Innovative Solutions: What Designers Need to Know for Today's Emerging Markets

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS What Designers Need to Know for Today’s Emerging Markets

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS What Designers Need to Know for Today’s Emerging Markets EDITED BY

APALA LAHIRI CHAVAN GIRISH V. PRABHU

Boca Raton London New York

CRC Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 International Standard Book Number: 978-1-4398-1049-1 (Hardback) This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copyright. com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a photocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data Innovative solutions : what designers need to know for today’s emerging markets / editors, Apala Lahiri Chavan and Girish V. Prabhu. p. cm. “A CRC title.” Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4398-1049-1 (alk. paper) 1. New products. 2. User-centered system design. 3. Cross-cultural studies. I. Chavan, Apala Lahiri. II. Prabhu, Girish V. TS171.4.I574 2010 658.5’75--dc22 Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the CRC Press Web site at http://www.crcpress.com

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Contents Preface..................................................................................................................... vii Editors.................................................................................................................... xiii Authors....................................................................................................................xv 1 An Introduction to Emerging Markets....................................................... 1 Warren Greving 2 Key Themes of Working in Emerging Markets...................................... 15 Apala Lahiri Chavan 3 Aspects of Innovation: Research and Technology.................................. 49 Beena Prabhu and Sarit Arora 4 Usage Ecosystems: Dynamics of Emerging Markets............................. 61 Girish V. Prabhu 5 Understanding Users in Emerging Markets: What’s Different?......... 79 Apala Lahiri Chavan 6 Case Studies.................................................................................................... 91 7 Interviews..................................................................................................... 197 Index...................................................................................................................... 229

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Preface Building up years of experience as user experience specialists has prepared us only for the tip of the iceberg when we enter the challenges of innovation and design in emerging markets. There is so much to learn, so much to experiment with, so much to rethink whether what we know already could be useful in designing for the emerging markets. Although many of us have done projects for different cultures, they were mostly relevant to the world we already lived in, the so-called “developed world”. However, with the emerging markets, there is still a lot to uncover in regard to methods we use to gather user input, the processes that lead us to creating innovative ­products and services and tools we use for usability evaluation. We see this as a journey, rather than a collection of experiences, that could lead us to great designs. It is a journey that will be enriched with the new perspectives, ideas, innovations, and tools that will help us to dig into deeper ends of the iceberg. This book is our attempt to show our road to the “riches” of new ways of uncovering opportunities in innovation and design for emerging markets. Just like the companies who have established market shares in the developed countries face a new challenge, we as designers share the excitement and the pain while entering the emerging markets. We already know that the usual ways of designing and introducing a product or a service may not work anymore in the newly opened markets. Not only do the cultural differences play a major role in what, how, and why customers behave the way they do, but the existing technologies, distribution channels, wants and needs of people become new elements to consider. In this book, Human Factors International (HFI) in India describes the landscape of what ­designers are facing today in emerging markets, and discusses the unique methodologies they developed to aid designers to overcome the difficulties faced when innovating and designing in emerging markets. This book incorporates research and practice to provide a comprehensive look at the elements of what is needed to be knowledgeable and creative when innovating and designing for emerging markets. Human Factors International in India and a selected group of professionals who have done pioneering work in the emerging markets make this a unique book due to its contributors: local designers and researchers providing insights directly from the depths of India, China and other parts of the world. We provide an in-depth look at user research methods in emerging markets and underserved communities. We show how ecosystems mapping could be a great tool to define the elements impacting innovation and design decisions. We discuss methodologies to develop solution spaces based on the output from user research studies. We provide case studies from around the world to bring perspective on how the landscape of innovation and design differs from the vii

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design in the “developed world”. These case studies and design examples ­provide us insights on how to avoid pitfalls in innovating and designing outside of our comfort zone that we were living in the past decades. We bring the voice of the researchers and designers providing insights directly from the depths of innovation and design for emerging markets. In the introductory chapter we talk about the similarities and dissimilarities in the emerging markets, whether it is BRIC, MBRIC or the BISA group of emerging countries. Through his experience in setting up research labs in three of the four BRIC countries (India, China and Russia), Warren Greving highlights the key economic and research trends in emerging markets. Drawing upon the historical backgrounds of these nations and cultures, he highlights the ways to be “surprised” and asks the designers to keep their eyes open to identify the contexts of emerging markets as not one unified entity. With examples from India, he goes further to emphasize how each of these emerging markets are not homogeneous in any way. In the second chapter, Key Themes of Working in Emerging Markets, Apala Lahiri Chavan analyses the four key themes of working in emerging markets. These themes are culture, people, technology and transition. Innovators and designers need to have enough data points, even before embarking on any emerging market work, to understand how similar or different the specific emerging market is from the country they belong to and are familiar with. In addition, the fact that the emerging markets are not necessarily similar cultural entities. The people who comprise emerging markets are also different because of their unique demographic, social and cultural context. Technology is one of the main “game changers” for the emerging markets. The extremely positive attitude about technology has often resulted in the emerging markets being able to leapfrog in the area of technology adoption and usage. This can often be an unexpected surprise and hence less than optimally leveraged by designers coming from the developed/mature economies. And finally, the fast pace of change in the emerging markets and the resultant transitionary nature of society poses unique challenges and opportunities. The third chapter, Aspects of Innovation: Research and Technology, emphasizes the role for user research in understanding needs and wants. At some level, the consumers in these markets are rooted in their socio cultural practices, but at the same time a clear shift in practices and beliefs is also seen. Consumers are aspiring for better products, and they want these today! However, the models and the trends for technology adoption in the emerging markets are not the same as in the developed markets. This difference can be attributed to sociocultural differences, ecosystem differences and the changes in macroeconomics that have influenced the emerging ­markets significantly. With carefully selected examples from Brazil, China and India, Beena Prabhu and Sarit Arora have created a case for why a deeper understanding of user needs in emerging markets could lead to appropriate products and services. Gaining a deep understanding of users will enable

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designers and innovators to come up with products and ideas that will be successful and will have a positive impact on the lives of the users. It is ­crucial that user research be designed in such a way that it not only ­uncovers insights about the users but also about the ecosystem that the user lives in and is influenced by. Every market is different, and the emerging markets are more so because of the changes that have transpired in the past 10 years and have influenced their consumers. Looking at these markets through the right lenses, and using the appropriate methods to understand the fabric of each market will help multinationals in their quest to penetrate them and be successful in delivering “killer” products and services. Usage Ecosystems: Dynamics of Emerging Markets, the fourth chapter­, covers the importance of understanding the ecosystem and its needs. Building on existing research on business ecosystems, Girish Prabhu makes a case for needs analysis of the entire ecosystem. We call the resulting ­analysis and understanding the usage ecosystem as this provides designers a deeper understanding about the interdependence of various stakeholders from a usage perspective. With two live examples, one in the K-12 education system and another in high frequency (mom-and-pop) retail, we bring to the forefront the key advantages of this approach towards developing appropriate solutions. We strongly feel that understanding of interdependence of stakeholders in an emerging markets ecosystem becomes more crucial, as they tend to be less homogenous in nature compared to developed ­markets. The relationship between these entities is also very much more flexible and fluid. Culturally, many of the emerging market countries value ­relationships over rules. Hence entities often behave in different ways and assume different characteristics in an ecosystem where they need to “be” as the relationship dictates in a specific situation. Secondly, the state of infrastructure and technology in the emerging markets is leapfrogging so rapidly that the very profile of the entities undergoes rapid transformation. This in turn drives the need for utmost flexibility in relationships between entities in the ecosystem. Designers need to be aware of the specifics of emerging market ecosystems in order to spot opportunities for design that would not exist in developed market ecosystems. In the K-12 education ­ecosystem, interdependence of students, parents and teachers from a holistic education perspective led to identification of needs that are supportive of each other as well as conflicting. These insights allowed the innovators to identify a solution that provides an optimal level of success to the key end user without risking the other stakeholder’s values. In the high frequency retail solution, understanding of ecosystem stakeholders’ needs allowed the innovators to identify a solution that could possibly create a return on investment (RoI) for the HFR ­storeowners. In a nutshell, by picking out the stakeholders that have the greatest interdependencies and the most profound effects on the key ­stakeholders, the innovation team can develop out-of-the box solutions. In the next chapter, Understanding Users in Emerging Markets—What’s Different?, Apala covers methods that the designers could use to make

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users in these countries express their unarticulated needs, often in front of strange foreigners! Many methods developed in the West for data gathering from the user (in-depth interviews, focus groups, think-aloud protocols, etc.) do not always work well in non-Western cultures. Stark differences in communication styles between these cultures mandate that these methods need to be adapted. It is extremely important to understand the root cause of hesitancy in communication. And these roots and enablers can be different as we move between countries or even across a river within a country (as is often the case in many emerging market countries). With a deep understanding of and sensitivity to the triggers that enable communication within a culture, HFI has developed multiple methods ranging from the Bollywood method for usability testing to the Funky Facilitator method for data gathering to Jungian archetype folk probes for interview enhancements to the Bizarre-Bazaar method for comparison of alternative concepts. It is imperative to develop methods that help us address not just the different communication pain points in different cultures but also the issue of there being different content in the unconscious, in different cultures. One method to retrieve content from the unconscious may not, therefore, work universally well in all cultures. If we want to succeed in expanding our reach to new markets, then we can no longer ignore the billion users in emerging markets who are today in search of methods that will help them articulate their needs and make their voices heard. This chapter explains each of these methods that HFI has developed. This book then turns a corner and provides real life examples through multi­ ple case studies and interviews. The case studies in this section are not only drawn from our own work with various clients, but also from user experience and innovation researchers across the globe. We have case studies­ from our own work with HP Labs, Nokia and Haier, and from Philips, Intel, A Piece of Pie, University of Malaysia and Bangladesh’s Development Research Network. Many experienced innovators from these organizations such as Joan Vinyets Rejón, Alvaro Diaz, Dr. Alvin Yeo, Shekhar Borgaonkar, Ashwini Asokan, Susan Huotari, Forhad Uddin, Mosharrof Hossain, Simona Rocchi, Unmesh Kulkarni, Sarit Arora, Rahul Ajmera, Mathivanan Rajendran, Mrinal Kanti Rai and Beena Prabhu have contributed to the case studies. The interview section covers conversations with key dignitaries in innovation and development areas such as Roopa Purushothaman, one of the authors of the now legendary Goldman Sachs report Dreaming With BRICs: The Path to 2050, and Tapan Parikh, who talks about his work in the developmental sector. Ram Sehgal in India describes the changes in the field of advertising in India, and Steve Portigal speaks about the role of designers in emerging markets in comparison to developed markets. Dmitry Volkov from Russia and Darelle van Gruenen from South Africa provide a fascinating perspective of the users and ecosystem in each of these emerging nations.

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We hope that after having read the chapters in the preceding sections, your journey through these case studies and interviews will provide you deeper insights on how a user-centred innovation and design approach has been applied in practical settings. As with any journey we designers take, we know how to be flexible and creative. This flexibility and creativity is at the heart of this book. We hope that we have been able to provide an appreciation and understanding of the complexity of innovation and design for emerging markets and also how that complexity can be transformed into a manageable, understandable and actionable world of opportunities. And, finally, we wish to thank all those who have contributed to making this book possible. Primary among them is Dr. Nuray Aykin, whose brainchild this book is and without whose initiative, this book would not have seen the light of day. We thank all our authors and interviewees for their insightful contributions. We appreciate the contribution of Praneet Reddy for the very useful and timely secondary research data and valuable insights on China from Dr. Jianming Dong, Xueming Lang and Dr. Suzanne Thomas.

Editors Apala Lahiri Chavan is a world-renowned expert on cross-cultural design and contextual innovation—the discipline of creating breakthrough product concepts and adapting existing products, services and technologies to new markets. HP Labs, Adidas, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, NCR, and Intel are just a few of the companies that have benefited from Apala’s innovative, pioneering techniques in this exciting and growing field. Apala and her CI team have helped designers, marketers, product managers and ethnographers apply her innovative techniques to develop exciting new concepts and products. She systematically guides the ideation process to uncover subtle patterns in ethnographic and market data to reveal exciting breakthrough ideas that can drive a business and generate more revenue and profit. Apala has developed a vast array of data-gathering techniques that help understand the user experience in a variety of cultural and economic environments. She is a creative and dynamic speaker who has received acclaim in the United States, Canada, Europe, India and China for her ­keynote talks on contextual innovation, internationalization, and designing for emerging markets. Apala has published widely; her latest article in Interactions magazine, ‘The Washing Machine that Ate My Sari’, has proved to be immensely popular. Apala has been with HFI since 1999 and is currently vice president of Asia, managing offices in India, China and Singapore. An award-winning designer (International Audi Design Award), Apala has led teams spanning design, development, testing and deployment of products. Apala holds an M.Sc. (with distinction) in interface design from London Guildhall University (now University of North London). Apala has been associated with ACM as ACM SIGCHI’s vice chair for local chapters in the past and is currently a member of the editorial advisory board for Interactions magazine. ([email protected])

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Girish V. Prabhu is Director, UBD Innovation and Strategic Development at Srishti Labs. Prior to this assignment, he was the Asia Chief for UX Staff and Delivery at HFI. Girish has 20  years of experience in contextual innovation, new product and business development, and product inter­nationalization. Throughout his career he has held various management positions in new business development, research and product commercialization at Eastman Kodak, HP labs, and Intel. He was instrumental in implementing user-centred design processes in multiple product areas. He has the unique experience of taking three new ideas from early conceptualization to a full-fledged new business. He has published referred papers in international journals and holds 14 U.S. patents. He is a member of PDMA, ACM-SIGCHI, and HFES. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in industrial engineering (human factors) from the University of Buffalo, New York, and a B.E. in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Engineering, Mysore. His research interests include contextual innovation, business models for sustainable development and design language research for emerging markets­. ([email protected])

Authors Rahul Ajmera is principal design researcher at Human Factors International. An industrial designer by education, he graduated from the National Institute of Design, India, in 2003. A Certified Usability Analyst, he has been working at Human Factors International ever since. As a part of his responsibility there, he has handled several research projects with HP Labs India. Gesture keyboard is one of those projects where he was actively involved in all aspects of user and design research. ([email protected]) Sarit Arora is Executive Director, Human Factors International. He has more than 10  years of experience in the area of user experience design and innovation. He has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Delhi University and a master’s in industrial design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmadabad. At HFI his responsibilities include design and evaluation of products and software applications, client interaction, understanding user’s requirements, leading design teams and teaching user experience design and innovation courses to professionals. He employs contextual innovation methodologies to identify new opportunities and discover users through ethnographic studies to develop breakthrough and engaging products and services. HFI clients, for whom he has helped create innovative products and services, include MIT media labs, Intel, HP, Baxter and Haier. ([email protected])

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Ashwini Asokan is a design researcher at Intel’s User Experience Group. At the crossroads of research and design, her work spans from ethnographic and design research to defining consumer experiences and product features for Intel’s digital home platforms. Her primary interests lie in understanding the role of design in different cultural settings and the various methodologies that are required to translate specific cultural needs into tangible manifestations of a product that reflect the experience/interactions users wish to have with them. At the opposite end, she is exploring possibilities for developing universal principles of design that can be inspired and developed from looking at themes within specific cultures. ([email protected]) Shekhar Borgaonkar has a Ba.E. degree in electronics, M.Tech. (IIT KGP) in communications and Ph.D. (IISc) focused on optimisation techniques. He worked in a number of industries before starting his own company in 1998. His stint as a Human Interface designer started here where he invented an email device that won the best product award at the Bangalore computer show in 2001. At HP Labs India, Borgaonkar currently leads a team that focuses on affordable access devices. Apart from Gesture Keyboard, he with his team has worked on affordances of a laptop with an auxiliary display, a device for language agnostic e-mail and a calculator++ for shopkeepers, etc., among other projects. He is currently working on extending the functionality of a mobile phone from a collaboration perspective. ([email protected]) Alvaro Diaz has over 12 years of experience as an industrial designer. He specializes in human factors analysis and research analysis for new products, performs design research including problem analysis, user environment analysis and usability testing. He works as a consultant for a wide variety of clients in Latin, North America and some European countries in industries such as pharmaceuticals, health care and consumer products.

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Emerging countries is the focal point of Alvaro’s work and research. Between 2006 and 2009, he presented some conferences in Argentina, Canada, China, Colombia, Germany, Mexico and the United States. Since 2002, he has been working as a lecturer at the University of Montreal and as an invited ­professor at El Bosque University. Alvaro attended Universities in Montreal, Milan and Bogota. He holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial design and a master of science degree in computer aid design and ergonomics from the University of Montreal. ([email protected]) Warren Greving is an international R&D consultant. Currently, as director of Srishti International Labs, he is developing a new innovation centre as a part of Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore, India. This new centre focuses on assisting companies during the early phase of innovation using design thinking to effectively navigate the breadth of new users, value propositions and business models in high growth markets like India. He also consults on the challenges of international R&D organizations working in the global mixture of developed and developing markets with a focus on the U.S., India, China and Russia. From 2001 to 2008, he led the establishment and development of three new research organizations for Hewlett-Packard in Bangalore, Beijing and St. Petersburg. His breadth of R&D organizational knowledge was developed over 23 years of product research and development for Hewlett-Packard. His primary research interest is the interaction between human culture, technology and new product development. His career was launched from the combination of degrees in cross-cultural communication, computer ­science, mathematics and education. He presently works from Chennai, India, but has enjoyed living in Beijing, Bangalore, California, Hong Kong, Colorado and Taiwan. ([email protected]) Mosharrof Hossain is a Senior Programme Officer, D.Net (Development Research Network), Bangladesh. He is coordinating the Pallitathya Bikash programme under which the Info Lady project is being implemented. Mr. Hossain obtained his M.S.S. degree in sociology in 2000. He also obtained his DYDW (Diploma in Youth in Development Works) under the Commonwealth Youth Programme

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(CYP) from the University of Huddersfield, the United Kingdom and BOU. Hossain has a background in ICT-oriented project planning and implementation, and worked on a project under the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs as an assistant programmer (2004–2007). He has worked on a computer installation for the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management (1997– 2004). He  has also served at Channel F2 Events as a consultant (IT and creative; 2007). ([email protected]) Susan Huotari is a senior project manager in Nokia’s music organization in Espoo, Finland. She has been working in the user experience field since 1995. She has experience in all phases of user experience and product implementation for small technology start-ups to large companies like Nokia. ([email protected]) She has actively participated in mobile device and service user interaction, has been awarded for innovation, and is the recipient of a multimedia patent. She has completed many design research projects in numerous countries, ­usually for new product development. Her current role involves developing social music concepts and project-managing them to implementation with constant consumer validation. Unmesh Kulkarni is a design entrepreneur with 19 years of experience in designing for corporate, the social sector and government agencies. In the past, Unmesh has worked with Philips Design as a senior manager and Design Matters Consulting as founder director. He has led new business initiatives for the emerging markets with a number of successful local and global projects. He specialises in advance product planning, people focussed product and design strategy, innovation process and design service development for multiple sectors such as healthcare, consumer products, lighting, industrial equipment, telecom equipment and FMCG packaging. Unmesh is committed to sustainability and the process of co-creation to deliver products and services that are relevant, simple and ethical­. Unmesh has worked on social innovation projects for employment generation, craft revival, access and healthcare, the most notable one being the “Philanthropy by Design” program of Philips Design. He was a part of

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Philips Design’s global creative platform for sustainable design. Unmesh is a visiting faculty at premier design schools in India and has guided design and anthropology students from European and Indian design schools. He holds a master’s degree in industrial design from the IDC, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, and an engineering degree from the Government College of Engineering, Aurangabad. He is setting up a creative community platform for social innovation and sustainability—‘Co-Create’. Currently, Unmesh is working as design leader for Asia for the Philips Consumer Luminaire business in Shenzhen, China, focussing on home lighting solutions, energy efficiency and renewable energy. His work has received recognition globally and he has participated in global forums for design: • Conferences and papers: “In a Planet of Our Own”—International Conference on Sustainable Design, IDC, IIT Mumbai; IDSA Annual Conference (2007 and 2008); International Conference on Sustainable Village Based Development, Colorado State University (1994). • Design awards: IDEA Award (2008); Red Dot Singapore Award (2008); INDEX: Award (2009); UNESCO–Water Digest Award (2008 and 2009); Central Silk Board of India Innovation Award (1996); Chicago Trade Fair Innovation Award (1992) • Interview with Business Week, September 2008 • [email protected]

Tapan Parikh is an assistant professor at the School of Information, University of California–Berkeley. Tapan’s research interests include human–computer interaction (HCI), user interfaces for semi-literate users, mobile computing and information systems for microfinance, smallholder agriculture and global health. For the past seven years, Tapan has been designing, developing and deploying information systems in the rural developing world—initially in India, and now also in Latin America and Africa. He holds a Sc.B. degree in molecular modelling with honours from Brown University, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in computer science from the University of Washington. Tapan was also named Technology Review magazine’s Humanitarian of the Year in 2007 for his work in bringing accessible mobile services to microfinance groups in rural India. ([email protected])

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Steve Portigal is the principal of Portigal Consulting (www.portigal.com), a bite-sized firm in the San Francisco Bay area that helps organizations to discover and act on new insights about their customers and themselves. Trained as a specialist in human–computer interaction (with an M.Sc. from the University of Guelph in Canada), Steve founded Portigal Consulting in 2001. He writes regularly for Core77 and the Portigal Consulting blog, ‘All  This ChittahChattah’. Steve is an avid photoÂ�grapher who has created a Museum of Foreign Grocery Products in his home. ([email protected]) Beena Prabhu is a group lead in HFI’s Bangalore office and works within HFI’s research labs. She has been working in the consulting field for the past 15 years. She has experience in design research, conceptualization, project management and project execution. Her area of focus is innovation, consumer profiling and cross cultural research. Her experience spans multiple domains ranging from healthcare, education, retail, and telecommunications to consumer electronics. Her interests are user research and innovation in the emerging markets. She has published papers in refereed journals and international conferences. She has been extensively involved in design research projects that have spanned over multiple domains ranging from healthcare, education, retail, and telecommunications to information technology. The projects have ranged from cross-cultural studies, ideation and conceptualization for new product development, to landscape research and consumer profiling. Her responsibilities at HFI include management of design research projects and client management. ([email protected])

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Roopa Purushothaman heads Future Capital Research, the research effort of Future Capital Holdings. In her role, she covers macro and thematic issues on demographics, income and consumption patterns. The group’s last research paper (‘The Next Urban Frontier: Twenty Cities to Watch’), in partnership with the National Council of Applied Economic Research, analyzed spending, savings and demographic patterns in 20 of India’s most dynamic urban centres­. She is a member of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee for JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission). She is also an Aspen Institute fellow, as part of their India Leadership Initiative. Previously, Roopa was a vice president and global economist at Goldman Sachs. While at GS, Roopa co-authored the report ‘Dreaming with BRICs: The Path to 2050’, along with other published papers on topics such as long-term growth in India, global trade, migration, ­women’s employment and global aging and consumption patterns. Roopa holds a B.A. in ethics, politics and economics and international studies from Yale University and an M.Sc. in development studies from the London School of Economics. ([email protected]) Mrinal Kanti Rai is a Senior User Researcher, Human Factors International. He has been working in the area of contextual innovation and persuasion engineering for more than 3 years. Encouraged by his passion for sociology, new age media and persuasive design, he constantly reinvents himself to meet new challenges at his work place. He has been involved in more that 100 PET-based interviews; providing strategic recommendations to design persuasive Web sites for various ­clients across the globe. ([email protected])

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Mathivanan Rajendran is a Senior Human Factors Specialist, HFI. He has been consulting with HFI in the area of persuasion engineering since 2007. His primary responsibility at HFI involves providing online solutions for clients across multiple domains ranging from telecommunications and retail to financial services by assisting them in designing for persuasion, emotion and trust (PET). Mathivanan is a Certified Usability Analyst and holds a master’s degree in human ­factors and ergonomics from Virginia Tech. He is an active theatre performer and has acted in 14 full length productions. He made his debut as a director in 2009. ([email protected]) Joan Vinyets Rejón, Ph.D., is partner and cofounder of A Piece of Pie, a management consultancy firm focused on innovation, where he develops innovation projects for inter­national companies. He holds a Ph.D. in social communication from the University Pompeu Fabra of Barcelona, a degree in anthropology from the University of Barcelona, a B.A. (Hons) degree in design from the University of Southampton and a ­master’s in design from the Domus Academy of Milano. ([email protected]) Simona Rocchi is Senior Director of Designfor-Sustainability, Philips Design. In this position, she manages the global creative direction of various sustainability-based activities, and she oversees the development of design services targeting emerging and developing ­markets. Her work in emerging and developing markets started in 2002 when she was also appointed chair of the Philips-wide Task Force on New Sustainable Business Initiative, established to stimulate innovation projects in BOP (base of the economic pyramid) markets. During that period, she contributed to the start-up of various Philips healthcare and lifestyles BOP projects in India. Her contribution was spacing from the definition of frameworks to conduct contextual research, to the development of value cocreation approaches by partnering with local ­stakeholders. Results of her most recent BOP activities have been

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externally recognized via publications, conference speeches and design awards, such as: • Chapter for the Sustainability Challenges and Solutions at the Base of the Pyramid book, 2008 • Presentation at the Sustainable Innovations at the Base of the Pyramid Conference, Helsinki, 2008 • Interview with Business Week, September 2008 • IDEA Award (IDSA 2008); Red Dot Award 2008, Singapore; INDEX Award 2009 (Chulha stove for safe and healthy indoor cooking in rural India) • ([email protected]) Born into a princely family of Hyderabad, Ramraj Sehgal’s parents settled down at Sri Aurobindo Ashram at Pondicherry when Ram was 6 years old. He completed his education at Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education and did his baccalaureat degree from Lycee Francais. He built his career in advertising over 40 years. He worked with J. Walter Thompson for 29 years. He was president of Contract advertising, a fully-owned subsidiary of JWT for 16 years. He was moved to Young and Rubicam as president by the holding company WPP. He was on the management board of the Asian operation for 5 years. His experience spanned many product categories: FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods), bikes and cars, banking and insurance, airlines and hotels. He has written two books on advertising and has contributed over 150 articles on a variety of subjects to Indian newspapers and magazines. Currently he lives in Pondicherry. He is a part-time marketing consultant with Human Factors and also teaches advertising at a government ladies’ college. ([email protected]) Forhad Uddin is the Deputy Programme Director, D.Net (Development Research Network). Mr. Uddin completed his B.Sc. in fisheries in 2002 and M.S. in fisheries and marine resource technology in 2005 from Khulna University, Bangladesh. He started his professional career at D.Net in 2004. Currently, he is leading ­projects titled Empowering People through Improved Access to Livelihood Information and Digital Livelihood Content

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Development. He worked with a number of action research projects on ICT for development. During the professional work, he has developed his capacity on Â�programme management, project management, research management, site selection methodology for telecentre operation, livelihood content development methodology, designing training session, evaluation of development projects and statistical analysis. Mr. Uddin has diversified interests that include rural development and planning, access to information and knowledge for development, conservation and management of natural resources and environmental impact. ([email protected]) Darelle van Greunen is a senior lecturer and researcher in the School of ICT, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa (www.nmmu.ac.za). She is also contracted as a senior researcher for SAP Research in Pretoria and is responsible for the user experience and user interface design components of all projects executed from the Pretoria research location. Darelle holds degrees in computer science, African languages, higher education and computer education. She completed her Ph.D. in computer science in 2009. The title of her thesis is ‘A Framework for the User Interface Design of Business Process Management Tools’. Darelle serves on the board of directors of several professional IT bodies and frequently acts as keynote speaker at national and international conferences. The primary focus of her research is that of user experience of user interfaces in developing countries. ([email protected]) As general director, Dmitry Volkov oversees the strategic growth and development of IT-Online Group as well as executive management of its international projects. The leading provider to the internet and virtual media communities includes four divisions: UsabilityLAB, CareerLAB, Careerist and PayOnlineSystems. These business divisions provide a broad-range of key service offerings to content owners and individual users on a worldwide basis. Seeing explosive growth within IT-Online’s business group, Usability Lab has recently gained significant momentum and recognition as a premiere source for Â�usability design and testing for a wide range of projects, both online as well as in the general global consumer and business market. ([email protected])

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Alvin W. Yeo is the director of the Centre of Excellence for Rural Informatics, and an associate professor on the faculty of the Computer Science and Information Technology School, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). He has expertise in the area of information and communications technology for rural development (ICT4RD), and is developing a community-centred methodology for building software for rural communities. In addition to working with UNESCAP, Alvin has also worked on the eBario Project which garnered numerous awards including the Commonwealth CAPAM Innovation award, which beat 112 inter­national submissions worldwide. His other research interests include cultural effects on usability evaluation, and the use of ICTs in ­revitalising as well as maintaining the indigenous languages of Borneo. ([email protected])

1 An Introduction to Emerging Markets Warren Greving

Contents Recent Economic History................................................................................ 2 Key Emerging Market Research Threads..................................................... 4 Four Large Dissimilar Countries—Brazil, Russia, India and China........ 6 Demographic Sampling in India.................................................................... 8 The Common Characteristic of Emerging Markets................................... 10 The Excitement Continues............................................................................. 13 References........................................................................................................ 13 Before an in depth examination of design for emerging markets, this introductory section discusses the origin and history of emerging markets and provides a foundational understanding of the context of design. My journey with these emerging markets goes back 25 years. In the early 1980s, I spent 4 years working in Taiwan. At that time, even though it and the other Asian Tigers—South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore—were not referred to as emerging markets, they were already pioneering rapid Â�economic development through efficient, cost-effective exporting into the global supply chain of developed countries. In spite of that, a decade later, during a marketing stint in Hong Kong, it was still clear that the sum total of all these rapidly growing economies was not large enough to excite multiÂ� national business managers to target their product development for these markets; they were just too small even in the aggregate. I returned to Asia in 2001, first to Bangalore, India, for three years and then Beijing, China, for five more. For the last eight years I have been living, workingÂ�, studying, and reflecting on what is happening in these countries as I  developedÂ� high-tech research organizations. The transformation of these countries into emerging markets is now clear. These countries, in the time from the 1980s to now, have gone from insignificant markets to being a major part of the world economy. They have become truly emerging markets, with strengths as both consumers and producers. As we approach the end of the first decade of the new millennium, it is possible to see where these emerging markets have come from and understand how they will continue to develop. Now, large multinational organizations are expected 1

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to have a China and an India business plan. The Chinese economy will soon become the world’s second largest economy. And the global economic crisis of 2008 has provided a stress test that has both shown the interconnectedness of the global economy as well as the rising importance the role these emerging markets play in it. Emerging markets is an economic term. It comprises a large collection of countries that are experiencing very rapid economic growth by their expanding participation in the global economic system of free-market ­capitalism. Recent economic history provides the background of the emerging markets since their economic transformation is the primary reason they are grouped together. Design, which takes seriously the context of these emerging ­markets, will play a significant role in enabling organizations to effectively create, develop, and deliver new value in these markets. Even though the grouping is economic, a designer’s interest is far broader than economics. This introduction puts these markets into perspective and provides a framework that can guide a designer’s journey into their whole context.

Recent Economic History Living and working in the emerging market area has increased my interest in recent economic history. Over the last 15 years we have moved from economic crisis to economic crisis—from the Asian debt crisis to the ­dotcom bubble to the global housing price bubble and many others in between. We are now just coming out of what is understood to be the most serious ­economic crisis since the 1920s, with the almost complete freeze of the global system of credit. Within this economic period of time we can observe the rise of emerging markets. Debates over the role of financial aid to poor nations have again become very heated. Economic history is an important part of the context of the emerging markets that we will examine here not as economists but as observers of what is going on around us. First we will look at what is generally accepted as recent economic history­. We will stay out of the causes and effects that drive the diversity of opinions in the debates and attempt to stay with what I suggest is common understanding of the events that get us to the current state. A large ­number of economists, prominent among them being Jeffrey Sachs and Angus Maddison, have highlighted the data on the growth of both the world population and average per capita income. Sachs uses this data in his book The End of Poverty published in 2005, in the second chapter titled ‘The Spread of Economic Prosperity’.1 The reader can find this data in the works of Angus Maddison, an economist at the OECD.2 The graphs of this data show that within the last 200 years there has been a huge and dramatic upturn in population and an equally fast growth in per capita income. This surprising positive picture contrasts with

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dire warnings from population scientists that were issued several decades ago. More consistent with those negative assessments are a second observation that economists make from this data, which is that growth has not been uniform across the globe; it is faster and more consistent in some countries than others. There is a general understanding that over the last 200 years the global population has first experienced truly ­phenomenal economic growth and rising standards of living, and second, it has developed a large disparity between the wealthiest and the least wealthy. The explanation of why this has happened and what implications it has are the source of the debate between many prominent individuals. Yet there are a number of historical developments and events along the way that lead to the current economic environment of developed and emerging market countries. The first is the scientific and industrial revolution that started roughly in the nineteenth century and has accelerated to the present. The obvious result of that revolution has been technology that has increased productivity in agriculture and industry. Where that technology has been available, there has been a dramatic increase in prosperity and well being. That prosperity has reinforced institutions that support its development and create a favourable environment for further technological advancement, and it brings large sociological change, as we will see next. The second development that is well understood has been the growth of free market capitalism and trade. From our vantage point we have come to accept these as a given of modern life. Yet they have developed alongside ­scientific and industrial revolutions in the last 200 years. By the end of the 19th century, the world was experiencing an era of global free ­market capitalism and trade very similar to today’s globalization. The fact that the technological revolution and participation in trade happened faster in some countries than others clearly contributes to macro global economic growth and the disparity between those that benefited, which we have observed earlier. Finally, in the last 100 years, a number of historical events have occurred that have contributed and led to developed markets and emerging markets. At the turn of the 20th century, the advent of World War II, followed by the severe, global economic depression in the early decades, interrupted economic growth in much of the newly industrialized world and placed into question the very foundations of its economic, political and social ­systems and the global free market. Strong opponents of free market capitalism and its institutions took over administration in a number of countries. By  the middle of the century, when international political stability returned, there were three different economic and political systems coexisting and competing for allegiance. The first system was led by the United States and Western Europe, representing continuity with the free market capitalism of the 19th century. A second system, centred on Russia, its Soviet states and China, was defined by centralized economic planning and state ownership

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of production, placing most economic decisions with the state as opposed to individuals within open markets. A third system formed among those not participating in the first two, the nonaligned states, primarily represented by India. This system isolated itself from the international economic scene, striving to establish economic self sufficiently and independence within national boundaries while borrowing some features of the first two. In the last decades of the twentieth century, the latter two economic ­systems suffered severe crises. Not only did each fail to generate strong economic growth and competitive increases in the standard of living within their member countries, they encountered emergency situations that led to their economic systems being dissolved and dismantled. China began market reforms in the 1970s. The USSR began to dissolve in the late 1980s. India avoided economic collapse in the early 1990s. As the two ­systems dissolved, they introduced economic reforms that allowed their members to enter the global system of free market capitalism, turning them into emerging markets. During the same period, free market capitalism grew in strength and formed the foundation of a newly strengthened global free market economic system. The countries that subscribed to that system reached new heights of economic prosperity and are now referred to as developed markets. Following from these events, the world now has a new global economic order that includes developed and emerging markets. This era of the globalization of the free market economic system has presented new opportunities for developed and emerging markets. Initially, companies took advantage of the low cost of production in emerging markets to lower their costs by ­moving their investment and production to these markets. Over a fairly short period of time this investment and accompanying trade has enriched those markets to the point where their rising incomes create new market demand and opportunity. As they catch up with the developed ­markets, these emerging markets are experiencing rapid economic growth and increase in their standard of living similar to that experienced in developed markets in the middle of the last century. Not only do they grow but they grow faster relative to developed markets. Relevant to such growth are the new products and services that provide the motivation for the design focus on these emerging markets. This stage was preceded by the economic and historical events of the last 200 years.

