate for assisting the tracking of child malnutrition in rural India. The prototype runs on Windows CE and looks like a small clipboard with a calculator at the top (see Figure 1). It accepts handwritten input on ordinary paper notebooks placed on the A5 size-digitizing pad of the slate, and provides immediate electronic feedback on the 3.5 inch

interactive touch screen display. The slate captures writing from a digital ballpoint pen as raw strokes, and the back of the pen serves as a stylus for touch screen input. The digital slate system allows for a fairly seamless transition from older, paper-based systems to digitally recorded information. In addition, the slate preserves the paper copies of all forms; this is particularly valuable in developing world contexts where paper records are still

very important. We designed the system for people who have little or no experience working with digital systems beyond simple cellular phones or calculators.

Prior work, coupled with our initial controlled user trials, suggested that users strongly preferred the current design to other alternatives, and were eager to use it in the field. But in a follow-up three-month field trial with ten low-income, low-literate health workers in rural central India, a number of unexpected challenges were encountered that overwhelmed our initial optimism. This experience demonstrates that more attention needs to be paid to issues well beyond the simple usability of technological systems, to include broader socio-technical concerns that arise in real-world settings.

Previous Work

Figure 1. Village woman in India working on the prototype digital slate.

10 User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org

In previous explorations, we had tested the slate with low-income users in a rural microfinance setting. India’s extensive microfinance network brings formal savings and credit services to 86 million poor households. Yet, the inability to maintain high-quality records remains a persistent weakness in the smooth functioning of microfinance groups. We worked with a non-profit organization that facilitated microfinance loans among selfhelp groups. They faced a range of problems with their paper forms, including errors in arithmetic calculations and legibility issues during transcription, to a computerized management information system (MIS). Often, certain mandatory fields in the paper forms were left empty. Interruptions in the physical transport of the paper forms from the meeting to the transcription location and back caused further delays in resolving these errors. We studied these problems and built a financial

record management application on our prototype. In a two-day supervised trial with 200 microfinance group members in rural eastern India, we saw that the use of the slate solution resulted in shorter data recording time, fewer incorrect entries, and more complete records, compared to the existing paper-based system.

Furthermore, the slate device won strong approval from the microfinance groups and partner organization we were working with.

Adaptation to Health Context

With the success of this experience, we began looking for other potential applications for our prototype. We were approached by a non-governmental organization (NGO) that manages a malnutrition tracking and treatment program for about 65,000 children under the age of five across five districts in rural central India.

The Real Medicine Foundation (RMF) was facing persistent problems with long delays in aggregating per-child data in their existing paper-based system. Local health workers record child-specific data in paper diaries during household visits, and this information is subsequently transcribed into ledger books that are eventually aggregated into a computerized MIS. It takes about a month for the information collected by health workers to make its way to decision makers, resulting in serious delays in remedial actions, such as providing emergency food rations and medical care.

We worked with RMF to build a .NET Compact Framework health data record management application on our slate prototype.

The application’s design matched the format and workflow of the existing paper forms and diaries. All text labels and text field entries were in Hindi, the language spoken by the health workers. Based on the pen’s location on the digitizing pad, the application detected the cell of the paper notebook that was being filled. Each handwritten numeric digit printed on paper was simultaneously digitized, run through a digit recognizer, and placed in the corresponding field on the screen. We saved all the data on the slate’s micro SD card, which was transferred to the health worker’s phone and sent to the backend database via general packet radio service (GPRS) at the end of each day.

The server was updated daily, and a summary of the data was made available to decision makers.

Finally, as noted above, the slate seamlessly provided a paper trail and backup, which was seen as a critical feature to RMF. A one-day training and evaluation session of the application was conducted with ten

health workers, which was very encouraging.

All of the health workers were women who were from the small town of Khandwa and surrounding villages in the district, with household incomes between USD $80-150 per month, and relatively little education. All had at least some exposure to technology (four of the women owned a mobile phone, and the rest had received calls on a family member’s mobile phone at least once).

The slate application was demonstrated to groups of five and had each worker

practice individually for an hour. We were excited to see that workers quickly picked up the familiar pen and paper interaction and were very enthusiastic about it. Our partner NGO was equally pleased by our application and wanted to deploy the system. Following the success of the slate prototype in the microfinance context, this was the second feather in our cap and we were eager to see how our prototype could help fight child malnutrition in India! continued on page 22

Figure 2. Rural woman doing data collection for the Real Medicine Foundation.

User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org 11

continued from page 11 Buoyed by the positive results, we deployed our prototypes with the same ten health workers for a field trial. For three months, the health workers were to visit individual rural households and use our system to record child-specific data. At least, that was the idea. Instead, the initial optimism we felt from the training was quickly overwhelmed by a number of challenges that rendered our prototype unusable.

Challenges Encountered

1. Application usability Despite laboratory testing of the software, there was a limit to the real-world usage scenarios we could simulate in our lab. This was all the more challenging because the literacy level and information and communication technologies (ICT) experience of our end users was very different from the software testers. One worker from a remote village once accidently clicked on the Windows Media Player icon on the desktop instead of our application icon, and was not able to use the application for three weeks because no one in her village knew how to get back to the desktop screen. On a number of occasions, workers accidently closed the application without saving data they had entered.

Workers often had problems using the stylus to double-click and ended up executing various functions that they were not trained to use. They landed on unfamiliar screens and did not know how to make their way back to the application. Given our limited time and resources in the field, we were not able to observe and design for such scenarios. Based on observations from the training session we did introduce some changes while in the field, but there were many issues we were unable to foresee.

2. Physical infrastructure There were problems associated with the poor physical infrastructure of rural India.

In some of the remote villages where the health workers lived, there were regular power outages of twenty hours throughout the day, with wildly varying voltage levels.

The slate device required a power connection for around six hours to fully charge the battery, so devices were often not completely charged. On some occasions, the batteries died while using the device at patients’ houses, which seemed to embarrass the health workers.

3. Device management According to the health workers, the odd size of the slate made it awkward to transport. Many workers traveled for work in very crowded public buses and found it difficult to manage the device in the rush; the only ICT they carried with them were mobile phones which easily fit into their handbags. Others traveled to work on the back of their husbands’ bicycles through muddy, uneven village roads.

Bicycle crashes were very common, and workers were worried that they would break the device when they fell. Finally, our trial coincided with the monsoon season; in spite of multi-layered packing in plastic sheets, the health workers were concerned that water would seep through and spoil their devices during transport.

4. Human Finally, there were a host of human-centered issues that worked against a successful trial.

While our NGO partner helped us with many logistics in the field, they had very little technical competence. When health workers experienced technical glitches on the device, they would bring it to their sole point-of-contact, the program coordinator of the organization.

However, the coordinator typically lacked the expertise and training to fix the glitches.

While she could reach out to us over the phone for remote troubleshooting, she was reluctant to do this. We suspect that her lack of enthusiasm may have been partially due to the fact that she was not particularly vested in the project. We had not involved her in the initial training program, and so she had little or no ownership in the success of the slate intervention program.

A couple of the health workers tried seeking help from local mobile phone shop owners and photo studio owners with computers. However, due to lack of knowledge about the digital slate device, they were turned away from there as well.

Conclusion

The experience with our prototype in rural India exposed a number of broad challenges in deploying a promising technological system into a real-world setting. We believed our initial, limited-user trials had shown that our slate solution was an unqualified success. However, like many travelers before us, we found that the road to success is not so simple. During actual deployment of the system in the wild, we experienced a num-

22 User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org

ber of unprecedented challenges that marred our initial optimism. We conclude that there needs to be deep attention beyond simple usability to broader socio-technical issues that may arise in field deployment of technological systems.UX About the Authors Indrani Medhi is an associate researcher in the Technology for Emerging Markets Group at Microsoft Research India (MSR India) in Bangalore. Her research interest is in the area of Ethnographic UI Design and Technology for Socio-Economic Development.

Her work at MSR India has been in UI and UX design for low-literate and novice technology users among low-income communities in the developing world. She has a Masters degree in Design and is completing her Ph.D. at the Industrial Design Centre, IIT, Bombay, India.

Anuj Tewari is a fourth year graduate student in Computer Science at UC Berkeley, with an area of interest inHuman Computer Interaction (HCI). He works on the use of educational mobile games for ESL acquisition with underprivileged children in the developing world. He is also working on doing pronunciation feedback on hand held devices for Spanish speakers within the U.S. He is advised by Professor John Canny, and has had about six years of experience with ICTD research.

