M4D

some shifts in the landscape

Jonathan Donner Microsoft Research India M is for Mobile 2.3.11 twitter: @jcdonner

www.bit.ly/jdonner

A training study in Urban South Africa• 8 internet “never-evers”• Assistance from livelihoods NGO Learn to Earn• Ethnographic Action Research• Adaptive training, 13 weeks of participant observation• Follow-up interviews after 6 months• www.bit.ly/afteraccess

Job Search

Hopes I have tried everything, absolutely everything to find a job, I need a job,

like, yesterday as the money in the house is not enough… …I went to this place in the morning and they told me put my CV here in

the web, but I do not know how to do that, they do not consider me, if I do not know how to use internet.

Seven Tricky Things For First-timersOn the Handset

GPRS SettingsComplex multistep menus require a visit to the phone shop or a knowledgeable friend

Crowded ScreensEULAs, banners and footers restrict the screen

Menu/Hard Key ConfusionEvery phone has a different route to WAP/internet. Even between same providers

In the Environment

Webmail chicken & eggEmail identifiers are difficult to originate on handset

Unfamiliarity with passwordsConfusion between a PIN and a password

Few mobile-friendly websitesFew NGOs have WAP site

Limited FunctionalityUploading photos, composing CVs, resetting passwords

The meter is running

• Text messages are inefficient and pricey

• Even 3G mobile internet succumbs to a pay-as-you-go pricing model

• Requires careful attention to incentives

CC photo: drp on flickr http://bit.ly/gvEnEt

An app’s biggest competitor may be a phone call

CC photo: ti.mo on flickr http://bit.ly/gvvOS6

The mobile blurs the social and the instrumental

Over time, users total mobile experiences revolve around connection, expression, coordination, and entertainment