Key Emerging Market Research Threads We will now look at three threads of research that are important to characterising emerging markets. In October 2003, two economists at Goldman Sachs, Dominic Wilson and Roopa Purushothaman, published a paper titled

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‘Dreaming With BRICs: The Path to 2050’.3 The paper asserted that, with the current growth rates of Brazil, Russia, India and China applied consistently over the next five decades, their combined economies would be larger than the combined economies of the current six largest developed countries. They supported this with projections of current economic growth data, ­making the somewhat tenuous assumption that each of these countries would ­successfully continue to support an environment that would enable those growth rates to continue. This idea has gained wide attention and helped promote the use of the term BRIC to represent emerging markets as well as generated a lot of discussion around the implications of this trend. The paper is well worth ­reading and covers in detail how these emerging markets grow. What is most interesting though is that this paper has been instrumental in bringing these emerging markets into mainstream business planning. Few people question the impact or importance of these markets. It has developed people’s thinking about how important these emerging market countries are within the global economic system. Such change has contributed to the increase of interest in BRIC by the design community. The second thread challenges a perception within business that the poorest socio-economic demographic, which is a significant portion of these emerging markets, cannot support profitable businesses. This poorest socio-economic group is the bottom of the pyramid, or BOP. Individuals at the BOP earn less than $2 a day. C.K. Prahalad, a distinguished professor of business management, has published a book, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, in 2005, which goes in depth into how businesses already do and can ­profitably meet the needs of this segment.4 This introduction will not go into the details his work, but it has huge implications for the design community­. Today, the majority of designers do not personally come from the BOP and so lack the overlapping life experiences that can help them understand the context of BOP users. However, businesses are increasingly motivated to develop successful models for BOP and are engaging the design community on the BOP challenge. The last thread of interest challenges another common perception. It has been assumed that the latest information and communication technologies are not relevant to meeting the needs of those at the BOP. It is assumed that the fundamental needs of water, food, housing, security, health care, education and employment require basic low-tech solutions and that high-tech solutions are significantly less relevant or of lower priority. The information and communication technologies for development ­movement’s (ICTD) research and practices have challenged this assumption. The wireless communication industry is probably the strongest example that overturns this perception, as mobile telephony has been widely deployed around the world in all socio-economic segments. There is significant research that demonstrates societal development and economic growth in direct relationship to mobile telephony. For the design community, this

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introduces another interesting challenge—that is, groups of users that are receiving technology without the usually assumed technological milieu or ­continuity. Yet there is increasing interest by development agencies to utilize these technologies to support growth and development.

Four Large Dissimilar Countries— Brazil, Russia, India and China The emerging markets include a large number of countries around the globe but are frequently represented by the largest four—Brazil, Russia, India and China. Jim O’Neill, chief economist at Goldman Sachs who coined the term BRIC, said his definition of what countries to group together in the emerging market bucket was ‘To become a BRIC, my definition is that an emerging market has to have the potential to be already—or in the next decade—at least 5 percent of global GDP’.5 Because the grouping of these countries is simply economic size, there is little reason to assume that they are similar in other ways. The cultural, political, social and historical difference between these countries is immense. In the words of Philip Poole, global head of emerging markets research at HSBC, ‘… the BRICs have never had a huge amount in common, apart from the fact that they are very big’.6 To highlight the strength of this statement, let us examine these four countries­. To start with, consider Russia, a country whose relationship with the Western world has frequently changed from seeking close ties to distancing itself from it. Geographically, it is immense, stretching from Europe across 11 time zones to the Pacific. Although it has ethnic diversity, at the core is the strong Russian people, with their Slavic ancestry. Economically, it is highly dependent on extraction industries and global energy markets. It spent eight decades organized as a Marxist communist society with a ­centrally planned economy. A sizable portion of its relatively small population of 180 million people is concentrated in two cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg. The Russian Orthodox Church, which is a branch of Eastern Christendom, is a strong political, religious, and cultural force. The economic reforms of the last two decades have at times caused severe economic stress for its citizens, leaving them somewhat less enthusiastic about free markets. We can contrast this with the case of China, which over the last 200 years has also had a difficult relationship with the Western world, starting with conflicts with colonial powers and continuing through a period of isolation following the establishment of the People’s Republic. While geographically China is not small, its very large population of around 1.5 billion people stretches its natural resources. That population, predominantly urban, is concentrated over about one third of the country along the eastern seaboard.

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Relatively speaking, China is ethnically very homogenous, with about 92% of the ­population being Han Chinese. It has had a closed-market Soviet-style planned economy for a relatively short two decades from the 1950s until the 1970s when it started introducing open market reforms. Economically, it is diverse and powerfully positioned as one of the largest producers contributing to the global supply system of manufactured goods. Although it has one of the oldest continuous civilizations on earth, its religious traditions have been strongly subordinate to the political system for the last 60 years. In sharp contrast to the USSR, the Chinese experience of economic liberalization has been very positive, phenomenally lifting about 800 million people out of poverty and boosting a significant number of people into the category of the world’s richest. Turning to India, we see a country that is significantly different on many dimensions from the first two. As a colony of the British Empire, India has been strongly impacted by its relationship with the West, including its very unique non-violent struggle for independence, which was deeply marred by post-independence sectarian violence. India’s very large population, second only to China’s, is still predominantly rural and is very uniformly distributed across all its territory. Its population is extremely diverse, with six different writing systems and 26 different spoken languages officially recognised by the government. Post independence, for 30 years India had a very unusual combination of a democratic political system combined with a state planned economy. It has not participated strongly in global manufacturing as China has but is rather strong in the global IT services industry. Like China, its civilization has a long history. Yet, in sharp contrast to China, religion has a dominant role in all aspects of contemporary society in India. Economically, India is just starting to see the benefits of integration into the global system, although large parts of the rural population have yet to see significant benefit. Finally, to complete the contrasting BRIC tour, we look at Brazil, the only country of the four that is in the American continent and the southern hemisphere. As a Portuguese colony, a large portion of its cultural and historical roots is strongly connected with continental Europe. The ties between Brazil and the Western world are very close because of the large number of European immigrants. Geographically, Brazil is large, with a diverse and rich natural environment split between tropical and temperate regions. It has the world’s largest number of unconnected people, those outside communication with the global human society. The larger Brazilian population is very ethnically diverse because of its immigration patterns from many parts of the world. Brazil’s religious institutions come from the Western branch of Christendom and heavily influence its society. Brazil has significant natural resources, which includes its very large tropical forest. As the world’s tenth largest economy, it is a major regional exporter. The point here is to highlight the very large contrasts between these emerging markets. From the point of view of a designer, they cannot be treated like

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a single, large set of highly similar markets. The fact that they are grouped together continues to be more of a surprise. As the editors of The Economist commented in their article on June 20, 2009, ‘Not just straw men’, it should not be a surprise when they (BRICs) met politically and produced very little significant results considering ‘how disparate they are’.7 The designer ­cannot work from broad generalizations about these countries but must explore the context of each. Yet, in that exploration, the economic history that has lumped them together frames some common characteristics that are ­valuable guides for such exploration.

Demographic Sampling in India Having considered how different these emerging markets are, before we identify some similarities, let us look at some individuals, which will illustrate both the need to do user studies in these markets as well as ­demonstrate an approach to identifying profiles. First consider an Indian woman who was a participant in a community information gathering session in a small village south of Bangalore around 2002. This village is less than 40 km from Bangalore, a city that has come to represent the global IT industry for India. I will mention here some facts I  learned about the woman that surprised me. Surprise is a very useful ­emotion caused by things that are outside our life experience. To participate in this meeting, I, an American living in India some 12,000 miles from my native home, had driven by car from Bangalore to the village. The fact that surprised me most illustrates the huge contrast between the woman’s life experience and mine. She had never been to Bangalore, a mere 40 km away. I am sure it was as difficult for her to comprehend my life lived 12,000 miles away from my home country as it was for me to grasp the perspective of someone like herself who had never traveled the 40 km to the nearest large city. Of course, when considering this in retrospect, it all seems very obvious and slightly trivial. But here is the challenge. Mobility and communication technologies bring life-changing experiences, which mask perception. This is certainly an extreme case since I represented the huge distance of life experienced in an international career. And yet, am I so odd? Certainly, there is today living in Bangalore a very large number of individuals who through work experiences in the IT industry that has experienced exactly the same phenomenon. It is interesting to consider how large a cultural distance that mere 40 km represents, and how that new distance has been created by the unintended consequences of technology. Designers working in the emerging market setting often need to bridge that 40 km.

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Having considered an individual with a very large social economic distance from myself, now let us consider another individual whom I meet in Chennai, the fourth largest city in India. Relatively speaking, Chennai is a very old city with a long history of foreign involvement. The East India Company, a British colonial trading company, established the city naming it Madras more than 350 years ago. As a trading port city with a long history­, the people who live in Chennai are very familiar with the larger world. Chennai has never isolated from the global world in its long history. I met an individual there who is strongly representative of the new, rapidly growing middle class of the emerging markets. He works as a landscape engineer, frequently with expatriate clients in the city. His children attend good schools. He is fluent in English, the language of aspiration and business in India. Fortunately for me, he was expertly navigating the process of finding and renting an apartment in Chennai, an unfamiliar task. Again, it is the surprising piece of information that illustrates the challenge of understanding emerging markets. The landscape engineer in Chennai had frequently visited Bangalore and many other places in India, but his comment to me was that he had never been on an airplane. Airplane travel, an experience that had become so common in my life, which I consider as suitable transportation for my weekly commute to work, was completely outside his life experience. He represents middle class India. Of course, in retrospect again, this should not be surprising. His experience would not be that uncommon even among the middle class of the United States. Yet, it represents well the speed of technological change. Air travel in India has become relatively common and accessible to a small but significant percentage of Indians who live alongside many people in the middle class who have yet to experience it. Consider the distance that technological change has introduced into life experiences in an emerging market. Finally, having looked at examples from a lower socio-economic tier and a middle socio-economic tier, let us consider a different surprise. As I have been establishing research labs in emerging market countries for the last eight years, I have had the chance to hire and work with some of the best and brightest, the elites of an emerging market. In a country like India or China, education is a highly valued qualification, as it has been for many decades the primary means of social and economic advancement. In countries with such very large populations, it means that there is an intense competition for the very best education. For those of us from countries that offer universal access to high quality education and for which there are many other means of social and economic advancement, such intensity is difficult to imagine. In Bangalore there is one institution that represents the apex of this education, the Indian Institute of Science. This graduate-level institution has been a centre of India’s advanced scientific community, defense industry and information technology. We were excited to hire a person from its faculty

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during his sabbatical year to lead one of our research departments. He is one of the accomplished, educated elite of India. When the day came for him to start work, again it was surprise that illustrated the challenge. This highly educated research professor at one of India’s top academic institutions, as a matter of course, consulted with his Hindu priest for an auspicious date and hour to start work and arranged for the appropriate­ Hindu ceremony to be conducted that morning. As a person of religious faith myself, I was not surprised by his religious devotion. The surprise­ was the deep personal involvement of the religious institution in a life event which for me was completely secular—determining the time for starting a professional, high-tech, research position. This illustrates, at the deepest level of one’s worldview, the contrasts in life experiences within and between emerging and developed markets. From the professor’s point of view there was no inconsistency between the Hindu religious calendar for suitable, auspicious times for life events and his highly accomplished scientific education. For me, I had implicitly assumed that the secular, pluralistic separation between religion and science that dominates the Western world was an integral and inseparable worldview and system of thought. And my view of religion, which has been sanitized by the rational thought of the Renaissance and the Reformation of Christianity, was surprised by the Indian view of the world that perceived far less contradiction between scientific thought and religious piety. Designers in emerging markets face this type of strong cross-cultural conflict between different cultural systems. It is often not just the conflict between East and West but between countries such as India and China, between socioeconomic classes, between religious traditions. My examples here have been drawn from India, but it should not be difficult to see that these cross-cultural conflicts exist in all of the emerging markets and even more so between them.

The Common Characteristic of Emerging Markets Although these emerging markets are diverse and require their own understanding, the effects of economic change followed by rapid economic growth give them a number of common characteristics. These characteristics provide a contextual background for understanding people’s lives in those countries. For the designer these are valuable insights that increase the understanding of what is observed. The following list is not intended to be complete by any means but rather a starting point for exploration. That exploration is part of the challenge for the designer as he or she creatively goes from understanding­ to the implication of design.

An Introduction to Emerging Markets



1. The physical infrastructure of these countries is constantly ­changing. Rates of construction can be enormous. At different times China has come close to spending more than 40% of its GDP on infrastructure investments, an incredible level of change. These countries, as a whole, are into construction. The opportunity for design contribution is high in this setting.



2. Human societies in these emerging markets undergo rapid change. New professions are accessible that are not defined or constrained by existing social customs. New mobility is offered to ­individuals in society who previously were locked into traditional roles. Individuals have more disposable income, increasing the lifestyle choices available to them. New forms of communication increase contact with other societies and different ways of living. The opportunity for adopting and experimenting with new products is high.



3. Rapid change means that each generation has a significantly different life experience. Expectations and worldviews can vary significantly from grandparents to parents to children. Youth cultures become more dominant. Generational-targeted products and services have increased potential.



4. The general attitude toward technology in emerging markets is positive because it is associated with rising standards of living and economic growth. Negative impacts of technology are frequently ignored or tolerated. Attempts to limit technology choice to prevent negative impact is not necessarily welcomed or appreciated. The perceived right to individual higher standards of living overrides the more difficult-to-solve societal and environmental negative impacts.



5. The vast majority of users of technology are first-time, first-generation users. They are not surrounded by a technologically supportive milieu that can be leveraged for adoption. This lack of legacy both limits and frees opportunity for design choices. The intuition of the user that is based on implicit knowledge and experience is different.



6. The value propositions and use models of technology placed in new contexts can be significantly different from those of other contexts in developed markets. As an example, the relative value of cell phone communication to socially restricted individuals such as those in a conservative religious society can be significantly higher. New forms of communication can provide unexpected empowerment to individuals.



7. Lower socio-economic strata and those at the BOP have needs and desires from all tiers of the Maslow hierarchy. Except for severely marginalized communities, which are at risk of survival, needs such as entertainment, recreation and play are valued along with the basic necessities of life. The amount of disposable income changes how the needs are met, but not the fundamental needs.

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The characteristics identified in the foregoing list are generally true of emerging markets and rapidly developing societies in the past as well as the ­present. The following are some characteristics, which I will argue are at least sharper today if not unique to the current, emerging market context. Not all agree with this assessment.

1. Economic distances within the markets are greater now than in the previous emerging markets. This is likely to be true because of easy availability and adoption of the very latest forms of technology that contribute to productivity. The starting point of the peasant and subsistence farmer has not changed, but the level of development easily attained by those fully integrated into the developed world is greater and more quickly achieved. This contrast was highlighted in earlier demographic examples.



2. The interconnected nature of the globalised world makes comparisons of quality of life and economic capability more ­challenging. What type of standard of living does an income of a thousand ­dollars a year provide? Purchasing power parity and measures of consumption are better indicators of relative well being.



3. In an emerging market, the adoption of a free market capitalist economy does not guarantee the adoption of other institutions such as representative democracy or liberal social change. It is possible that these will follow, but that is not certain from today’s vantage point. The political systems of the BRIC countries vary greatly and in most cases with little indication of change.



4. The demographics of emerging markets are different from those experienced by developed countries when they achieved economic growth. In the case of China and India, their large populations already existed at the time that growth began. The ­demographics show large numbers of young people. In the case of China, the types of solutions adopted to address population size will have ­significant impact on the country’s future. China’s one-child policy is creating a future-inverted economic dependency on a smaller part of the population.



5. Innovation adoptions often leapfrogs and changes order in these emerging markets. The best example of this is the adoption of mobile phones in preference to landlines. The changing technological landscape impacts the adoption of technology. Superiorly suited new technologies can be as easily adopted as older technologies.

These characteristics should give the designer insight into what might be different in emerging markets. It is very likely that there are many more characteristics waiting to surprise and to be discovered.

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The Excitement Continues Change brings opportunity. The global world economic order has changed rapidly with the integration and growth of emerging markets. The BRIC paper by Wilson and Purushothaman suggests that this trend will continue for the next 40 years. Within those emerging markets, change is the constant that is common across them. The virtuous cycle of consumers and producers has been expanded. Newly formed companies and already established companies are creating new products and services to meet the needs of the newly enabled consumers that are eager to enjoy new standards of living. Design for emerging markets is at the heart of this cycle of change. Change brings challenge and difficulty. At the time of writing this ­chapter, the world is just slowly coming out of the painful global financial crisis of 2008. On the surface, that crisis is about overextended financial institutions and inflationary price bubbles in the real estate sector of developed ­markets. However, as it is examined over time, it is very likely that it will be seen in the larger context of major global economic shifts. At the very least the new interconnected global markets magnified the effects. The exciting ­silver ­lining has been the resilience that emerging markets have shown in this ­crisis and the new role they are playing in recovery. Living, working and participating in emerging markets is an exciting opportunity for designers. This is just the beginning of a very exciting time in the emerging markets. The positive, powerful energy of a very large ­number of people benefiting from economic growth is palpable on the streets of places such as Bangalore, Shanghai, Moscow and Sao Paolo. Enjoy the journey. Explore deeply. Be surprised.

References

1. Maddison, Angus (2001). The World Economy—A Millenial Perspective. OECD, Paris. 2. Prahalad, C. K. (2006). The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits. Wharton School Publishing, Cambridge, MA. 3. Sachs, J. D. (2005). The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time. Penguin Press. 4. Wilson, D. and R. Purushottam (October 2003). Dreaming with BRICs: The Path to 2050. Goldman Sachs. Global Economics Paper No. 99.

2 Key Themes of Working in Emerging Markets Apala Lahiri Chavan

Contents Which Nations Constitute Emerging Countries?...................................... 16 What Makes Emerging Markets Interesting?............................................. 17 The Four Themes............................................................................................ 18 Theme 1: Culture—Is It Predictably the Same?..................................... 18 Cultural Differences and Similarities between the BRIC Countries...................................................................................... 18 Taking a Look at the Box Office............................................................... 20 Top Films at the Chinese Box Office in 2008..................................... 20 Top Films at the Brazilian Box Office in 2008................................... 20 Top Films at the Russian Box Office in 2008..................................... 20 Top Films at the Indian Box Office in 2008........................................ 20 Theme 2: People—How Are They Different?......................................... 21 Who Are the ‘Users’ in the Emerging Markets?............................... 21 China............................................................................................................ 23 Emergence of ‘Third China’................................................................. 23 Other Segmentation Models................................................................ 24 Li Yi’s Model........................................................................................... 26 Socio-Economic Classes in Russia........................................................... 26 Distribution of Population by Per Capita.......................................... 26 Socio-Economic Classes in Brazil............................................................ 29 Socio-Economic Classes in India............................................................. 31 Segmentation in India, Based on Income.......................................... 33 The United States....................................................................................... 35 What Does All This Add Up To?............................................................. 36 Theme 3: Technology—Is It There at All?............................................... 38 Mobile Phones and Emerging Countries........................................... 39 Internet Usage........................................................................................ 41 Theme 4: Transition—The Game Is Changing All the Time...............43 Straddling the Old and New...............................................................43 The Themes, Once Again ….......................................................................... 48 References........................................................................................................ 48 Web Sites..........................................................................................................48 15

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‘BRIC’S Influence Limited by Too Many Differences!’ screams a headline in the Straits Times in Singapore. The article goes on to say, Over time, BRIC will exert more political influence, and their governments will cooperate on the (very few) issues that serve the interests of all four countries. For example, BRIC mean to increase their formal and informal influence within the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. That is why Brazil and Russia have each pledged to buy US$10 billion of IMF bonds, and China has signaled it might purchase US$50 billion worth. But BRIC would not form a coherent bloc any time soon. Differences in their respective strengths, weaknesses and interests will limit their willingness to cooperate on the issues they say they care about. Their differences alone are considerable. China and India are rebounding strongly from the global slowdown. The outlook for Brazil remains positive, if sluggish. Russia, on the other hand, may be in for a turbulent autumn. The economic divergence will limit any convergence in their economic agendas. Over time, BRIC will exert increasing influence on global financial and political institutions. But there will always be clear limits on the compatibility of their interests and the coherence of any collective plans.

The media has been abuzz with news such as this about the BRIC nations (the original four nations identified in the Goldman Sachs ‘emerging Â�countries’ report, ‘Dreaming with BRICS, The Path to 2050’, in 2003) and the rest of the emerging countries. In fact, increasingly so, as the developed economies experienced a spectacular economic ‘ice age’, starting early 2008. We all know that the emerging countries have been doing better than the developed economies in the midst of the economically challenged times that we live in. However, how much more do we know about them? Who exactly are these emerging countries? What are the needs and aspirations of the Â�people in these countries? Are they similar culturally? Can we design ‘one size fits all emerging countries’ solutions?

Which Nations Constitute Emerging Countries? Originally, the Goldman Sachs report identified Brazil, Russia, India and China as emerging markets. However, in recent years, new terms have emerged to describe additional countries now considered part of the emerging market club. While BRIC stands for Brazil, Russia, India and China, there is also BRICS (BRIC + South Africa), BRICM (BRIC + Mexico) and BRICK (BRIC + South Korea). Twenty-two countries (see Figure  2.1) are officially listed as emerging countries.

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Key Themes of Working in Emerging Markets

Developed markets Americas

Europe Pacific

Canada Austria Australia United States Belgium Hong Kong Denmark Japan Finland New Zealand France Singapore Germany Greece Ireland Italy Netherlands Norway Portugal Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom

Emerging markets Americas Europe, Middle Asia, East & Africa Brazil Czech Republic China Egypt India Chile Indonesia Colombia Hungary Israel Korea Mexico Malaysia Morocco Peru Poland Philippines Taiwan Russia South Africa Thailand Turkey

Figure 2.1 List of 22 emerging countries. (From http://www.mscibarra.com/products/indices/equity/ index.js.)

What Makes Emerging Markets Interesting? The salient points identifying an emerging market are noted by Rekha Menon, Research and Contributing Editor, in Finacle Connect as: • Unique offering: China’s main offering is its manufacturing sector, while for India it is the software services sector that is driving its economic growth. Brazil’s strength lies in its raw materials, and Russia’s core competence is its energy sector. • Population: Both India and China have populations of over one billion each. Together they account for almost 40% of the world’s population. Brazil (186 million) and Russia (142 million) have much smaller populations. With their large population, BRIC countries offer a major source of labour. India has a vast pool of low-cost, technical, educated, English-speaking labour, which provides the foundation for its success in IT software and business process Â�outsourcing (BPO) services. • Growing middle class: According to a Goldman Sachs report, the Â�middle classes in the BRIC economies, that is, people with income over $3000 per head, will grow fourfold in a decade.

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Innovative Solutions

• Booming domestic consumption: Not only are the BRIC economies leaders in the export market, their economic prosperity is fuelling a large domestic demand for a variety of products and services, varying from raw materials to finished products, retail loans and energy. Industry experts state that as growth accelerates and per capita incomes rise in the heavily populated BRIC countries, they will develop into the world’s largest consumer markets. • Influencing global policy: With the balance of economic power shifting in favour of the BRIC economies, they will increasingly influence global policy making.

The Four Themes Even though the list of emerging countries is far longer than just the four BRIC nations, in this chapter the focus will be on the BRIC 4. The intention is to provide a flavour of the significant themes that ‘emerge’ from this view of the ‘veterans’ of the emerging world, which can be then used as a starting point when looking at the other emerging countries. Theme 1: Culture—Is It Predictably the Same? Cultural Differences and Similarities between the BRIC Countries Since they are always referred to in one breath, can one assume that they are similar cultural entities? Taking a look at the BRIC nations, using Geert Hofstede’s dimensions as a mechanism to ‘measure’ culture, here is what we get: • The power distance (PDI) scores for all the BRIC countries are much higher than both the United States and the world average scores. In  other words, the BRIC countries have more hierarchy in their ­culture than the United States and other countries in the world. • The individualism (IDV) scores for the BRIC countries are generally lower than the United States and world average scores (with India being the minor exception). BRIC countries, therefore, tend to be more group oriented or collective in their behaviour than the United States and the rest of the world. • The masculinity (MAS) scores for the BRIC countries are in the same range as the United States and world average scores. On the whole, the entire world seems to be more or less on the same page as far as being more masculine than feminine.

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Key Themes of Working in Emerging Markets

120 100 Score

80 60 40 20 0

PDI

IDV

MAS

UAI

LTO

Dimension Brazil

India

USA

Russia

China

World

China India Brazil Russia

PDI IDV MAS UAI LTO 118 40 66 20 80 61 40 56 48 77 65 76 49 38 69 10 90 30 40 95

BRIC Geert Hofstede Scores. (Bar diagram from http://www.uiowa.edu/ifdebook/faq/faq_docs/ emerging_markets.shtml.) A colour version of this figure follows page 136.

• The uncertainty avoidance (UAI) scores for Brazil and Russia are much higher than the United States and world average scores, while the scores for India and China are much lower. Interesting difference even between the BRIC countries on this dimension. Brazil and Russia seem very much more risk averse than India and China and the rest of the world. • The long-term orientation (LTO) scores for the BRIC countries (and especially China) are much higher than the United States and world average scores. In fact, the United States and China seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum for this dimension. Chinese culture orients its people to live for tomorrow even more than for today, while the American culture orients its people in the opposite direction. While considering the data from Hofstede’s research, one caveat is that the research was done many decades ago and this impacts how much of the data is still valid in its entirety. However, this data can certainly be considered as one of many data points when trying to get a preliminary understanding of the emerging countries. Another data point that is easy and quick to get hold of is a look at popular culture in these countries. Popular culture is an extremely useful gauge of the values and sentiments that prevail in the culture.

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Taking a Look at the Box Office A look at the top four box office hits in 2008 in each of the BRIC nations revealed some interesting insights. Top Films at the Chinese Box Office in 2008

1. Red Cliff, Part I (Chinese language, $46.85 million). Seen by John Woo as an oriental Troy. The most expensive Asian film ever, with a ­budget of $80 million



2. If You Are the One (Chinese language, $29.3 million), comedy and art film



3. Kung Fu Panda, $26 million



4. Iron Man, about $15 million

Top Films at the Brazilian Box Office in 2008

1. The Dark Night, $14.1 million



2. Kung Fu Panda, $11.6 million



3. Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa, $11.6 million



4. Iron Man, $10.1 million

The highest grossing local film at number seven was Meu Nome Nao E Johnny, based on the true story of a young man from Rio de Janeiro, who became the most infamous drug dealer in the 1980s and 1990s. It grossed $7.7 million (R$18 million). Top Films at the Russian Box Office in 2008

1. The Irony of Fate: The Sequel (Russia), $49.9 million: romantic comedy



2. Madagascar: Escape to Africa (United States), $40.8 million



3. Admiral (Russia), $33.7 million: war drama



4. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (United States), $27.8 million

Top Films at the Indian Box Office in 2008

1. Ghajini (Hindi), $24 million



2. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (Hindi), $18 million



3. Singh Is Kinng (Hindi), $13.7million



4. Jodhaa Akbar (Hindi), $13 million

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Key Themes of Working in Emerging Markets

As is evident from a cursory examination of the top four box office hits from each country, Brazil stands at one end of the spectrum with all four hit films being from Hollywood, while India is at the other end of the spectrum with not one of the four films from Hollywood! China and Russia stand in between. This could be an indicator of the degree of closeness each of these countries feel today to Western values (as articulated by Hollywood). Brazil, it appears, is very close to Western values, while India is the exact opposite. China and Russia are a blend of local and Western values. Whether this is exactly so needs to be validated through research in each context. Hence, what this quick and easy barometer does provide to anyone who wishes to innovate and design for these four nations is an idea of how ­similar or dissimilar these nations are from one another as well as from Western mature/developed countries. Therefore, one size is unlikely to fit all emerging markets. Theme 2: People—How Are They Different? Who Are the ‘Users’ in the Emerging Markets? Everyone is talking about the large numbers of people who are moving out of poverty and aspiring to be part of a new middle class, in the emerging countries. An interesting point to note is that perhaps half of this population is under the age of 30. A comparison of some fundamental demographics between the four BRIC nations and the United States provides the following picture. Brazil

Russia

India

China

Population Literacy Urban Rural Unemployment (2007)

198 m 88.6% 86% 14% 9.3%

140 m 99.4% 73% 27% 8%

1.16 b 61.0% 27.8% 72.2% 7.8%

Gini Index (income inequality indicator—the higher the index, the higher the inequality)

55

37.5

36.8

1.35 b 90.9% 42.3% 57.7% 4% Note: Official data for urban areas only; including migrants may boost total unemployment to 9%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas 41.5

United States 300 m 99% 81% 9% 4.5%

40.8

continued

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Note: The Gini Index is the standard economic measure of income inequality, based on the Lorenz Curve. A society that scores 0.0 on the Gini scale has perfect equality in income distribution. The higher the number over 0, the higher the inequality, and a score of 1.0 (or 100) indicates total inequality where only one person corners all the income. It is used also as a measure of other distributional inequalities such as market share. It is named after its inventor, the Italian statistician Corrado Gini (1884–1965). Also called Gini coefficient or index of concentration.

Comparison of Age Structure across BRIC and the United States 0–14 years 15–64 years 65 years and over

Brazil

Russia

India

China

United States

26.7% 66.8% 6.4%

14.9% 71.8% 13.3%

30.8% 64.3% 4.9%

20.4% 71.7% 7.9%

20.2% 67% 12.8%

The literacy rate certainly singles India out from the other emerging countries. The others, in fact, compare very well with a developed country such as the United States. The rural/urban divide also puts India in an entirely different category even within the BRIC nations. China, too, is very different in this respect from Brazil and Russia. Inequality of income (as per the Gini Index) reveals a surprising insight — that the BRIC nations are not far more inequal than the USA. Inequality of income reveals a surprising insight—that the BRIC nations are not far more inequal than the United States! In fact, Russia and India are more equal than the United States. Russia has a larger percentage of the population in the 65+ years category, while India has a larger percentage in the 0–14 years category. In other words, if designing for India, the young and rural population are definitely potentially attractive consumer segments. In Russia, the older age group has potential as a consumer segment. For multinational brands, these new and young markets are perfect areas for expanding into. However, what that means is that these brands need to understand the population in these countries not just at the macro level but also at the level of different segments. In fact, it proved to be an interesting exercise to try and understand how each of the BRIC nations slice and dice themselves in order to understand themselves better. While India and Brazil proved to be the easiest in terms of finding publicly available segmentation models, Russia and China proved to be far more difficult! For China, even the inputs on this topic from Chinese user researchers and designers varied greatly. Each one of them said they were not aware of any publicly stated segmentation model. One possible ­reason for no publicly available segmentation model could be the ideological underpinnings of both as communist countries in which the very existence of different socio-economic classes may be considered a sensitive subject and hence the complete absence of any public data on this topic. However, we did gather some data about China and Russia that provides, in an indirect way, an idea about the population in those countries. Brazil

23

Key Themes of Working in Emerging Markets

and India, on the other hand, had similar (in spirit) segmentation models. Let’s take a look at the data from each of the four BRIC nations. China All the publicly available segmentation models for China used geographical segmentation as the focus based on consumer durable ownership and income. Wikipedia offers the following data as of 2003. The distribution of urban household income in China. • Average per capita disposable income by quintile: Y 9,061 [US$1095] • First quintile:

Y 3,285

• Second quintile: Y 5,377 • Third quintile:

Y 7,279

• Fourth quintile: Y 9,763 • Fifth quintile:

Y 17,431

However, no specific socio-economic segmentation model was available in the public domain. Emergence of ‘Third China’ There are about 45 cities in China with a population of at least 1 million each, and they are fast growing in terms of buying power. Top 3 Cities

Top 10 Cities

“Third China” (All other non-rural)

Rural China

U.S. $1 = 8.2765 RMB Annual household income (Mean)

Annual amount it takes “for a family like yours to get by these days”

Total household savings (Mean)

8,200 RMB

9,638 RMB

4,400 RMB

43,900 RMB 32,700 RMB 23,100 RMB

40,733 RMB 31,266 RMB 26,225 RMB

22,100 RMB

37,000 RMB

48,800 RMB

The “Third China’s” affluence in perspective. (Image is taken from http://www.gallup.com/ poll/14854/Still-Two-Chinas-Third-Being-Born.aspx.)

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Innovative Solutions

Top 3 Cities

Top 10 Cities

“Third China” (All other non-rural)

Rural China

U.S. $1 = 8.2765 RMB Colour television 71% Running cold water 50% Cable television 23% Refrigerator 14% Mobile phone 26% Life insurance 16%

99% 98% 97% 100% 100% 95%

Microwave oven

Motorcycle

97% 95% 93%

Computer

95% 93% 80%

Video camera

85% 80% 79%

57% 46% 42%

38%

2% 12% 12%

2%

Automobile

78% 68%

34% 39%

26%

63% 47%

20% 15% 10% 1% 8% 6% 4% Less than half of 1%

The “Third China’s” affluence in perspective (continued). (Image is taken from http://www. gallup.com/poll/14854/Still-Two-Chinas-Third-Being-Born.aspx.)