Mohit Jain is currently working in the Digital Videogames division at Amazon.com in Seattle, Washington.

He recently graduated with a MSc in Computer Science (specialization: HCI) from the University of Toronto. He is interested in undertaking research in the field of HCI, ICTs for emerging narkets, and handheld devices and mobile computing. He enjoys travelling to rural parts of India for field work.

Edward Cutrell manages the Technology for Emerging Markets (TEM) group at Microsoft Research India. Ed has been studying everything from novel interaction techniqes to interfaces for search and information retrieval. His current research focuses on Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D), seeking to understand how people in the world’s poor and developing communities interact with information technologies, exploring new ways for technology to meet their needs and support socio-economic development.

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Home Front Help

Engaging Veterans’ Family Caregivers in Application Design

By Nancy Wilck

According to The National Alliance for Caregiving report, “Caregivers of Veterans –

Serving on the Homefront,” the severe nature of veterans’ injuries and conditions, such as mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), spinal cord injuries, and amputations, combined with the fact that the patient is typically a family member, often leads to high levels of stress and anxiety among the caregivers of veterans. In many cases, these caregivers have had to quit their jobs in order to provide continuum of care, and subsequently experience greater financial hardships than non-veteran caregivers. Veteran caregivers typically live with the person they are caring for and have been providing care for an extended period of time (in many cases, more than ten years). They often report sleep deprivation, are more likely to suffer from depression, and delay addressing their own healthcare needs.

The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) recently funded a Clinic-in-Hand pilot project to give 1000 “VA caregivers”— those caring for seriously injured post-9/11 veterans—an iPad loaded with software applications selected to improve the lives of the VA caregivers and their veteran patients.

This project, which was made possible by the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010, has resulted in the design and development of five applications to address VA caregiver needs. Further, planning to begin the design of at least seven more similar applications is currently underway.

design session lasted approximately four hours.

Six additional caregivers were recruited to participate in usability assessments between design sessions. These sessions lasted approximately one hour each.

A visual simulation design tool called iRise was used to facilitate interactive, real-time modeling; the tool is capable of generating

What We Did

We (the VA team) began by selecting five cities in which to conduct our participatory design sessions: Washington, DC; Baltimore, MD; Martinsburg, WV; Durham, NC; and Atlanta, GA. Next, VA caregivers in each of the five locations took part in two participatory design sessions, equaling ten sessions in total, scheduled a few weeks apart during the summer of 2011.

VA staff worked directly with caregivers to understand their needs, and to identify ways in which the applications could help them to accomplish their daily tasks. Each participatory

Figure 1. Wireframe view by tracked items.

12 User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org

designs that range from low to high fidelity. Once a design or model is created, it can be stored on a standalone device or placed in a repository for access by authorized users. This allows users who were not able to participate in the original design sessions to contribute feedback. An electronic “sticky note” feature allows reviewers to provide comments on specific fields within the model.

Our Participants

The caregivers, most of whom were female, represented a range of ages and ethnicities.

Between five and nine caretakers attended each session, during which they received snacks and lunch in exchange for their participation.

A significant number of the veterans our participant caregivers are caring for have been diagnosed with PTSD, traumatic brain injury (TBI), substance abuse, or depression. Some have multiple diagnoses. Others reported conditions including partial or complete paralysis due to stroke or spinal cord injury, cancer, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Caregivers’ familiarity with, and use of, the Internet varied a great deal; some caregivers reported using the Internet every day for tasks such as email, reference, or shopping, while others reported rare to no use of the Internet.

The Participatory Design Sessions

Each session opened with an icebreaker exercise designed to allow participants to get to know each other, and to increase the comfort with which they were able to discuss their daily routines and frustrations.

Figure 2. High fidelity view by tracked items.

Participatory Design Session One The first round of design sessions focused on determining an initial set of capabilities that should be incorporated into the caregiver iPad applications. VA facilitators began by eliciting input from the caregivers about their day-today tasks, pain points, and information they would like to receive that could be used to help reduce stress. Next, the caregivers began brainstorming and recording a preliminary list of information they need to track for their patients (and therefore need an application screen to support,) such as blood glucose readings. One of the resulting applications is an electronic journal, or eJournal (see Figure 1).

Caregivers discussed screen layout, including placement of elements such as dropdown menus and radio buttons. Each of the five groups contributed content and design ideas for all five applications, instead of having each group concentrate on only one or two

applications—allowing for a broader range of input. The VA team generated basic designs and iteratively refined them in subsequent sessions until participants were satisfied with information presentation and workflow across screens.

The top five needs collectively identified by the five groups in session one were: ■■

■■

■■ ■■

■■

Access to complete patient medical information from VA, and the ability to create electronic copies of non-VA health records.

Improved communication with the care team, including secure messaging.

Electronic appointment requests.

Medication management, including online refill.

Electronic journaling and the ability to share selected information, including images, with the care team.

Figure 2 shows the evolution of the eJournal tracking page as participant caregivers contributed to, and provided feedback on, the existing design. For example, participants added the ability to track and graph a number of vitals, such as blood pressure and blood glucose, as well as the functionality to print or email this information to a provider. This visual representation of the data provides caregivers and veterans’ care teams at-a-glance information about important health measures and trends.

Usability Assessment Following the completion of the first participatory design session, VA caregivers performed usability assessments using the medium fidelity prototype to execute and obtain feedback using a series of tasks. continued on page 29

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continued from page 13 Six caregivers who had not participated in the initial design sessions were recruited to provide first impression feedback on the usability of the designs. During six one-onone sessions, guided by a usability expert, participants executed scenarios in a thinkaloud mode. The sessions were recorded so detailed post-session analysis could be performed. Additionally, VA design team members listened in on the sessions to hear firsthand feedback from caregivers about how the applications could be improved to be more intuitive and easier to navigate. Information

models within the repository, in case they wanted to continue to review the designs on their own time and provide additional feedback. Additional positive comments were received from a few of the participant caregivers.

The final products at the conclusion of session two were high fidelity models that were provided to VA’s development team as a set of visual requirements. Based on these models, developers began to create five applications to be used by VA caregivers— they are currently in various stages of development.

“Our team at the VA learned a great deal from this study and from our direct interaction with the VA caregivers.”

“This is the first time the VA has worked directly with VA caregivers on application design and usability assessments.” received during the usability assessments helped the VA team pinpoint design flaws that led to user confusion. Feedback from the usability sessions was incorporated into the working designs prior to the second round of participatory design sessions.

Looking forward, we are beginning to recruit caregivers to participate in usability assessments of the finished five applications, as well as to engage in creating and defining requirements for additional applications.

Participatory Design Session Two The second round of design sessions provided the opportunity for caregivers to make final changes to the designs, and validate that the current designs met their requirements for both utility and usability.

During these visits, the VA team solicited additional caregiver feedback on the designs.

Caregivers added the ability to make a request to reschedule or cancel a medical appointment, and identified opportunities for improving usability, such as eliminating the use of certain icons that were not universally understood.

These changes were made to the model on the spot, allowing the caregivers to confirm that the VA team had “gotten it right.”

At the end of the session, caregivers were given a script and instructions for accessing

VA caregivers were very enthusiastic about this project and appreciated the VA’s recognition of the important role they play in providing care to veterans. Our team at the VA learned a great deal from this study and from our direct interaction with the VA caregivers.

We learned that the logistics of transporting veterans to face-to-face medical appointments is time-consuming and frequently daunting.

We also learned that alternative forms of communication, such as secure messaging and text messaging—particularly the ability to attach a photo—will allow providers to determine if an office visit is needed or if the patient’s needs can be met in a different way.

Caregivers assume tremendous responsibility when caring for a seriously disabled veteran; they often feel uncertain

Learning from Caregivers

about their ability to handle the medical and interpersonal issues that routinely arise. Many caregivers asked for electronic “coaching” applications to help them manage, for example, stresses created by caring for a loved one with PTSD. While coaching applications were not included in this phase, they will be offered in future from the VA application store.

Finally, VA caregivers often feel isolated.

Balancing family, work, and caregiving often leaves little time to meet their own needs. A number of caregivers who attended the design sessions remarked that the sessions themselves were like therapy, as they were able to talk to others who understood their challenges.

