The ubiquitous computer is such an integral part of our lives today that it is hard to imagine that huge parts of the population globally can't use them, thanks to illiteracy. It is not just about making sure that people know how to read. As Indrani Medhi, Associate Researcher, Technology For Emerging Markets Group, Microsoft Research India, says, computers must be adapted so that even those who cannot read can effectively use them.
This belief has fuelled her research to develop the Text-Free User Interface (UI) project to make assistance-free PC interaction possible for non-literate people. The Text-Free UI are a set of design guidelines for computer-human interfaces that help illiterate and semi-literate people use the benefits of the internet to find jobs, get information of all kinds, and even use cell-phone-based banking services. A research prototype is being extensively tested and pilot projects are rolled out.
Ms. Medhi used audio prompts, symbols like cartoons particular to specific illiterate or poor communities for the interface. Her field research that involved studying 400 low-income subjects in South African farms, Bangalore slums and Filipino fishing villages has taught her that while users adapted themselves to the icons, they didn't really understand how a computer could deliver information. That's when the idea of using video to demonstrate how an application works occurred. For example, anyone using the job search option will see a domestic helper asking for and getting a job.
“The design process for Text-Free UIs has been very iterative in nature. All throughout, we have tested our designs with potential users and rolled their feedback into our next set of design iterations. We have had to pay attention to subtle graphical cues, because user responses depended on psychological, cultural and religious biases,” explains Ms. Medhi.
The process has involved making simple but effective changes. “Some of the icons were not interpreted the way we expected. For example, in our job search application for domestic helpers, our initial design for a potential employers' residence was a sloped roof single-storey house. We thought this was a universal symbol for a house, but our subjects perceived it as a village hut or their own residence and were confused. They felt that prospective employers would live in tall apartment complexes. With their feedback, we redesigned the logo to represent an apartment complex,” she says.
She might have been voted among the “The smartest people in tech” by Fortune Magazine, but what keeps her going is enabling more people to use the transformative power of technology. Ms. Medhi says: “I have met a number of low-income, barely-literate domestic helpers in India who had not been allowed to touch the computer at their employer's houses even for the purpose of cleaning. Then in our usability tests, when the same domestic helpers were able to handle the PC themselves, there was this sense accomplishment. One of the helpers said: ‘Now even I can use a computer.' It is very inspiring to see how technology can empower an individual and elevate self-worth.”