Other Segmentation Models In response to our question regarding segmentation models for the Chinese population, two seasoned User Experience Professionals in China with plenty of experience in researching China, responded with their ideas: User Experience Professional 1

1. Geographical distribution: by provinces and cities (implies rural vs. urban habitants)



2. Educational level: elementary school/middle school/high school or technical school/college and above



3. Age (senior/working labour/juvenile)

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Key Themes of Working in Emerging Markets

Beijing Shanghai Guangzhou Shenzhen Chongging Tranjin Wuihan Hangzhou Nanjing

Tier 2a “Climbers” (11 cities) Large population, high income, and large GDP Tier 2b “Niche” (10 cities) Wealthy consumers, but relatively small overall market size

Dongguan Wenzhou Taizhou Ningbo Zhongshan Suzhou Wuxi Xiamen Zhuhai Changzhou

Linyi Nanchang Zaozhuang

Example cities

Quanzhou Jinhua Jiaxing Dongying Jinzhou

Fuzhou Qingdao Changsha Yantai Dalian Putian Zibo Zhengzhou

Xuzhou Xiangfan Baotou

Shaoxing Zhoushan Yueyang Quzhou Nantong

Foshan Chengdu Shantou Xi’an Shenyang Ji’nan

Shaoguan Liuzhou Baoding Xianyang Zhuzhou

Tier 1 “Big Four” Four largest cities with highest income, large population base, and largest GDP scale

Taiyuan Kunming Harbin Tangshan Changchun Shijiazhuang Huai’an Guiyang

Urumchi Huizhou Lanzhou

Tier 2c “Mainstream” (16 cities) Relatively low income, but large population base

Jilin Daqing Huzhou

Pingdingshan Xinxiang Hengyang Baoshan Huludao

Tier 3a “Next frontier” (136 cities) Growing markets with population larger than 1 million

Bengbu Zhengliang Langfang

Tier 3b “Poor cousins” (484 cities) Small cities with urban population smaller than 1 million

Income and population breakdown by city.



4. Income level



5. Career/Job

User Experience Researcher 2

1. Left-behind rural residents: kids, women, elders



2. Migrant workers: huge population, dramatic life change from growing up in villages/towns to working/living in cities



3. White collars: highly educated, Western culture oriented



4. ‘Black collars’: a newly created generation refers to those working in state-owned companies and governments, leveraging monopoly and authority to get superior salaries, less working pressure than white collars but more money earned (gray salary and special ­benefits of healthcare/kids edu/etc.)



5. Lost generation: urban, 45–60 years old now, less educated due to cultural revolution, lost their job around the time they were 40 years, modest life quality, rely much on children for the future



6. Private business families: in provinces of southeast China (Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong), rely much on manufacture for export



7. ‘Secret noble families’: small population, high-level officer in state party, their next generations in politics or business, enjoys huge wealth and power, 2% of the population owning 80% of the ­country’s wealth, according to some reports

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Li Yi’s Model Interestingly enough, Wikipedia did offer this segmentation model that none of the Chinese UX professionals we spoke with were aware of. In the Structure and Evolution of Chinese Social Stratification, sociologist Li Yi lays out a detailed model of Chinese social stratification after 1949. In China today, according to Li Yi, there is a peasant class, a working class (urban state worker, urban collective worker, urban non-state worker and peasant worker), a capitalist class, and a class of cadre and quasi-cadre. Cadre and Quasi-Cadre Capitalists Urban worker

Peasant worker

Peasant

Li Yi’s model of Chinese social stratification, 2005. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/file:Liyi1.jpg

This segmentation model appears to be an interesting mix of geographical and political/ideological factors. Socio-Economic Classes in Russia For Russia, there seems to be no clear segmentation model available in the public domain or known to local UX practitioners. However, Russia does have a lot of statistics available in the public domain, and what is more �relevant, this is well known to local UX researchers and practitioners. The following charts from the official Federal State Statistics Web site reveals some interesting insights. Distribution of Population by Per Capita Average Monthly Income (Percentage of Population) Percentage of Population

Income (in RUR)

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Less than 2000

12.3

7.1

4.3

2.5

1.5 continued

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Key Themes of Working in Emerging Markets

Percentage of Population

Income (in RUR)

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2000–4000 4000–6000 6000–8000 8000–10000

28.1 21.1 13.4 8.4

21.9 20.3 14.8 10.3

16.2 17.7 14.7 11.2

11.8 14.8 13.5 11.2

8.3 12.0 12.1 10.9

10000–15000 15000–25000 Over 25000

10.0 5.2 1.5

13.9 8.6 3.1

17.1 12.7 6.1

19.1 16.6 10.3

20.1 20.0 15.1

Note: 1 Russian ruble (RUR) = 0.034539 dollars.

The chart reveals that, for the bottom four income levels (less than 2000 to the 6000–8000 RUR category), the percentage of population has actually decreased. For the 8000 to 10000 RUR category, the percentage has remained almost the same between 2005 and 2008. The top three income levels, on the other hand, have seen significant increase in the percentage distribution of the population between 2004 and 2008. In short, the population of Russia is becoming wealthier, according to these numbers. Employment by Age and Educational Attainment in 20081 (At the End of November; As Percentage of Population) Percentage of Population Age Under 20 20–24 25–29 30–34 35–39 40–44 45–49 50–54 55–59 60–72 Mean age of employed in the economy Total employed in the economy   With education2   Higher professional Incomplete higher professional Secondary professional Primary professional Secondary (concerns) professional

Man

Woman

Total

1.4 11.0 13.9 12.6 11.9 11.6 13.6 11.4 8.4 3.7 40.3 100

1.3 9.4 12.4 12.4 12.0 12.6 15.6 13.6 7.3 3.6 40.1 100

1.5 10.2 13.1 12.5 11.9 12.1 14.6 12.5 7.4 3.7 40.7 100

25.2 1.5 21.4 24.2 22.3

30.7 1.4 21.9 14.2 17.4

27.9 1.6 26.5 19.5 20.1 continued

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Innovative Solutions

Percentage of Population Age

Man

Woman

Total

5.0

2.2

4.1

0.5

0.4

0.5

Basic general Primary general Without primary general

According to return of sample survey on employment. Text not clear. Source: Federal State Statistics Service, http://www.gks.ru/bgd/regl/ b09_12/IssWWW.exe/stg/d01/07-09.htm. 1 2

The educational attainment chart, as expected, indicates the absence of any illiterates in the workforce (given the 99.4% literacy). In fact, the bottom two categories have very small percentage distribution as compared with the other categories. A look at Wikipedia reveals that ‘Russia’s free, widespread and in-depth educational system, inherited with almost no changes from the Soviet Union, has produced nearly 100% literacy. 97% of children receive their compulsory 9-year basic or complete 11-year education.’ In trying to find any model that gave a clearer idea as to what parameters are commonly considered when segmenting the Russian population (other than income and education), we came across a very interesting model. 39

28

20

13 5 0

18

A model of social stratification of Russian society according to the level of income. (From http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2005/0195/analit03.php.)

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Key Themes of Working in Emerging Markets

This model, like the HPI model in India, does not just look at income/ education/ownership of consumer goods to arrive at socio-economic classes. Instead, it sets a base level of goods and services that the population should own, access and renew. Then it measures whether and how the ­population, in reality, has different levels of ownership/access and renewal of the specified products and services. If a household possesses more than the base, then they get plus (+) points, whereas if a household does not possess even as much as the base level, then the level of deprivation is rated and minus (−) points are given to that household. The total of the positives and negatives then provide not just an idea of how much money was spent on buying/accessing/renewing goods and ­services but a more detailed picture of the quality of life across the population (see preceding figure). Socio-Economic Classes in Brazil Segmentation data for Brazil was easily available in the public domain. The economic classification model used for determining socio-economic class was an interesting combination of education level and ownership of a ­specific set of products/services. The economic classification criterion used by marketing associations ABA, ANEP, and ABIPEME in Brazil gave us the following data. Products and Services Product/Service Colour TV Radio Bathroom Automobile Servant (paid monthly) Vacuum cleaner Washing machine VCR Refrigerator Freezer

Does Not Own

Has One

Has Two

Has Three

Has Four or More

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

2 1 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 1

3 2 3 4 4 1 1 2 2 1

4 3 4 5 4 1 1 2 2 1

5 4 4 5 4 1 1 2 2 1

Education of Head of Household Educational Background Illiterate/incomplete primary Completed primary/incomplete junior high Completed junior high/incomplete high Completed high/incomplete university Completed university

Points 0 1 2 3 5

30

Immigrants to Brazil, by Ethnic groups (from 1500 to 1933) Period Ethnic Group Africans Portuguese Italians Spaniards Germans Japanese Syrians and Lebanese Others

1500–1700

1701–1760

1761–1829

1830–1855

1856–1883

1884–1893

1894–1903

1904–1913

1914–1923

1924–1933

—

—

—

—

—

—

510,000 100,000 — — — — —

958,000 600,000 — — — — —

1,720,000 26,000 — — 5,003 — —

618,000 16,737 — — 2,008 — —

116,000 100,000 — 30,000 — —

170,621 510,533 113,116 22,778 — 96

155,542 537,784 102,142 6,698 — 7,124

384,672 196,521 224,672 33,859 11,868 45,803

201,252 86,320 94,779 29,339 20,398 20,400

233,650 70,177 52,405 61,723 110,191 20,400

—

—

—

—

—

66,524

 42,820

109,222

51,493

164,586

Innovative Solutions

Source: Brazilian institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

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Key Themes of Working in Emerging Markets

The points collected from the products and services ownership table and the points from the education of head of household table are added together to decide which socio-economic class each household is assigned to. After the points are added up, the people are assigned to different socioeconomic classes as follows: Socio-Economic Class

Points Range

A1 A2 B1 B2 C D E

30–34 25–29 21–24 17–20 11–16 6–10 0–5

Source: http://www.zonalatina.com/ Zldata339.htm.

One does wonder how Brazil’s special history of immigration affects the country’s socio-economic segmentation. According to Wikipedia, ‘Immigration has been a very important demographic factor in the formation, structure and history of the population in Brazil, influencing culture, economy, education, racial issues, etc. Brazil has received the third largest number of immigrants in the Western hemisphere, after the United States and Argentina’. Socio-Economic Classes in India India uses different segmentation models, mainly the socio-economic classification (SEC), income-based classification and the household potential index (HPI). Socio Economic Classification (SEC) is a commonly used classification scheme employed by researchers and marketers to describe the Indian population. According to this classification, Indian consumers are segmented on the basis of two parameters: Occupation and Education of the chief wage earner (Head) of the households. SEC A1 is the topmost urban segment and SEC E2 the lowest segment. Urban Indian households have broadly been classified as • ‘High’ socio-economic class, referring to SEC A and SEC B • ‘Mid’ socio-economic class, referring to SEC C • ‘Low’ socio-economic class, referring to SEC D and SEC E Rural Indian Households, on the other hand are classified into SEC R1, R2, R3, R4 (R1 being the topmost segment and R4 being the lowest segment). The parameters used for rural classification are Education of the Chief wage earner and the type of the house (pucca or permanent construction, semi pucca or semi permanent and kutcha or temporary construction).

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Innovative Solutions

Socio-Economic Classes in Urban India

Graduate/Post Graduate Professional

E1 D D C B2 B2 A2 D D C C B1

Graduate/Post Graduate General

E2 E1 D D C B2 B1 D D D C B1

SSC/HSC

E2 E2 E2 D D C B1 D D D C B1

School 5–9 Years

Unskilled workers Skilled workers Petty traders Shop owners Entrepreneurs/employees None â•… < 10 â•… > 10 Self-employed professionals Clerical/salesmen Supervisory level Officers/executives: junior Middle/senior

Some College But Not Graduate

6. 7. A. B. C.

School Up to 4 Years/Literate But No Formal Schooling

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Education/Occupation

Illiterate

Socio-Economic Classification Grid

D C C B1 A2 A2 A1 B1 B2 B2 B1 A2

D B2 B2 A2 A2 A1 A1 A2 B1 B1 A2 A1

D B2 B2 A2 A1 A1 A1 A1 B1 A2 A2 A1

D C C B2 B1 B1 A2 B2 C C B2 B1

Socio-Economic Classes in Rural India Type of House Education of Chief Wage Earner Illiterate (Self-learning)/no school Up to Class 4 Class 4–Class 9 SSC/HSC College Graduation/PG–gen Professional degree

Pucca

Semi-Pucca

Kutcha

R4 R3 R3 R3 R2 R1 R1 R1

R4 R4 R3 R3 R3 R2 R2 R2

R4 R4 R4 R4 R3 R3 R3 R3

Source: Readbetweentheps.blogspot.com by Puru Gupta.

An alternative to the SEC approach is the HPI, which is a wholistic measure of potential and not just based on a few durables, and is an aggregate level index. This construct has been developed by Ashok Das of Hansa Research and is computed using data from the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) conducted by Hansa Research. Rama Bijapurkar, on her Web site www.bijapurkar.com, has the following description of the HPI approach.

33

Key Themes of Working in Emerging Markets

50 Variables Used to Construct the HPI Categories

Description

18 Durables

Entertainment—3 Transportation—2 Kitchen durables—7 Others—6 Personal products—8 Household products—4 Food products—10 Telephone, C&S, internet and banking Education—3 House—2 Working members

22 Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs)

4 Services 6 Demographic variables

HPI uses consumption/ownership of a whole host of durables, packaged goods, services and demographics to construct a simple aggregate index of how much purchasing power a household exhibits. (See preceding table.) The concept underlying the index is simple—households owning or using a low penetration item or having a less popular demographic characteristic (like high education levels) get a higher score for that. The scores are then aggregated across all items and an HPI score arrived at for the household. Thus, in place of income, we have a sort of ‘consumption’/‘ownership’/‘­characteristics’ based index that is a measure of purchasing power. Again, the score for any category is simply assigned, eliminating all judgement. It is the reciprocal of the penetration of the category in the total universe. Thus, if 70% have a television, then television ownership in a household generates a lower score on power/potential (1/70), but if only 10% have an air-conditioner, then air-conditioner ownership in a household gets a higher score (1/20). The raw scores aggregated across all items included in this index are then normalized on a 1 to 1000 scale. Further, within a broad category, premium versions of it are treated differently—for example, a black and white TV, a colour TV and a flat screen TV. ‘Based on this HPI score, the relative purchasing power of each SEC is as ­follows [in the table on the next page]. HPI enables a direct comparison of urban and rural on the same scale. An interesting inference from this classification is that the analysis “indicates that SEC R1 is close to SEC B2, and SEC R2 is close to SEC D of urban”’. Segmentation in India, Based on Income The problem with the income-based segmentation scheme is the difficulty in capturing correct income data since respondents are often reluctant to report their monthly household income.

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Results of HPI Aggregate Score across SECs SEC Class

HPI Score

A1 A2 B1 B2 C D E1 E2 R1 R2 R3 R4

100.7 54.9 28.2 18.7 11.9 6.8 5.5 3.7 16.1 7.3 4.1 2.5

Estd. Households (mn) 2.2 4.1 5.3 5.3 12.8 14.2 6.7 10.8 5.8 15.9 56.7 67.3

To quote once again from Rama Bijapurkar’s book We Are Like That Only: The rich consumer class is the benefit maximiser class, oriented towards ‘money for value’. One would term this group ‘anywherein-the-world’ consumers who just happen to be in India. The consuming class is oriented towards ‘value for money’ in contrast to the rich. They judiciously balance benefit and price all the time in order to make value-optimising decisions. The climbers are cash-constrained benefit maximisers who, within a confined budget, look for the best the market can offer. They form the core of the ‘popular’ segment. The aspirants are the new entrants into the consumption arena. This forms the core discount segment. The destitutes are not yet into consumption of anything. It is interesting to note that between 1995–96 and 2005–2006 the shape of income distribution in urban India changed from the traditional poor country shape of a triangle or pyramid (indicating far more ­people at the bottom than in the middle and even fewer at the top) to a diamond, with less people at the top and the bottom but many more in the middle. Projections are that the shape will change to that of a cylinder standing on a narrow base, with equal numbers in the top four income groups and very few at the lowest income group. This means a sharp increase in demand for the higher performance offerings, even at higher prices. Never before in the history of India has this shape of income distribution been achieved. It is important to understand that simply looking at income levels may not always provide a real and clear picture of the consumer and his/her motivations and buying behaviour. It is very common to find two people with the same income BUT with very different socio-economic environments behaving very differently as consumers.

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The rich (Rs. 215,000 and more) Benefit maximisers Rich The consuming class (Rs. 45–215,000) Cost-benefit optimisers: Consumer The climbers (Rs. 22–45,000) Constrained benefit seekers Climber The aspirants (Rs. 16–22,000) New entrants into consumption Aspirant The destitute (below Rs. 16,000) Hand to mouth existence: Not buying Destitutes Figure 2.2 The income segments in India—NCAER 2001, 2002. (Reproduced with permission from Rama Bijapurkar.)

For example, television buying is more income driven, but the programs watched are SEC driven. Several computing products fall in this category where income is not the best predictor of consumer behaviour.

The United States Finally, let’s take a look at the population segmentation in the United States and see how it compares with the BRIC segmentation models we just saw. According to Wikipedia, ‘Social class certainly exists in the United States, though it remains a controversial concept with many competing definitions. Many Americans believe in a simple three-class model that includes the “rich”, the “middle class”, and the “poor”. More complex models that have been proposed describe as many as a dozen class levels, while still others deny the very existence, in the strict sense, of “social class” in American society. Most definitions of class structure group people according to wealth, income, education, type of occupation, and membership in a specific subculture or social network’. Also, according to Wikipedia, the United States has no legally recognised social classes. Elites exist but are numerous, and there is no universally recognised hierarchy of people. Generally, sociologists use a five-class model:

1. Upper class



2. Middle class: Upper-middle class

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Class in the United States, featuring descriptions by Thompson and Hickey.



3. Middle class: Middle-middle class



4. Middle class: Lower-middle class



5. Lower class

Another perspective on segmentation of the U.S. population is presented here. It shows class in the United States, featuring occupational descriptions by Thompson and Hickey and U.S. Census Bureau data pertaining to personal income and educational attainment for those aged 25 or older. What Does All This Add Up To? One significant difference that stands out from the foregoing table is the direct correlation between education level and income in the United States. On the other hand, in India, there is no such direct correlation! As the socio-economic segmentation model for India indicates, even an illiterate person can be in the upper middles class B1 segment. It will, therefore, be disastrous for a designer from the United States to carry over the assumptions relevant in that country to India—for example, the assumption that the level of educational attainment directly determines which socio-economic segment one belongs to. Contradictions such as this are a hallmark of countries in transition, such as the emerging market countries.

Persons Aged 25 or Older With Earnings

Households

All Households $46,326

Dual Earner Households

Per Household Member

Males

Females

Both Sexes

$67,348

$23,535

$39,403

$26,507

$32,140

Household Income by Race

Asian

White, NonHispanic

Hispanic

African American

$57,518

$48,977

$34,241

$30,134

Median Personal Income by Educational Attainment

Measure Persons aged 25+ w/earnings Male, aged 25+ w/earnings Female, aged 25+ w/earnings Persons aged 25+, employed full time Household

Some High School

High School Graduate

Some College

Associate’s Degree

Bachelor’s Degree or Higher

Bachelor’s Degree

Master’s Degree

Professional Degree

Doctorate Degree

$20,321

$26,505

$31,054

$35,009

$49,303

$43,143

$52,390

$82,473

$70,853

$24,192

$32,085

$39,150

$42,382

$60,493

$52,265

$67,123

$100,000

$78,324

$15.073

$21,117

$25,185

$29,510

$40,483

$36,532

$45,730

$66,055

$54,666

$25,039

$31,539

$37,135

$40,588

$56,078

$50,944

$61,273

$100,000

$79,401

$22,718

$36,835

$45,854

$51,970

$73,446

$68,728

$78,541

$100,000

$96,830

Key Themes of Working in Emerging Markets

Median Income Levels

Household Income Distribution Bottom 10%

Bottom 20%

Bottom 25%

Middle 33%

Middle 20%

Top 25%

Top 20%

Top 5%

Top 1.5%

Top 1%

$0 to 10,500

$0 to $18,500

$0 to $22,500

$30,000 to $62,500

$35,000 to $55,000

$77,500 and up

$92,000 and up

$167,000 and up

$2500,000 and up

$350,000 and up

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Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006: income statistics for the year 2005.

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Another difference that stands out is the entry of new categories of consumers into the fray to buy products and services and better their lives consequent on the predicted overall positive economic growth for these emerging markets. In China, it is the ‘third China’ that is becoming a centre of focus for those who wish to enter the Chinese market with their products/services or expand their market share. This is not the usual big-city China that has been the focus for a long time. This is small-city China that is seeing rapid growth and increase in buying power. In India, 62% of the consumer expenditure comes from rural India, and only 38% from urban India (Rama Bijapurkar, We Are Like That Only). Once again, this has begun to change the kind of products and services that are being created. It is no longer enough to create product strategies for an urban dweller. Now, you, as the innovator and designer, need to step out of your comfort zone of the city limit and step into the rural ecosystem­. What works within an urban landscape is unlikely to work in exactly the same manner, if at all, within the rural landscape. In Russia, a debate continues as to who is the ‘new’ middle class and does it exist at all. The profile of the typical global consumer will be very different very soon! It will be individually poor but collectively rich, as against individually rich and collectively rich. To conclude, I quote from Rama Bijapurkar once again: As ‘dreaming with the BRICs: the path to 2050’, the BRIC report of Goldman Sachs, points out, in the future, the world’s largest economies may not be the world’s richest economies. Consumer demand is made up of lots of people consuming a little bit each, adding­ up to a lot. NOT a few people consuming a lot each, adding up to a lot’. Theme 3: Technology—Is It There at All? Technology and the emerging countries have a unique relationship. Technology, on the one hand, is yet another ‘possession’ that creates its own super elites and hence the entire notion of the digital divide. However, it is also a fact that technology has actually been seen by the population, and in different degrees by the governments of these countries, as very significant enablers for themselves (whether as individuals or as a country­) to better their quality of life and/or their position on the global stage. Technology, in many different avatars, has therefore made rapid progress in these countries across the entire socio-economic spectrum. Technology adoption and usage has sometimes been unexpectedly much ahead of mature/ developed markets. The ubiquitous rise of the cell phone is a prime example. Technology has, like the cell phone, often become the great equalizer in these often unequal and hierarchical economies. The population in these countries are eager to adopt and use technology in spite of some obvious disadvantages

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such as illiteracy and very low income levels. In many of the emerging countries, for �example, it is very common for people to own �multiple cell phones! What �lessons can we learn from what has happened so far with technology �penetration in these countries? Let us take a look at some interesting data. Mobile Phones and Emerging Countries The mobile phone has seen rapid adoption and usage in emerging markets in recent years. In many of these countries, the more traditional land line phone infrastructure has been abysmally poor, and hence, mobile phones have made an enormous difference to people who had poor access to telephone services because of unavailability, inefficiency or affordability. Mobile Phone Penetration in BRIC Nations Russia Brazil China India

131.4% (Feb. 2009) 79.9% (Feb. 2009) 51% (Feb. 2009) 33% (Feb. 2009)

Source: http://wirelessfederation.com/.

How has this leapfrogging from no telephone usage to ubiquitous mobile phone usage affected the local culture? Dr. Sadie Plant’s research report (conducted in Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Peshawar, Dubai, London, Birmingham and Chicago) ‘On the Mobile—The Effects of Mobile Telephones on Social and Individual Life’, has the following to report: And while some contributors to this research emphasized the permissive nature of the mobile phone, others were more inclined to see it as a means of cementing, sustaining, and managing relationships. Unable to meet her fiancé face to face, a young woman in Dubai described the ease with which the mobile allowed her to talk to him, sometimes while watching him across a busy street. A British Asian woman described the many times she has spoken to her boyfriend under the cover of darkness, her bedclothes and loud music. Texting has become particularly popular with individuals and in cultures that tend to be reserved with other Â�people: in both Bangkok and Tokyo, teenage boys and girls value texting as a means to communicate without having to voice feelings and thoughts. The demands of brevity can also encourage text messages and emailers to be candid, frank, informal, even cheeky: ice can be broken, intentions declared and invitations offered, all without the risk of embarrassment. The same tendencies can be observed in Beijing, where China’s only children welcome mobiles—and all other new media—as means of establishing new networks of friends to fill the gaps left by the loss of the extended family. In Beijing, a shy 17-year-old with shoulder-length hair explains that the mobile makes it possible for him to have relationships with friends of which he knows his parents disapprove.

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For this very reason, many Afghans living in Peshawar were horrified by the prospect of girls and boys making private calls, leading private lives and forming their own friendships and attachments without the knowledge or approval of their families. In the words of one young Afghan contributor, ‘I do know some girls who have mobiles, but I think they are bad girls. They talk to boys.’

Rapid mobile penetration in emerging markets also means a completely new look at what the mobile phone, as a device, really ‘means’ in these diverse cultures. Is there a difference in the kind of mobile services/applications that someone in China would need, as opposed to what someone in the United States or Germany would need? Would the simple task of sending and receiving text messages need any localization for users in the emerging countries who are not fluent with English? ‘When people from different linguistic backgrounds communicate by way of text, the search for the most dense and efficient texts often results in novel combinations of borrowed words and modified codes. Birmingham’s Pakistani teenagers send ­messages using fusions of Caribbean, Punjabi, and SMS slang. Such mixed ­messages are likely to become more common as texting spreads, and may even point to the emergence of localised hybrid languages: new “textperantos” for the mobile age’, says Dr. Plant. On the issue of revisiting the question, is a mobile phone any different in an emerging country from what it is in a developed country, well-known anthropologist, Dr. Genevieve Bell had some fascinating insights to share on her BBC interview: Mobiles phones are not usually seen in the West as a way of keeping in touch with God. But the growing popularity of communication technologies is providing a way for people in Asia to express their faith, say researchers. ‘What technology is doing is allowing people to continue their religious practices and expand them’, said anthropologist Dr Genevieve Bell. ‘It suggests a completely different way of thinking about technology. In the West, we have traditionally held technology and religion apart from one another’. She noticed that technology was being adapted to fit in with cultural habits, in particular when it came to local beliefs. ‘One of the most popular services on China Mobile, which is one of the large mobile phone providers in China, has been the lunar almanac’, Dr Bell told the BBC programme Go Digital. ‘Each night you get sent a list of things that are auspicious to do on the next day. This is a traditional activity in Chinese homes. You would have had a calendar on the wall. Now the phone has become the platform for it’, she said. In her travels, she has come across people using mobile phones to show them the direction of Mecca or remind them of when it is time to pray. In the West, the phone is considered an information and communication tool. But Dr Bell says that what is happening in Asia is a ‘re-imaging’ of the role of the mobile.

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Internet Usage Following is some interesting data from a Universal McCann Wave 3 survey that was conducted on 17,000 Internet users in 29 countries and was completed in March 2008.

1. Asian markets (not including Japan) are leading in terms of participation, creating more content than any other region. China has the largest blogging community in the world with 42 million bloggers.



2. Social networks still on rise. Emerging markets with high emigration lead the way—Philippines 83%, Hungary 80%, Poland 77%, Mexico 76%. United Kingdom hit by the Facebook factor (usage up 32%). United States saturated as growth stalls at 41%. Brazil has the most active users (56% manage their profile every day).



3. Photo sharing The leading markets are Asian and Latin American, Philippines leads the way with 86%. Japan on the other hand shuns photos (just 21% uploaded). Large numbers of consumers contributing on a very frequent basis 16% upload everyday: Brazil and Asia more frequent than the United Kingdom or United States (34% upload everyday).



4. Video sharing Similar pattern to photo sharing Brazil leads with 68%, Asian countries dominate (not including Japan). Significant variation in involvement (Hungary 16% < Brazil 68%). High frequency of involvement: 20% are uploading every day.



5. Downloading podcasts China is the world’s biggest podcast market (74% use, with an estimated 45 million users).



6. RSS subscriptions BRIC markets lead: Russia, Brazil, and China lead the way, all 50% plus adoption. Huge variations in adoption (Hungary 15% < Russia 57%).

That there is immense opportunity for new technology products and services is very obvious. However, what is less obvious is that for those who want to innovate in the technology space, for emerging countries, recognition and understanding of the differences between the mature/developed countries and the emerging ones will make the difference between an idea that wins or not.

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For example, in China, India, Brazil, etc., many Internet users do not own computers and just use Internet cafes on a regular basis. In India, many Internet cafes have private kiosks where customers can visit chat rooms and X-rated sites (even though, in India, everyone who visits a cyber cafe and accesses the net has to show their identity and register their details). Another cultural issue that affects how a product or service is designed is whether it is meant for individual use or shared use. Early on in 2001, we had found that cell phone users in India were struggling with the concept of a device that had been designed for individual use but had now been transplanted into an ecosystem where it demanded to be used collectively. That created challenges that the design of cell phones, at that time, were not geared to deal with. Similarly, Andres Barret recently posted this interesting insight on Pulsosocial: Social Media and Entrepreneurship in Latin America An important aspect of this situation that should not be forgotten is the expectation of high accessibility to media and media related interactions such as sharing. The Chinese Web experience includes a lot of media consumption and on some occasions this is a group experience. An example of this is a common situation in Internet cafes in which users will watch online movies, often at HD resolution, and simultaneously engage in two-person video chats with many friends scattered around the region, presumably doing the same sort of thing. The market for tools that help people consume what is free or easily available is already quite crowded. Media as an inroad to community building, however, is a market that is largely untapped.

The users are, therefore, very, very different in terms of their physical ecosystem as well as psychographics from what the designers and researchers in mature/developed economies are familiar with. Without contextual user research, there is very little likelihood of success in creating new products or modifying existing ones for these new markets. And, of course, the differences within the emerging countries, in terms of attitude to technology are not to be ignored. One of the major differences we found between the lower income segment households we studied in India and China was the astonishing proliferation of electronic items in Chinese homes. Compared to Chinese homes, the Indian homes we ­studied had much less technology in the home. In addition, we also found that the Indian households looked at technology as a status symbol and as an indicator of ‘coolness’. The Chinese households, on the other hand, viewed technology as a ‘hygiene factor’ and there was no major drive to own technology just to climb the social ladder. Emerging market users are very innovative in how they improvise workarounds to tackle the gaps in the technology products and services that are offered to them. Understanding the culture and the people can give the informed researcher and designer a head start in coming up with the innovations as part of the offering rather than letting these be ‘devised’ by the users in a haphazard manner!

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Theme 4: Transition—The Game Is Changing All the Time Straddling the Old and New ‘How is the mindset of the Chinese consumer changing as traditions are upheld but technology, consumer lifestyle and economic conditions have changed so fast? How can we better adapt to meet the needs’?, asks Luis Babicek, Director of International eCommerce, Marriott International in an interview with Steven Babitch and Joyce Chen of the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology. This is, in fact, the critical question that all those who wish to innovate and design for emerging markets need to ask. Each of these emerging markets is in a state of flux. The old and the new often jostle for mind-share among the population. This creates interesting new challenges and opportunities. Designers, therefore, have to be prepared to understand the ‘schizophrenia’ that accompanies this kind of an ecosystem where the past, present, and future are sometimes out of sequence. Understanding and factoring in the transitory nature of these societies is essential for successful innovation. Here are some examples from India and China: India Societies change around their DNA, and plurality or ‘this as well as that’ is the DNA of Indian society. ‘The concept of avatars creates many dramatically different manifestations of the same god. The bloodthirsty Kali, the patient wife Parvati, and the strong 10-armed Durga are all but different forms of the same divine feminine power’ says Rama Bijapurkar in her book We Are Like That Only. What this means is that there now exists unique new formats in which old behaviour and customs are played out. Bijapurkar talks about the interesting new phenomena of ‘engineered marriages’ that are very popular in India today. These are neither the archetypal arranged marriages that are the tradition in India nor are they the love marriages of the Western world. They are a unique combination of elements from both! Another interesting example from Bijapurkar’s book is when she talks about the increasing visibility of women as decision makers in the purchasing process. She mentions that 23% of women in urban India have a job outside the home. 42% of women in rural India have a job outside the home. However, this is where there is a twist in the tale! Unlike assumptions that a researcher or designer from the developed countries would make, these women, while entering the workforce and also articulating their opinions in the decision-making process, are negotiating a better space but not rebelling. Hence, these women often make decisions that baffle!

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China One of the most important lessons we learnt while conducting ethnographic studies in middle-class China was that the research material on China appears to be very out of date. The cultural revolution has had profound impacts. The stereotypical models do not seem to hold. Hence, much of the literature on China that places China on various scales to measure its position in various dimensions, such as Hofstede’s, need to be revised. Reading the old literature, you will be forgiven if you think China is high power distance, collective, and masculine. None of these are completely true anymore. Children have a lot of power, as a result of the one-child policy. Traditional family hierarchies have, therefore, changed. People do not often socialise in their homes. Instead, they get together at restaurants. Most restaurants have private rooms with large tables, making family get togethers easy to organise. Men often participate in household chores, including cooking a meal. In addition, the participants seemed remarkably westernized. All clothing was Western style. There were almost no Oriental art or artifacts in the home. In one kitchen we saw not a single Chinese character, but English was present on • Stickers on the refrigerator • ‘Art’ on the wall • Appliances • Electronics • Children’s clothing (often) While China experiences this urban, Western affect, several online factbooks about China still have the following information as part of statistics about China. This data points to the existence of two different Chinas. Access to services • Percentage of population having access to electricity (2000): 98.6% • Percentage of total population with safe public water supply (2002): 83.6% (urban, rural: 94.0%, 73.0%) • Sewage system (1999); urban, rural totals in parentheses −− Households with flush apparatus 20.7% (50.0%, 4.3%) −− With pit latrines 69.3% (33.6%, 86.7%) −− With no latrine 5.3% (7.8%, 4.1%) Even in urban China, dichotomies—representative of a culture in transition—surface regularly.

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In China, many foreign companies have treaded precariously on the fine line that separates the socially-accepted of the general masses. Companies that have stepped onto the wrong side of the line simply create a stir amongst the Chinese and attract unwanted media attention. The opening of a Starbucks in Beijing’s Forbidden City in September 2000 received much criticism from the mass publicÂ�, even though the chain store had been invited by the museum management. Regarded as a cultural and historical center, the presence of an iconic Western influence contradicts its deep local heritage. After receiving much media backlash and petitioning (in Forbidden City) from the Chinese, Starbucks respectfully wrapped up its business operations in July 2007. Source: http://www.chinaknowledge.com/Market/BookChinaConsumer.aspx? subchap=1&content=4

In other words, the rapid pace of change dictates that anyone who is designing for China needs to be aware of the way the juxtaposition of old and new values impact the consumer’s expectation and behaviour. This juxtaposition of values often leads to what Dr. Genevieve Bell terms ‘culture strain, the tension between the cultural ideal and the cultural Â�reality’. This ‘tension’ is very important to understand and interpret accurately, since this often provides very interesting opportunity spaces for innovation, but if misunderstood or not understood at all, could be disastrous. Russia Russia, as the following charts demonstrate, show another face of the transitionary character of its society. Different segments of Russian society seem to, in typical emerging country fashion, have totally different perspectives on their own quality of life, factors contributing to success in life and what the government’s priority should be in terms of investment. Older people in Russia and the rural population do not feel that their quality of life has improved as much as the younger age groups. Rural and metropolitan Russia is a little more confused than the urban respondents in terms of what factors would contribute to success in life. As far as the question regarding priority areas for government investment, there is more consensus across groups about the basic areas that should be first priority. In fact, mapping the response to this question with Maselow’s Hierarchy of Needs, it appears that Russia is very clearly asking for better fulfillment of basics such as biological, physiological and safety needs. It would be interesting to see how the other emerging countries fare with respect to Maselow’s needs. After all, designing anything—for example a cell phone—for a population that has biological and safety needs as top priority will be very different from designing for a population that has self-actualisation as its primary need. In addition, it would be interesting to research whether and how Maselow’s Hierarchy of Needs even applies to the emerging countries. Schutte’s Asian Equivalent of Maselow’s Hierarchy of Needs is an example of exploration in this direction.