Another future VA offering will be an online community in which caregivers can share information and provide support to each other.

This is the first time the VA has worked directly with VA caregivers on application design and usability assessments. We believe some of the applications being designed by this program may be useful for other veterans, or even persons who are not associated with VA. Applications will be published later this year and will be available at no cost to the general public in the VA application store, accessible via a landing page that will be placed on the Apple iTunes Store.

Caregivers are now being recruited to participate in usability assessments of all the applications the VA is currently developing.

Caregiver input will loop back into the agile development process and be addressed in subsequent product iterations. Direct caregiver engagement in designing and assessing usability of the applications gives the VA a high degree of confidence that the final products will be both useful, and usable, to their target audience.UX About the Author Nancy Wilck became involved in participatory design and visual modeling several years ago while working directly with physicians and nurses to identify ways to improve workflow efficiency in the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS), VHA’s electronic health record. She has gone on to work with veterans to redesign the VA’s personal health record website, My HealtheVet, and its mobile version. The Caregiver project marks the first time Nancy has incorporated a usability assessment of the model into the design process.

User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org 29

A Call for Help Mobile Money in Times of Crisis

By Gabrielle Smith

In the humanitarian response to the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, some aid agen-

cies provided assistance in the form of cash grants, in addition to food, clothing, blankets, and shelter. Markets were still functioning, so people affected by the disaster could purchase the things they needed. Recipients welcomed these cash transfers and appreciated being able to make their own decisions about what to buy. Since then, there has been overwhelming evidence from many humanitarian relief efforts around the world, that cash transfers give people more dignity and flexibility in meeting their day-to-day needs.

The Challenge of Cash

Humanitarian aid provides assistance to those affected by crises including natural and man-made disasters. The movement of large amounts of cash to isolated or insecure environments presents obvious logistical, operational, and security challenges. The area of a disaster is chaotic, and any banking infrastructure that did exist may have disappeared.

In many of the poorest countries, people who require humanitarian aid are many miles from the nearest bank. Counting out and delivering cash to people by hand is time consuming and costly. There is a risk that cash may get stolen or go missing before reaching those for whom it is intended. There is also a risk that delivery points, or recipients travelling home after collecting their cash, will be targets for robbery.

Since the emergence of the M-PESA mobile money product developed by the Kenyan mobile network operator Safaricom just five years ago, a variety of mobile money systems have emerged in eighty low or middle income countries in

Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Services are well established in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and the Philippines, and are becoming available in Nigeria, Niger, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

For the aid agencies, these new opportunities to deliver aid without the need to handle and transport cash may solve logistical and security challenges, so that cash can be delivered more efficiently and cost effectively than in-kind aid. Importantly, this can be done without the need to physically move or count hard currency, with all the costs and risks that this

The Rise of Branchless Banking

Recent advances in mobile technology in low income countries are changing this picture as “branchless banking” services have appeared.

These services allow aid agencies to transfer financial value directly, immediately, and electronically to the accounts of many recipients through pre-paid debit cards, chip-enabled cards, and mobile money systems on mobile phones. Of these, mobile money systems, which enable payments to be transferred from one person or organization to another through mobile phones, are especially important given the rise in mobile phone penetration across Africa and Asia. Users don’t need a bank card.

Instead, they use their phone to store value in a “mobile wallet,” exchange this stored value for cash through accredited agents, or transfer value between users. They can also purchase mobile air time or pay for goods.

Figure 1. Amaram Moussa, recipient of cash transfer via mobile money, Niger.

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Figure 2. Zeinabou training women in Abala Sani village, Niger how to use mobiles. involves. Recipients no longer need to travel to or queue at a distribution point. However, aid agencies also work with arguably the poorest people in the world, many of whom may lack awareness of, or previous experience with, mobile technology, and who live in isolated communities with limited infrastructure. In this context, relying on mobile technology could also become an additional burden for the agencies, rather than a tool for improving the effectiveness of delivering aid. With the rise of mobile money, a number of international aid agencies have run trials using these services to provide cash transfers to people affected in recent emergencies.

Evaluating the Use of Mobile Money Systems to Deliver Aid

In 2011, the Cash Learning Partnership (a consortium of Oxfam, the British Red Cross, Save the Children, Action Against Hunger, and the Norwegian Refugee Council) commissioned the international aid agency, Concern Worldwide, to investigate the use of emerging electronic payment systems for cash transfer programs in humanitarian contexts. The research focused on experiences of aid agencies using mobile money systems to deliver cash-based assistance to households in Kenya, Niger, Haiti, Cote d’Ivoire, and the Philippines.

There were numerous benefits and challenges of using mobile money systems experienced by the aid agencies. The most important benefits are: ■■

■■

Improved security for staff and recipients of aid Speedier delivery of aid, with fewer “opportunity costs” for recipients

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The introduction of aid recipients to mobile phones and banchless banking are benefits that last beyond the emergency

With the adoption of new ways of working and the growing pains associated with an emerging technology, there are inevitable glitches. Agencies working in complex

for whom it was intended. Agencies can reconcile accounts through web-based systems that designated staff can access in order to view the processing of payments and transaction expenditures.

In a mobile money system, much of the risk of handling cash is fielded by the service providers and their network of agents, rather than by the aid agency. These organizations already have the systems and processes in place to manage transactions quickly, securely, and efficiently. For the mobile network operators and banking institutions, aid programs present opportunities to reach a previously untapped market, the so-called unbanked. Service providers tend to offer aid agencies preferential rates, in recognition of the value of the humanitarian market.

Using mobile money systems also increases feelings of personal security. This is an important factor for both aid agency field staff and recipients, particularly in areas notorious for robbery. Cash transfer recipients using mobile money systems in poor urban areas are satisfied that their money can be kept securely on the phone. Receiving money this way is also more discreet than publically queuing

“The research provides some evidence from Haiti and Niger that recipients of aid can access cash transferred to them via mobile money more quickly than they can access cash transferred by hand.” emergency zones, and with the poorest sections of society, also face challenges supporting electronic cash benefits, including: ■■ ■■

■■

Poor network and infrastructure Low literacy and lack of experience with technology among aid recipients Lack of experience with mobile money in the humanitarian community

Improved Security

Agencies agree that a major benefit of using mobile money systems is the reduced opportunity for fraud or for diversion of intended funds.

It is easier to track payments, which can reduce corruption and increase confidence that the right amount of money ends up in the hands of those

outside the bank, so it is considered less likely to be stolen.

Reduced Opportunity Costs

The research provides some evidence from Haiti and Niger that recipients of aid can access cash transferred to them via mobile money more quickly than they can access cash transferred by hand.

This reduced opportunity cost can prove very significant to poor households where every hour of the day can be important for earning a living. This benefit depends on a welldeveloped mobile money agent network with sufficient cash funds—emergency situations can create some difficulties for small-time agents with a small cash flow. Mobile money systems

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in Niger shows that over just a few months, the mobile money transfer system becomes more cost-effective than cash delivered by hand.

Overcoming Organizational Barriers

Figure 3. Recipient of cash transfer via mobile money in rural Kenya. also require reliable connectivity. Poor signal strength can affect the use of mobile money systems in more rural areas.

Overcoming Low Literacy

Both reading and technical illiteracy remain commonplace for large numbers of people who might benefit from cash transfer programs. The research shows that the lack of previous exposure to mobile technology can present issues for some people.

Operating the system requires entering a PIN number and keying in or following simple commands.

In Niger, women new to mobile phones needed support in order to visit the mobile money agent and to collect their cash. In Haiti, aid agencies met this challenge by encouraging illiterate recipients to find a relative or friend to help them.

Despite these challenges, aid agencies report that cash transfer recipients overwhelmingly prefer the mobile money process to the alternative of manual transfers.

We should not underestimate the feelings of self-respect and confidence that come from putting mobile technology into the hands of people for the first time.

Research conducted in 2011 on a Concern Worldwide cash transfer program in Niger, suggests as well, that the use of mobile money may allow women to have greater control over the spending of the cash transfer, and encourage them to engage more in household expenditure decisions.

Older people face several challenges when using mobile money. They have often had the least exposure to mobile technology, are more likely to have dexterity or visual disabilities, and may find traveling long distances to visit the mobile money agents more of a burden.

Despite this, aid agencies said these factors would not deter them from introducing older people to mobile money systems.