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Evaluation of current personal financial situation compared to 1989: results of the national poll Do you agree or disagree with the statement “My household lives better nowadays than around 1989”?

Russia’s transitionary society. (From EBRD, Life in Transition survey).

Factors contributing to success in life: results of national poll Which of the factors in this list is the most important for success in life in this country today?

Russia’s transitionary society (continued).

Key Themes of Working in Emerging Markets

Which of these areas should be the first priority for additional government investment?

Russia’s transitionary society (continued).

Self-actualisation Personal growth and fulfilment Esteem needs Achievement, status, responsibility, reputation Belongingness and love needs Family, affection, relationships, work group, etc. Safety needs Protection, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc. Biological and Physiological needs Basic life needs–air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (original five-stage model).

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The Themes, Once Again … To conclude, emerging markets are new frontiers and therefore need new methods, new perspectives and new concepts for any innovation and design to succeed. Remembering the four themes, Culture, People, Technology and Transition, would pay significant dividend to any innovation and design activity being undertaken in the emerging markets.

References Bijapurkar, R. (2007). We Are Like That Only: Understanding The Logic Of Consumer India, Penguin India. Dreaming with BRICs: The Path to 2050. Goldman Sachs. Global Economics Paper No. 99, October 2003. Insights into Asia: 19 Cities, 7 Countries, 2 Years—What People Really Want from Technology. Technology@Intel Magazine, 2004. Kao, J. (October 2007). In Innovation Nation: How America is Losing Its Innovation Edge, Why It Matters, and What We Can Do to Get It Back. Khanna, T. (2008). Billions of Entrepreneurs: How China and India Are Reshaping Their Futures—and Yours. Plant, S. On the Mobile—the Effects of Mobile Telephones on Social and Individual Life. Prahalad, C. K. (2006). The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits, Wharton School Publishing. Wilson, D. and R. Purushottam (2003). Whitney, P. (Ed.) (2005). Designing for the Emerging Markets: Interview with Marriott International, Institute of Design, IIT.

Web Sites http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/be77e600-605f-11db-a716-0000779e2340.html?nclick_ check=1. http://www.emergingeconomyreport.com/. Universal Mccann International Social Media Research Wave 3. www.bijapurkar.com. The BRICs Dream: Web Tour. http://www2.goldmansachs.com/insight/research/ reports/report32.html. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3663283.stm. Wikipedia (2007). BRIC. http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/BRIC#The_BRIC_thesis.

3 Aspects of Innovation: Research and Technology Beena Prabhu and Sarit Arora

Contents Introduction..................................................................................................... 49 How Different Are Consumers in Emerging Markets?............................ 52 User Research Is Discovering Potential Users............................................ 57

Introduction The emerging markets are undergoing tremendous growth by virtue of the changing global market dynamics, business expansion, and socio-economic development. The World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects 2007 predicts that by 2030, about half or more of the purchasing power of the global economy will originate in the developing world. This annual report on the future trends in the global economy also predicts that by then emerging markets will be home to an estimated 1.15-billion-strong middle class. At some level, the consumers in these markets are rooted in their socio-cultural practices, but at the same time a clear shift in practices and beliefs is also seen. Consumers are aspiring for better products, and they want these today! Exposure to the developed world through media, and exponential growth in technology and opening of markets has significantly influenced consumers. This creates an interesting tension between the past practices and new aspirations of the consumers. This tension is influencing the rapid Â�adoption of technology products within various consumer segments. However, the models and the trends for technology adoption in the emerging markets are not the same as in the developed markets. This difference can be attributed to socio-cultural differences, ecosystem differences and the changes in macroeconomics that have influenced the Â�emerging markets significantly.

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Figure 3.1 Ramesh is a keen listener of music on mobile.

Take, for example, the consumption of mobile music, which is showing exponential growth in India. By 2009, over 75% of total music sales in India are expected to be mobile music, with a projected revenue of Rs. 3600 crores (760  million USD). In China almost 70% of the adult population is using handsets for music, and the penetration rate of music-enabled handsets is forecast to grow by 68% by 2011. Mobile music represented 38.1% of the Brazilian mobile content services market revenues, generating $250.2 million in 2007. From 2007 to 2013 the Brazilian mobile content market is expected to grow significantly, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34.9%. Compared to this, the consumption of mobile music in a mature market like the United States is significantly low. (Only 5.7% mobile users heard music on their phone in 2007.) To the untrained eye, this growth may seem to stem from the urban elite/higher socio-economic class (SEC). It will be obvious to assume that the urban elite/higher SEC segments will be using the most expensive smart phones and listening to more music on their mobiles. However, it is interestingÂ�, that in India, at present the tier 2 (smaller cities) and middle to lower socio-economic segments (SEC B, C) comprise the growth engine for mobile music through regional content. Take for instance, Ramesh, a 26-year-old high school graduate with no college education. He owns and operates a rickshaw; he loves music and regularly exchanges music with his friends and family. In fact, Ramesh recently bought a used Nokia 3110, as it not only has good sound Â�quality, but it would also enable him to store more music on his phone (Figure 3.1).

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Figure 3.2 Info ladies in Bangladesh, using a laptop and an internet connection.

People like Ramesh consider a phone not only as a communication device, but also as a personal entertainment device. So imagine if an MNC is planning on creating a new mobile music service or device for an emerging Â�market and only targets top cities and the higher socio economic segments. They will lose out on a significantly large captive market for which a high tech solution is not necessarily the way to go. A solution which addresses the deepest motivations and aspirations might allow for disruptive Â�penetration. At the same time, it may be too hasty to assume, that since Ramesh who is willing to buy a music phone and find new ways of getting mobile music, is also a likely candidate for productivity applications. Like Ramesh, 18-year-old Ana in Sao Paulo has distinct needs and aspirations. She recently bought a Coke  Zero-Nokia phone only because the idea of ‘unique’ music bundled with a phone really excites her. There is a danger for MNCs in entering emerging markets, with existing Â�products and with a set of beliefs about the priorities for users in emerging markets. Making an assumption about users in emerging Â�markets on the basis of an understanding of a mature market can be disastrous. Acting on faulty assumptions has severe consequences for companies trying to expand into these marketsÂ�. Another assumption, that emerging markets = a low tech Â�product is also not correct. In computing, many consumers in emerging markets are going directly to mobile computing solutions rather than starting with the traditional desktop models (Figure 3.2). Many emerging-market operators have started offering services that have not really taken off in the developed markets. Examples are services

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such as cash payments and balance transfers via mobile phones. Kenya’s Safaricom (Vodafone) M-PESA has a service that allows mobile customersÂ� who do not have a bank account to perform basic operations like cash deposit, withdrawal, and transfer. For users in the emerging world, the appeal and challenges in adoption of these m-banking/m-payments systemsÂ� is less about convenience (as in developed markets) and more about accessibility and affordability. Also, take an example of the Info Lady solution evolved from the original Mobile Lady concept developed by D.Net (Development Research Network), Bangladesh, a nonprofit research organisation that champions the use of ICT for the economic development of Bangladesh. Mobile Ladies were providing services through cellphones. From the key learning from the mobile lady idea, D.Net found some limitations of mobile phone-based services. The technological innovations, like a laptop device, helped D.Net find that if a bundle of services are integrated with the Mobile Lady, she will become a ‘telecentre’ herself. Another example that highlights this is the comparison of text messaging in the United States and India. Text messaging, which was very popular in India, has only now seen a surge in the U.S. market. SMS usage jumped up by 450% since 2006 in the United States, with the usage mainly being driven by the tweens and teens.

How Different Are Consumers in Emerging Markets? Who would guess that Ramesh, with his meagre earnings and modest lifestyle prides in being the ‘provider’ of music in his social circle? Ramesh who has barely completed his first 10 years of school education, exchanges music within his social circle using Bluetooth! This is the same Ramesh who lives is a small two-room house in a five-member household that has a monthly income of Rs. 10,000 (US $205). Based on user research, we have insights on Ramesh’s needs and his music ecosystem. User research can get a deep understanding of the user through direct observation and find out the needs, barriers and motivations of people with respect to a product or a service. User research helps to understand the current scenario but also helps to uncover the latent needs, which can inspire innovation for several future scenarios. Let’s take a look at some of the insights into Ramesh’s life that user research has uncovered (Figure 3.3). Most of Ramesh’s music collection has been either acquired from friends or has been downloaded from the Internet by his brother. Ramesh and his brother have figured out all the work-arounds for acquiring free and cheap music. Ramesh does not think that there is anything illegal about free Â�downloads. The only time Ramesh feels motivated to pay for music is when

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Figure 3.3 Ramesh’s neighbourhood.

it is a song that he cannot get anywhere else or it’s the very latest movie music. Having a large, up-to-date, and unique collection of music makes Ramesh feel very important. Ramesh has a collection of songs that will play for days. Recently he even bought an extra memory card to be able to expand his collection­. Interestingly enough, he does not really listen to most of the songs that he has. However, he rarely ever deletes a song. He holds on to all his music thinking that someone might need it some day. Ramesh and most of his friends are subscribers of ring-back tones (RBTs). They think that RBTs are a great way of sharing ‘personal style’ with ­others. Ramesh and his friends end up changing their RBT almost every month. They feel that for people like them who enjoy music, a RBT is a must and spending Rs. 50 a month is completely worth it! With his hard work Ramesh has managed to save enough and buy a PC for his younger brother who is starting college. He enjoys listening to music on the PC. However, ­living in a two-room apartment with four other family members means very little ­privacy. At night, when he is free, Ramesh often ends up listening to music on his mobile to avoid disturbing the rest of the family. For him, his mobile phone has transformed from a communication device into a portable­ entertainment device. Developing a product or a service that Ramesh will aspire and strive to own is impossible without understanding

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his aspirations, mental model, and the infrastructure constraints that he lives and functions within. Another emerging market that has shown a potential for growth for the mobile music industry is Brazil. Here manufacturer’s like Nokia and Sony Ericsson have been successful in small ways by capitalizing on their understanding of the users and offering services that address the user’s needs and aspirations. Brazilian consumers are known to have a large appetite for music and a readiness to explore new ways of acquiring and owning music. Almost 10 years back Brazil was the sixth largest music market in the world. Although Brazil has now slipped down in this ranking, it remains a culture with a great tradition of local music. Nokia’s ethnography studies of the Brazilian users have made it possible for them to pick Brazil as the sixth country in the ‘Comes With Music’ global roll. Although the piracy rates in Brazil are very high (both for physical and digital formats) making it challenging for legalized music ventures in this market, digital music sales are increasing at an accelerated rate of 80% a year. Another interesting aspect of the mobile market in Brazil is the desire for personalization of phones. Consumers consider a mobile phone a reflection of their identity. This has given rise to a lot of new businesses for phone accessory dealers and customization kiosks. Mobile phones with customized accessories are very popular in Sao Paulo. Apart from accessories, music has become a way to express one’s identity through the mobile phone. This has also contributed to a significant rise in the demand for localized and socialized mobile and entertainment services. Just as with other emerging markets like India and China, there is an entire generation in Brazil that has not had the opportunity to own a home PC but now has access to Internet-enabled mobile devices, which are increasingly becoming entertainment devices. Nokia has built their strategy for Brazil on their understanding of the country’s rich musical heritage, the potential growth for digital music, and the current thirst for consumption of internet services and mobile services amongst teenagers. Another example is the ‘Seda Teens’ campaign that became one of the most successful mobile strategies so far in the Brazilian market because of the unique way Nokia teamed up with Unilever. In 2007, Nokia launched co-branded handsets with Unilever’s Seda Shampoo and sold 200,000 Nokia 5200s in 9 months. The limited edition handset, equipped with mobile themes, advertisements, games and mp3 tracks, came in pink, was sold for $100, and included sample packets of a new shampoo (Figure 3.4). Sony Ericsson also followed in Nokia’s footsteps and partnered with a popular local act called Jota Quest to launch the Sony Ericsson Walkman phone. Preloaded with the band’s latest album and other band content, the handset sold almost 800,000 units within the first few months. Coke Zero’s partnership with Nokia is a great example where understanding of the users resulted in an impressive impact on the market. When Coca-Cola came up with its new product Coca Cola Zero it considered Brazil

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Figure 3.4 Seda Teens campaign.

as one of its most important markets, and sought ways to reinforce its position as a leading low-calorie soft drink. The ‘youth’ were considered as a segment with high potential and were targeted with a strategy that combined music with a mobile device. In this endeavour Coca Cola launched the Coca-Cola Zero Studio, a project that fuses different types of music together. Two Brazilian artists recorded a show mixing their music styles with a major music broadcaster, and Coca-Cola sought to share this content, and raise awareness of the recently launched Coke Zero brand. Coke Zero then worked with Nokia to launch a version of the Nokia 5310 music phone embedded with Coke Zero-themed songs by two local artists. About 30,000 units of the product sold within months in the Brazilian market. Similar to India, China has seen a flurry of economic and socio-cultural changes in the past 15 years. The rise of consumerism is one of the most dramatic results of the change that China has undergone. Although the consumption habits of the Chinese are closely following those of the west, what sets this emerging market apart is the backdrop of a unique cultural and political history and a ‘capitalist oriented’ communist government, against which consumer behaviours continue to change. Services and products that were once unheard of are now easily available to the consumers. TVs, mobile phones, cars and airline travel, once considered luxuries, are now thought of as a necessity by a large segment of Chinese consumers. International brands are commonplace in the streets of Shanghai and Beijing. However, China still remains a unique emerging market with unique consumers and unique mixes of cultures that influence what the consumers do today and aspire to do tomorrow. The younger generation in the big cities aspires for new cars, good jobs, ­luxury electronics, and comfortable homes. An example is 37-year-old Liu Lee who holds a computer science degree from Nanjing University. She

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Figure 3.5 Häagen Dazs has gained considerable popularity in China.

works for an MNC and lives in Shanghai with her husband and 10-year-old son Huang. They have recently bought a modern two-bedroom apartment in the city. Huang is the centre of attention not only for Liu and her Â�husband, but also for two sets of grandparents. Liu takes great pains to ensure that Huang eats the best food, wears branded clothes and gets to experience the latest educational toys and computer games. Consumers like Liu are the reason why Dior, Louis Vuitton, Moet-Chandon, Chanel and Häagen Dazs are doing so well in China (Figure 3.5). A significant percentage of the population consuming luxury goods in China is comprised of people in their 30s, many of whom are the first in their family to be able to afford such extravagances. Huang is one of China’s ‘little emperors’, an interesting phenomena that has had a significant influence in the way this market is being perceived. China’s one-child policy that was introduced in the mid-70s, has resulted in this new generation of ‘only-children’ who are now in their teens and under. The ‘little emperor’ syndrome is primarily an urban phenomenon, as Â�family restrictions were not enforced as rigidly in the rural countryside. As in Huang’s case, parents and grandparents of these little emperors, want them to experience the benefits that they never had. With the economy undergoing exponential growth, the per capita income of urban dwellers has gone up significantly, resulting in an increase in purchasing power. The little emperors often get everything that they demand and have a strong voice in the family’s buying decisions at a very young age. Children as young as 12 are often involved in decision-making related to home electronics and home decor. Parents not only want to give the child a chance to voice his opinions, but they also think that by 12 their child is

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mature and knowledgeable enough to be able to provide valuable inputs into their decision-making process. For example, Huang already has his own cell phone. Liu is thinking of buying Huang a new one for his birthday and is planning on using Huang’s current phone herself. The little emperors are seen as a segment that wants instant gratification and shows the potential for lavish consumerism. For companies who want to target them with new products and services, it is important to understand the values and ethos of the Chinese consumers. Education has very high priority for parents who want their single children to be the best in the class. This is one of the main reasons why China is expected to be the largest market for preschool toys. Toys that augment education are driving this market. Euromonitor predicts that in China, consumer expenditure on education will double by 2015 from RMB 606 trillion in 2006. In contrast to Liu is her mother who never went to a university and believes in a frugal lifestyle. She cannot relate to the aspirations and dreams of her daughter’s generation. They seem too good to be true and almost unreal. In the same city where Liu lives, there exist neighbourhoods that are 40-plus years old. Wong, an unskilled worker lives in a two-room, poorly furnished home with his parents in Shanghai. His neighbourhood is starkly different from the tall modern buildings of Pudong (Figure 3.6). For Wong a comfortable home with running hot water is a dream. His 17-year-old daughter is happy to be able to buy ‘stylish’ clothes in the local markets that are imitations of foreign brands (Figure 3.7). This industry of imitation products led to the growth of the ‘Shanzhai’ culture in China. Shanzhai became really famous when the fake ‘made in China’ cell phones started selling remarkably well worldwide. Apart from unique consumers, China is an emerging market that is also the birthplace of a unique industry. The use of Shanzhai became popular with the outstanding sales of Shanzhai cell phones. According to Gartner’s data, 1.15 billion cell phones were sold worldwide in 2007, and according to data provided by the Chinese government, 150 million Shanzhai cell phones were sold in the same year, thus making up more than one tenth of global sales. Shanzhai has been able to fulfil a need not only of local consumers but also of large volumes of tourists that throng the markets that sell these products. What pulls these consumers is the good quality and low cost of these products. For some it’s the exciting features that matter, while for others it’s the branding that really counts.

User Research Is Discovering Potential Users Gaining a deep understanding of users will enable designers and innovators to come up with products and ideas that will be successful and will

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Figure 3.6 Stark contrasts in living conditions still exist in some parts of the big cities.

have a positive impact on the lives of the users. There are multiple ways in which users can be understood and their needs, motivations, aspirations and ­barriers uncovered. It is crucial that user research be designed in such a way that it not only uncovers insights about the users but also about the ­ecosystem that the user lives in and is influenced by. Nonconsumers can be converted to consumers and laggards to adopters only when the right balance­ is struck between value, positioning and cost. It is incorrect to think that consumers in emerging markets are focused merely on cost, simplicity and ease of use. The emerging market consumer is rapidly evolving and is hugely influenced by multiple market dynamics that are making consumers more demanding, with specific needs and desires they aspire to have quickly fulfilled. Take the example of the iPhone 3G, a successful product in the west when launched in India, received a lukewarm response. The reasons for iPhone’s failure in India stem mainly from the inadequate understanding of the user and his ecosystem. Users expected basic features and functions such as SMS forwarding (nearly 70% Indians forward text messages

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Figure 3.7 A colour version of this figure follows page 136.

at least once a day), front-facing video camera and video conferencing in a phone that was retailing close to Rs. 30,000. Also lack of 3G services at the time of launch was a big set back for the iPhone. Not having the infrastructure to support the services being provided went completely against the expectations of even those users who could afford the phone in spite of the steep price. Every market is different, and the emerging markets are more so because of the changes that have transpired in the past 10 years and have influenced their consumers. Looking at these markets through the right lenses, and using the appropriate methods to understand the fabric of the each market will help multinationals in their quest to penetrate them and be successful in delivering ‘killer’ products and services.

4 Usage Ecosystems: Dynamics of Emerging Markets Girish V. Prabhu

Contents Ecosystem Defined......................................................................................... 61 Business Ecosystem........................................................................................ 62 Usage Ecosystem.............................................................................................63 Role of Ecosystem in Innovation.................................................................. 63 Ecosystem Research and Its Implication for Innovation........................... 66 Example 1: K–12 Education Ecosystem........................................................ 66 Example 2: High Frequency Retail............................................................... 69 Emerging Market Ecosystems—Some Characteristics............................. 75 References........................................................................................................ 76

Ecosystem Defined According to the dictionary, ecosystem is defined as a biological complex of a community of organisms (biotic) and its physical environment (abiotic) functioning as an ecological unit. In general terms, ecosystem represents a system, a scheme or a group of independent but interrelated elements comprising a unified whole. The term ‘ecosystem’ was coined in 1930 by Roy Clapham to denote the combined physical and biological components of an environment. British ecologist Arthur Tansley later refined the term, Â�describing it as ‘The whole system, including not only the organism-complex, but also the whole complex of physical factors forming what we call the environment’. Central to the ecosystem concept is the idea that living organisms interact with every other element in their local environment. In an ecosystem, the individual elements are dependent on the ecosystem and the ecosystem dynamics in a way that dictate the organisms’ Â�behavior

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and adaptations. Many elements of an ecosystem have interdependence; a dynamic of being mutually and physically responsible to and sharing a common set of principles with others. An interdependent relationship implies that all participants are emotionally, economically, ecologically and morally dependent on each other. Introduction of new elements, whether abiotic or biotic, into an ecosystem tend to have a disruptive effect. In some cases, this can lead to the collapse of the ecosystem.

Business Ecosystem In the innovation and business environment, Moore in the Harvard Business Review in May/June 1993 introduced the ecosystem concept. Moore wrote that an ecosystem is an economic community supported by a foundation of interacting organizations and individuals—the organisms of the business world. This economic community produces goods and services of value to customers, who are themselves members of the ecosystem. The member organizations also include suppliers, lead producers, competitors, and other stakeholders­. Over time, they co-evolve their capabilities and roles, and tend to align themselves with the directions set by one or more central players. Those companies holding leadership roles may change over time, but the community values the function of an ecosystem leader who enables members to move toward shared visions to align their investments and to find mutually supportive roles. Iansiti and Levien (2004) provide a framework for determining the health of a company’s position in the competitive environment by using an ­a nalogy that relates business systems to biological ecosystems. Depending upon the type of ecosystem, companies can choose the appropriate strategy of action to be a keystone, dominator or a niche player. A keystone­ organization is one that aims to enhance the overall health of the network by creating value and sharing value. An ecosystem dominator is pretty much the opposite of a ­keystone organization. Wal-Mart’s procurement system, Microsoft’s Windows operating system and tools, and eBay’s effectiveness in creating and sharing value are good examples of keystone players­. An ecosystem dominator is pretty much the opposite of a keystone stakeholder. Instead of adding value, a dominator may drain the system (value dominator) or even take over the system (physical dominator) by exploiting a critical position. A niche player aims to specialize and differentiate itself from other members in the system, and will exhibit strong defenses against a keystone and dominator trying to expand. Intuit is a strong example here, with the continued success of its Quicken application against Microsoft Money.

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Usage Ecosystem In the innovation environment, it is also very important to understand the usage and design ecosystem. We define this ecosystem as an interdependent system of stakeholders—the organisms of the usage world. Drawing upon Iansiti and Levien’s framework on business ecosystem strategy, the usage ecosystem is analogous to biological ecosystems. The stakeholders can choose the appropriate strategy of action to be a keystone, dominator or a niche player. It is important to note that roles in a network are dynamic. For instance, keystones may become dominators and niche players may eventually become keystones. Defining the usage ecosystem, and recognizing the different stakeholders’ position within the system, helps the product or ­service providers’ insights on type of product or service to create. When trying to identify an ecosystem, it is impossible to find clear-cut boundaries. Therefore, it is useful to only pick out the stakeholder that has the greatest interdependencies and the most profound effects on the key stakeholder. Defining a key stakeholder’s ecosystem is likely to produce a long list of relationships and interdependences. After identifying this system of connections with other stakeholders and agencies, the next step is to separate the list into common groups, perhaps based on their function within the ecosystem. Each of these groups, especially the critical ones, should be healthy in order for the ecosystem to function properly. A weakness in any one of the critical groups could destabilize the system. The analogy drawn between a biological ecosystem and a usage network has a number of overall implications for innovation. First, interdependency is central to the success of the product or service. Furthermore, the nature of technological evolution changes. Rather than involving individual stakeholders­ that are engaged in technology races, battles in the future will be waged between ecosystems or between ecosystem domains. Finally, a particular stakeholder cannot make any decisions without first determining what the effects will be on the entire ecosystem or network. To do so would be to ignore the decision’s true effect. Defining a product’s usage ­ecosystem and identifying the stakeholders place in the system will help promote the overall health of the ecosystem as well as the product’s own long-run ­survival and prosperity.

Role of Ecosystem in Innovation Various models of innovation in literature strongly suggest that understanding of the ecosystem is extremely important and lead toward increasing the probability of success.

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Brandenburger and Nalebuff’s (1997) co-opetition model of business ecosystem describes a strategic framework that enables organizations to classify relevant actors in their industry and beyond. Based on case studies across different industries, they argued that cooperation and competition are both necessary and desirable when doing business. Cooperation is required to increase benefits to all players (focus on market growth), and competition is needed to divide the existing benefits among these players (focus on market­ share). This model adds to previous industry analysis literature such as Porter’s five forces, which focused almost exclusively on competition. Brandenburg and Nalebuff identified four types of players that every ­company faces in their ‘Value Net’:

1. Customers: Parties to which the company directs its products and services. In return, money goes from the customers to the company.



2. Suppliers: Parties who flow resources to the company. In return, money goes from the company to the suppliers.



3. Competitors.



4. Complementors: Complementors are the inverse of a competitor because more demand for their products will lead to more demand for your product.

C. K. Prahalad in his latest book talks about the importance of understanding customer needs and innovating the innovation process itself. As the fundamental shift in paradigm moves from a firm centric view to customer ­centric, understanding your ecosystem and leveraging the ecosystem to ­create unique user experiences will be extremely important. At Build a Bear, a specialty store where children can custom-build their teddy bear, the ingredients of ­making a teddy bear are assembled just in time with the ultimate end user fully involved. The teddy is given a life by the child, with a heart, a sound effect and a general appearance—‘the whole nine yards’ of a virtual relationship, including a birth certificate and a ‘promise’ to be the best friend of the teddy. For the parent and the child pair, it is not the product; it is the ­experience—an opportunity to co-create is central to the experience. For the store, there is a significant reduction in total SKUs (stock keeping units) and the SKUs in the inventory are in synergy. Further, there is opportunity to up-sell merchandise like sports tees and accessories, enhancing the ­experience for the child and revenue for the store with very high profit margins. Christensen’s disruptive innovation model, published in 1997, provides an explanation for the inability of well-managed, industry-leading companies to stay on top of their industry when confronted with new, groundbreaking technological innovations, especially new market disruptions. Most technological progress leads to ‘performance improvement’ of existing products. These products become faster, cheaper, louder, smaller, etc. Customers can comprehend and embrace these innovations because they remain in line

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with current needs and expectations. Christensen regarded these kinds of developments as ‘sustaining in character’. Market leaders lead the industry to embrace these innovations and exploit the benefits of these technologies. In time, companies overshoot the ability of customers to absorb performance improvements by attempting to bring better products to the market than their competitors. The performance of the product improves faster than the customer’s needs and expectations. From time to time disruptive technologies emerge; innovative products that perform worse than established products. Established products get leapfrogged in their core functionality due to the faster performance improvements of these new products. Historically, such disruptive forces almost always toppled industry leaders. One of the two types of disruptive technologies creates new market disruptions: disruptions that create a new ‘value network’. A value network is the context within which a firm establishes its cost structure and operating processes. In this network the firm works with suppliers and partners in order to respond profitably to the common needs of a specific market segment. Consequently, the firm can only successfully commercialize their product in that specific market segment. If the firm, however, tries to target their product in a different market segment, they may be incapable of successfully commercializing their product (e.g., low-cost airlines versus national carriers). New value networks create a shift in consumption and competition. Furthermore, they also define a different set of performance measures compared to what was valued in the original value network. These new value networks are created when new market disruptions take place. To create new market disruptions, business ecosystems play a very important role. British sociologist Roy Rothwell’s five generations (5G) of innovation provides an historic overview of industrial innovation management in the Western world between the 1950s and 1990. Each of the five innovation management ‘generations’ arose from different and distinct business environments. His research indicates that a change in generation requires a company to update their strategic focus, overhaul the current innovation process and develop new market niches. The earlier generations moved from technology push (in 1950s) to market pull (in mid-1960s), to coupling of R&D and marketing (mid-1970s to the mid-1980s) to integrated business processes (from the early 1980s to the mid-90s). Finally, from the 1990s onward, resource constraints became central. As a result, the focus was on systems integration and networking in order to guarantee flexibility and speed of development. Business processes were automated through enterprise resource planning and manufacturing information systems. Externally, the focus was on business ecosystems. Advanced strategic partnerships were setup as well as collaborative marketing and research arrangements such as ‘open innovation’. Added value for products was to be found in quality and other nonprice factors. This became more important, especially for new and emerging markets.

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Ecosystem Research and Its Implication for Innovation In any ecosystem research, one starts with understanding the stakeholders­ that define and drive the ecosystem. Along this entire process, it is very important to understand both the business factors and human factors involved. First, start by examining the major business processes, followed by identifying the dependencies within the organization. It is very important to follow the links down the business dependency model, from each business process down to the lowest level components in the business dependency model. Each business process in the model is dependent on all of its components at the lower levels in the model. Once you have an internal business dependency model, you identify dependencies external to the organization. Review the context diagram prepared for each business process. If the ­business process uses products and/or services from an external entity, then the process is dependent on that external entity. For example, if all customer bills are mailed to the customer and payments are then mailed back to the organization, then the billing process is dependent on the mail service to deliver the bills and ultimately to receive payments. It then becomes very important to understand the needs, pressure points, motivations, aspira­ tions, drivers and blocks of actors in each of these dependencies. The degree of dependency can vary based on other business and human factors. For example, if there is more than one delivery method for customer billings and payments, the dependency on any one method of delivery is less than if there was only one delivery method.

Example 1: K–12 Education Ecosystem For the past few years, Intel’s Emerging Markets Platform Group (EMPG) and Human Factors International have been working together in developing innovative products in K-12 education segment in the emerging markets, combining Intel’s business, technological and design expertise with HFI’s Contextual Innovation (CI) process (Bose et. al., 2007). The CI process is a multidisciplinary approach to creating solutions that address the needs of the user, while creating an excellent business opportunity with due consideration to the overall ecosystem. The aim of usage ecosystem research was to create a summarizing analysis of the user insights, addressing the following: • Needs and motives of all the usage ecosystem players • Relationship between the users and their environment

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• Current usage scenarios that can be extrapolated to future usage scenarios • Choke points and pressure points Secondary research is very crucial to understanding the nature of the usage ecosystem. Secondary research was conducted to learn about the current education landscape in India through secondary means. This also helped to Â�identify and distinguish the target users and the appropriate ecosystem playersÂ�. In the current education landscape, the key highlights were that there are around 176 million students, 4.6 million teachers and 1 million schools in India, and only 20% of the schools own a PC. Currently, there is no device that addresses the educational needs of these students. There is a great opportunity in this market, considering the number of schools, students and teachers. The primary users of the device in the target segment would be students. Teachers and parents are the secondary users. The schools and the government, who have extended support at the policy level and funds for deployment of ICT for education in the schools, are considered as the primary drivers. Parents and teachers are the secondary drivers. (See Figure 4.1.) Other areas in the secondary research covered the study of successful existing teaching models, government policies and initiatives, and the prevalence of technology usage in middle-class India. This helped identify the target school segments for this device as government, private, and convent schools. International schools and municipal schools were not considered. The household segments were identified by SEC (socio-economic classification). The next phase after secondary research is a deeper understanding of the usage ecosystem. In-depth interviews and observational studies were conducted with students, parents, teachers and top school administrators in order to understand their current practices, needs, aspirations, and obstacles (choke points and pressure points). This allowed us to understand motivations and aspirations across various players in the usage ecosystem. Each of Drivers Government

Sec. drivers

Schools Primary user Students

Teachers

Parents

Secondary users Figure 4.1 The usage ecosystem stakeholders.

Sec. drivers

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Figure 4.2 Student interviews were conducted in the homes of students.

these observations and interviews were to be conducted in the appropriate context. (See Figure 4.2.) The initial idea was to conduct student interviews in the schools, but, because the students’ time is always packed during school hours, the only time they had to talk comfortably was once they were home from school. This also gave the interviewers a chance to interact with parents in an informal way. Detailed parent interviews were categorized by their SEC segments (B,C,D) in order to understand the concerns of the parents in relation to their child’s education. Interviews with teachers and top administrators were conducted in the school environment. Private, convent and government schools in the urban and the semiurban areas of Mumbai were studied. With the teachers chosen to participate, there was a spread among teachers of language, Â�mathematics, lab science, and computer science in order to understand the issues Â�associated with these various subjects. The secondary research and in-depth ethnographic research allowed us to create usage ecosystem diagrams, as depicted in this text, for different Â�players in the ecosystem. (See Figures 4.3–4.5.) A deep understanding of the usage ecosystem allows designers to Â�identify gaps and then ideate on solutions to meet needs that are complimentary and not competitive in nature. Many concepts were developed to meet the needs of all the players. The selected concepts were evaluated using the concept acceptance and price elasticity activity. After the concept acceptance Â�exercise, the feedback showed that the proposed models would work well for the target users. (See Figure 4.6.)

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Recreation area Study space My study environment has to be comfortable.

Train

Play area

Home

Bus

6:00 pm to 8:00 am

Rickshaw If I don’t go to school, I don’t get to meet my best friend.

Walk

School Class room

8:00 am to 3:00 pm

Walk

Class room

Library

Play ground A.V. room

Tutorials

4:00 pm to 6:00 pm

School is for instruction; tutorials for studies

Figure 4.3 Student environment: The day is packed with studies and students have little control over their time. School does not provide adequate education, so many students take private lessons to score well on exams.

Example 2: High Frequency Retail India’s retail sector is changing at a fast pace with a three-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 46.64 %; retail is the fastest growing sector in the Indian economy. FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) retail made of both organized and unorganized retail is 18% of Indian retail. It is following the same growth path as the overall retail vertical, driven by changing lifestyles, strong income growth and favorable demographic patterns. The FMCG market in India is uniquely different from other FMCG ­markets in the developed countries by its nature of being ‘high frequency retail’ (HFR; Prabhu et. al., 2005, 2007). India currently has about 6 million FMCG outlets, with more than 95% of these outlets smaller than 500 sq. ft. in area. Most of these smaller outlets are mom-and-pop operations and are categorized as unorganized HFR. Although the organized FMCG market is growing at a very fast pace, the unorganized HFR, which is ubiquitous in existence (1 store for every 200  people), is expected to thrive and coexist. The government recognizes

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Drop at school Neighbours/Relatives/Friends

School teachers

PTA

Admin

Annual function

School Report card

I chose this school since it has a good reputation.

Children Children should go to tutorials. They should not get influenced by bad company.

Home Tutorials

Tutor

Play area

Diary/Remark

Movie

Workspace I spend most of the time at work and do not get time to help my children in studies.

Outing

Native place

Figure 4.4 Parent environment.

unorganized HFR stores as an important sector as they contribute 6% to the overall employment and 11% of the country’s GDP. FMCG manufacturers have recognized the potential and have started forming alliances with HFR to form branded stores. Though some HFRs have been initiated into the ICT revolution, most of these stores are still not technologically sophisticated and cannot leverage the advantages that technology has to offer. These shops attract the customer’s through USPs such as personalized service, accepting informal credit purchases, proximity, home delivery and customer loyalty. The goal of this project was to come up with innovative solutions for the high frequency retail (HFR) space in India that would allow them to compete in the world of modern retail. HFI’s contextual innovation team worked with Intel’s emerging markets platform innovation team to create a multidisciplinary approach to define a solution. This involved understanding the needs of the various players within the ecosystem, the drivers that will influence adoption and implementation and the kind of collaboration that will make a solution self-sustainable. Getting a complete understanding of all the players in the ecosystem is extremely important in development of solutions that will result in adoption and collaborative usage and implementation. The transformation of the insights from the user research into the solutions was done with a

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Excursions

Excursion trip

The management decides the new material to be procured for the school.

School management

Training/Meeting

Principal room

Class room The class monitor helps me in checking the homework of students since the class is too large.

School

Report card

Diary/Remarks

Small retail outlet.

PTA I sometimes recommend tutors for weak students.

Staff room

I discuss student’s performance and class incidents with other teachers.

Figure 4.5 Teacher environment.

It is difficult to manage so many students on an educational trip.

I use teaching aids like charts, models etc. besides the text book.

Home

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Student Finite exam focused learning Text books not interesting Long study hours Quality of teachingdistortions

Teacher

Unappealing curriculum

Too much administrative work

Lack of

Heavy personalization school bag Too large class No personal attention Insufficient Rote infrastructure learning

Parent teacher communication Monotonous teaching methods

Parents

Inconsistent curriculum Inaccessible learning

Figure 4.6 Common pain points of the target user groups.

multi­disciplinary team that involved user researchers, designers, market­ researchers and technology and domain experts. During this step we mapped the needs, current practices, pain points and gaps to determine the opportunity spaces for development of solutions. The preliminary concepts that were developed were then validated through a quantitative phase. This phase involved concept and feature validation and price sensitivity ­analysis. The last phase of the project involved triangulation of the findings from the qualitative and quantitative research. This step involved looking at the quantitative data and the results of the statistical analysis that was done and interpreting it with the help of learning from the qualitative research. The first phase of the user research included the end consumers—people who shop at HFR stores. There were two primary goals of this phase to get an in-depth understanding of the current practices of the consumers with respect to HFR shopping, movies, travel, and payment of various bills. These focus areas were based on the application of the ‘initial’ solutions developed by Intel. Feedback from the consumers allowed us to fine-tune the solutions. The team conducted in-depth interviews with HFR storeowners and with secondary players within the ecosystem (FMCG manufacturers, distributors, and service providers) during the second phase of the user research. The insights from the user research with HFR owners allowed us to develop ­concepts relevant for HFR owners. This was then followed by focus groups

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FMCG Manufacturers are concerned that the promotions do not reach the consumers

Distributors deliver goods to stores and are often responsible for managing their inventory

Smaller stores procure goods from wholesalers. This results in smaller profit margins

Goods procured from neighbouring stores in times of emergencies

FMCG Manufacturer

Distributor HFR Store All purchase records given to CA for filing taxes

Wholesaler HFR Store

Consumers do not have store loyalty. Store owners treat customer satisfaction as top priority.

CA

Consumer NRA Collaborative services such as talk time top up

Service provider

Subscription for market trends

Neighbourhood retailers form their own associations to deal with issues that concern their business collectively. These local associations facilitate interactions among the members that make them aware of government policies, and other business related practices

The HFR ecosystem in India.

with HFR owners. The primary goals of the focus groups were to validate the initial solutions and to get insights on the development of new ones. The HFR ecosystem in India is primarily comprised of HFR owners, distributors, manufacturers, service providers and end consumers. A visual depiction of the ecosystem is shown in the accompanying figure. User research was conducted with each of the ecosystem players to understand the interdependencies, the pain points, the needs and ­current ­practices. In-depth interviews and focus groups were conducted with HFR  storeowners and consumers; manufacturers, distributors, and ­services providers were also interviewed during the user research. An understanding of the ecosystem player—current practice, needs, pain points, gaps and inter­dependencies—was essential for development of a solution as multiple ­drivers influence usage and adoption in the HFR ecosystem­. The insights related to the consumers and the HFR store owners­ are highlighted in this section. The focus groups with the consumers indicated that people in general liked to have a personal rapport with storeowners, and that any solution that would eliminate the interaction with the storeowners was not considered favorably. Udhar, a traditional ongoing credit system with many (but not all) stores is very common. For the most part people considered shopping for FMCG goods as a social activity and that the need to touch and feel products was far more important than the convenience of shopping online or through

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the phone. Most consumers considered chutta, or the need for change, a big issue. Payment of bills, banking, making travel arrangements and buying movie tickets were considered as time-consuming activities. In general people like to do their own FMCG shopping, and would like to save time related to other activities such as bill payment, banking, and ticketing. The most important criteria for selection of stores ranged from cost and quality, to variety of goods across the low to high socio-economic (SEC) groups. The needs, motivations and mental models of the storeowners varied across the groups that were defined on the basis of the size of the store and the technology adoption in the store. Understanding the current practices of the retailers showed that the smaller kiranawalas only keep purchase records, whereas the larger retailers keep sales as well as purchase records. All retailers­ use only purchase records for IT purposes, which is taken care of by their chartered accountant. Larger retailers expressed that they spend significant time tracking udhar transactions. Smaller storeowners indicated dependency on the distributors for delivery of goods, schemes and discounts. The needs, gaps and current practices of the smaller stores (up to five employees, with minimal technology penetration) were similar and indicated the need for a solution that reduced the dependency on the distributors, and created an opportunity to generate extra income. Medium-size stores (3 to 10 employees, owning a cash register or digital weighing scale) showed a need for a solution that would help them in inventory management and create extra monthly income while attracting new customers. Larger stores (6 to 10 employees, owning a PC), indicated a need for a solution that had proactive inventory management features, reduced time required for billing tasks and attracted more customers while providing customer satisfaction. All the retailers engage in udhar transactions, and medium and large stores indicated a keen interest in having a solution that would automatically track these transactions. Theft was identified as an issue by the smaller retailers, whereas the larger retailers indicated that petty thefts had been significantly reduced after adoption of the practice of keeping all sales transactions. The multidisciplinary team from HFI and Intel developed the solution based on insights from the user research. The criteria that would push adoption, usage and implementation were prioritized for each group of HFR ­storeowners. These criteria varied across the groups of the HFR stores and were used to develop the value proposition for each user group. The priority for the smaller HFR stores (with low to medium technology penetration), was clearly additional monthly income. The larger stores that have not seen PC penetration yet look for a solution that will increase the ­efficiency of their day-to-day store operations. The group of HFR stores, where PCs are currently being used, consider enhancement of customer ­satisfaction as their main priority. HFR is a domain that has opportunities for development of technology solutions that can be integrated at varying levels. The multiple stakeholders in the ecosystem could possibly push for adoption and implementation of technical solutions.

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Service providers: Additional business avenues

Consumers: Easy access to bill payment and ticketing Concept 2

Concept 1 Manufacturers: Direct connection with retailers. Enable easy sharing of information and data.

Distributors: Direct connectivity with retailers. Efficiency in ordering and delivering process. HFR owners: Increase in monthly income. Efficiency in store operations. Efficiency in billing.

Different needs of multiple stakeholders in an HFR ecosystem.

Emerging Market Ecosystems—Some Characteristics In emerging markets, it becomes more important to understand the play of ecosystems as merging market ecosystems may have more ‘actors’ because of the density and diversity of people in the ecosystems. Hence, any ecosystem in India, China, Indonesia, etc., may have many different kinds of entities populating the ecosystem in order to serve the variety of needs of a culturally, geographically, demographically diverse population. Developedcountry ecosystems are far more homogenous in nature. The relationship between these entities is also very much more flexible and fluid than would be characteristic of a developed market ecosystem. This is for two reasons. First, culturally, many of the emerging market countries value relationship over rules. Hence entities often behave in different ways and assume different characteristics in an ecosystem where they need to be what the relationship dictates in a specific situation. Secondly, the state of infrastructure and technology in the emerging markets is leapfrogging so rapidly that the very profile of the entities undergo rapid transformation. This is turn drives the need for utmost flexibility in relationships between entities in the ecosystem. Designers need to be aware of the specifics of emerging market ecosystems in order to spot opportunities for design that would not exist in developed market ecosystems. As seen in the two examples of K–12 education and mom-and-pop high frequency retail, understanding the usage and design ecosystem is very important in an innovation environment. In many cases,

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the innovative solutions success depends on the stakeholders and their interdependence. Defining the usage ecosystem, and recognizing the different stakeholders’ position within the system, helps the product or service providers’ insights on type of product or service to create. In the K–12 education ecosystem, interdependence of students, parents and teachers from a holistic education perspective led to the identification of needs that are supportive of each other as well as conflicting. These insights allowed the innovators to identify a solution that provides an optimal level of success to the key end user without risking the other stakeholder’s values. In the high frequency retail solution, understanding of ecosystem stakeholders needs allowed the innovators to identify a solution that could possibly create a RoI for the HFR store­owners. One of the key needs of one of the stakeholders­ (FMCG companies­) to have access to HFR data and its willingness to subsidize the technology solution enabled innovators to explore solutions for HFR storeowners who were not necessarily seeing any productivity based RoI and had their doubts on how technology could help them. In a nutshell, by picking out the stakeholders that have the greatest interdependencies and the most profound effects on the key stakeholders; the innovation team can develop out-of-the box solutions.

References Bose, Joydeep, Joseph, Pradeep and Arora, Sarit (2007). Design of Education Device for Children: Classmate PC. A Case Study, presented at the User Centered Design and International Development. CHI 2007 Workshop, San Jose, CA. Brandenburger, A. and B. Nalebuff (1997). Co-Opetition: A Revolution Mindset That Combines Competition and Cooperation: The Game Theory Strategy That’s Changing the Game of Business, Broadway Business. Clayton, M., Christensen, Erik, Roth A., and Anthony, Scott D. (2004). Seeing What’s Next: Using Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change, Harvard Business Press, Boston, MA. Iansiti, M. and R. Levien (2004). Strategy as Ecology. Harvard Business Review, March 2004: 68–78. Moore, J. F. (1993). Predators and Prey: A New Ecology of Competition. Harvard Business Review, May–Jun 1993. Prabhu, Beena, Prabhu, Girish, Arora, Sarit and Paranjape, Anil (2007), Emerging Markets—finding the right foot hold, in IWIPS 2007, Merida, Mexico. Prabhu, Girish and Singh, Vivek (2005). SOMA—Shop Owner’s Management Assistant: Multi-disciplinary exploration towards a new ICT based product and solution for unorganized retail in emerging markets, presented at the Product Development and Management Association’s 29th Annual International Conference, October 22–26, 2005, San Diego. Prahalad, C.K. and M.S. Krishnan (2008). The New Age of Innovation: Driving Cocreated Value Through Global Networks, McGraw-Hill, New York.

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Rothwell, Roy (1994). Towards the Fifth-generation Innovation Process. International Marketing Review, Volume: 11 Issue: 1, Publisher: MCB UP Ltd., pp: 7–31. Willis, A. J. (1997). The ecosystem: an evolving concept viewed historically. Functional Ecology 11:2, pp. 268–271.

5 Understanding Users in Emerging Markets: What’s Different? Apala Lahiri Chavan

Contents The Methods.................................................................................................... 81 Data Gathering Methods............................................................................... 82 1. The Funky Facilitator............................................................................. 82 2. Using Storytelling to Find ‘Dissonances’........................................... 82 3. Strangers in a Strange Land................................................................. 83 4. NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming).............................................. 83 5. Mata, Pitah, Guru, Daivam Technique...............................................84 6. Self-Referral Referent.............................................................................84 Interview Enhancements and Cultural Probes.......................................... 85 7. Jungian Archetype Folk Probes...........................................................85 8. Rasas........................................................................................................ 85 9. Clock Technique..................................................................................... 86 Usability Testing Methods............................................................................. 87 10. Adapting Dramatized ‘Persona’ Technique in an Indian Scenario: The Bollywood Style.................................................... 87 Measurement...................................................................................................88 11. The Autorick Radio: A New Representation for the Semantic Differential Scale.......................................................................88 12. The Bizarre-Bazaar Method............................................................... 88 Conclusion....................................................................................................... 89 References........................................................................................................ 90 With the ‘action’ increasingly shifting to the emerging markets, all of a Â�sudden it has become critical to delve into the issue of knowing the ‘other’. In this case, the ‘other’ is the very large populations that comprise Â�emerging market countries such as Brazil, India, China, Russia, Indonesia, South Korea, etc. Much is being written and said about the large consumer base in these countries, their eagerness to consume technology, the diversity of the population, etc. One thing is certain: that the emerging country consumers are not exactly carbon copies of developed-country consumers. 79

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In order to tap the potential of the emerging markets in terms of design of products and services that resonate with local needs, gaps and opportunities, a deep understanding of the local psyche is not just a ‘good to have’ but a ‘must have’. It is imperative to understand the motivation level needs of users in emerging markets who belong to a very different ecosystem from that of developed countries. What deep seated needs, when taken care of, will ­persuade them to use a certain product/service or interface? How then do designers make users in these countries express their ­unarticulated needs, often in front of strange foreigners? How does one read the user’s mind? There are, of course, many methods developed in the West for data gathering from the user (in-depth interviews, focus groups, think-aloud protocols, etc.). These methods are long established and well validated. They are well accepted. In fact, they are so well accepted that practitioners use them reflexively worldwide. Yet these methods do not always work well in non-Western cultures. They need to be adapted. It might seem odd to think that there are cultures where observation, think-aloud testing and in-depth interviews are ineffective. In the developed market countries of the West, these methods are the basis of a whole industry. Asian users, for example, generally need more context in communication. They are more hesitant to make negative comments, and they are very sensitive to cues of the hierarchy of the researcher and subtext of communication. We can easily get misled if we do not specifically work to permission participants to share their real insights. Differences in communication styles between some cultures are stark. Researchers (Watson et al. 1995) have identified four distinct listening styles: people, action, ­content and time-oriented. • People-style listening emerged as a preference where concern for ­others’ feelings and emotions appears paramount. People-style ­listeners appear to seek out areas of common interest with others and are responsive to their emotions. • Action-style listeners prefer to receive concise, error-free presentations. Individuals endorsing the action listening style appear to be particularly impatient and easily frustrated when listening to a disorganized presentation. • Content-style listeners display a preference for receiving complex and challenging information that they can then carefully evaluate before forming judgments and opinions. • Time-style listeners, on the other hand, demonstrate a preference for brief or hurried interactions with others. Individuals endorsing the time listening style tend to let others know how much time they have to listen or they have a tendency to tell others how long they have to meet.

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The adaptation of methods requires sensitivity to the triggers that enable communication within a culture. We must understand the root cause of hesitancy in communication. And these blocks and enablers can be different as we move between countries, or even across a river within a country (as is often the case in many emerging market countries). I developed the Bollywood usability testing method in 2001. Now I want to share some of the ­progress we have made since then. My colleagues (past and present), Sarit Arora, Sushmita Munsh and Sreejit Roy, have contributed significantly to the development of these methods. Some practitioners ask if we can compare results across countries when we apply such different methods in each region. I think this question suggests a false pretext of the scientific method. People are so different that a rigid set of measures and metrics can provide only false data. It is like happily using the same yardstick to measure cloth and tea. You can do it, but it is hard to say what the results mean. The spectacular failures of companies trying to localize their product and service presence to Asia might well be the result of this type of short-sighted approach. Data gathering must get to the truth of performance and perception. Then you can compare the truth across cultures.

The Methods At HFI we have been experimenting with culturally adapted methods since 2001. We have seen how these methods can open our eyes to whole new levels of understanding. The key is to understand the impediment and then find the triggers and enablers to unlock the information we need. I share the following examples to help illustrate the diversity of methods we need. Data gathering methods • The funky facilitator • Using storytelling to find ‘dissonances’ • Strangers in a strange land • NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) • Mata, pitah, guru, daivam technique • Self-referral referent Interview enhancements and culture probes • Jungian archetype folk probes • Rasas • Clock

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Usability testing methods • Bollywood Measurement • The autorick radio • The bizarre-bazaar method

Data Gathering Methods 1. The Funky Facilitator This method actually was not developed; it was discovered by chance. HFI teams were gathering data in Dharavi, which is the largest slum in Asia. We were in homes, our most senior and skilled staff doing the interviews. The going was rough. People were hesitant to speak freely. Then one team had a real problem. The senior researcher had to take a call from a client. She had to leave the room and the call went on for nearly an hour. The junior apprentices who had come along to observe, valiantly continued the data gathering, but they got very different results! It turned out that the interviewing and observation went really well when the interviewers were people who were very young. Since they seemed like they were kids and hence less ‘scary’ (in a hierarchical society, kids rank relatively low), the participants spoke and interacted with them without any apprehension. Having very young facilitators when doing contextual inquiry and/or interviews in India, particularly if the population being studied is from the bottom of the pyramid, makes all the difference! 2. Using Storytelling to Find ‘Dissonances’ We had for a long time wondered about the use of storytelling in data gathering. The reason this seemed an interesting idea is the fact that India predominantly has an oral tradition. Stories are passed on from generation to generation via storytellers of various kinds. We were keen to experiment with a familiar medium of interaction such as stories to see if and how, in an interview situation, the participant reacted differently. In a project where we had to do an ethnographic study of Indian middleclass families with respect to their computer usage habits, we decided to try a storytelling approach. Instead of asking questions, particularly when the questions might elicit responses that would, in certain cases, lead to loss of face, we asked the participants to narrate stories. For example, when interviewing an Indian housewife about her computer usage, instead of asking ‘Have you had any difficulty using the computer?’

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we asked her to narrate an instance when she loved having a computer at home and another instance when she hated having the computer at home. By asking her to tell a story, the participant was much less defensive about narrating incidents where she hated having a computer because of her inability to accomplish a task using the computer. Asking her the question directly would make her feel very apprehensive about giving her honest response because of the fear of loss of face (she might be perceived as not smart enough to understand how to use the computer), and she would most certainly respond with a short ‘No, I have not had any difficulty’. 3. Strangers in a Strange Land The concept of the etic and the emic has always fascinated me. A researcher who works with emic knowledge will look into—and generally accept unproblematically—the rules, terms, reference points and logic of the person she is studying. An etic researcher will ask her informant questions based on the researcher’s own perspective and concerns, which are often felt to be scientific or universal. Most observation and interviewing techniques lay emphasis on the emic. However, what role does the etic play in practical terms? When working with abridged ethnographic methods, as in design research, the etic approach often elicits more open and honest responses from the participants. The feeling that participants get of ‘Oh, this chap is a foreigner and therefore it’s ok that he is asking such strange/stupid questions’ makes it much easier for us to ask questions that would normally be thought of as awkward or even a strict no-no, and equally easy for the participants to answer what would otherwise be considered embarrassing or very personal questions. Moreover, the process we follow when working on contextual innovation projects places considerable emphasis on understanding the client’s eco­ system. Thus, while we might be foreign to the context, this emphasis gives us a framework to probe from the outside if necessary and be familiar with the participants’ perspective. It is this understanding of the perspective that is taken into account in our etic point of view. As Pawan Verma (2004) says, ‘Societies reveal how they actually think and behave in the smallest things. Behavioural patterns have to be discovered not in the considered stance before an observer, but in the insignificant reflex preceding or following it’. Being an outsider trained in design ethnography, it often becomes easier to assume that there is a considered stance and therefore to be on the lookout for the insignificant reflex. 4. NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) This technique makes use of the five senses of the human body to elicit responses about an object/brand/service, etc. This technique is efficient in providing insights about the inner motivations, deeper feelings and

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barriers (pain points, pressure points) regarding an object, brand, service, e­ xperiences, etc. Here, the consumers/users associate an object with the five senses. So, if user data was being gathered about a Web site, then we would have the following questions: • Eyes—If you look at the Web site, what would you see? Why do you say and feel so? • Ears—If you could hear the Web site, what would you hear? Why? • Taste—How would it taste if it turned into an edible object? Why? • Smell—If you could smell the Web site, what would the smell be like? Why? • Touch—If you could touch the Web site, how would it feel? Why? This technique is very effective in garnering different levels of information. Also, by using the five different senses, it is possible to get a richer and more complete picture of expected/current user experience. 5. Mata, Pitah, Guru, Daivam Technique This technique is entirely borrowed from the Indian culture. Mata (mother) has certain core characteristics and responsibilities attached to her. Likewise, pitah (father), guru and daivam (destiny/God). Participants are told to associate a brand/product/service or even features with the attributes of mata, pitah, guru and daivam. The core attributes: • Mata signifies care and sacrifice of personal needs for family. • Pitah symbolizes the protector and the provider. • Guru signifies wisdom and knowledge. • Daivam is the all-knowing one. Delving into the way participants match these core attributes with attributes/features of the product/service/brand reveal much information that resides at the deep unconscious level and hence would not emerge from direct questioning. 6. Self-Referral Referent The self-referral referent was first used during a usability test being conducted to elicit performance and preference measures with respect to a mobile  UI. In the initial part of the test, we observed that most of the middle-aged participants were finding it difficult to articulate their thoughts about preference questions. These questions were typically about choices that the participant

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had to make when shown certain alternate design solutions. Participants ­ ithered a lot and were not comfortable making a clear choice. However, we d did notice one common pattern. Most participants would say things like, ‘If my friend were going to use this, she would like this option’. It was interesting that even though they were hesitant to articulate their own preference, they were very clear about their friend’s and family’s preferences. It was obvious that the articulation of the friend’s/family member’s preference was actually an indirect (and hence more comfortable) reference to their own preferences. From this observation emerged the idea of this technique. In this technique, all preference questions referred to a hypothetical ‘friend’ and seemingly was not about the participant. This use of the ‘self-referral referent’ elicited spontaneous responses about preferences without the fear of being judged.

Interview Enhancements and Cultural Probes 7. Jungian Archetype Folk Probes This method has been designed to make use of archetype folk characters rooted in the Chinese culture and to have users transfer those archetypal characteristics to other contexts. The method entails using little pewter ­statues of characters from Chinese folk tales. These characters are very well known amongst the Chinese population. Exploring archetypal associations in a playful and projective mode helps elicit unfiltered and deep responses from normally formal and not-free-with-strangers Chinese users. We used this method when trying to gather user data regarding a new financial Web site that was being introduced in China. User after user came in and refused to say anything that could be perceived to be negative about this new Web site. This was in spite of very clearly finding it difficult to comprehend and use several features of the Web site. However, as soon as we changed the data gathering method and used the pewter statues, the quality of feedback improved radically. What we did was to write down the names of the various Web site features we were evaluating on little cards. Next, we asked each participant to match each card with a pewter statue of their choice. It was very interesting to see the speed with which the cards were associated with each statue. In fact, the features that had proved frustrating for users were the first ones to be associated with the statues with negative attributes. 8. Rasas Rasas are the essences of our emotions that exist both in the body and the mind. The central objective of classical Indian art and drama is to create rasa

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in the spectators, in order to communicate or suggest a kind of knowledge that cannot be clearly expressed in words. Classical Indian art will try to cover all rasas found in life, but will focus on the most desirable rasas. Less agreeable rasas may also enter Indian art, but mostly to create the contrast that makes the agreeable rasas even more powerful. We incorporated the rasas in the form of culture probes for a project in India. We used the rasa probes when we needed to explore the emotions people felt when interacting with ATMs for the first time. This culture probe was designed as a set of cinema ‘emotion tickets’, ­carrying the Bollywood theme forward. • Each user was given a booklet with a set of emotion tickets and asked to carry these around with them for two weeks. • These tickets were categorized to express the nine rasas or emotions used extensively in Indian performing arts. • These rasas were surprise, happiness, anger, loathing, courage, desire, disgust, despair, mirth, pity. • Each rasa was expressed through images and dialogues from Bollywood films. • Users were expected to articulate their feelings when interacting or using any financial service and/or technology by recording it, using the appropriate rasa. At the end of two weeks, we collected all the emotion tickets from the participants and analyzed them. The analysis led to the creation of an emotion map that helped us see which were the dominant emotions felt by people when interacting with ATMs and hence what innovations would make sense for a new design for ATMs. 9. Clock Technique This technique helps in getting detailed understanding of a participant’s routine/leisure/other weekend and weekday activities. It is ideally used in an in-depth interview scenario as one of the projective techniques, along with others. This technique brings out the following: • Relation and the role of products/services/brands/features with the life of the target user group. • The link of the products/services/brands/features with a particular time/time period of the day. • It also helps us understand consumption/usage patterns over a period of time.

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• Reveals essential patterns in their lives, thereby linking with ­product/service/feature development strategy. The probe is designed as a clock drawn on paper. There is a clock for each day of the week. The probe is administered for a week. Before the week begins, the clock is placed with the respondent. Instructions are given to explain to the person about the details of using the clock chart for the next 7 days. The respondent is told to record (on the clock) the amount of time spent on activities of interest for the particular user research project. At the end of the week, when the clocks are collected and then analyzed, there is a collection of rich material that can be used for detailed probing during the in-depth interviews with the respondents that follow the analysis.

Usability Testing Methods 10. Adapting Dramatized ‘Persona’ Technique in an Indian Scenario: The Bollywood Style This alternative method works well in any situation that demands individual critiquing. Under normal circumstances an individual user would find it difficult to critique any product. Users would tend to take a middle ground and say that every product is good and if there are problems it is the user’s responsibility to work around them. We, therefore, began to explore situations within the local culture that made it possible for people to forget their inhibitions about openly speaking their mind. Hindi or Bollywood (a popular term merging ‘Bombay’ and ‘Hollywood’) films which are immensely popular proved to be just the ‘trigger’ we were looking for. When watching a Bollywood film, every member of the family (irrespective of hierarchy) suddenly feels free to voice their opinion about every aspect of the film. We decided to use this ‘trigger’ to enable ­usability test participants to provide the kind of candid feedback that they would when watching a film. Hence, we decided to convert the well-known ‘think aloud’ usability testing method to a Bollywood plot! Instead of writing up each task as just that, a task (as one would normally do in the think aloud test), we created a dramatic (very Bollywoodish) story line and each task became a part of the plot. The idea was to ‘immerse’ the participant in a familiar ‘story’ (woven around the product to be tested) as if they were a character within the story and thereby make them ‘forget’ their normal hesitation to be critical. This method has proved to be a ‘hit’ every time we have tried it. However, it does need the test moderator to also display some acting skills and be convincing when narrating the ‘story’!

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Measurement 11. The Autorick Radio: A New Representation for the Semantic Differential Scale We noticed, over several projects done in India, that the semantic differential scale seemed to be a major stumbling block, especially for users from the lower socio-economic strata. Whenever the semantic differential scale was presented to them, there was a tendency to select the one of the two extreme options and nothing in between. This was very different from the experience these participants had while participating in the evaluation and using the product in question. So, in spite of an experience that was not black and white, everyone seemed to want to pick one of the two very black and white choices. After much probing and reflection, we realized that for these users, the concept of a difference in degree (moving from negative to positive­) being represented by a horizontal straight line seemed very conflicting. The ­feeling was that if the different points in the scale represented different degrees of an attribute, then they could not appear to be on the same level, as they did with the straight horizontal line. Hence, a knob control was devised which resembled the volume control knob of the radio that all users were very familiar with. What they did with the volume control knob as they went from low to high volume was very similar to what they needed to do when expressing the degree of an attribute (positive or negative) via the semantic differential scale. This representation significantly improved comprehension of the semantic differential scale among the participants. 12. The Bizarre-Bazaar Method Bizarre-bazaar is an informance (informative performance) method that has tested well with Asian users. We had to compare new product concepts using a methodology that is specially adapted to the Asian environment. In Asia, simply asking about people’s feelings and functions in a sterile environment yielded little. Instead we simulated the dynamics of a normal trading environment. We provided a set of stalls with vendors (trained HFI facilitators) who were ‘selling’ mock-ups of the selected concepts along with distractor items. The vendors described the concepts as if selling them to the participants and then gauged their reaction. In the fray of bargaining we gauged people’s ability to grasp the concepts, appreciate the functions and assign value to the designs.

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Conclusion Methods such as the ones described in this chapter are a way to help participants retrieve deep associations and values that lie in the realm of the preconscious and the unconscious. As designers increasingly straddle a multicultural existence in today’s world, where products designed by them in one culture are increasingly meant also for people rooted in very different cultures across the world, the plot thickens if we pause a moment and wonder about how culture influences the unconscious. What if Carl Jung’s archetypes are not universal? The archetypes are components of the collective unconscious and serve to organize, direct and inform human thought and behaviour. It is imperative then to develop methods that help us address not just the different communication pain points in different cultures but also the issue of there being different content in the unconscious in different cultures. One method to retrieve content from the unconscious may not, therefore, work universally well in all cultures. Being able to understand users and their motivations and needs at the deepest level of their psyche helps in crafting innovative solutions that they are looking for but are not be able to articulate. Hence, these needs would lie undiscovered if we only relied on techniques that simply probed the conscious mind.

Conscious Preconscious

Unconscious

Conceptualization of unconscious, preconscious, and conscious realms.

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If we want to succeed in expanding our reach to new markets, then we can no longer ignore the billion users in emerging markets who are today in search of methods that will help them articulate their needs and make their voices heard.

References Verma, P. (2004). Being Indian. Penguin Books India, New Delhi. Watson, K. W., Barker, L. L. and Weaver, J. B. (1995). The Listening Styles Profile (LSP-16): Development and validation of an instrument to assess four listening styles. Journal of the International Listening Association 9: 1–13.

6 Case Studies Contents Case Study 1.................................................................................................... 94 Understanding Latin American Users.................................................... 94 Alvaro Diaz Prostheses Leg for Developing Countries................................................... 94 Packaging for Dishwasher Detergent Paste................................................ 96 A Stove for the Base of the Pyramid.......................................................... 100 Conclusion..................................................................................................... 103 References...................................................................................................... 104 Case Study 2.................................................................................................. 104 HP Gesture Keyboard: Input Device for Indic Scripts....................... 104 Rahul Ajmera and Shekhar Borgaonkar Need for an Indic Input Device.................................................................. 104 Difference with Roman Script.................................................................... 105 Issues with Using an Inscript Keyboard................................................... 106 Indic Typing Instructor Interviews............................................................ 106 Introduction to the GKB.............................................................................. 107 Gestures......................................................................................................... 108 Layout............................................................................................................. 108 Feedback......................................................................................................... 108 Deleting Using the GKB............................................................................... 109 Technology Used........................................................................................... 109 References...................................................................................................... 111 Case Study 3.................................................................................................. 112 Haier Innovative Wine Cooler for Chinese.......................................... 112 Beena Prabhu Methodology................................................................................................. 112 User Research................................................................................................ 114 From Insights to Product Ideas................................................................... 121 Conclusion..................................................................................................... 122 Case Study 4.................................................................................................. 125 Adoption of Mobile Technologies in Mumbai Slums......................... 125 Joan Vinyets Rejon Project Background...................................................................................... 125 Scope and Aim.............................................................................................. 125 91

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Project Overview.......................................................................................... 126 Conclusion..................................................................................................... 128 Case Study 5.................................................................................................. 129 Of Multifunctional Devices, Privacy Workarounds and Neighbourhood Service Providers: Transforming Stories into Strategies for Intel.................................................................................... 129 Ashwini Asokan Introduction................................................................................................... 129 Moving Beyond ‘One Size Fits All’............................................................ 130 Moving the Organization from Ideas and Opportunities to Products and Culturally Relevant Experiences........................................ 136 Painting a Picture of the World That Is Coming: A Short Conversation with Genevieve Bell............................................... 137 Acknowledgements...................................................................................... 139 References...................................................................................................... 139 Case Study 6.................................................................................................. 140 A Diary in Three Acts—Designing for the Next Billion? (But What About Researching the Needs of the Next Billion?)........ 140 Mathivanan Rajendran and Mrinal Kanti Rai Case Study 7.................................................................................................. 146 Social Music in India............................................................................... 146 Beena Prabhu and Susan Huotari Introduction................................................................................................... 146 Background.................................................................................................... 147 Context Is Critical......................................................................................... 148 Social Music—Its Potential.......................................................................... 149 Role of a Mobile............................................................................................. 151 Piracy—What’s That?................................................................................... 152 Translating User Insights to Concepts....................................................... 154 Finding the Unexpected.......................................................................... 155 Case Study 8.................................................................................................. 157 Philanthropy by Design: Chulha—Healthy, Indoor Cooking........... 157 Simona Rocchi and Unmesh Kulkarni The Philanthropy Principle......................................................................... 157 Chulha: The First Philanthropic Proposition........................................... 158 Design Brief and Initial Idea....................................................................... 159 Current Issues................................................................................................ 160 Challenges and Achievements.................................................................... 164 Social Impact Study...................................................................................... 167 Learning and Conclusions.......................................................................... 167 Acknowledgements...................................................................................... 169 References and Sources................................................................................ 170

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Case Study 9.................................................................................................. 170 Info Ladies: Empowering Remote Rural Areas with Knowledge.... 170 Mosharrof Hossain, Forhad Uddin and Sarit Arora Introduction................................................................................................... 170 The Origins: From Mobile Lady to Info Lady.......................................... 172 Info Lady: The Business Model.................................................................. 172 Challenges and Success Stories.................................................................. 173 The Way Forward......................................................................................... 175 Case Study 10................................................................................................. 175 Cultural Effects of Status and Relationships in Usability Testing.... 175 Dr. Alvin W. Yeo Introduction................................................................................................... 175 Problem Context............................................................................................ 176 Experimental Study...................................................................................... 177 Evaluation Setting, Tasks and Participants.......................................... 177 Criteria of Efficacy.................................................................................... 177 UATs Used and Experiment Proper...................................................... 178 Aggregation of Data Collected and Analysis...................................... 178 Consistency of the UAT Data Sets.................................................... 179 Results............................................................................................................ 180 Criterion 1................................................................................................. 180 Criterion 2................................................................................................. 181 Consistent Data Sets........................................................................... 181 Inconsistent Data Sets......................................................................... 181 Possible Explanation: Status Effects................................................. 184 Power Distance.................................................................................... 185 Reexamination of Data Sets.................................................................... 187 Computer Experience.............................................................................. 189 Possible Explanation: Collectivism Effect............................................ 189 Implications for Usability Evaluation in Malaysia................................... 192 Concluding Remarks.................................................................................... 193 References...................................................................................................... 194 As indicated in the preface, building up years of experience as user-experience� specialists has prepared us only for the tip of the iceberg when we enter the challenges of innovation and design for emerging markets. Through the chapters of this book we have narrated our experiences. In this section of case studies�, we have highlighted some of this knowledge and the practices applied in real life scenarios. The case studies in this section are not only drawn from our own work with various clients, but also from user experience and innovation researchers across the globe. We have case studies from our own work with Intel, Haier and PET research. Prominent design and ethnography researchers from Philips, Intel, HP, A Piece of Pie, Universiti

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Malaysia Sarawak, and Bangladesh’s development research network have also contributed to this section. We hope that after having read the previous chapters, your journey through these case studies will provide you with deeper insights on how user-centred design approaches have been applied in practical settings.