New users registering for a mobile money account must generally present a valid form of identification to comply with national banking regulations. Many of the poorest people do not have formal ID, and people affected by a disaster have often lost theirs, making them ineligible for mobile money services. The banking regulators may reduce these requirements in light of humanitarian needs. In Haiti, for example, those without ID can register for a “mini-wallet,� that provides a mobile money account with a restriction on how much money can be stored in the account.

It’s not just recipients whose world changes with the introduction of mobile money. Aid agencies need to devote time and resources for new activities that mean they are able to plan and implement these systems in the rapid response required following a disaster. They need to overcome barriers around sharing information and experiences of such technological innovations with other aid agencies. They have to rid themselves of the wariness of the risks of involving private sector actors in the humanitarian sphere. Senior decision makers in humanitarian organizations may perceive new technologies as being too risky or expensive and prevent further investment or adoption. Finally, the regulatory environment of the banking sector can create legislative barriers to growth of mobile money services in some countries.

Looking Beyond the Emergency

One exciting finding from the research is evidence that using mobile technology and mobile money services as part of humanitarian aid has the potential to create benefits for these people which are felt long after the cash transfers provided by the aid agency have ceased.

Balancing the Costs

Research shows that while the costs of providing phones and chargers can mean higher initial setup costs for aid programs using mobile money services than those for hand-delivered cash transfer programs, mobile money services allow aid agencies to realize significant cost efficiencies over time. Although there is little direct cost comparison evidence available, the 2011 research

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Figure 4. Women in Abala Sani village, Niger attend mobile phone training.

The Future

Figure 5. View of Guiley village, Niger (included in Concern’s cash transfer program, 2010).

Continued Use of Financial Systems For many poor households, this introduction to mobile money is also their introduction to the formal financial system, and access to financial services is recognized as a critical factor in helping people escape from poverty. A recent Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) Focus Note found that at eight different providers, mobile banking services were the first financial services for 37 percent of customers (or an average of 1.4 million people each).

Unfortunately, simply introducing poor households to mobile money systems in an emergency does not mean they will automatically continue to use them for managing their finances after the disaster. In Niger there was little use after the disaster. In contrast, in urban settlements in Nairobi, where people generally are more familiar with mobile phones and mobile money, there was more use after the cash transfer program had completed.

Ensuring the continued use of mobile money by aid recipients post-disaster may require a longer term investment to build people’s trust in, and ability to use, these new financial systems.

Better Communication Channels A second and more obvious broad benefit is the access these people now have to new channels of information and communication through the mobile phone. Aid agencies are increasingly using the mobile phone to ensure households can access vital information during emergencies. Initiatives include: ■■

■■ ■■

Call center hotlines such as those operated

by Red Cross in Haiti after the earthquake Automated voice messaging systems Mass text alerts such as the health

■■

messages transmitted by Red Cross to subscribers on the Voila mobile network following the Haitian earthquake Feedback and complaint response systems to improve accountability and effectiveness of aid programs, including Oxfam in Haiti and Concern in Niger

Each of these programs has been able to increase the speed and efficiency with which agencies can communicate vital information to dispersed populations.

There remain issues to address, however.

For example, any information sent through mass messaging must be clear and accurate to prevent confusion or create distrust of messages. In addition, if the agency or provider does not cover the cost of the calls, the expense may be prohibitive for people affected by the disaster. The research recommends that these mobile communications tools complement, rather than replace, traditional means of communication during humanitarian aid, since face-to-face contact with communities is critically important in humanitarian work.

Help from More Sources The use of mobile money systems and the involvement of mobile network operators in humanitarian aid has made possible the increasing involvement of the wider national population and diaspora communities in humanitarian efforts.

In response to the recent crisis in the horn of Africa, Safaricom launched their Kenya for Kenyans campaign, which allowed MPESA customers to text donation pledges. Before the end of 2011 this raised over 150 million Kenya Shillings in over 500,000 pledges.

All aid agencies using mobile money systems have found that they offer a promising way to deliver aid with speed, precision, and flexibility even in challenging environments. And, mobile money services are going to continue to develop and expand in low income and crisis-prone countries where aid agencies engage.

Right now, only a handful of initiatives are using this technology at what could be considered to be a large scale, and no aid agency is using mobile money systematically for all of their cash transfer work. If aid agencies are serious about realizing the potential of mobile money to deliver humanitarian aid to the poorest, rapidly, and at a significant scale, they will need to overcome the barriers to wider adoption through coordinated research and action.

■■

■■

■■

Aid agencies and donors must work with service providers to support the extension of mobile networks and mobile money systems to more areas affected by crisis.

The humanitarian community should advocate for improvements in the regulatory environment for mobile money where this is needed.

In places regularly affected by crises, agencies should be better prepared, by implementing processes and contracts before a new crisis occurs.

Humanitarian donors can create incentives for both mobile money service providers and for aid agencies to coordinate wider adoption of these systems.UX About the Author Gabrielle Smith is a social protection advisor with Concern Worldwide.

She previously served as head of program development for a Madagascar-based NGO, and consulted on design of the DFID-funded Chars Livelihoods Program in Bangladesh and Expanding Social Protection Progam in Uganda.

She advises on best practices for cash transfer programming across Concern’s twenty-five country operations, with a focus on utilization of mobile technology. She developed Concern’s global strategy and guidelines for cash transfer programming and supports research into the impacts of cash transfers in Niger, Rwanda, and DRC. She led the research project for the Cash Learning Partnership “New Technology Enhancing Humanitarian Cash Programs” on which this article is based.

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Mobile Data Collection

Tools for Getting Better Data in the Field

By William Souza and Karla Okada Arguably, the most important component of field research is gathering accurate,

representative, and useful data. Without good data there is no basis for analysis or support for recommending subsequent changes. It is common for public and private organizations to base key decision making processes on data—which means gathering accurate data is critical. The necessity to gather data quickly, however, can often compromise data accuracy.

Traditional solutions for gathering field data are often time consuming, which poses a challenge for field researchers facing tight deadlines, especially those working with limited resources in remote locations.

Researchers who rely on hand written notes and data capture face challenges such as the physical burden of papers and logistics; for example, carrying and distributing survey forms and collecting forms that have been

completed. This is especially true when a large team of researchers is involved, or when data is needed from multiple locations.

Working with legacy systems, which are still widely used, is another source for error and delay; revisions are sometimes needed to correct typos and other input errors.

One way to improve field data collection is through the introduction of information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as mobile phones and computers. ICTs allow users to digitally access, create, store,

Figure 1: Workflow of Nokia Data Gathering with four steps from the questionnaire creation to the collected data analysis.

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Figure 2: The Main section of the web client. transmit, and manipulate information on the go, saving time and minimizing errors.

Nokia Data Gathering is an open source web and mobile phone-based ICT solution designed to support data collection in the field. The system uses a mobile phone’s connectivity to distribute survey forms and to upload and send pictures, location coordinates, and data (collected) to a centralized database. This minimizes logistical costs as well as the time needed to enter and make data available. Forms for collecting data may vary in size and contain different types of questions such as text, numeric, multiple choice, and images.

Nokia Data Gathering Workflow

The Nokia Data Gathering solution is composed of a web-based application and a mobile client application, as shown in Figure 1.

The workflow is composed of four steps: 1. Create a questionnaire using the web application.

2. Make the questionnaire available for download to a mobile device.

“Forms for collecting data may vary in size and contain different types of questions such as text, numeric, multiple choice, and images.�

3. Collect the data and then send it back to be stored on the server. (A network connection is necessary to download surveys and backup data, but data collection itself can occur offline. In the latter case, data can be saved locally and sent back to the server when a mobile connection becomes available. If there is no wireless connection, the phone can be connected via USB cable to a computer with Internet access.)

4. As soon as the data becomes available on the server, the user interface (UI) can be used for analysis and monitoring purposes.

The Web Client

The web client is the key component of the data collection process. It is composed of three sections: Main, Editor, and Admin (see Figure 2).

Questionnaires and data visualization are available in the Main environment. There are three features for visualizing results: 1. A table of results where the details of a selected result are shown in columns.

2. A visualization of results on a map based on location coordinates (automatically collected in the field via GPS).

3. An exported data sheet.

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All results are labeled with a unique ID, the date of collection, and the mobile phone international mobile equipment identity (IMEI), a unique number that identifies the phone that was used for data collection.

The Editor section contains a survey editor for creating and managing questionnaires (see Figure 3). The first column (on the left) allows users to add new questions or categories to the questionnaire, and displays a list of categories and questions that have already been created.

Users can also group and categorize related questions, which simplifies questionnaire navigation using a mobile phone.

There are seven types of questions users can select when they are creating a questionnaire: 1. Text 2. Numeric 3. Multiple choice 4. Exclusive choice 5. Date 6. Time 7. Image Selecting a question type is helpful because it reduces the possibility of entering an invalid data type during data collection.

The middle column allows the user to add descriptions to questions and provides parameters to add constraints to the answers.

This is especially useful to minimize collection of invalid data, for instance a valid numerical range. If you are using multiple choice or other exclusive choice questions, it is also possible to import a CSV (commaseparated values) file that contains choices for the question, eliminating the need to enter the information again, thus saving time and reducing errors.

Finally, the Admin section functions allow a system administrator to manage users and mobile phones. This section is used to register field researchers and mobile devices on the system. It is the job of the administrator to ensure that only authorized persons and mobile phones are able to access and send data using the web client.

The Mobile Client

Field researchers use the data gathering mobile client to collect data and send it to the server.

Once the user is logged into the mobile client, they can download new surveys or select an existing survey to start data collection.

Only the mobile application users can see the survey form and all constraints added to the

Figure 3: The Editor section of the web application. questions. This way the answers are limited to an expected range of values.

The application also has skip logic and conditional questions to help users fill out the survey forms correctly. Skip logic is used to disable subsequent questions based on the answer of a selected question. This feature is especially useful when a question related to gender, age, or personal preference makes subsequent questions unnecessary.

A conditional question is a special type of question that automatically replicates a given category a predetermined number of times. For example, “How many children do you have?” and questions like “What is his or her name?” would be repeated according to the answer to the first question.

The mobile client also has a GPS to record geographical coordinates attached to the answers, and camera support to allow image questions.

phones with Internet connectivity and the Java programming language, which enabled the use of available components to reduce the development time, while still providing an easy to use user interface. This first concept was tested with actual use cases from FUNASA (Fundação Nacional de Saúde – National Foundation for Health) and FVS (Fundação Vigilância Sanitária – Health Surveillance Foundation) in Brazil, which had ongoing field researches to monitor local health and disease outbreaks.

It has also been used to collect epidemiological data in rural Ecuador and to monitor access to essential medicines and health treatments in Zimbabwe.

From these tests the following main points for improvement were identified: ■■

Design Challenges

At the time the data gathering system was proposed, the solutions found for data gathering were based on “palmtops” with no wireless communication. Field workers would need to connect their palmtops to computers to download new questionnaires and upload collected data. Despite providing mobility due to their small sizes, logistics were still not optimal since field workers needed to connect at a central location. The main requirements for the new tool to be developed were then defined as wireless connectivity and an easy to use interface.

The proposed concept was based on using cell

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■■

■■

A desktop-like user experience for the web application since fast Internet connections were rare at the time. The slow Internet speed resulted in long waiting times before Internet pages were updated when creating new questionnaires or viewing collected results.

Enhancements to the mobile application to provide an improved user interface for the questionnaire, aimed at reducing the time needed to fill the forms, as well as reducing the possibility of entering wrong or inconsistent data. The skip logic functionality and filters were proposed at this time.

Allowing the use of native GPS and camera functions for certain mobile phone models to automatically register the location where data was collected,

and to obtain an actual picture from the location. This would reduce the uncertainty originating from text-based descriptions and reduce the time needed to fill a form.

Taking these observations into account, a new web application was developed based on the Adobe Flex framework. Since Flex does data visualization and UI interactions on the clientside, less time is spent waiting for the server to respond, which is especially helpful with slow Internet speeds. For the mobile application, the Lightweight UI Toolkit for Java ME (LWUIT) was chosen, primarily due to the wide range of readily available graphical components. The main modifications to the mobile user interface were: ■■

■■

■■

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Display questions on a scrolling list instead of one question per page. This enhanced the user experience since it allowed faster navigation between questions and allowed the field worker to view the next questions.

Implementation of skip logic, which allowed disabling questions as a function of answers from previous questions. This supports faster browsing through the forms as well as avoiding answering non-applicable questions. Filters were also added to prevent field workers from collecting data outside desired ranges.

Implementation of picture-type questions to allow displaying pictures from the mobile phone camera as the answer to a question.

Automatically registering the location coordinates whenever a GPS is available.

This feature reduces the time needed to fill a form, avoiding registering text-based location descriptions, as well as supporting the organization by providing information that confirms if the data was collected at the desired location.

Potential features that were identified and still present a challenge are connection to a legacy database and results analysis. The database connection would allow organizations to automatically feed their existing databases with the information collected using Nokia Data Gathering. The analysis feature would enable organizations to perform extended data analysis within the data gathering environment.

The main difficulty for providing the database connection is related to the generic nature of data gathering, since it has not been designed for a specific type of field data collection. Different types of applications require different types of connections, such

as update, overwrite, include, and delete data based on field data collected. Data from an organization’s database would also need to be sent to the mobile devices. This would require extensive changes to the current web and mobile applications, with the risk of still not meeting the demands from different types of applications.

A similar problem is present regarding data analysis; different types of field surveys demand different types of analysis techniques.

To minimize the impact of the lack of these functionalities, Nokia Data Gathering is offered as an open source solution, allowing organizations to adapt it to their specific needs without needing to guarantee compatibility with other applications.

Is Nokia Data Gathering Right For Me?

The use cases described provide examples of how Nokia Data Gathering can facilitate field research through simplification of logistics and reduction in data gathering time.

Aside from the initial investment in equipment and the application itself, the overall cost of using this system is lower than costs associated with traditional paper-and-pen-based data collection (printing, survey distribution, survey collection, data entry).

In general, it is important to note that there are distinct benefits and drawbacks to using a mobile phone versus electronic alternatives such as computers, laptops, and PDAs. The cost, size, mobility, and longer battery life of mobile devices, for example, make them preferable to other more cumbersome and expensive alternatives. Even in areas where other ICTs are scant, many people have some familiarity and experience using mobile phones, so they are relatively easy to work with.

However, the size of mobile phone screens and input interfaces (keyboard or touchscreen) can pose a significant drawback and may not be necessary in situations where mobility and battery life are not an issue.

In comparison to other mobile phone-based solutions, the use of Nokia Data Gathering also presents benefits and drawbacks. The main points to be observed are: ■■

Mobile Platform. Nokia Data Gathering runs exclusively on mobile phones from Nokia.

Other solutions available provide support for other platforms such as iOS from Apple and Android. This characteristic restricts the organizations when acquiring the portable devices (phones) for the field workers,

■■

which may have implications on cost and availability in specific markets. The main benefit for a restricted platform is a reduced risk of incompatibility with specific devices and a better user interface and performance than most solutions available.

Technical Expertise for Maintenance. The Nokia Data Gathering web application is not offered as a service to organizations.

Interested organizations must download the application and install it on a computer with a connection to the Internet. The maintenance of the system will also be performed by the organization. Some solutions provide the web application as a service, so the organization does not need to maintain a server. The organization interested in using such a data gathering solution needs to evaluate whether it is more cost efficient to pay for maintenance fees or to use its own structure to maintain the system. Data security and availability also need to be considered since it cannot be guaranteed that a service being offered on the Internet will continue to be offered for the desired time. To minimize the impact of this characteristic, Nokia maintains an “Open Source Project for Nokia Data Gathering” to support the continuous development of the application and also provide a forum where organizations may find support for their doubts and/or specific needs.UX

About the Authors William Souza received his degree in Software Development from Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica do Amazonas in 2008. He is currently working as a software developer at the Instituto Nokia de Tecnologia (INDT) in Brazil, where he focuses on analysis and development of software projects, cloud computing and backend applications for Nokia Social Responsibility.

Karla Okada has been working as a researcher at the Instituto Nokia de Tecnologia (INDT) since August of 2008.

She holds a Master’s Degree from the Universidade Federal do Amazonas (UFAM), with a specialization in web technologies. Karla’s current focus is on cloud computing and backend applications.

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The Money Machine Helping Baby Boomers Retire

By Aaron Marcus Baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) now constitute 40 percent of the

U.S. population, controlling 67 percent of the nation’s wealth.