Case Study 1 Understanding Latin American Users Alvaro Diaz Working over 12 years as an industrial designer and human factors specialist for a wide variety of clients in Latin and North America in industries such as pharmaceuticals, health care and consumer products, I learnt one lesson. That lesson was that manufacturers must develop innovative strategies to understand the particularities and cultural differences in emerging countries. Even though the main interest of several companies is to penetrate these large markets and to introduce customized services and products, they often struggle to obtain reliable and complete information about Â�consumers in emerging countries. Three case studies in Latin-America (Nicaragua and Colombia) in which ethnographic research was required to understand users’ needs exemplify this process.

Prostheses Leg for Developing Countries The main objective of this project was to propose a tool to assist people with reduced mobility (PWRM) in developing countries by designing a Â�prosthesis leg particularly adapted for this market. Reduced mobility limits the opportunities to have a job and to be integrated in the society. In developing countries, this is an even more difficult challenge due to the high prices of high-tech prostheses. Nicaragua was chosen for the study. As a first step we collected information about existing prostheses around the world. We found that the energy prostheses concept (Figure  6.1) could be an appropriate solution for this Â�situation. It was determined that this solution responds better to PWRM due to the advantages obtained from reducing the effort to walk and from increasing the users’ capacity to run. Unfortunately, these prostheses are not affordable for low-income Â�people in Nicaragua (prices of this prostheses range between US$1300 and US$3800 per unit). A first prototype particularly adapted to the Nicaraguan context

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Figure 6.1 Advanced energy-storing prostheses. (From Brian, J. Hafner, Joan E. Sanders, Joseph M. Czerniecki, and John Fergason (January–February 2002). Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, Vol. 39, No. 1, 1–11. With permission.)

Figure 6.2 Test in Nicaragua. (From Diaz, A. E., HCI and Culture, 4559/2007, August 24, 2007, 57–64. With kind permission of Springer Science & Business.)

was made by the designer Sébastien Dubois, and it was later tested in the region. Protocols were also conducted to interview local patients, nurses and doctors. Methods for collecting data included photographic and video documentation and surveys about users’ lifestyle and activity goals. In 2006, an affordable prototype that costs US$10 was produced with a local manufacturer. The prototype was tested (Figure 6.2) with the following results:

a. The idea of designing ‘conservative’ prostheses (not fashionable at all) was quickly ruled out by the designer once he found out that Nicaragua’s standards were more related to ‘modern, high-tech and styling’ prostheses like the ones that can be often found in developed countries. b. An affordable prototype was produced due to the manufacturing process established in Nicaraguan labs. c. When developing the concept, humidity needs to be taken into consideration due to the geographical location, as well as the activities related to the use of the prosthesis. d. Prostheses need to be used in irregular lands.

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As a consequence, the new design needed to have a modern style and the materials used to produce the prosthesis should be found locally. The concept is still in development and through the support of Handicap International more tests will be done this present year. At this time, many research groups in emerging countries are developing other projects related to this domain.

Packaging for Dishwasher Detergent Paste The project was started with a detailed briefing made by a Colombian company that required a packaging design for a new dishwashing detergent paste. Plego was the design agency that organized the project and started the research. Their main objective was to create an innovative product that would stand out from among its competitors and guide this type of detergent to leadership status in the Latino-American market. In the Colombian market, there are more than ten brands in this category, but this is the first product that the company would be introducing into this group. Some research studies debate the significant differences in consumer washing habits among the Latin American countries. A study in the ‘80s showed that ‘in the most populated country, Brazil, two thirds of laundry product consumption is in the form of laundry bars, with the remainder being powders. However, in Mexico, over three fourths of the volume is in detergent powders, with a much lesser incidence of laundry bars’. Even if there are some general differences in countries with lower family incomes, a much larger portion of the household budget is spent on laundering than in the developed nations. This also opens the door to an interesting business opportunity in this field, but it is necessary to understand the washing ­habits among consumers. In general, dishes have been washed with laundry powders, laundry bars and leftover slivers of toilet soaps. In recent years, there has been an ‘increase in the use of specialty dishwashing products in Latin America, in the form of powders, pastes and liquids’. In countries like Colombia and Ecuador paste is the main product for handwashed dishes. Even if some others products are available on the market, the consumer’s preference is the paste. Dishwashing machines are not very ­common in countries like Colombia for many reasons, but mainly because of the high price of electricity and general dishwashing habits. Plego began by researching their general market, and they developed some protocols to be able to interview a number of participants in Bogota. Their main objective was to understand the user’s mental model and to obtain interesting information to be used during the brainstorming process. In this process, they evaluate the existing packages with collaborative feedback from the users.

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Figure 6.3 Competitors.

There are many factors to consider in the development of new packaging. Many companies follow the economic factor as the main one. As Hidalgo demonstrates in his research, in Latin America ‘powdered detergents are often packaged in plastic bags, offering economy compared with detergents in a cardboard carton’. If the companies want to take a big piece of the cake, they need to find new strategies to achieve the needs of the users. Hidalgo also talked about how ‘the use of heavy duty liquid detergents in Latin America is very low, due to their low foaming and the perception of lower economy-of-use’. So we need to go further and understand the user’s perception of the product and the packaging. During the research in Colombia, they noted several common characteristics in all the containers. They found that all of them were being used in the same way (horizontally), and their shapes were a very simple cube or cylinder (Figure 6.3). Another main problem that arose with the use of these containers was that the water accumulated in the centre of and around the soap in the receptacle (Figure  6.4). This choke point came as the result of data gathering during the research process. Some participants complained about this issue and lamented that since they did not have any other choice, they just accepted the fact that they needed to evacuate the water and residues from the container after washing the dishes. This was frequently not totally successful and resulted in their trying to hide the detergent when it was not in use. Another key insight was the perception of the detergent as a chemical product, so one of the marketing strategies was to create a new detergent that changed that perception. The idea was to introduce a product that is not just for cleaning but that also considers how the user feels when using the product. Plego started with some sketches for the new packaging. Some of them were tested with mock-ups with a focal group (Figure  6.5). The final concept was tested and the marketing team created three types of products: LozaCrem with Aloe, LozaCrem with Oats and LozaCrem with Roses. The three products were more sensitive to the user’s feelings and Â�perceptions. The female users for example, still perceived the product as a cleaning detergent but related to the addition of the aloe, oats and roses, and they Â�appreciated the fact that these new products seemed less harsh on the hands.

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(a)

(b) Figure 6.4 (a, b, and c) Current context.

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(c) Figure 6.4 (a, b, and c) Current context.

(a)

(b) Figure 6.5 (a and b) Mock-ups tested.

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Figure 6.6 New packaging design. A colour version of this figure follows page 136.

All of these new products have the same packaging with different labels. The design team understood that the best way to better understand these consumers is by involvement and observation. In 2008 the packaging was finalized, and the product became a success. The product stood out from among its competitors and sales went up. The result was a new container with a lid for dishwashing cream, whose structural design allows the inclination of the product to avoid excess water that would normally accumulate in the conventional packaging and generate unnecessary waste of the product (Figure 6.6).

A Stove for the Base of the Pyramid This project was started in Ciudad Bolivar, one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Bogota, Colombia. The main objective was to develop a new design

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Manufacturing considerations. Soldering/Joints Design

A

C

# of melting points

16

32

Design

B

D

# of melting points

37

12

Figure 6.7 Manufacturing considerations. (From Diaz, A. E., HCI and Culture, 4559/2007, August 24, 2007, 57–64. With kind permission of Springer Science & Business.)

for a $20 stove. The environment of the users, their motivations and needs were the main focus of the study. Even though the main objective of the research was to develop a new stove, interesting points were found about the best way to cook on it. During the research, we used some methods to quantify manufacturing considerations as well as cooking considerations and some questionnaires to understand users’ opinions about the project. Figure 6.7 shows some manufacturing considerations. In this case, the number of welding joints was identified as an important consideration due to the limited budget that users have for a new stove. We compared the new design with three previous concepts found on the market. Critical considerations were marked in red and interesting considerations were marked in orange. In Figure 6.8, we can see functional considerations as the total area to use in each grill. With the functional considerations we also identified the basic needs of this population. Users constantly complaint about their economic situation: ‘We don’t have enough money to buy a four-burner gas stove. Even if we did, it would be impossible to afford the price of the gas’. Questionnaires helped us to understand their diet and to identify their discomfort with the two-burner gas stove. Meat, rice, soup and salad were their basic daily diet, so when they were cooking, they had, for example, to take away the soup to have space to cook the meat. Figure  6.9 shows that during this process, the soup got cold. Their habits showed us that they used dinner time as an important moment of their day to eat and talk with relatives.

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Functional considerations. Area/Heat Design

A

C

Area attributes

4

3

Design

B

D

Area attributes

1

2

Figure 6.8 Functional considerations. (From Diaz, A. E., HCI and Culture, 4559/2007, August 24, 2007, 57–64. With kind permission of Springer Science & Business.) Cooking

Cooking

Uncooked

Cold

Uncooked

Heating

Soup Frustrated

Rice Meat

Figure 6.9 Regular process. (From Diaz, A. E., HCI and Culture, 4559/2007, August 24, 2007, 57–64. With kind permission of Springer Science & Business.)

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Cooking

Cooking Uncooked

Heating Cooking

Heating

Soup Rice Fulfilled

Meat

Figure 6.10 Innovative process. (From Diaz, A. E., HCI and Culture, 4559/2007, August 24, 2007, 57–64. With kind permission of Springer Science & Business.)

The most important issues discovered in this research were: • More than an aesthetic problem, the basic needs were to cook the food with minimum gas. • Data gathering showed that the diet was very similar to that of other socio-economic levels in Colombia. • Important components of meals were soup, rice and meat. The recommendations were to simplify and improve the cooking process. Opportunities of design were focused on the grill (Figure 6.10).

Conclusion In the three cases, data collection was guided by detailed protocols designed to focus the investigations and to facilitate the understanding of social and cultural trends and product use in emerging countries. Without insights obtained from these markets, designing culturally, socially and economically relevant products would have been impossible for the designers.

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A sensitive approach is important so that designers can include the ­cultural knowledge necessary to develop a thorough understanding of the intended users. We need to understand that we cannot limit ergonomic analysis to the physiological aspects of people but need to analyse many aspects of their psychology.

References Hafner, Brian J., Sanders, Joan E., Czerniecki, Joseph M., and Fergason, John (­January– February 2002). Transtibial energy-storage-and-return prosthetic devices: A review of energy concepts and a proposed nomenclature. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, Vol. 39, No. 1, 1–11. Davidson, Robert (2003). The changing marketplace in Latin America/Africa: LowIncome Consumers, The Challenge. Proceedings of the 5th World Conference on Detergents: Reinventing the Industry: Opportunities and Challenges, Arno Cahn, The American Oil Chemists Society. Diaz, A. E., The challenge of dealing with cultural differences in industrial design in emerging countries: Latin-American case studies, usability and internationalization. HCI and Culture, Volume: 4559/2007, August 24, 2007, 57–64. Dubois, Sébastien (April 2006). Qualité de vie des personnes handicapées vivant dans les pays en voie de développement, unpublished thesis research for obtaining a Bachelor degree in Industrial Design, Université de Montréal, Montréal. Hidalgo, Alberto F. (February 1987). Detergents in Latin America. Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society, Vol. 64, No. 2, Springer Berlin/Heidelberg. Schaffer, Eric (September 2004). The Pragmatic Ergonomist. UI Design Newsletter.

Case Study 2 HP Gesture Keyboard: Input Device for Indic Scripts Rahul Ajmera and Shekhar Borgaonkar

Need for an Indic Input Device Computer usage in India is almost entirely in English and is restricted to the English-speaking upper- and upper-middle-class people. This stands in direct contrast with the demand for communication in Indian languages. Census data for the year 1991 shows that English is the first language for only 0.02% of Indians and second and third language for 8% and 3%, respectively. Hindi TV programs claim all the top 10 slots in television program ratings. Circulation

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Figure 6.11 Typical computer setup with a gesture keyboard.

of daily English newspapers had a market share of 15% in the year 2002. (Chand,  Ganu, Joshi, Mathur and Parmar, 2004) 2001 census indicates that almost 70% of the Indian population speaks five major languages (i.e., Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi and Tamil with Hindi being the most spoken language at 40.22%). Hindi is written in the Indic script. This script is also used to write many other languages such as Marathi, Gujari, Bhili, Bhojpuri, Konkani, Magahi, Maithili, Marwari, Newari and many more. (See Figure 6.11.)

Difference with Roman Script Using a standard keyboard for Indic scripts creates usability issues, as the Indic script possesses some conceptual differences from the Roman script. Some of these are summarized below: • The concept of matras (character modifiers) has no parallels in Roman script. • Each character has a shiro rekha (the top bounding line on Indic characters) above it. • Character modifiers, basically matras and other special characters, can occur before, on top, below or after the main character that they modify (Deb and Deshwal, 2003). • Since in the written form there is no clear specification of the sequence in which modifiers should be added to the consonant, sequential entry modes like a keyboard would not fit the users’ mental models. • More than one modifier can be attached to one consonant.

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Figure 6.12 Inscript keyboard (with multiple characters on a single key).

Issues with Using an Inscript Keyboard Current Indian language typing solutions have a steep learning curve. According to Arjun Mahanto, Hindi Officer, IIT Bombay, learning to type requires approximately 50 hours of training and practice for a person to reach speeds of 25 words per minute. This is too much of a barrier for ordinary people, and only professional typists are willing to make this investment (Chand et al., 2004). Commercially the demand for Indic input has been patched by the Inscript keyboard. (See Figure 6.12.) This is essentially a QWERTY Â�keyboard with Indic characters mapped onto the keys. The minimum number of characters that are required even representing Indic is 54, base consonants (34), Â�vowels (19), and a halant key. This excludes Indic numerals and variousÂ� Vedic symbolsÂ� and Â�modifiers (i.e., Ref, Ru, Half Ra). This issue manifests itself on this keyboardÂ�, which is essentially meant for entering just 26  alphabetsÂ�. The after-effect is that each key has multiple characters (two to three Â�characters per key) mapped onto it. These additional symbols on the keys are Â�inputted using combinations of toggle keys like Shift, Alt and Control. This Â�keyboard has a very high learning curve due to the multiple shift modes as is suited for professional typewriters who undergo rigorous training to learn this keyboard.

Indic Typing Instructor Interviews This qualitative study was conducted in Delhi to understand the socio� economic dynamics of Indic text entry as well as the training methodology employed for teaching Inscript keyboards. Some of the key findings of this study were that people very rarely demanded Indic typing, as most jobs required them to know English typing. As a result most typing schools had stopped teaching Indic typing. The main problem in Indic typing was cited

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to be the entry of matras (consonant modifiers) because they were required to be entered after the consonant in spite of visually appearing before, above or under the consonant in written Indic. Indic typing training was very ­similar to the QWERTY training because the instructors felt that in both cases the main skill to be taught was placement and the movement of fingers on the keyboard. Interestingly, the few students who did want to learn Indic typing wanted to be taught the basics of computer operation together with the typing.

Introduction to the GKB The gesture keyboard (GKB) tries to address some of the aforementioned issues. While the most natural solution to this issue of entering Indic script may be complete handwriting recognition, the ground reality of recognition accuracy makes it an impractical choice. Our solution is an effort to limit the recognition such that the accuracies remain high while making sure that the text entry mechanism is as close to the user’s mental model as possible. GKB uses a graphics tablet with a stylus as the base hardware. A layout with Indic script consonants and vowels is laid on the graphics tablet. The consonants can be entered by tapping in their box with a stylus. The entry of syllables happens with users writing the matra on the base consonant. Users can enter more than one matra on the base consonant, if desired. Internally the GKB software determines the base consonant by using the location of the handwritten stroke/tap, recognizes the gesture made and outputs the consonant modifier combination. This method has ensured that the number

GKB uses a graphics tablet with a stylus as the base hardware.

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of elements to be recognized by the recognition engine has stayed within the limits of accuracy.

Gestures Instead of developing new gestures for each Indic matra (as in the case of graffiti and unistrokes), we implemented these matras as they appear in the Varnmala. The only difference was the breakage of multistroke matras into a combination of different single-stroke matras. Also, for a half character we designed a horizontal stroke, which was derived from the mental model of cutting a character in half. This shortened the learning time as users could mostly write the matras the way they normally write them on paper. Since the number of new matra gestures the users had to remember was very small their skill retention was high.

Layout The Varnmala structure was useful for people to locate keys and to reduce the cognitive load. Even users who had ‘forgotten’ the alphabetical order could remember the local sequence of the letters they were searching for. For example, if they were looking for the (n) key, they would mutter an entire line of consonants ‘(t) (th) (d) (dh) (n)’ before locating the key (Chand et al. 2004).

Feedback Performance data with keyboards where the auditory feedback can be switched on and off suggest that typing is significantly faster and more accurate with auditory feedback on than without (Birdwell, Monty and Snyder, 1983; Blake, Muto and Roe, 1984). Based on these prior studies we added a click sound on every pen down. This can be toggled on or off, based on user’s preference. The timings of the feedback and the frequency of sound are still to be investigated. In addition visual feedback was provided to let users know how their ­stylus strokes were being received by the system and also to help them constantly be aware of the state of the system.

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The Varnmala structure.

Deleting Using the GKB The Indic script is very different from Roman scripts because of the conjuncts it forms when a consonant-consonant-vowel modifier, consonantvowel-vowel combination happens. So, in the case of normal backspacing where one unicode is deleted at a time, it becomes very irrational to display the leftover characters from conjuncts, which the user never actually wrote. (See Figures 6.13 and 6.14.) To overcome this problem we added one more gesture along with a Â�normal backspace: horizontal scoring on the backspace key. It deleted the whole Â�syllable in one go, so that users could start afresh.

Technology Used The technology behind GKB can be broadly categorized into three major components:

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Step: 1

Step: 2

Step: 3

Step: 4

Step: 1 Step: 5

Step: 2 Step: 6

Step: 7

Figure 6.13 Delete sequence in the Inscript keyboard.



Step: 3

Figure 6.14 Delete sequence using GKB.

a. Graphics tablet with a stylus (hardware): This device is used to ­capture handwritten gestures as digital ink. b. Handwritten gesture recognition (software): This algorithm recognizes the gestures and maps them to corresponding matras. c. GKB controller (software): This software component combines the base consonant identified from the location of the matra/tap and the recognized matra to output a unicode of the desired syllable.

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The tablet is used to provide a keypad layout on which the user makes gestures using the pen. The digital ink is then processed and recognized. Position of the pen and recognizer output is used to form the final syllable, which is then transmitted to the application in focus. Head-to-head comparison between the gesture keyboard and the Inscript keyboard: The study across 30 participants was conducted in Lucknow, a city in the heart of the Hindi-speaking belt. Its aim was to compare the learnability, efficiency and the susceptibility to errors of GKB against the Inscript keyboard. The participants were asked to enter a given piece of text on one of the keyboards for a period of 15 minutes followed by a 10-minute break; this cycle was repeated four times on both the keyboards. The results indicated that on average participants entered 70 words per 15 minutes on GKB against an average of 57 words on the Inscript. The number of words typed on GKB remained high across all the typing sessions and the rate of increase in the number of words typed within the same time period grew at a similar pace for both the keyboards. The errors committed by participants on GKB increased with the larger number of words they typed, while on Inscript the absolute number of errors remained the same in spite of the participants’ typing a larger number of words. On the whole, while GKB proved to be more efficient, errors clearly were an area that needed to be addressed especially from the recognition standpoint. One of the biggest advantages of the solution is its ability to accommodate inputs in other scripts. The tablet does not have labelled keys; instead, it had a layout print stuck on the pad surface. This layout can be changed easily, thus enabling flexibility in multilingual input.

References Chand, A., Ganu, A., Joshi, A., Mathur, G., and Parmar, V. (2004). Keylekh: A Keyboard for Text Entry in Indic Scripts, CHI 2004, April 24–29, 2004, Vienna, Austria. ACM. Clare, C. R. (1976). Human Factors: A most important ingredient in keyboard designs, Handbook of Human Computer Interaction, 2nd edition, pp. 1296–1297. Goldberg, David and Richardson, Cate (1993). Touch-Typing With a Stylus. InterCHI 1993. ACM. Kalyanmoy, Deb Dr. and Singh, Deshwal Priyendra (2003). An Optimal Character-Key Mapping for the Devanagari.

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Joshi, Anirudha and Rathod, Amit (2002). A Dynamic Text Input scheme for phonetic scripts like Devanagari Development by Design, Bangalore 2002. Monty, Snyder and Birdwell (1983) and Roe, Muto and Blake (1984). Handbook of Human Computer Interaction, 2nd edition, pp. 1299–1301.

Case Study 3 Haier Innovative Wine Cooler for Chinese Beena Prabhu When Haier first discussed their need to come up with an innovative wine cooler concept for the young and wealthy section of the population, we were very clear that this could not be done without extensive user research. All our previous experience had made us very aware that China, in very typical emerging-market fashion, was a country that was in a state of rapid flux and changes. These changes in Chinese society made it impossible to depend on any secondary data from cultural research done decades ago. Hence, visiting the target consumers in their environment was very critical for any successful innovation in China. We knew, for example, that even though China, according to Hofstede’s dimensions, was supposed to be collective, high-power distance and masculine, the China we had experienced during our previous work in the country could no longer be strictly classified under any of these dimensions. This case study shares some of the most interesting insights we got in the course of user research and the resulting concepts.

Methodology A methodology that applied techniques rooted in ethnography and design research was used for the study. The methodology aimed to uncover latent needs, aspirations and barriers of the young and wealthy consumers and translate these into innovative cooling product solutions. As a first step, ­secondary research was done to understand the competitive landscape of the market that Haier was considering to expand in. As a part of this step, ­lifestyle and socio-cultural trends were also researched. This was followed by introduction of the camera phone probes. The users were asked to take photo­ graphs that would help us triangulate the data captured in the one-on-one interviews, and better understand users’ practices related to refrigeration. This was followed by one-on-one interviews with the users in their homes.

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User Research – Cultural probes followed with in-depth interviews

Current practices

Needs & gaps Drivers Attitudes

Pain points & barriers

Aspirations

Conceptualisation

Focus groups influencers & designers In-depth interviews “Food Experts”

Brainstorming Parallel design Concept selection Development of concepts Figure 6.15 Methodology.

The in-home interviews made us aware of cultural nuances that set the Chinese market apart from the other emerging markets. Also, they indicated how the market trends and the new wealth were influencing current practices and the buying behaviour of people. The research team had to be very sensitive to the fact that the Chinese, in general, are not very open to allowing strangers into their homes. In fact, in one home the participant’s wife thought that the researchers had come in with an ‘ulterior motive’ of enticing her husband with a product that would eventually make him an alcoholic. She actually ended up asking the research team to leave her home before the interview could be completed. After the user research was completed, the team ideated and came up with opportunity areas that translated into multiple innovative product ideas. A brainstorming session with Haier’s team followed, during which a selection matrix was used to shortlist product ideas that led to two final products: one ‘close to the box’, which could be introduced in the market a year down the line, and the other that was more an ‘out of the box’ futuristic concept, very different from Haier’s existing product line and that could be introduced after 5 to 6 years in the market. (See Figure 6.15.)

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User Research The user research for the project was conducted in Shanghai with 24 participants from the high socio-economic class. The participants were selected to represent three user groups that were defined on the basis of ownership of durables as ‘early adopters’, ‘potential users’, and current owners of Haier’s Ice Bar. The users were asked to use the ‘camera probes’ for a week, prior to the interviews. Data from the probes was analyzed and carried into the interview sessions. One-on-one in-depth interviews were conducted with the participants in their homes. These provided a deep understanding of the psychodynamics of the users, and allowed the researchers to get a clear perspective of the context. However, conducting the interviews in the participants’ homes came with its own challenges. Researchers and other members of the team such as recruiters have to understand what it takes to create a nonintimidating, casual atmosphere for the participants. Cameras, if used appropriately, are a great way to capture rich visual data. However, in one instance where the recruiters were inexperienced, the camera was mounted on a stand right in the middle of the room. Also, body language of the researchers is extremely crucial. Positioning yourself such that all the researchers are in full view of the participant is important. In one interview a translator who sat right behind the participant, ended up making her extremely conscious and wary due to which the participant was not really able to open up to the researchers. ‘Camera probes’ were used in the study, in advance of the user research, to capture the day-to-day refrigeration and food and beverage consumption

Intimidating use of camera.

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Drinks kept in water dispensing area for children.

habits of the consumers. The probes uncovered interesting user practices related to consumption and storage of food. The culture probes helped us understand some unique practices that the users were following, and these were probed further in the interviews. For example, one of the photographs captured by a participant showed a couple of cold drinks placed in the water dispenser area. When later probed during the interview, it was understood that the mother placed the drinks there as she thought that consuming cold beverages would adversely affect the health of her children. Another user who had kept an ice bar in her living room enjoyed eating ice cream while watching TV. Along with her ice cream, she also stored ice cream spoons in the refrigerator. She labelled this as ‘convenience’. Interestingly, another user stored her cosmetics in her Ice Bar. She believed that the shelf life of cosmetics was extended, if stored at a low temperature. Other than enabling capture of rich data, the probes also helped us understand that ‘public image’ was important for the participants. A couple of participants had actually kept food items in the refrigerator just for the purpose of the probes. Fruits that were normally stored on a kitchen counter showed up in a photograph of an open refrigerator. Another aspect of user research that is critical is ‘observation’. In addition to what the participants say they do and feel, the artefacts in the home are a way to triangulate the data and understand the users better. During the home visits, we saw that the users were concerned about cleanliness and had a strong sensitivity for odours. All visitors were required to wear disposable plastic ‘cover ups’ on their shoes before entering the homes. All food items stored in refrigerators were kept in air tight containers. Odour absorbers in refrigerators also seemed to be quite common. Users were very particular about ‘refrigerator odour’ spoiling the freshness of ice cubes.

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Ice cream spoons stored in refrigerator.

Cosmetics stored in refrigerator.

An interesting observation during the user research was that of coffee tables transformed into snack and entertainment bars. In most homes, coffee tables were brimming with a wide collection of snacks and beverages. It was almost a display of the ­person’s potential to be a good host. The user research was instrumental in uncovering not only the latent needs and aspirations of the users, but also an understanding of their ecosystem and their lifestyle. A typical user ecosystem is depicted in Figure 6.16 below. It helps us understand the multiple players and their interdependencies that will impact the adoption and usage of a new product.

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Air-tight containers.

Coffee tables as snack dispensers.

The psychodynamics that were uncovered were used to define product ideas such that users would feel motivated and driven to adoption. The psychodynamics that were considered important from the point of view of the product that was being developed were as follows: • • • • •

Need to individuate Transition from traditional to modern Image consciousness Shift to individualism Health consciousness

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Image consciousness What others think about them is important There is a need to be appreciated among relatives and friends

Maid

Consumers

Child centric The child is the focus of the family There are many activities which revolve around the child – Example, English classes, music lessons Many health related concerns and consumption of food are driven by the needs of the child. Example: I don’t allow ice in water or Coke for my child as it’s unhealthy • Transition from traditional to modern • Currently parents are the key decision makers for the decoration of houses and setting up houses for the children. • There is a shift in perception where the young feel that the parents’ choice is too traditional.

Personal friends

Shopping Car club

Internet forums

Work

Relatives

Figure 6.16 Typical User Ecosystem.

• Need to individuate • There is a desire to show individuality and uniqueness. • People want to be different and unique • The need to individuate also influences impulsive buying behavior

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Business contact

Group identification Customers like being part of a small social group of friends. People are part of car clubs which help to define social status as well as being an influencer for buying the objects to be considered as a part of the ‘high status group’

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Need to individuate: Users showed a desire to demonstrate individuality and uniqueness. As much as they wanted to fit in within their social circle, they also wanted to be different and unique. This often was seen to lead to impulsive buying behaviour of products and ­services that they thought would make them ‘look cool’. During the research it was observed that participants had ­showcased unique-looking furniture and electronics in their living rooms where friends and family are entertained. Transition from traditional to modern: Several external factors are influencing the shift from ‘traditional’ to ‘modern’ thinking amongst Chinese consumers living in the big cities. This shift can be seen in the way people dress, the food that they choose and the way they decorate their homes. There are many external factors, such as media exposure, global travel and exposure to other cultures that are influencing this transition. For example, currently parents play an important role in decision-making in many households. This trend is undergoing a slow change wherein children and young adults are also contributing to decision making. Users are moving toward western ways of decorating homes. One participant used pictures taken by her husband on business trips in Europe to get inspiration for decorating her home. Image consciousness: Public image or ‘face’ is important to the Chinese consumer. Living rooms are the focus of the home, on which the family spends most of its money to project its ‘status’. Consumers strive to place branded high end products in living rooms. The research revealed that wine is not just for consumption but also for showcasing one’s ‘classy taste’ and ‘status’. Some consumers who are not really wine drinkers want to be considered as connoisseurs of wine. They go out of their way to get a good ­collection and ensure that it is displayed in a place in the home where visitors can view it. Shift to individualism: Although China has been rated as a culture with low need for ‘individualism’ by Hofstede, the user research showed that there is a clear shift happening with respect to this cultural dimension. Users expressed a desire for having some form of individual activity, space and objects within a larger shared space. Those who live in an extended family wanted to entertain personal friends in their own individual space. In the user segment that was studied, youngsters living in large multistoried homes with their parents had a separate living space for entertaining their individual friends. This has resulted in users even keeping small cooling devices in their rooms for storage of snacks.

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Transitioning from traditional to modern.

Choices are now influenced by all members of the family.

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Many want to boost their image by displaying wine in their living rooms.

From Insights to Product Ideas In order to make the user insights tangible and actionable for Haier’s stakeholders, HFI developed ‘Personas’ and ‘Opportunity Maps’™. The personas and opportunity maps linked back to the key psychodynamics which had been identified in the user research. One interesting persona that emerged from the study was that of Chang Huina whose interest in western decorating was mentioned previously. Her profile follows: Chang lives with her husband and their 6-year-old daughter in a twobedroom apartment in Shanghai. She works as a sales manager. Her husband owns a medical instrument manufacturing company. He is a very busy person and often travels abroad for business. Chang has a maid to help her with house work. On weekends, Chang spends most of her free time with her daughter. She usually takes her to

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the park in the morning. The evenings are busy with her daughter’s English and piano classes. Chang likes modern western home decorating styles. She has been influenced by the pictures and magazines that her husband has brought back from his travels abroad. She feels homes that are ­decorated in western styles reflect simplicity and high status (­transition from traditional to modern). The air humidifier in her living room was bought 6 months ago, right after her visit to her sister-in-law’s. That was the first time she had seen it, and was impressed by the style and looks (need to ­individuate). She feels proud when her guests appreciate her choice and look upon her as a stylish person. Friends and relatives usually come home on festivals and holidays. When Chang and her husband entertain, they ensure that the Ice Bar in the living room is stocked with the best wine. She makes sure that she switches the lights of the Ice Bar on so that her guests can actually see and appreciate what is inside. She feels that lights can have a positive impact on the mood. Sometimes during ­family ­dinners, they drink red wine, stored in a showcase in the living room. The showcase also has some bottles of wine which are only kept as ­decoration. Her husband feels that drinking wine is essential in his business, and enhances his public image (image consciousness). Posters of these personas were also designed so that the design team at Haier could relate with the target users. Opportunity maps that brought together the users’ psychodynamics and ecosystem were used to come up with innovative product ideas that ranged from ‘near the box’ to ‘out of box’ concepts. For Chang Huina, a unique product that can double as a room divider held both aspirational and functional value. Opportunity maps for Chang Huina are shown below. The opportunity maps were translated into multiple concepts which were evaluated with the Haier team using a ‘selection matrix.’ Two concept directions were decided on, based on selected concepts such that the psychodynamic needs as well as functional needs of the users would be addressed.

Conclusion While designing products for niche markets, it becomes increasingly important to understand the specific needs, motivations and aspirations of users, as the solution might not necessarily be one that addresses only functional

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Nuclear Family

Chang Huina 35 years

• Image conscious • Impulsive buyer • Child centric • Need to individuate Chang stays with her husband and their 6-year-old daughter in a 2 bedroom apartment, in Shanghai. She works as a sales manager. Her husband owns an instrument manufacturing company. He is a very busy person and often travels abroad for business. They have a maid who works for them a couple of hours a day. She cooks for them and helps with the household work, including buying groceries from the supermarket. On weekends, Chang spends most of her free time with her daughter. She usually takes her to the park in the morning. The evenings are usually busy with her daughter’s English and piano classes. They moved into their house in 2001. They had hired a designer to decorate it. Chang likes modem Western styles and was impressed by the styles selected by her husband while he was visiting a business partner in London. She especially liked the bar table and wanted one for her house. She feels homes that are decorated in Western styles reflect simplicity and high status­. The air humidifier in her living room was bought 6 months ago, right after her visit to her sister-in-law. That was the first time she had seen one, and she was impressed by it. She feels proud when her guests appreciate her choice and look upon her as a stylish person. Friends and relatives usually visit on festivals and holidays. If guests are coming, she informs the maid so that she can prepare in advance. The maid prepares the food and keeps drinks and fruits in the ice bar. She also switches on the decorative lights in the living room. A month ago, when they had a big family get-together, they bought an oven so that the maid could prepare some new baked dishes. After the party, they haven’t felt the need for the oven. Chang calls it the “Sleeping Oven.” Sometimes during dinner they drink red wine, stored in a showcase in the living room. The showcase also contains bottles of wine that are only kept as decoration. Her husband feels that drinking wine is essential in his business. He feels that it helps him to strengthen business relationships. He also likes to add ice to the wine before serving it. Chang usually prefers foreign brands. Her favorite brand is Siemens, which she considers trustworthy. She trusts the quality and likes the after-sales service they provide. In the future she would like to buy a villa. She hopes that moving into a villa would give her family more privacy and space.

needs but something that also fulfils the psychodynamic needs of the users. The two finalized product ideas resulted from the design research that put a lot of importance on understanding the users. Also, a systemic process that translated user insights into product concepts was followed to ensure that there was an appropriate balance between innovative ideas, stakeholder expectations and technological feasibility.