Wealth management products are available, but many do not focus on innovative data visualization, are often desktop-based, and do not incorporate persuasion to change behavior. Mobile solutions face the additional challenge that many baby boomers are not as familiar with mobile devices as younger people.

The author’s firm, AM+A developed a concept design called the Money Machine, to answer two critical questions: 1. How can information visualization and design promote change in wealthmanagement behavior? In general, we sought to assist people by enabling them to make decisions wisely about spending and saving appropriately. A specific example might involve managing the finances of an elderly parent with contributions coming from several different family members.

2. How can mobile technology assist in presenting persuasive information to promote behavior change? In general we sought to enable people to review their “dashboard� easily, connect with specific family and friends who might be able to advise or contribute, and to provide incentives and game-like attributes that would make wise actions more appealing to carry out.

Market Research, Personas, and Use Scenarios

Following the philosophy of user-centered design, we conducted qualitative research to understand the target market and distributed a questionnaire that explored smartphones and social media, money management, technology and money, and demographics.

We used the detailed results of the questionnaire to establish a set of five personas, and used the questionnaire results, 24 User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2

nd

iBank, and Mint.com). Through screen comparison analysis and customer review analysis, we derived benefits and drawbacks of the applications, such as how easy it was to enter and track information, how flexible financial information formats were, and whether they had integrated mobile and web versions.

Noting that few of these applications included much content related to actual behavior change, and that most addiction treatment programs (seeking to change behavior) do include such components, we concluded that usable, useful, and appealing UI design for wealth management should include incentives to prompt behavior change. These additional components go far beyond simply displaying information.

Desirable Characteristics

Based on our review of current products, the statement of needs and expectations of the interviewees, and knowledge gained from as well as these personas, to construct a previous, similar effort (called the Green specific use scenarios describing financial Machine), we came to some general conclumonitoring, security, social media, and sions about desirable characteristics of the gamification.

Money Machine.

A good wealth management application Competitive Products Research should help users set goals, provide dynamic We studied approximately twenty financharts and illustrations, host competitions, and cial and wealth management websites and provide step-by-step instructions to motivate The Money Machine: Helping Baby Boomers to Retire Date: 2011-12-03 UX.11.2-ArticleSubmissioniPhone applications (including Ameritrade, behavior change.

Money Machine Concept Map Emotional Management

My Money $FFRXQWV ‡ 9LHZ DQG PRQLWRU SHUVRQDO DQG JURXS DFFRXQWV – Balances + transactions – Portfolio summaries – Group account activity by group member ‡ 9LHZ DQG PRQLWRU RWKHUV¡ DFFRXQWV o 4JHOJmDBOU PUIFS – Children – Parent(s) – Close friend(s) ‡ 9LVXDOL]H – Net worth – Key wealth indicators ‡ 6HW XS EXGJHWV – Allocate funds – Monitor compliance ‡ 6HW XS XVHU SURÀOH – Sync account with social media (e.g., Facebook)

Future 3ODQV REMHFWLYHV JRDOV ‡ 6HW XS HGLW DQG PDQDJH ÀQDQFLDO WHPSODWHV

‡ 6HW XS HGLW DQG PDQDJH UHWLUHPHQW SODQV – Select investment strategies – Set retirement goals – View progress toward goals and adherence to plan

Money Management

Friends 6RFLDO PHGLD ‡ 9LHZ P\ 0RQH\ 0DFKLQH ZDOO ‡ 3RVW WR P\ ZDOO – Comments – Achievements

‡ 9LHZ P\ IULHQGV¡ LQIRUPDWLRQ – Walls o 1SPmMFT – Comments ‡ 6HW XS HGLW DQG PDQDJH RWKHU – Achievements REMHFWLYHV DQG JRDOV ‡ 3RVW WR FRPPHQWV WR P\ – Set bigger spending goals IULHQGV¡ ZDOOV (e.g., buying a car) ‡ ([FKDQJH QRQ SXEOLF – Calculate cost and create PHVVDJHV ZLWK 0RQH\ savings plans 0DFKLQH IULHQGV – View a timeline of progress toward current goals

‡ 6HW XS SULYDF\ VHWWLQJV

‡ 9LHZ DQG FRPPHQW RQ 0RQH\ 0DFKLQH¡V ZDOO FRQWHQW IURP WKH PDNHUV RI WKH DSSOLFDWLRQ

‡ 6HW XS DOHUWV KLHUDUFK\ – Alerts for urgent messages o &NBJM OPUJmDBUJPOT GPS MFTT urgent matters ‡ 6HW XS HWKLFV SUHIHUHQFHV

‡ &RQQHFW ZLWK ÀQDQFLDO DGYLVRU

Figure 1.Designs A concept map of the Money Machine.

Screen Based on the personas, use scenarios, and product comparison, after many rounds of discussions, and Quarter 2012,these www.UsabilityProfessionals.org initial designs, revised mobile screen designs emerged:

Time Management

Tips )LQDQFLDO DGYLFH

Challenges Games and prizes

‡ 9LHZ PDUNHW XSGDWHV – General activity o 4QFDJmD JOWFTUNFOUT

‡ 9LHZ DFKLHYHPHQWV – In progress – Reached

‡ &RQQHFW ZLWK ÀQDQFLDO DGYLVRU – Instant messaging for communicating minor – Email or phone calls for more extensive discussion

‡ 6HW XS DQG YLHZ FRPSHWLWLRQV ZLWK RWKHU XVHUV – Current competitions – Rank within competitions

‡ 9LHZ WLSV DQG WHPSODWHV IURP GLIIHUHQW VRXUFHV – Financial experts – Other users – Celebrities (downloadable from point store — see Contests) ‡ 5DWH OLNH RU GLVOLNH WLSV ‡ :ULWH DQG VKDUH WLSV

‡ )LOWHU WLSV – Source – Rating (daily, all-time) – Most recent ‡ 6HW XS D SDUWQHU DFFRXQW ZLWK 0RQH\ 0DFKLQH WR JLYH RWKHU XVHUV WLSV IRU HDUQLQJ PRQH\ DQG UHZDUGV

‡ 6HW XS DQG YLHZ &LUFOHV ZLWK RWKHU XVHUV – Compete against other Circles – Earn points and awards through competition ‡ 7UDFN SRLQWV – Individual points – Circle points ‡ 5HGHHP DZDUGV IURP WKH 3RLQW 6WRUH – Different customizations for my application o $FMFCSJUZ mOBODJBM UFNQMBUFT and tips

13:47

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Settings

Favorites

Goal: $5,350

Settings

Viewing Lifetime Goals 18 Sep 2011

Home: 82%

Filter

Previous

Announcements

3 hours ago, 10:55, July 7

M M

11

Car: 16%

Martin Short sent you a message.

On Sunday, 15:36, July 6

Goal: $28,600

Friends

Aldo received the Quick Improvement Badge. This is but one badge that Aldo has received. What badges could you unlock?

9

Tips

On Sunday, 18:11, July 6

Aldo Washington

On Saturday, 11:06, July 5

Future

1 hour ago, 12:47, July 7

Current: $3,432

Stock Market Stabilizes on Friday.

My Money

Hey Guys just got this of June 26 2011, the Miller Team has earned a total of 36 achievment badges. The Millers are now ranked 244th ...

Hey Mom. I deposited some money into Millers’ Family Account, so that you and Dad can treat each other for you anniversery. Oh and congrats on getting your new No Overspending badge.

3

6 hours ago, 07:47, July 7

Contests

Figure 2. Landing screen. User-selected priority information is displayed at the top of the screen, with arrows for scrolling at either side. The bottom half displays market updates as well as social networking and competition notifications.

My Money

Future Future

Friends

Tips

Contests

Figure 3. Future | Goals. Users set financial goals (acquisition, savings), each of which has an associated status progress bar. Users can access further details, for example, expected date of accomplishment, by clicking on the arrow at right.

“Virtual rewards provide strong motivation, and real financial rewards can prompt a significant change in behavior.”

My Money

prompt a significant change in behavior.

Last but not least: The Money Machine should be fun. Gamification provides a further incentive for users to learn about selecting wise investment/expenditure combinations, and controlling risk efficiently and effectively.

The Money Machine should allow users to share these experiences, primarily through Facebook, Twitter, and blogs.

Use of Persuasion Theory

We sought to combine information design with persuasion design to change people’s

On Saturday, 06:39, July 7

Future

Friends Friends

Tips

Contests

Figure 4. Friends | Announcements.

Announcements contain a list of posts from groups of friends. The user can give posts a thumbs up/down. The posts can be filtered by person or by subject. The inbox button will take the user to his/her messages. behavior. Based on Fogg’s behavior model for persuasive design, and Cialdini’s theories of persuasion, we defined five key processes to create behavioral change: ■■ ■■

Extensive, up-to-date, user-friendly, and flexible searchable databases are another priority. Similarly, the Money Machine must liberate users from cumbersome manual data entry, furnishing a varied data entry system (for example, document or database scanning).

The Money Machine must also encourage and strengthen team-oriented behavior change.

Cooperation and competition within and among teams can encourage greater restraint and financial control. Virtual rewards (for example, “star” designations) provide strong motivation, and real financial rewards can

Filter

Mighty Miller Team Addy Miller

Josh Miller

Goal: $93,560 Current: $40,230

Stan Miller deposited $535 into Millers’ Family account.

Settings

Inbox

Goal: $124,200

College: 43%

The Euro on the Brink.

Announcements

+

Current: $101,844

Current: $3,638

13:47

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Goals

Previous 8

Budget: Total Monthly

Earnings: 68%

13:47

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Money Machine

■■ ■■ ■■

Increase frequency of use Motivate changing some living habits (save, plan, invest) Teach how to change living habits Persuade users to plan short-term change Persuade users to plan long-term change.

We also adapted Maslow’s analysis of fundamental human needs to the Money Machine context: ■■

■■

The safety and security need is met by the ability to visualize the amount of expense saved The belonging and love need is met by the ability to share with, and gain support from, friends and family

User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org 25

13:47

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Settings

My

Team

Multitask Master

Retirement Guru

13:47

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Achievements

No Overspending

=

Settings

Housing

Travel

Food

Viewing 15 July 2011 on 18 Sept 2011

Earnings: 68%

Monthly Goal: $5,350

Current: $3,638

Favorite Tipster

Savings Sergeant

Quick Improvement

Expenses: 37%

Monthly Limit: $2,700

Current: $999 Savings: 22%

Monthly Goal: $1,850

Current: $407

My Money

Future

Friends

Tips

Contests Contests

Figure 5. Contests | Achievements. This “wall” shows the user’s achievements, each represented by a badge. Progress is shown in a bar below the badge. Achievements are earned through methods that show the user is improving financially.

My My Money Money

Future

Friends

Tips

Contests

Figure 6. My Money | Budgets. Budget categories are displayed at the top. “Total” displays total earnings, expenses, and savings for a given timeframe. Users can view specific budgets by clicking on the associated icon.

“…we created ten monthly challenges. In meeting them, users can make short-term behavior changes that will generate longterm positive impacts.”

■■

■■

The esteem need is satisfied by social comparisons that display improvement in financial control and skill, as well as by self-challenges that display goal accomplishment The self-actualization need is fulfilled by the ability to visualize improvement of financial indexes and mood, and to predict change in users’ future economic scenarios.

Friends

Previous

Settings

A

Total

8

13:47

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Budget

Previous

Increasing Frequency of Use

Game-like attributes and award concepts typically increase frequency of use of applications.

Users might be given virtual rewards, as well as real money contributed by government or financial institutions, for use of the application.

Increasing Motivation

Users’ potential financial conditions are an important incentive for behavior change.

26 User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O Q R S T U V W X Y Z #

My Money

Privacy

+

Adam Beyer Addy Miller

Adeline Scott Adonis Martin Lee Alanna Taylor Aldo Washington

Future

Friends Friends

Tips

Contests

Figure 7. Friends | Main page. In the searchenabled list of friends, users click on a name or icon to view a complete profile. A privacy indicator sits next to each friend, representing that friend’s access to sensitive financial information (zero access, limited access, or complete access).

Viewing their current versus predicted economic status over the next twenty to thirty years gives users greater understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of their financial strategy.

Because setting goals improves learning outcomes and provides quantitative performance data, the Money Machine asks users to set time-based goals for spending reduction, savings, and retirement. To achieve each goal, users receive suggested step-by-step action plans.

In addition, we created ten monthly challenges. In meeting them, users can make short-term behavior changes that will generate long-term positive impacts.

Social interaction also motivates behavior change through community support and informal competition or comparison. Users can form groups of family and friends and participate in

networking by integrating features found in forums, blogs, Facebook, and Twitter.

Improving Learning

Understanding long-term wealth management is crucial. To improve learning, the Money Machine integrates contextual tips on:

13:47

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Tips

Previous

Settings Write

■■ ■■

If your employer merges with another company, the two companies may merge retirement plans as well. But if your company’s plan is the one that gets terminated, you would most likely receive...

■■

2 hours ago, 11:09, July 7

■■

Real Estate for Retirees Donald Trump

1008 84

This is a great time for an American retiree to buy a home. Banks typically take ownership of foreclosures, which have spiked as the housing market is in the tanker. My advice is to start...

My Money

We sought to make the education process entertaining as well as informative. Proposed games teach users to choose the right proportion of investments.

9 hours ago, 04:21, July 7

Women are an economic force. But when it comes to saving for retirement, they face challenges that can put them at risk of outliving their assets. There is a solution if you start investing...

Friends

Tips

Contests

competitions. Although based around financial controls and exercises, users need not reveal personal financial data.

The Money Machine also leverages social

Savings Current $67,359 Added Yearly $2,359 401k Plan 1 Current $42,086 Added Yearly $3,845 401k Plan 2 Current $408 Added Yearly $67

Settings

Retirement Planner Net worth Savings

$700k $600k

401k Plan 1

Filter Risk

401k Plan 2

Current Age

Retirement Age

$500k $400k $300k $200k $100k 0 Age 30 Year 2011

Scott M.

Thom M.

Addy M.

Viewing Monthly on 18 Sept 2011

Account Total

$ 5,435

45 2046

60 2041

75 2056

Goal: $650

Current: $240 Expenses: 44%

Limit: $450 Current: $198

We plan to develop a working prototype to conduct user evaluations, validate personas, and use scenarios, then revise the information architecture and the look-and-feel appropriately. We also are interested in researching and developing improved information visualizations and considering how the Money Machine might be redesigned for different cultures and for enterprise use, not only individual consumer use.

In general, we plan to test whether the application can persuade people to exercise greater fiscal control, adopt healthier wealth management habits, and pursue a more financially sound lifestyle under real use conditions over the long term. If the design philosophy about adding persuasion

Figure 8. Tips | Main page. A news feed of financial tips from users can be filtered by person or subject. Users can write their own tips, search through all tips, rate them, and see more detail.

Salary Current $48,532

Josh M. 8

Next Steps

On Sunday, 14:17, July 6

Future

Wiser consumption Increased financial control Tackling complications associated with debt and poor investments Coping with principle burn rates that are either too high or too low.

Contribution: 37%

Women and Retirement Merrill Lynch

954 65

Millers’ Account

Filter

Pension Plan in Merging Companies Suzie Orman

254 17

13:47

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90 2071

Figure 9. My Money | Retirement Planner. This chart illustrates users’ current assets, allowing them to view their retirement plans graphically and create a more intuitive understanding of factors like risk, savings rates, and tax management.

My My Money Money

Future

Friends

Tips

Contests

Figure 10. My Money | Group Accounts. Group accounts let users manage shared funds contributed and used by others. Selecting a group account member from the top bar displays the total money in the account, versus that member’s contributions and expenses for a given timeframe. characteristics to information display in order to change behavior is proven correct, this approach could have significant wealthmanagement benefits.UX About the Author Aaron Marcus, president of Aaron Marcus and Associates, Inc., and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of User Experience Magazine, is a pioneer of user experience, publisher of eight books and more than 300 articles, and lead designer/ analyst of four mobile concept designs that combine persuasion theory with information design and user-centered design. The Money Machine has won an award and was deemed best in the category of financial systems in an international design competition sponsored by the International Institute for Information Design, Vienna.

User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org 27

Book Review

It’s Finally Here!

A Book about User Experience Management User Experience Management: Essential Skills for Leading Effective UX Teams

By Arnie Lund (Morgan Kaufmann, 2011) 312 pages As the user experience industry has matured over the past

decade or so, there has been an increase in the number of books written to help individual contributors—researchers, designers, information architects, content specialists, and others—be successful in their roles. These books are available on numerous topics ranging from how to conduct a contextual inquiry, to effectively prototype, to maximize one’s efforts in an agile environment, to complete a discount usability study, to conduct an international research project… you get the point, the list goes on and on.