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Multi Functional Device - Unique Product Pride in ownership of some very interesting products in the house such as -

Need to individuate

“It can combine the function of an air humidifier.”

Stylish speakers Decorative lights Music in the kitchen and bath room

Product idea

Desire for appreciation from friends and family for the décor and the products that they have in the living room

High economic status groups find new features very appealing

An integrated multifunctional device which has - Mood lighting - Oven - Some novelty value – such as digital photo frame – can store family pictures, screen savers

Opportunity space

A multifunctional device for the living room which has a unique style and looks high class.

Divide and Cool

Image consciousness

Families use wine cabinets as a piece of furniture to divide the living room and the dining space

“It is necessary to have a wine cabinet near the dining table as all of our family members like to drink wine during dinner.” “I have seen a wine bar at my boss’s place and want to have one exactly like that in my house. I want to remove the wall between the kitchen and living room and instead design a wine bar in that area.”

Wine cabinets are used to showcase foreign wines which they have bought abroad or have been given by friends

Once the wine bottle is opened then it is refrigerated

Opportunity space

A device which can be used as a room separator. It can showcase wines at temperatures that facilitate maturing. Wine bottles that are opened can be kept in a separate part of the device where the temperature can be adequately regulated.

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Case Study 4 Adoption of Mobile Technologies in Mumbai Slums Joan Vinyets Rejon Understanding local and cultural variations in the adoption of mobile technologies and its implications for design innovative solutions to improve the lives of migrant workers.

Project Background The explosion of mobile telephony, with the availability of low-cost devices and the already broad coverage of the GSM networks in the developing world provides a big opportunity for improving peoples’ lives. However, it  is still quite hard to develop reliable services targeted at specific local ­communities’ needs due to the limited understanding of the telecom industry of the unique needs in these emerging markets. This case examines this gap through ­ethnographic and contextual research. During the first project stage of insights exploration, our research aimed to understand local and cultural variations in the adoption of the mobile phone, as well as specific needs in the relationship between mobile technologies and productivity growth in small business establishments, formal and informal, in emerging markets. We used two major research strategies: (1) contextual research in the rural areas outside Mumbai, and (2) ethnographic interviews with rural immigrants living in the Mumbai slums (RILS). For the second project stage, the transformation of the insights in innovation solutions, we developed ­participatory design workshops and cocreation sessions with target users.

Scope and Aim The client asked A Piece of Pie to proceed with a project incorporating the following: • Develop ethnographic and contextual research, including secondary and desk research. The studies focused on one market segment in India (RILS). The research aimed to collect material for concept development of successful future products and services.

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• Develop cocreation sessions with the users target for exploring concept design. The sessions aimed to provide high-level concepts that clearly convey the previously conceived ideas and included a rough structure of user interfaces. • Elaborate inspiring and engaging visual materials including, among other elements, ‘before and after’ stories. The materials aimed to provide a user’s ‘first feel’ to the top manager and show the opportunities for and potential of future products and services. To achieve these objectives, A Piece of Pie engaged in a collaborative project with the client and developed the ethnographic study and cocreation sessions in India. Through intensive data analysis, needs were mapped and an opportunity framework was built. Finally, with all the data and insights in hand, we obtained a basis for thinking about products and services and for elaborating the visual materials.

Project Overview The project was designed to bring together two kinds of data: an ethnographic study of rural immigrants’ experiences of working and living in the Mumbai slums, and an understanding of the family, social and business frameworks in which job opportunities and communication needs develop.

1. Research. The data was gathered through a comprehensive ethnographic interview guide to reach a deeper understanding of RILS group in several insight categories, including: life review and biography; family and communication; home, community and support; job, maintenance and everyday life; daily life and technology. • We examined academic literature relating to emerging markets in general, and specific research on urban immigrations, local economic development and entrepreneurship in India. • We interviewed international and local experts from academic, business and voluntary sectors who could ‘illuminate’ key issues facing urban immigrants in emerging markets and with a ­special focus on India. • Our research sample includes five urban immigrants and two ­villages in the rural area west of Mumbai. The fieldwork was focused on five families and households with some family member who immigrated from Mumbai.

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1. Research

Desk research Interviews to experts Fieldwork - ethnographic interviews

2. Data gathering & interpretation

Data analysis sessions Pre-selection Strategic tool creation

3. Transformation

Redefinition of the problems Co-design workshops

Figure 6.17 The process: from understanding to transforming insights into concept ideas.



2. Data gathering and interpretation. To gain an even deeper insight into these key issues, anthropologists, emerging market and communication experts, designers and engineers were involved and participated in the gathering of information and insight interpretation. As a result of this investigation together with our client we formulated seven important opportunity areas for the development of appropriate technologies, services and devices for the RILS. • Our data analysis sessions produced insights on key themes, latent needs and opportunities. From there we developed over 100 service and product ideas, which were discussed in a preselection workshop together with our client and a multiÂ� disciplinary team including local experts from India. As a result of this workshop, we selected and reformulated five important opportunity areas for the development of appropriate concepts services and products for the RILS. • To facilitate the exploration and transformation of the insights into the concepts, we created some strategic tools such as ethnographic segmentation and personas, an opportunity map and design principles to help concept design and development, marketing and product teams. (See Figure 6.17.)



3. The transformation. Due to the profiles of the participants, their skills and capacity to deal with more ‘intellectual’ and ‘abstract’ matters, the originally planned techniques were shaped to allow a more fluentÂ� session and make their participation more comfortable. • The participants were asked to think aloud and tell stories around the following themes: the family and the community network;

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processing and storing daily information (telephone numbers, names, calculations, work tracking, etc.); sharing recourses and information; future of business and future of family life. Then, they were asked to capture their experiences regarding the future through the help of collages and to then discuss some of the visual scenarios. • Once the problem from the perspective of the participants was understood and redefined, we got to work to develop codesign workshops with a wider group of RILSs in the same situations and families, in order to discuss and refine some concept ideas of service solutions. With quick paper prototypes and scenarios, it was possible to visualize ways to cocreate new types of services around the users, then to share practical solutions to these problems. Our results show that RILS share a set of common concerns and needs to take  into consideration when thinking about new opportunities. One of the concepts was a platform with basic applications and tools to improve business and avoid the middleman. Research and cocreation sessions have shown that there are major opportunities in helping, enabling, spreading and improving their own business: to reach more customers, to quickly find the stock price (for goods and materials), to know what clients want in advance, and to know how to take a note or easily write down phone Â�numbers and data (time consumption, orders). This service concept, as well as others developed during the workshops, grew from intensive ethnographic research and a multidisciplinary approach with the stakeholders. The solution builds on strong human motivations and latent needs of the RILS’ community. In fact, participant’s feedback about these concepts was very positive. (See Figure 6.18.)

Conclusion With all these materials and insights in hand, we had the basis to Â�create a highly engaging video to convey meaning and value to stakeholders. Furthermore, we also provided our client with strategic tools to think about products, services and other actions, and to figure out the boundary conditions for a particular service or product based on what real people want and need avoiding the ‘headquarter-centred vision’. In conclusion, we believe that using video and visual materials from the field throughout the innovation process can be an incredibly powerful way to illustrate key issues found during the research: to contextualize human behaviours, to identify key features and capabilities, to help team members deeply understand the target

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Figure 6.18 The cocreation of the service with the target users: a hands-on, highly interactive workshop was organized with local users. Participants were welcome to explore their understandings of the diverse service concepts and improve it with their suggestions. Different visual stimuli and materials were used and shared for provoking the imagination, ideation, emotions and promote discussion of concepts.

customers and to establish strategic directions and build the organisation ­culture to embrace and encourage the generation of sustainable innovative ideas. Finally, in our scope of ‘making sense’, we believe this ethnographic approach delivered clear value in aligning customer understanding with design and business strategy, increasing alignment and communications across business units, sharing market knowledge, ideas and developments and providing a valuable knowledge for corporations and stakeholders.

Case Study 5 Of Multifunctional Devices, Privacy Workarounds and Neighbourhood Service Providers: Transforming Stories into Strategies for Intel* Ashwini Asokan

Introduction Intel’s tryst with the emerging markets began a little over a decade ago when it hired one of its first anthropologists, Genevieve Bell. After over * Includes a short interview with Dr. Genevieve Bell, Intel Fellow and anthropologist.

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10  years of research in Asia, multiple publications, and a company-wide education about these countries, their culture and potential as markets for us, her efforts along with other colleagues like Tony Salvador have paid off. These are now highly sought-after markets for many different business groups within the organization, be it in the mobile, home or embedded computing fields. While interest in this space has grown over the last decade, the challenges continue to persist and change with every passing year. Moving an organization from understanding the potential of these new markets, to the actual process of developing products, solutions and approaches that are relevant can be a huge undertaking, especially for a company the size of Intel. Going from global production to local requirements requires careful analyses of local ecosystems, definition of relevant processes and best ­practices to use both existing and new systems to cater to specific ­markets. As User Experience professionals, we have found ourselves as catalysts at Intel, playing a key role in helping different groups transition from large-scale manufacturing environments to localized ­markets, each with its unique characteristics.

Moving Beyond ‘One Size Fits All’ Over the last 4 years, as part of our Digital Home Group’s User Experience Group, our team of anthropologists, designers, and human factors engineers have been studying people and their everyday life with technologies like TVs, mobile phones, and PCs, their retail stores, service providers, content providers, their homes and satellite spaces across more than 25 countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Korea, Australia, France, India, China, Brazil, Egypt and Malaysia. As part of this business group, our charter was to understand our key markets in an effort to influence design: the design of our consumer electronics platforms, the design of products our customers make for these markets and the design of content and services delivered through these products. We launched our emerging markets effort as one of our strategic efforts towards achieving this goal. The objective of our strategic effort was to direct a portion of our organization’s focus towards the massive growing opportunities for consumer electronics in India, China and Brazil. Our quantitative research studies provided us with some initial numbers to help us show the scale of some of our qualitative research findings to launch this strategy. India is forecasted to be the largest pay TV market in Asia by 2015. Brazil is already the fourth largest broadcast TV market in the world and will be the second largest pay TV market in 2015, following India. About 35% of Chinese access the Internet from Internet cafes. Statistics are almost always a powerful tool in making arguments for new upcoming opportunities. However, it is not always clear where to go

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from there, especially when there are many more pressing demands in the present, and when preparing for futuristic opportunities seems like it could involve an overhaul of process and strategy. The first challenge for us was to create a clear argument to move our organization beyond ‘one size fits all’ and drive a compelling process to deliver rich experiences that are culturally relevant to the people in these markets. Looking widely across projects and efforts in the technology industry, one cannot help but notice that most of the focus in these markets has been on the rural populations. The term emerging markets instantly conjures up images of poverty. These markets are essentially seen as two halves: those that can afford the lifestyle of western countries and those that cannot and are poor. This simplistic view of the emerging markets is one of the main reasons for the ongoing ‘one size fits all’ approach to the middle and upper classes. A  case against affordability is the other argument that we come across because of this simplistic view. The picture of the poor in our minds makes it easy to believe that the general population cannot afford many of our products and that the potential market we are dealing with is small. This often makes justifying the investment of technology and human resources towards providing customized solutions difficult. Taking a closer look, however, at some critical statistics, we see that the number of middle- and upper-class people in these countries are the same as that of developed countries today, and will be more than double that of the developed countries by 2018—hardly something we can ignore. Bell’s ethnographic research points towards very different technology trajectories for these demographics. There are multiple examples of how the ‘one size fits all’ approach to technology design has failed in these markets—the PC, or the desktop as we know it today, being one of the biggest and closest to us. To address this challenge, we started off by pulling together research insights from across all our different projects to make three cases: • One, for how consumer perception of home technologies and their ecosystem is different in different countries around the world • Two, for how the local ecosystem of players including manufacturers, service providers, content providers and retailers all function differently in these localized systems • Three, highlights of which aspects of our usages are different for each country and how that influences our roadmap of requirements for our platform To make our first case, we used several examples, one of them being the consumer perception of the PC. Consumers we interviewed across different groups in India and Brazil had many issues with the desktop PC. ‘I need five things, it gives me 45, and I have to deal with it all the time—not worth my money, so I go to the LAN houses’, says Maria, a 27-year-old from Brazil.

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Maria and other participants picking their most and least favourite devices and features as they relate to their current lifestyles, as part of a design activity. A colour version of this figure follows page 136.

The quote is a classic, one that we have heard over and over again in different forms in many other countries as well. With a cost of $500 or more, we find that the PC often does not offer the same return on investment as a smart phone. It simply comes down to a question of value for their money. Most often, we come across a specific set of core usages that our participants use the PC for. This is typically either for watching TV, for surfing the Net, socializing with friends on Orkut or streaming music or videos through their favourite internet portals. Most of these they can do at their Internet cafes for less than a dollar once or twice a week, at a friend’s or relative’s free of cost or more recently, on their cell phones and smart phones. Owning a PC means finding a PC doctor somewhere in a neighbourhood, paying him for maintaining it, and dealing with viruses and constant technical issues. With so many alternative solutions, the effort is often viewed as not worth the time and money. Most homes in these markets also have a huge social component to them where most spaces are meant to be shared. Negotiating privacy can be a tricky affair, especially since it is often viewed as a negative or derogatory concept. And yet most family members desire the ability to smoothly move between shared and private use. In homes we visited that had a PC, it was placed in the bedroom, where most of the family members including parents and children slept together. In India and Brazil, while located away from the main social living space in the home, the PC is still considered not private. ‘I am constantly pressing Alt+Tab because I don’t want anyone to watch over my shoulder what I’m doing on Orkut and they keep walking in and out all the time. And it’s not uncommon for my mom to stop by and ask if she can talk to my friends or say something or read what I’m typing. My back is usually facing her when she comes in, so the door which is partially closed, when it opens it creaks and it’s the only cue I get’, says Deepa,

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A typical bedroom in Chennai, India, is where parents and children often sleep in the same room. This is where one can often find the PC. With everyone walking in and out doing chores, it’s hardly a private experience.

a  22-year-old from India. The PC is not viewed as social either since at a given time only one person typically uses it. In another participant’s home, we heard stories of how the mom dictates to the father while he chats with their relatives in the United States, a common workaround for accommodating multiple people around the PC. We made our cases with many organized seminars and presentations of many such stories for the TV, the mobile phone, the MP3 player and other domestic technologies. But consumer perception and social relevance are only one set of issues. Our second case deals with the ecosystem of service providers, content providers, retail channel and so on. These people are as important to the success of a product as a consumer. There has been limited writing and research on the business and ecosystem elements affecting the design of products and services for consumers within the User Experience disciplines. Being situated at the heart of a business group has meant working with our content ecosystem group, our business model, and technology planning and marketing colleagues. Our typical ethnographic and design explorations involve studying the local ecosystem: its service providers, content providers, and chain retailers as well as the small business owners, who are most critical to these markets. In China, for example, with heavy TV censorship from the government, consumers turn towards their Internet service providers for content. Most TV shows popular in the United States find their way to China with local language subtitles and are then provided by the Internet service providers to their subscribers. As a result, many participants we interviewed watched most of their inter­national as well as most other censored TV content on their PCs. The Chinese service providers have doubled their role as content providers becoming key components of the entertainment and technology ecosystem.

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In India, the biggest telecommunication (telcos) companies are now beginning to enter the satellite TV market, becoming multisystem operators (MSOs). Local small-time mobile phone shopkeepers are at the heart of the mobile phone lifestyle of the Indians. It is through their trusted and friendly services that the telcos have succeeded in growing their wireless and mobile businesses. They are now using the same network of small business owners to deliver satellite TV services into homes. Consumers have a special relationship with these local mobile phone providers. They exchange content with them, trade used cell phones, and use them to access the latest international and local language movies even before they are released locally. These unofficial perks come with trust in the relationship. It is no wonder that the satellite services are being promoted and offered through the same retail channel. Both these examples of providers and their approaches to reaching consumers in India and China are very different from a traditional western service and content provider setup. Large-box consumer electronics stores, branded PCs and retail and service channels in the United States and United Kingdom, for example, are in stark contrast with the mom and pop stores, the local language content, assembled PCs and decentralized neighbourhood based services in these countries. As a result, it is important to take a different approach to working with the manufacturers, and service and content ­providers in order to bring a successful product to life here. Whether it’s developing a localized retail strategy or new usages for the new kinds of consumer, retailer exchanges, covering ground with ecosystem players is critical. Having discussed consumer perception and the ecosystem cases, we proceeded to take a critical look at our consumer electronics usage roadmap with the research insights from these three countries. Often times we find that the usages that we develop for our products span across multiple countries since our usage roadmap is primarily developed using insights from our primary

Eish, a cell phone shopkeeper who is now a satellite and interactive TV service provider, talks about the importance of trusted networks.

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and secondary research on those countries. So in most cases, individual market insights are comprehended as different cases under each usage. However, with the emerging markets as a growing area of interest, we decided to focus in on customizing specific aspects of the roadmap that were relevant to them. Video calling on the TV using a simple UI is one such usage. It tests high across different demographics and geographies around the world. But looking in more detail highlighted how much more important it was for our ­participants in the emerging markets than those in the western countries. One comes across very frequently in India and China families with relatives, siblings or children working or studying abroad. There are many applications readily available in the market to suit the PC-based experience. We have already discussed some of the current issues these ­consumers face when buying or using a PC. Reach of these services to these people as a result is much lower than the potential. Secondly, connectivity infrastructure is not the same in most of these markets. While it is the one argument that is most commonly used in our industry to slow down approaching these markets­ today, this lack of infrastructure does not necessarily inhibit the use of video call completely. Some other usages we had defined as part of our video calling feature included sharing photos and videos during a video call. If  we can provide basic video calling features over a TV connection to these countries, we can provide them with features to compensate for low bandwidth connectivity. Users can schedule content sharing in advance of the video call, allowing files to be transferred during off-peak hours. This little twist in the feature demands different requirements from our products and ­processors—advanced predictive features and transcoding, to name a few. So video call usage has the same desirability across different countries but how it manifests in each one actually imposes different requirements and implications for the technology. We started off by applying the extensive ethnographic research we had conducted towards designing product and service concepts relevant to these countries. We tested these concepts through a series of design research sessions with participants in Egypt, India, China and Brazil. The results of these studies were then used alongside our quantitative usage tests to highlight the kind of products and services consumers desired, and the relevant usages that were preferred. For example, a key finding from the research pointed towards an inherent consumer preference for multifunctional devices that provided a better value on investment. At the same time the ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ approach did not test well. A careful balance between single-purpose devices like the MP3 player and the digital ­camera were a lot less sought after than those such as the smart phone or a TV that doubled as a PC with specific kinds of usages and interfaces. At the end of this activity, we had a point of view of the life and culture of people in these countries, and a point of view of the kinds of products and service concepts and designs that are relevant for these markets as well as a complete set of usages for them, tested and prioritized. We knew these studies­ were critical to the development of products for the emerging markets.

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One of many design research sessions where consumers explained the context and relevance of different technologies in their lives. Participants placed the different device concepts on a range from dislike to like. Multifunctional devices and usages typically were clustered around the happy face, expressing preference for the concept, while the single-purpose devices were seen as “not adding value”.

Our main effort in this space was to highlight the potential scope of usages and relevant product categories, using them to drive implications for our technology planning. At the end of this, we had a clear set of consumer value propositions and the value of Intel’s platforms in delivering them.

Moving the Organization from Ideas and Opportunities to Products and Culturally Relevant Experiences We made our three cases through an organized series of seminars, small workshops, presentations and local product reviews and analyses to ­target a wide range of efforts and projects throughout the company and our group. An overhaul of existing systems and processes to accommodate these new opportunities was neither feasible nor appropriate. Making these changes within a large scale manufacturing organization started off as a daunting

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task and seemed extremely challenging. So we decided to integrate the suggested solutions without heavily disrupting the current systems in place. We are currently pursuing these in two ways: one, by establishing a collaborative user experience process to engage the local customers, content providers and service providers and, two, by letting customer demand drive technology planning and roadmap requirements. Once again, we find our research and design collateral as being central to having these conversations to show the value of Intel’s consumer electronics technologies and Intel architecture. They are being used as a tool to begin ‘why Intel, why emerging markets’ conversations with local manufacturers, service providers and content owners­. We share highlights of our research, our design demos, product concepts and the value of Intel in bringing them to life with key partners in our ecosystem. Many of these concepts also envision business opportunities for the different partners. As a result, the user experience material is being employed as a tool to highlight revenue opportunities and new product opportunities as well as the value of Intel’s platforms to these ­products. The material often differs from partner to partner depending on what they produce. We present content-based concepts and ideas to local content providers, often match-making them with our manufacturers and service ­providers. This helps us influence and support not only the user experience of the individual ­elements the partners create but that of the overall product. As we drive the ecosystem to buy into the value of this process, we hope to use customer demand to drive internal technology planning. With our usage roadmap feeding global usages into our requirements on one hand and this collaborative user experience process on the other, the technology planning and roadmap processes should be automatically scaled to fit the growing demand and opportunities. The approach involves minimal overhaul­ of existing methods and processes, while helping us bring to life new and relevant products and services in emerging markets. Our hope is that this process allows us to not just be associated with but be proactive in ­driving compelling products and services through consumer driven processes to revolutionize the interactive TV industry in these countries.

Painting a Picture of the World That Is Coming: A Short Conversation with Genevieve Bell Ashwini Asokan: You started off this massive multisited ethnographic project called Inside Asia almost 10 years ago now. What would you say are the core elements of the emerging markets strategy we’ve pursued in so many ­different ways using User Experience in these 10 years?

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Genevieve Bell: Inside Asia which took me to 100 family homes in 17 different cities across 7 distinct countries was research on an ambitious scale. It is really hard to believe that is almost a decade ago. That project accomplished a number of important things for me and for Intel. It put ethnography solidly on the map as a respectable research tool. It helped demonstrate that there was a remarkable complexity and diversity of experiences within emerging markets. It provided real stories and insights into the lives of our next generation of customers; and it identified a series of key barriers and usage models that we needed to address. Places like China and India stopped being abstractions and become real with people and stories and spaces for innovation and change. For me, paying attention to emerging markets in a meaningful and substantive way has to be grounded in both quantitative and qualitative data. We have to develop a rich, complex picture of these markets, their dynamics, consumers and histories, and we cannot assume they will all work the same ways or following the same arcs. We need to do our homework. It also means we have to create space for ongoing collaborations and conversations—between different pieces of the industry, the company and frankly the world. We don’t succeed if this follows the familiar pattern of developed economies telling developing economies what they need and what they will want. There needs to be much more listening, and a lot more trial and error, or at least a willingness to experiment. Ashwini: What are the myths about emerging markets that you have focused on ­dismissing which have helped change the mindset across our tech ­industry over the decade? Genevieve: Actually I think there are just three myths that are worth spending time on in debunking: Myth 1: Emerging markets are really just poor developed ­markets. A very senior executive once said to me, ‘Genevieve, the Chinese just want to be Americans’. The implication was that when there was more money and wealth in China, American values would take hold. Emerging markets have their own trajectories and histories and futures—they will develop along a myriad different paths and not all will end up following the model of Western-style laissez faire capitalism and liberal humanist democracy. Myth 2: You have to make things cheap and cheerful to be successful in emerging markets. There seems to be a prevailing sense that price point is what matters in emerging markets. I am inclined to think it is about ‘value’. It is a subtle but important distinction. Myth 3: All emerging markets are the same. Clearly the daily lives of consumers in Cairo are very different from those living in Nairobi, or Jakarta or Chennai. Different cultures, societies, governments, ­histories, politics, and even economic structures influence choices.

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Ashwini: How’s the future looking? Genevieve Bell: Emerging markets represent more than two thirds of the world’s population, so in terms of sheer scale and market size, they are worthy of attention. The countries that are classified as emerging markets represent some of the fastest growing new technology markets over the last decade. So in terms of market readiness the signs are all there, and furthermore there is already some very ­significant innovation happening locally. These same countries and cultural blocks are also the drivers of the new global economy post the global financial crisis. I think it is as simple as painting a picture of the world that is coming, not the one that has been for the last 60 years. We have to look to the reshaping of the globe in terms of population, resources, innovation and wealth.

Acknowledgements Special thanks to the following researchers and team members of the User Experience Group who have been part of these research projects over the last few years. Alexandra Zafiroglu, researcher, Social Lives of Television Susan Faulkner, researcher, Social Lives of Television; The PC: Does It Compute? Daria Loi, researcher, Emerging Markets Project Sasanka Prabhala, researcher, Emerging Markets Project Carey Sebastiany, researcher, Emerging Markets Project

References ABI (2008). 3G and Beyond in China and Hong Kong. Arunachalam, S. (2002). Reaching the unreached: How can we use information and communication technologies to empower the rural poor in the developing world through enhanced access to relevant information? Journal of Information Science, Vol. 28, pp. 513–522. Asokan, A. (2008). The space between mine and ours: exploring the subtle spaces between the private and the shared in India. EPIC 2008 proceedings. Asokan, A. and M. Payne (2008). Local cultures and global corporations: A balancing act in delivering meaningful consumer experiences. Managing design in global environments, Design Management Journal, Vol. 4, No. 1.

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Asokan, A. and C. Sebastiany (October 2008). In the Colorful World of the Urban, Middle and Upper class “Emerging Markets,” An Exciting Account of the Growing Rich in the Emerging Markets and Why Our Industry Needs to Pay Attention Now. Nikkei Electronics, Tech-On magazine. Bell, G. The age of the thumb: a cultural reading of mobile technologies from Asia (2006). In Peter Glotz, Stefan Bertschi, and Chris Locke (eds.) THUMB Culture: Social Trends and Mobile Phone Use. Verlag, pp. 67–88. Bell, G. (2006). Satu Keluarga, Satu Komputer [One home, one computer]: Cultural Accounts of ICTs in South and Southeast Asia. Design Issues Spring 2006, Vol. 22, No. 2, 35–55. Best, M. L. and S. Maier. Gender and ICT use in Rural South India. Gender Technology and Development. In review. Euromonitor (2006). Country and Consumers: Consumer Lifestyles—India, Brazil and Chin. Euromonitor International (August 2007). Growth of Internet in China. Euromonitor International (September 2007). Brazil’s New Middle Class has a Growing Appetite for Consumption. Kuriyan, R. and K. R. Kitner (2007). Constructing class boundaries: Gender and shared computing, Proceedings of the 2nd IEEE/ACM International Conference. ICTD. New York Times (September 2009). Technology: Where Google Is Really Big: India and Brazil. New York Times (April 2009). Technology: In Developing Countries, Web Grows without Profit. Ou, C. X. and R. M. Davison (January 2009). Why e-bay lost to TaoBao in China: The Glocal advantage. Technical opinion, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 52, No. 1. Prahlad, C. K. (2006). The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits. Wharton School Publishing, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Robison, R. and D. S. G. Goodman, (Eds), The New Rich in Asia: Mobile Phones, McDonald’s and Middle-class Revolution. London: Routledge, 1996. TDG (2006). India’s Mobile Markets: Analysis and Forecasts. Zafiroglu, A. and A. Asokan (2006). When a technology is a member of the family: Lessons from the original ‘always-on’ technology. UBICOMP 2006 workshops: Nurturing Technologies in the Domestic Environment. Zhu, J. J. H. and E. Wang (April 2005). Diffusion, use, and effect of the internet in China. Communications of the ACM, Vol. 48, No. 4.

Case Study 6 A Diary in Three Acts—Designing for the Next Billion? (But What About Researching the Needs of the Next Billion?) Mathivanan Rajendran and Mrinal Kanti Rai Deep-seated guilt, a cloud of envy triggered by an act of disrespect. The ­motivation to  align oneself with the community while battling a basic need for identity. Although these may sound like components of an emotional mind map of

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one’s favourite protagonist in a Bollywood classic, this is really a thin slice of what researchers from Human Factors International (HFI) have ­uncovered relating to the emotional experience of deciding which news channel to watch on TV or which mobile phone to buy or even which bank to open an account in. The emotional schema drawn up by the PET (persuasion, emotion, and trust) team at HFI Labs suggests there is an intricate yet discernible web of drives and blocks that influences user behaviour. The HFI researchers who interviewed participants from the SocioEconomic Class (SEC) ‘C’ Group (lower middle class) using HFI’s PET technique had significant insights to share. Abishek Sridharan, 29, Chennai Dear Diary 18 September 2009 I was woken up this morning by the blaring opening credits of the morning news of our family’s favourite news channel. The opening headlines were about a terrorist attack and it was followed by a segment about a murder that had been committed. I often ask myself why we watch such disturbing events, I guess it’s because we can keep ourselves informed about such ­antisocial elements. Like Mum says ‘You never know when something tragic like this can happen to us. It’s best to be prepared’. I think she feels safer about her life, that way. She’s made me feel the same way too! I don’t think its just about feeling safer, though. The other day there was this segment on President Obama and all the changes he’s bringing about. When I saw it there were two things that occurred to me. Firstly, I wanted to go to the United States! When I see such segments I dream about going there, not to say there’s anything wrong with home. After all, I do feel safest here considering all the attacks happening around the world. Every segment helps me dream about all the things I could do with my life. Secondly, I feel more aware of things happening around me and this inspires me to do something for the people around me. Some sort of social responsibility, perhaps! After breakfast I left for work. Dad was in a bad mood because the dog had torn the newspaper to shreds. He’s made such a habit of reading the paper with his cup of coffee on the front porch. Work was no different today than it has been over the past few months. We’ve actually been keeping things lively by debating about the world around us! Today the girls were talking about the same news segment. Seems to be what everyone talks about these days. I almost feel like if I didn’t keep up I wouldn’t be accepted, but I must admit it does help in keeping all of us connected. Radha Akka [elder sister] is so visibly proud of what she learns from the news but I think its mostly to make sure she doesn’t look stupid in front of her kids who go to private schools, not to mention the clients she meets. These days, I’m very careful about what I discuss with her, largely because of the episode last week when I saw this news segment and debated with her on it, only to find out later that

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the piece that I saw was not even true! I felt so let down and cheated, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to challenge anything she says anymore. I’m surprised how the entire day is sometimes dominated by the news telecast. Things come a full circle in the evening with follow-up stories on TV. If there’s anything I’ve learned about the news it’s that you can’t make up your mind watching just one channel! Every channel is biased and they twist the news to suit their needs, but it’s up to us to make sure we put things in perspective. Besides, I think we’ve all found a way to filter the news. Ram Anna [elder brother] has the patience to watch two or three channels before making up his mind, he seems to trust the government-owned channel, Doordarshan, the most these days! As for me, well, I just ask Grandpa. He can’t be wrong. I made the mistake of watching this disturbing video of a murder on the news before going to bed. It really stressed me out. I think I’m going to quit watching the news for good, but who am I kidding? I think I’ll be up and in front of the TV for my morning dose of the news. I just hope Dad gets his newspaper in one piece, though. Murugan Sabapathy, 18, Mumbai Dear Diary 27 September 2009 The  world is moving from 3.5G to 3.75G in mobile technology or something … isn’t it? More G’s the better I would imagine! In any case, I am still ­happily married to my basic mobile, which very well might be put on display in some museum in a couple of years. By no means does this mean that I do not want a mobile with an MP3 player or a camera (maybe all these features together contribute to the Gs). It’s just that my wallet refuses to accept the burden of any such purchase—well, at least for now. I must tell you why I’m still content with this mobile of mine though. After all it was part of an ­incident which changed my life. I am Murugan, an 18-year-old teenager from Mumbai. I work in an Udupi hotel in Thane as a cook and live  in the chawl nearby. I came to Mumbai 3 years ago hoping to make my fortune here. It did take a lot of convincing for my family to let me go but they relented eventually. After all Mumbai has got more opportunities than any other city! Mumbai being such a busy city, I found it extremely difficult to stay in touch with everyone back home. I was initially dependent on my neighbour’s land line to talk to my parents, I knew my family would call from some STD booth, considering we didn’t have one in my home town near Chidambaram, southern Tamil Nadu. A few weeks passed and I felt that my parents had started neglecting me since the frequency of their calls had come down. Thankfully, I was proved wrong. One evening when I called home, my father said ‘Looks like you have been working overtime. You are never home. Your neighbours tell us you’ve been working hard.’ I felt relieved to be honest. ‘Nice people, aren’t they?’ he concluded.

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The next morning after this incident, I asked Rakesh, a fellow supervisor, if I could buy a mobile and, more importantly, afford to maintain one. I have to admit I had no clue which mobile was right for me. I was worried about making a bad choice and wasting my hard-earned money. I wanted a simple handset because I knew couldn’t afford one or maintain an expensive one, although I was tempted to pick up a phone with an FM player to ease my long train rides. Rakesh had purchased his mobile 6 months ago. I had used it a few times and I really liked it. I asked him to help me out with buying a new phone; he slowly relieved me of all my apprehensions. I went with him and bought  the same mobile he had from the same shop. For a brief moment at the store I contemplated buying a mobile phone with a camera; the thought of being able to share photos of Mumbai with Appa [father] and Amma [mother] almost got the better of me, but I didn’t relent! I trusted Rakesh’s judgment and went ahead with the model he had suggested. After all, friends are the best to consult regarding new purchases, especially when shopping for gadgets. Now with my own phone in hand, I experienced  a feeling of achievement, independence and satisfaction—all at one time! I felt like the harbinger of technology in my family—someone who has broken the jinx of backwardness! When my parents called me on my cell for the first time I sensed the ­difference in their voices. I felt reassured that I was moving forward and that I was doing well for myself. After all I could afford a phone! I often referred to my mobile as a ‘phone’, perhaps to fill the void of never having had a phone at home before! I knew what the next step was. I had to buy one for my parents. Initially it was difficult for me to handle the phone, even though I had clarified all my doubts with the salesman who sold it to me. One has to be weary of salesmen, though. They have vested interests but then, again, I  can’t say that of all of them. I was not very comfortable operating it, let alone ­recharging it. For the first 2–3 months, I took Rakesh’s help to recharge it and to understand how much I would have to pay for calling my parents. My  weak English posed another difficulty in reading different  SMSs  that I got on a daily basis from my service provider. A few more weeks passed and I turned to Rakesh to accompany me to help me recharge again. This time he wasn’t as cooperative, as he replied, ‘I think it’s been a long enough time for anyone to learn how to recharge his mobile. I won’t be around forever, you know’. I felt let down but I took it as a challenge and with the help of the shopkeeper, I managed to get it recharged. I slowly learnt of new ways to be frugal after venturing out by myself. I came to know that there were different options available to recharge one’s mobile from Rs. 10 to Rs. 1000. I used to recharge my mobile with Rs. 350 per month even if I didn’t need it! I have put in extra effort to track my recharge amount, and this has helped me in controlling my expenses. This effort has also saved me from the embarrassment of having to borrow someone else’s phone to make an urgent call after getting my outgoing barred for low balance.