While these types of books serve the very important purpose of making it easier for those new to a particular research or design method to quickly learn and grow, they arguably don’t offer as

“Lund draws upon his twenty plus years of experience in the user experience and emerging technologies fields to shed light on user experience management best practices.” much value to those who have honed their craft and are already experts in their domain. So what resources are available for the latter population of practitioners, especially those who aspire to become user experience managers or want to improve their management skills? Sadly, almost nothing. Fortunately, though, Arnie Lund has come to the rescue with his new book entitled, User Experience Management: Essential Skills for Leading Effective UX Teams.

Arnie Lund, Ph.D., CUXP, hardly needs an introduction given the impressive mark he has made on the development and evolution of the user experience industry. Currently working as a principal user experience lead at Microsoft, Lund has previously held leadership roles at companies such as AT&T Bell Laboratories, Ameritech, and US West Advanced Technologies.

Throughout User Experience Management: Essential Skills for Leading Effective UX Teams, Lund draws upon his twenty plus years of experience in the user experience and emerging technologies fields to shed light on user experience management best practices. As he recently shared with me, “I have talked to many people over the years who have wanted a book on managing user experience teams, and there wasn’t one. It also dawned on me that some of the most experienced and talented managers I knew were retiring. I didn’t want their wisdom to get lost. But the final trigger was a set of events at work that caused me to come home steaming with the thought, ‘These people are idiots! I’m going to write down how it should be done!’” Oy vey, I’m sure there’s an amusing story behind this quote, Arnie!

One of my favorites is Chapter 4, in which the author talks about the importance of creating the right environment for a user experience team. I recently had the opportunity to tour several user experience offices across diverse companies, and was shocked by the stale environment I witnessed on many occasions. This indicated to me that providing an environment that supports and maximizes the unique work of user experience professionals is not a priority at many companies.

According to Lund, providing user experience professionals with an appropriate work environment is important because, “Space shapes our attitudes, how we interact, and, in many ways, how we think. Every place where I have seen a vital, influential user experience team, I have seen a space that reflects their creativity.” Not only does Lund provide examples in his book of what an optimal space looks like for user experience professionals to work within, but he also provides suggestions for how to get creative when minimal resources are on the table for doing so (for example, never underestimate the influence of an administrative professional.) Additionally, Lund provides helpful tips on how to bend the rules of an organization when they get in the way of building an appropriate space for one’s user experience team.

30 User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org

I particularly enjoyed Chapter 9 and the discussion surrounding branding one’s UX team. “When the ROI discussion arises, it is often not about ROI. It is really about understanding what user experience is doing, and if the person asking the question understands how he will benefit,” he writes.

This is why, Lund explains, user experience groups should have a distinct brand and communication plan in place. Such a plan not only helps to clarify ownership, but also inspires one’s team, extends a team’s presence, and helps shape the environment a team works within. Lund also mentions that coming up with the appropriate name for your user experience group can be especially powerful for a variety of reasons.

Unfortunately, putting effort into branding one’s user experience team is often at the bottom of many leaders’ priority list, when it should be at the top.

Additional topics covered in the book include how to build a user experience team, focus a team, create a high performing team, nurture a team, transform an organization to be user-experience focused, evangelize UX, and decide if you should become a manager. One piece of content that would be helpful to include in future editions is a section that provides more in-depth tips regarding how individual contributors can acquire management skills prior to actually becoming a manager. I was also left wondering if there are subtle distinctions between the skill sets needed for design, versus research, versus content managers.

User Experience Management: Essential Skills for Leading Effective UX Team is a mustread for anyone who is managing user experience teams, or someday aspires to do so. Not only is the content of the book based on Arnie Lund’s years of experience, including mistakes he’s made and successes he’s won, but it is also peppered with words of wisdom and advice from

many other industry veterans. The book is an entertaining read, and one in which the content is practical and relatable. I think the book would make a great teaching tool for programs—such as the California College of the Arts Design MBA or Stanford’s Design School—that aim to teach effective design management.UX —Chelsey Glasson

User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org 31

The View from Here

Mobile Money for Financial Inclusion in India

to understand the benefits of mobile banking.

Indian policy makers, too, are recognizing mobile commerce as an effective solution for achieving absolute financial inclusion for national economic strength and expansion. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has a pro-mobile banking stance and has brought about some policy amendments such as: ■■

■■ ■■

Since independence in 1947, India has made great strides in socio-

economic progress. Today, India is the world’s ninth largest economy

by GDP and third largest in purchasing power parity. The availability of banking services for all Indian citizens is a significant aspect of this development. It not only allows access to basic financial instruments, but also encourages savings and serves as a doorway to easy credit.

India is challenged by the vast majority of a financially excluded population. Among 1.2 billion people, banking penetration is only 54 percent, and fewer than 10 percent of 650,000 Indian villages have a bank branch. Even in urban India, fewer than 35 percent of the working population with annual earnings below 50,000 rupees own a bank account. Strong policy makers like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are moving to policies that help drive financial inclusion.

“Building an interface to address the language barrier is essential in a country with sixty-seven official languages.”

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), India’s mobile phone base stands at more than 884 million, with a teledensity of more than 76 percent, far exceeding that of banking reach. The wide network and outsized subscriber base of mobile phone users can provide a solution for achieving full financial exposure with minimal capital investment. Key players in Indian banking and telecom industries are already working on the marriage of the mobile phone and financial access.

From having fewer than 9,000 bank branches in 1969, India now has more than 85,000 branches. Still, with more than 600,000 Indian villages, the government’s ‘One Bank Account per Indian’ dream would take a long time to achieve. Indians, however, have high acceptance levels for technology. Another factor to note is that in India, more than 50 percent of the population falls into the 16-30 age bracket, the biggest adopters of technology and the convenience of mobile commerce.

It is important that regulators, banks, telecom operators, industry associations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and communities collaborate and work towards financial inclusion. It’s also important that companies like Obopay, a global payments company, educate customers

■■

Removing the cap of 50,000 rupees per day for mobile money transactions Aggressive roll-out of mobile banking services in rural India in 2011 Using business correspondents to extend mobile payments facilities, creating new channels of distribution to contact the unbanked and underbanked Launching Interbank Mobile Payment Service (IMPS) to transfer money instantly between bank accounts within the country using mobile phones

Through the RBI and the National Payments Corporation of India, a widely distributed, readily accessible, and interoperable mobile payments network is being built. This network will make the payoffs of modern financial services available to consumers and, at the same time, provide growth opportunities to the banking and telecom sectors.

In a country as diverse as India, however, success in this sector can only be achieved under certain circumstances. Given that most Indians don’t use smartphones, the technology platform for mobile banking must be universal and accessible from any kind of phone—irrespective of the service provider, handset, or bank. SMS-based services can cut across these barriers, offering an open and interoperable solution.

Advanced encryption and security technologies can prevent unauthorized access to account holders’ data. With two-factor authentication, every account holder must log in with a password that is authenticated by the technology at the backend, and PIN-based authentications can reduce chances of fraud.

Building an interface to address the language barrier is essential in a country with sixty-seven official languages. Since this service is used to perform day-to-day transactions, the ecosystem for mobile banking must be mature in order to make the service complete and useful—right from banks to merchants, agents, utility companies, and neighborhood vendors.

Large banks and telecom companies, such as Union Bank of India and Nokia partnering with Obopay, represent a turning point for India.

With roughly 100 million Indians living away from their hometowns in other cities across the country, there is a need for safe, timely, and cost-effective money transfer facilities, especially in remote areas. This is where mobile banking and payments will play a pivotal role. With continued support from partners, government, and RBI, mobile banking will continue to break new ground in 2012.UX —Neel Chowdhury About the Author Neel Chowdhury is the CMO for Obopay Inc., a global mobile payments company that tailors solutions to help partner companies launch their own branded services.

32 User Experience, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2nd Quarter 2012, www.UsabilityProfessionals.org

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KEEP PERSONAS CURRENT & RELEVANT

• Validate and update research findings • Track targeting assumptions, priorities and changes

www.personamodeler.com UPA Members: Go to www.tandemseven.com/upa to download our new white paper, Creating Applications That Engage and Delight Users: How an Integrated Approach Can Vastly Improve Persona Development and Management.

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