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All this planning has given me the freedom to spend money on other value-added services (VAS). In my opinion there is only one VAS that’s worth paying for, and that is caller tunes. For some reason I did not find other ­services such as SMS contests, etc., to be of any value—a lot like how I feel about the lottery! Initially I was reluctant to subscribe to caller tunes because I had heard a lot of stories about users being cheated and, besides, the idea of having to pay money for some random tune made me really question if I was getting anything from the whole deal. One time I called one of my relatives and heard his caller tune which incidentally was my favourite song, It made my day! I thought about how I would able to make others happy with a simple tune on my phone, and that’s when I decided to jump onto the caller tune bandwagon. My parents told me that whenever my sister listened to the song I had as a caller tune on TV or the radio she would proudly announce it was ‘Anna’s [elder brother’s] song’. This made me feel extremely happy, I was indirectly party to making someone I loved really happy—all for Rs. 30 a month! That’s my story—the story about how Murugan bought a phone and got a lifestyle free without even realizing it! Anant Kumar, 32, Pondicherry Dear Diary 30 September 2009 Whoever said, ‘Ignorance is bliss’ quite obviously hasn’t tried opening a bank account! I didn’t care much about banking or its related procedures until it became an impediment to the growth of my business. With the small earnings from my clothing stall at the weekly market sufficient enough to look after my family, I thought I would never have to burden myself with the knowledge of banking procedures. My simple post office deposit was good enough. However, with the needs of my family growing with the age of my sons, I  decided to start a new ready-made garments store at the town market. I  went to Chennai to discuss the logistics with the wholesale merchants. However, I was in for a rude shock. The clothes merchant said they would need a bank guarantee to sell me clothes on credit since they did not know me. If I could not provide a bank guarantee, they proposed a scheme by which I could mortgage any gold jewellery or land that I had. They also said that they would be making and receiving payments only through checks to avoid any issues with the income tax department. I was not sure what to do. How would I approach the bank? What if they refused my request for a loan? What if I failed to pay them on time and they lost trust in me or insulted me even? How would I understand all these complex processes of loan approval and repayment? How would I manage the additional burden of timely loan repayment and plan my expenditures? I had to make a choice. I decided to take the plunge. I had my 10 years of

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schooling to fall back on, right?! On my way to the bus stop, I passed by a bank. It was a private bank, though. I was a bit reluctant to go through with it since the employees were in ties and in crisp saris. Still, I went ahead and took the risk. I was directed by the guard to the inquiry counter and the lady there in turn directed me towards an account opening officer. I was surprised by the politeness of the officer and immediately poured out all my insecurities. The officer was very helpful. He explained to me the account opening and operating procedures and how opening an account was necessary for me to get a loan approval. I felt really important; after all someone in a position of power was taking time off to explain something­ I was completely ignorant about. In my mind bank employees were a haughty bunch of educated individuals who loved picking on us folk who failed to understand the complexities of banking. I guess I was mistaken! I was very intimidated by the entire setup. However, something I’ll cheekily admit to is the kick I got out of being in such a posh environment. Nobody I knew had an account with a bank which was completely air-conditioned. I felt a sense of achievement being serviced by such a bank. The officer also explained to me how opening an account with their bank would make it easy for me to deposit and withdraw money using an ATM. I’ve always been sceptical of ATMs; putting your trust in a machine is rather unnerving, you must admit. Something I found extremely peculiar were the stories of how ATMs often tell you they are out of cash. You would never hear of a bank cashier saying that the bank is out of money! Makes me question whether the bank and the ATM are independent of each other. Regardless, I decided not to risk my money. I was advised by my bank-going relatives to use the ATM not only to withdraw money but to deposit cash at the bank directly. Seems logical enough! An added and unexpected bonus was that I was told that I would get a five-gram silver coin at the end of 1 year if I maintained a balance of at least Rs. 5,000 each month with them. Didn’t seem like a hard a task. While coming back on the bus, I met Mahesh, an old acquaintance of mine who was visiting his family over the weekend. When he learnt of my decision to open an account with the private bank, he was livid. He must have had some really disturbing experiences. He animatedly explained to me how they cheated people with hidden clauses such as penalties on not maintaining minimum quarterly balances, even on a savings account. He told me how the safety of money deposited in government banks was guaranteed by the government of India. I was initially confused but finally I decided to open an account at a government bank like he suggested. I decided I wasn’t willing enough to risk my hard-earned money with a private enterprise. The next day I went to Chennai with my ration card, photographs and the minimum deposit amount of Rs. 500, to open the account as per Mahesh’s advice. I decided to deposit a part of my savings as well. That way I would be able to budget my expenses around organized withdrawals. This was definitely better than leaving money lying around the house—safer and prudent!

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I was surprised to see that the officer provided me with an ATM card and a check book immediately on opening the account, I was THRILLED! Within a week, I received the PIN. I rushed to the ATM but as soon as I got there, I realised that I wasn’t sure how to operate it. I knew I couldn’t ask the guard and I did not know if I could trust the impatient people waiting outside. Their cold glares through the glass didn’t make me feel any better. I decided to go and meet the officer at the bank who had helped me earlier. To my disappointment I found another officer sitting in his place. He informed me that the previous officer had been transferred to another city. On some level, that affected what I felt about the bank. Its unfair to expect us customers to warm up to different employees every other time we pay a visit to the bank. Then again, the new officer was very polite. He took me to the ATM downstairs and explained all the operations to me. I felt as if my life was now on the fast track with things happening so quickly. My loan was approved and I felt a sense of satisfaction and relief when I heard about it. It’s been six months since I opened my bank account. Today, I don’t have the need to visit any of the local money lenders and thankfully there is no need for pawning my wife’s jewellery. Also, the bank was kind enough to recently restructure my loan and increase the payment period, especially since sales have gone down due to a drought. I also don’t have to worry about keeping all my savings safe at home and I have the facility to withdraw and deposit money any time I want. I prefer to withdraw money from a bank branch. It provides me a chance to interact with the bank staff and, importantly, the manager. Well, that’s my tale of how I banked on the bank (a government one of course) and came out on top!

Case Study 7 Social Music in India Beena Prabhu and Susan Huotari

Introduction Nokia, a world leader in mobility, is driving the transformation and growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. One of our interests is social music—how people socially participate by sharing music. Nokia worked with HFI on a design research study in India to uncover

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and understand the behaviours of selected user segments in the context of social music. It is often easy to make the assumption that the Western world has led the digital music evolution, but what emerged from this study is the opportunity to innovate Nokia’s social music services by studying a much more socially engaged society like India.

Background It is interesting to see that Indian users who lead very active social lives have developed sophisticated digital social music sharing behaviours and practices. Markets like India are increasingly driving growth, but Nokia’s competence is built on its European heritage of simple, functional user experience. This study was driven by Nokia wanting an in-depth understanding of how lead consumer segments project their personalities through sharing music, so we can design social music solutions that matter to them. Though leaders represent only a small proportion of the total market, their followers represent the majority. The consumer segments studied are characterized as the ‘trend setters’, those who have others follow their lead. They proactively create their social identity, as they want to be admired especially by people that matter to them. They use services to discover and hunt down new things. They are influencers—active, curious and dynamic people. They want to live life to the fullest, share experiences, and express creativity.

Youthful consumers.

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Music research indicates that people often define themselves by the music they consume. We wanted to know how these participants tailor their music identity by controlling music they share with others—for example, what music they keep for their own consumption versus what they show off to their friends. Participants that fulfilled definitions of specific Nokia consumer segmentation criteria were recruited for the study. The research showed us that for the psychographic attributes that we needed, there existed consumers across all socioeconomic classes. For the study we focused on users from the high socioeconomic segment and high SEC classification.

Context Is Critical Social music is a domain that is significantly influenced by the users’ ecosystems. It is important to understand not only what users currently do, but also the motivations, aspirations and the primary influencers that drive their behaviour. Social networks, available infrastructure and core values are some of the most critical factors that influence how a user will adopt, react to and integrate social music in his life. To ensure that our research would enable us to capture these, we included ‘dyads’ with ‘one-on-one’ interviews in our methodology. Also, we conducted interviews in homes and in places such as cafes and night clubs where users socialized. In some cases we also met the participants more than once to follow up on interesting trends and behaviours. Since the interviews would only give us a few hours with the participants, we used SMS probes to gather additional data that could be used as triggers during the interviews. SMS probes were particularly chosen since text messaging in India is one of the most popular media for communication. On an average, users are reported to send up to 26 SMSs per month in India. The probe comprised of questions and ‘pokes’ related to sharing, acquiring, user experience and consumption of music. The probes were very successful as participants were very comfortable using SMS to convey their thoughts and feelings. The data from the probes was then used as part of the conversation during the in-depth interviews and were used to trigger thoughts and ­memories that the participant could have missed during the 2-hour interview. The semistructured interviews were designed for constructing meaningful knowledge as a coproduction between interviewer and interviewee, to capture music discovery, acquisition of music, managing music, and ­sharing it. We probed to understand what motivated participants to share music. Some participants shared music to help out their friends by elevating their mood through music. Sometimes they shared songs that reminded them of an event in their mutual past, or a song that reminded them of an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend. Often they memorized the lyrics to deepen the meaning of the sounds. We found the dyad method of jointly interviewing friends to

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Researchers interviewing consumers.

provoke a very lively exchange about the meaning of music, exploring topics such as how the same song can be understood in one way within a group of friends and then differently with someone else. Conducting some of the interviews in the context of the participants’ lives enabled collection of rich user insights. One participant (who was interviewed in his home) thrived on being the ‘provider’ of music for his social network and was able to show us the multiple memory cards he carried with him. He collected and stored music on the cards and rarely deleted any content from the cards. He wanted to make sure that if anyone ever wanted some music he would be able to give it to them. Apart from conducting interviews in participants’ homes, the research team also met in night clubs and cafes where users regularly gathered with their friends. Conducting interviews in a casual atmosphere that the user was very comfortable with and reminded them of activities done here with their friends helped us capture rich data. In a couple of situations additional interviews were set up with participants. This was done when very specific interesting information about behaviours was uncovered in the first interview. One participant took us to the studio where their band practiced. This place and his band members played a critical role in his choice and consumption of music.

Social Music—Its Potential Users indulge in social music for various reasons. Some are very obvious and others are unconscious. We will focus on some of the latent needs that were uncovered during this study.

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Tastes in music can be an important social marker.

Status: Social music makes some users ‘feel good’ about themselves, and look good within their network. Such users were seen as the ‘providers’ within their network. They are looked up to as ‘the one person’ who would always be able to provide his family and friends with the music they desired. These users hoard large volumes of music, most of which they do not ever listen to. Their music collection is more for sharing than for personal consumption. Being able to be the ‘provider’ makes them feel fulfilled and in their perspective adds to their status. Self-identity: Social music also means the ability to show everyone your personal style and likings. Users, especially in the target segments being studied, wanted to belong to a network of people, but at the same time wanted to be unique and different. This desire was also evident in areas other than music. One user rarely went shopping with her friends as she was particular about getting things that were different and unique. Another enjoyed modifying tracks and ­sharing them with her friends. Control: Since solitude is at a premium in India, some users mentioned using music to buffer themselves from their environment, cocooning themselves in their own imaginary world, giving themselves space to enjoy the company of their ‘music’ without being disturbed. One user said ‘with my music, I can be a beach, all by myself, enjoying the melodies of my favourite artiste’. Convey feelings: Music is a favourite media for conveying feelings amongst the user segment that we were studying. Lyrics are very important to some users, and they relate the happenings in their life to the lyrics of a song. Sometimes a track becomes a favourite only because the user can completely relate to the lyrics and their meaning.

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Self-learning: Some users have used social music to improve their music skills. In fact a young user met someone online who was ­taking music lessons. He started taking lessons with this new friend who is now also a part of his music band. The user’s social network was not only an influencing factor in what music the user sought, but also ended up influencing what the user actually did with his music. It became a forum where users consumed and learned ‘music’ together. Personalization: There are users who take great pride in personalizing and sharing their ‘own’ music. They want to be known as people who create their own music and are eager to get feedback from their network. There are two main motivators that drive these users to create their ‘personalized’ tracks; the ability to be creative, and to share a personalized piece with a large audience. One user who was defined by us as a ‘learner’ (using social music to enhance his music skills) reworked the beat with his improvised drum machine. Another reworked the tempo and posted her compilations and looked forward to receiving comments from others. What excited this user the most was that one of her compilations was appropriated by a viewer as his own.

Role of a Mobile Mobile penetration in India has far exceeded any other electronic durable available in the market. For many users, their mobile phone not only meets their communication needs but also has become their sole source for music. Even users who have a PC at home end up relying on their mobile phone when they want to listen to music. In most households a PC is mostly a shared device. Hence, even though a family might have invested in high-quality speakers for the PC, a user might end up using his mobile in a typical Indian home where space is a constraint. This has led to music becoming an increasingly desired feature in the Indian market. In fact 40% of mobile phones sold in India are music-enabled phones. Mobile phones have transformed from being just a means of communication into portable entertainment consoles. They have also become an extension of a user’s own personality with caller tunes, ringtones, poly tunes in effect becoming a form of personal expression. Sophisticated music systems, entertainment consoles and PCs are far less ubiquitous than a mobile phone in Indian homes. Today, a mobile has become a personal device that offers its users multifunctionality and portability. More importantly, for some it is a reflection of

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Mobile phones have gained great popularity.

their personality, their status and their identity. It is one device that has even found its way into Indian homes without basic necessities such as electricity and water.

Piracy—What’s That? Any organization trying to enter India’s ‘music market’ needs to understand that DRM, pirated music, and music copyrights are not perceived here in the same way as they are perceived in the west. Local market places are buzzing with vendors who are openly hawking copies of CDs and DVDs, especially movie songs. A lot of retailers owe a significant part of their income to sales of pirated MP3 music. The motivation to sell pirated music has also increased PC penetration in these small roadside retail stores. The shop owners follow a very systematic way of organizing their ‘music collection’ on their PCs, based on popular demand of their clientele. It is very common for users to leave their memory cards with the shopowner and pick it up at the end of the day, all topped up with the latest music for a mere 50 rupees. Most users that were interviewed did not think that buying pirated music CDs on the streets, buying mp3s from small retailers or downloading free music from the Internet was wrong. ‘If it’s free or cheap, then why not?’ is the general attitude. Surprisingly, even users from the higher socioeconomic class did not think of piracy as illegal and something that should be avoided. The fact that in India, prosecution for illegal music downloads is unheard of,

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Downloading CDs or MP3 files is common.

There are scores of DVDs to choose from also.

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compounded with the huge demand of users, has allowed this business to thrive in India. The consumer segment that we were targeting was less interested in mass offerings, as they strive to differentiate themselves from others, constantly redefining their music preferences to stay ahead of the ‘competition’. They are prepared to actually pay for music if it is exclusive. However, the ability to share it freely is extremely important and ownership does not excite them if sharing is not possible.

Translating User Insights to Concepts The challenge in user-centred innovation lies in translating user research into actionable insights. It becomes extremely important to not just look at the research findings in isolation, but within the context of the user’s ecosystem and his context. During analysis, one of the first steps was to understand and depict the user’s ‘music ecosystem’. The user’s music ecosystem included the users’ friends, family, social hangouts, music stores, workplaces, homes, favourite music sites, and social networking sites. Apart from actors, the ecosystem also depicts the interdependencies between the actors. The ecosystem helped us understand not only the different ­players who could potentially influence the acquisition, choice and sharing of music by the users but also how they could become influencers, motivators or barriers. After the ecosystems were established, we looked at data from all participants to develop personas that would be representative of the participants that had been interviewed. Personas are not only a great way to help designers­ understand the target segment they are designing for, but are also a great way to depict ‘user insights’ in a very tangible format. Our personas depicted the demographics, attitudes towards music, their aspirations and motivations, and their current practices related to sharing music. Also, the music ecosystem was an integral part of the persona depiction. It helped relate the users’ psychodynamics to their behaviours related to social music. In order to make the findings actionable for the product development team, scenarios that highlighted the opportunity areas were created. The scenarios were depicted in the form of storyboards such that the context of the ‘opportunity space’ could be shown to enrich the insights. Immediately after the fieldwork we brought these personas and scenarios directly into a workshop with the multidisciplinary team responsible for implementing the product. Initially we showed them artefacts from the field, especially the pictures, so they would be transported to India and understand the context of the environment, and be reminded that they needed to keep the users and their context in sight while developing the concepts.

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Researchers’ storyboards.

In the workshop we developed user-experience targets to drive forward the concepts into storyboards. The storyboards were tested with global users, and the concepts were further refined. Next steps include returning to India to test our social music services to prepare them for launch. Finding the Unexpected One of the reasons Nokia has become the global lead handset manufacturer is by making easy-to-use devices. Increasingly, consumer adoption of the

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Internet, in particular social networking, is challenging Nokia’s existing user interaction principles. New competitors are introducing increasingly competitive products from scratch to respond to this new environment. Social music is a new paradigm and warrants new user interaction principles. To do this Nokia, is investing in user immersion studies such as this one. This research enabled us to get a deep understanding of the users’ psychodynamics and their ecosystem; both of which directly impact their adoption of social music services and products. Multiple concepts were developed for each persona, from the user insights. Social music is how people socially participate by sharing music. In India, social behaviour related to music and sharing of music is starkly different from that in the west. ‘We often sit in our favourite café and talk about lyrics­ and the meaning of our favourite songs’. Or, ‘I send my boyfriend songs that help me tell him how I feel about him’, are emotions and behaviours that are very typical of the Indian users. Whereas in Europe and North America, people often experience music alone on their PCs and interact with their friends digitally. Often in North America and Europe users discover music by listening to the radio during their daily commutes, rather than based on recommendations from their friends. This research helps us see these differences and understand the nuances that differentiate Indian users. One participant had created an entire network of people, places and groups because of social music. He maintained multiple social circles, the closest one being the friends he had met online from sharing similar music taste. They had ended up taking music lessons together and then actually formed a band which now aspired to offer gigs at local night clubs. The study also uncovered some interesting variations in behaviour, amongst users that fell within the same psychographic group. This variation could be attributed to the differences in socio-economics (economic activity related to social status) that influenced the infrastructure that was available to the users within their context. Aditya and Vikram are two users who have the same psychographic profile—‘the provider’. Aditya is from the middle tier whereas Vikram is from the ‘rich’ class. Both hoard music as sharing music is very important for them. Both acquire large chunks of music for free, Aditya from his friend who is a retail store owner, and Vikram from his DJ friends. For Aditya, quality of music is not a priority­, but the size of the tracks is. He already carries four memory cards full of music with him in his wallet everyday! Vikram on the other hand is extremely particular about quality. Both users are trendsetters within their social ­circles, however, they are influenced and motivated by different factors. Also, their music preference is different and so is their music collection­. What Aditya promotes within his network is different from what Vikram promotes. Psychographics can cross the borders of socioeconomics. Therefore, when research plans are developed for a market like India, it is very important to recognize the heterogeneity within the culture and at the

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same time ­u nderstand that there exists a homogeneity that is not clearly ­ isible because of the wide socio­economic variation. v

Case Study 8 Philanthropy by Design: Chulha—Healthy, Indoor Cooking Simona Rocchi and Unmesh Kulkarni For many women in rural India spending several hours a day cooking over an indoor open stove is the norm. What these women do not realize is that there is an invisible killer in their kitchen: burning biomass fuels causes almost 500,000 deaths every year in India alone. This case study illustrates how Philips Design’s Philanthropy by Design initiative used its design expertise to help these women continue with their traditional culture, while empowering them to select a way of cooking that does not endanger their lives. It describes the brief and the open-innovation process used in creating the Chulha—a low-smoke stove that prevents sickness and death from indoor air ­pollution due to cooking activities with biomass fuels in rural low-income ­communities. The Chulha not only benefits the end-user but also various stakeholders active in the value chain of smokeless stoves. The production and distribution of the Chulha stimulates the creation of local entrepreneurial skills and provides low cost, affordable solutions that reach those who really need them.

The Philanthropy Principle An increasing number of companies choose to help communities by donating their products or expertise to special projects. Known as ‘strategic philanthropy’, this approach is driven by the desire to combine social responsibility commitments while supporting the company’s objectives to enhance brand image, strengthen employee engagement, increase trust and ­customers ­loyalty, and even develop new ways of working and innovative solutions. Back in 2005, Philips Design initiated the Philanthropy by Design program with the vision of philanthropic giving through donating creativity to design meaningful solutions that empower some of the more fragile categories of society. The program was launched with a workshop entitled ‘A Sustainable Design Vision—Design for Sense and Simplicity’, in which NGOs shared some of their biggest challenges.

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The Philanthropy by Design program aims to create and deploy humanitarian propositions addressing social and environmental issues. Leveraging Philips Design’s creative expertise and socio-cultural knowledge, the program channels design talent to develop meaningful and sustainable solutions that can contribute to a better future for all. It also opens up new perspectives in cocreating value through cooperation with ‘unconventional’ partners such as international organizations, public bodies, and social players with complementary expertise and values.

Chulha: The First Philanthropic Proposition The Philips Chulha is the first proposition resulting from the Philanthropy by Design program. What is significant about this chulha (Hindi for ‘stove’) is the attempt to support the work of NGOs to create better living conditions for very low-income users, stimulating local entrepreneurial ­activities based on a deep understanding of local needs and conditions. In the case of the chulha, Philips donates the intellectual property rights and design to local ­stakeholders as a philanthropic contribution to sustainable development­. This model of production and distribution engages and stimulates the local infrastructure. To fight respiratory problems and deaths of many women and children that, in rural areas around the world, still cook indoor burning wood, our design community worked together with local stakeholders, including the end user, in rural and semiurban India, in order to make available in 2007 a stove that • Burns biomass fuel efficiently and directs cleaned smoke out of the house through a chimney • Stimulates the formation of local entrepreneurial forces for its production and distribution The design brief challenged the Philips Design team to come up with a low-smoke solution for healthy and safe cooking able to fit the local sociocultural and infrastructural conditions. More specifically, objectives were to design, develop and test a solution that was • Able to reduce indoor pollution and therefore health-related diseases • Able to respect local culinary habits and cooking behaviours • Easy to access (locally produced and distributed), use and maintain • At low cost, to facilitate its dissemination and scalability

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Illustration of the initial product design.

In order to feed the initial creative process, primary input from NGOs and a first exploratory study in the field were used to gather a basic understanding of local people’s cooking needs and indoor air pollution in rural areas.

Design Brief and Initial Idea At this stage of the design process, a broader and deeper research in the field was necessary to collect all information required to develop a truly effective, context-specific solution. Information was collected on local production and distribution channels, people’s insights on various cooking behaviours and culinary habits, user interaction with available devices, and people’s ­purchasing power. The design team—with the support of Green Earth, a local sustainable development agency dealing with grass root behaviours and social studies— gathered deeper, more specific insights into people by carrying out research in the villages of Kerwadi, Phaltan, Maltan and Karad, all in the state of Maharashtra. The research consisted of an initial 3-day visit and introductory meetings with people from the villages, followed by one week of observations and in-depth interviews targeting four rural and two semiurban families. The interviews, conducted in the local language (Marathi), were kept quite informal. All the family members were observed, with particular attention paid to the women who were carrying out cooking activities. Infrastructural conditions, production facilities and distribution channels for stoves currently in use were investigated using the network of ARTI, an NGO with considerable expertise in the smokeless cooking domain. Focus

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groups involving local entrepreneurs and self-help groups already active in the business of smokeless and nonsmokeless stoves helped us to do detailed needs analysis of all stakeholders. This allowed us to understand the major issues they face with regard to current solutions and the replication and ­scalability of their activities.

Current Issues It soon became clear from the results of the research that the key local design requirements called for a cooking solution able to fulfil the following ­physical and socio-cultural conditions: • Adaptability to different biomass fuels (from wood to cow dung), available in different seasons and locations • Adaptability to people’s needs when cooking chappatis (a popular bread), steaming rice, boiling water • Adaptability to the use of different, nonstandard cooking vessels • Adaptability to various logistic constraints User insights, and the findings relating to stakeholders’ needs were used in a local workshop involving the various players engaged in the design process (ARTI, SEDT, SHGs, two local entrepreneurs and two users). The workshop, intended to define the key product features desired, involved 16 participants who were invited to share their viewpoints and concerns in informal dialogues. The dialogues were then followed by a session to conceptualize ideal stoves and their expected performance within the contexts under investigation. During this phase, several pages of insights (context-of-life cards) offering a stakeholder’s needs analysis—including end users’ needs—were circulated among ‘experts’ in the production, distribution and use of wood-burning stoves for their feedback and refinement. At the end of the workshop, key design features were pinpointed and prioritized as ‘easy to use and ­maintain’, ‘context specific’, ‘flexible’, ‘able to radiate value’, and ‘accommodating’. In the next step, a fine-tuning process conducted by the design team proposed the following major design innovations: • Modularity to facilitate distribution, installation and reparability of both the stove and the chimney • Mechanisms to ensure the chimney could be cleaned safely (currently, where chimneys are available, they are monolithic blocks that can be cleaned only from the roof)

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Co-development workshop with multiple stakeholders.

• Improvement to construction (the weak bridge in current stoves is a common problem) • Flexibility of use for roasting and steaming, additional functional features and appealing design format These innovations were incorporated into two versions of our Philips Chulha: ‘Sampoorna’ and ‘Saral’. In collaboration with ARTI, both versions have been translated into real applications. The Saral is a double oven with a hotbox, which costs between 9 to 11 euros. The Sampoorna offers a more sophisticated solution, including a steamer, at a cost between 13 to 15  euros. The stoves and their chimneys are mainly made of concrete modular­ components, covered with clay. Their modularity facilitates the replacement of broken parts over time as well as transportation. The stoves can be packed in recycled woven polypropylene bags, which are by-products of waste from agricultural storage, etc. The moulds are made of FRP—fibre-reinforced plastic—at a cost of 183 euros, with the capacity to turn out more than 3,000 pieces. Prototyping at the ARTI training centre in Phaltan, and testing in rural and semiurban homes, involved SHG representatives and stove users. Feedback regarding improvements suggested a few modifications to the initial versions of the stove. Design interventions included technical changes related to the manufacturing process to optimize gas flow within the stoves and improve their thermal efficiency, an easier way of assembling components such as self-locking pieces for do-it-yourself assembly, the introduction of a soot collector, and a solution for fixing chimneys to the wall. Modified versions were then installed in 12 homes for further trial and to evaluate their technical performance.

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Sampoorna stove: From concept design to product development.

During the product development and testing phase, a technical assessment of the Philips Chulha has been conducted in laboratory to define its eco­efficiency and emissions. Evaluation included a certification of stove’s thermal performance, fuel consumption, particles and carbon monoxide emissions. Stoves under testing used bioorganic waste. The firewood used as fuel was free from any potential pollutants. The value cocreation process undertaken during this journey of understanding and learning has resulted in a stove that makes indoor cooking healthier, cleaner and faster when compared with traditional indoor open cooking fires. This chulha also claims to be • Simple to use and easy to maintain • Produced and distributed locally • Relatively cheap • Suitable for different culinary habits

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Its creation also helped smokeless stoves move one step further toward widespread acceptance. According to Dr. P. Karve of ARTI, the overall research and design contribution has helped in proposing a ‘chulha that has a better chance of succeeding than other concrete smokeless stoves because it is more attractive and has improved functional features’ (Karve 2007). It has helped to shape a stove that is easy to handle, from manufacturing to installation and maintenance. ‘The chulha and its chimney are easy to transport thanks to their modular design. They are quick to assemble and broken parts can be easily replaced over time’ (Karve 2007). Technical product features bringing benefits include: A. Bypass duct for efficient draft • It ensures equal heat distribution and right turbulence under the first and second pot, resulting in faster cooking and boiling. • It helps bring down the boiling time by 3 minutes, reaching boiling time in 10–11 minutes: standard stoves boils around 22 minutes while our previous chulha version (without bypass) between 13–14 minutes. B. Soot collector for cleaner air • The soot collector reduces the amount of soot that reaches the chimney and therefore both the risk of pipe obstruction and the time required for chimney maintenance. • Soot can be collected by passing the gases through a zig-zag path in the chimney chamber at the stove level. • This path built as a separate assembly can be removed and scrubbed to clean the soot. • As soot is collected at the earlier point the frequency of cleaning chimney is reduced. C. Chimney connector for easy maintenance and installation • Conventional chimneys, being monolithic blocks, needed to be cleaned from the roof. • Earlier chimney design split the chimney in three parts to allow the cleaning from inside. However, this created an issue of soot falling on the wall and surroundings from the fixed piece ­during cleaning. • Latest chimney design improvement moves the joint up so that the top part of the pipe, connected to the roof, is smaller and the fixed pipe, connected to the chimney, is longer. The connection in between holds the pipes and when from cover is open end can help cleaning the fixed part—ensuring that all the soot falls in the chulha.

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A few design features to improve the eco-efficiency of the stove and reduce indoor smoke. A colour version of this figure follows page 136.

Challenges and Achievements The route to create the chulha was not without obstacles. Initially, we faced a communication barrier that slowed down interaction with the key stakeholders and end users, and therefore the entire design and development process­. To move forward we had to • • • •

Build community trust Collaborate with stakeholders with various interests Go beyond ‘deep listening’ to ‘community engagement’ Communicate value and benefits

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We had to learn to speak a ‘language’ able to • Create convergence of different (political, social and economic) interests • Give a ‘voice’ to ‘vulnerable’ end users, bringing their viewpoints into the dialogue with multiple stakeholders with precise, and often consolidated, opinions Such a language could be developed only through a long and patient process of intensive listening and engagement. With regard to environ­ mental aspects in particular, it has been estimated that, in theory, the Sampoorna and Saral stoves could reduce indoor air pollution from smoke by up to 90% in comparison with indoor open cooking fires. What is more, technical evaluations conducted by ARTI and the Government College of Engineering–Pune show that exhaust gases, carbon monoxide emissions and fuel consumption were reduced in comparison with other concrete-based indoor smokeless stoves. However, no official quality standards of reference are currently available to judge the technical performance of concrete stoves. Various NGOs use different criteria to evaluate performance and different values for acceptable emissions­. As a consequence, it becomes difficult to scientifically prove the added value of the Sampoorna and the Saral in technical terms. At the moment, our intention is to go beyond evaluating the technical performance of our stoves, to fully assess their economic and social performance over the long-term, in order to verify all the benefits they claim to deliver. So far, to facilitate replication and dissemination of the Sampoorna and Saral stoves, design innovations have been recorded in sketches and technical drawings. A comprehensive package of communication and training materials, including posters and videos, has also been created to explain how to produce, distribute, install and maintain the stoves. With the support of local NGOs, the intention is to allow self-help groups and citizens to use this knowledge for free. The hope is that this will create not only better living­ conditions for the end users—women and children—but also stimulate­ local entrepreneurial activities centred on the production and distribution of safe and healthy stoves. ARTI will continue to play an essential role in all of this. It has included our solutions in its portfolio of stoves (‘gas-fired’, double wood-burning stove, simple concrete stove) for rural and semiurban communities, and it trains local stakeholders to produce and distribute the most appropriate solution for the selected target audience, according to income level and infrastructural conditions. The current production and distribution model proposed for the Sampoorna and Saral stoves can easily be adapted as a decentralized

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Mould-making of the Chulha (stove) with ARTI NGO, and product testing with end users.

model, in which a trained entrepreneur invests in a mould that is able to cover the demand of a couple of villages, with 50–60 households each. However, the aim is to shift to a semidecentralized model where localization takes place at district level. With this model of scalability, the new entrepreneur will be able to serve up to 30–40 villages, with 200–250 households each. Besides the activities carried out by ARTI, ERIN Foundation approached us with the intention of stimulating the broad diffusion of the Sampoorna and Saral stoves in the rural areas of Karnataka state (South India). Knowledge transfer from our side has taken place and replication activities from ERIN have started. Our ambition is to answer requests from NGOs spread ­throughout India, but also in countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh, we feel that these stoves can provide appropriate solutions to very similar people’s needs and culinary habits.

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Social Impact Study In collaboration with ERIN foundation, by considering the installation of 40  new Philips Chulhas, we want to verify and assess possible socio­ economic and environmental implications of our solution over space and time. The study will mainly focus on a better understanding of the value generated for the end users and their family members in their contexts of living. However, it will also try to understand the benefits generated for the key local stakeholders affected and/or involved in its value network. This pilot study will take place in rural areas around Bangalore over a period of 6 months. General questions to be addressed: • What kind of benefits do the end users experience, in terms of functional performance, healthcare benefits, potential well being claims and lifestyle advantages? • How would the local communities benefit from the diffusion of this chulha, in terms of healthcare awareness and local socio­ economic development? • What are the value/benefits created for the key stakeholders involved? • In which way does the local natural environment benefit? How have design and creativity contributed to sustainable development in this overall humanitarian experience? What are the major ­lessons learned?

Learning and Conclusions How have design and creativity contributed to sustainable development in this overall humanitarian experience? What are the major lessons learned? Although it is difficult to provide a complete evaluation of an experiment still in progress, it is possible to outline certain considerations about the approach used and the results achieved to date. From the very start of the experience, adopting a process in which designers and researchers operate in a multidisciplinary team, in an open dialogue with NGOs and various local stakeholders bringing knowledge from the field, was essential in envisioning an effective human-centred solution. By developing a tangible design application, we were able to bring our Philips brand to life and, consequently, establish conditions for a return on brand equity: either by putting an appropriate solution to the problem in place directly, or by enabling local players to replicate and diffuse such a solution autonomously. We have used our design knowledge beyond traditional

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Chulha (stove) first end users: Feedback gathering from product usage.

tasks of technical product design. Our designers, often used to working in different domains and across various businesses, have demonstrated that it is possible to assume a steering role in organizing a proper network of competencies, connecting multiple players with complementary expertise, and facilitating a value cocreation process right up to its implementation. Operating in contexts of developing and emerging economies, we have certainly learned some basic ground rules that should be considered in future projects, especially when addressing under-served people and problems within unfamiliar territories. Among the various learning, we have realized that an understanding of the local physical infrastructural, economic and sociocultural conditions is imperative before making any technological choices. The challenge in coming up with an accessible, affordable and sustainable solution for local needs is to evaluate the best technological solution at a given moment in

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time, rather than opt for the best available technology (which is typical of a technology push approach). With our chulha for instance, insights from the targeted users and local stakeholders helped us to understand current barriers to cultural acceptance, as well as constraints on product dissemination. Based on these insights the most feasible and appropriate technological answer to achieve our objectives could be given. It is important that the business model for the solution should also be appropriate for local stakeholders to build a sustainable business that works well within the local ecosystem. The design phase should be treated as a continuous and iterative process, which goes backwards and forwards in relation to the feedback received when the solution is tested in the field. Any change and adjustment made to the initial proposition needs to be evaluated in the field, not only in terms of technical performance, but also in terms of possible far reaching effects. For instance, feedback from evaluation of the chulha provided information to inspire improvements beyond product and usage performance to include instructions for easy and cost-effective installation, distribution and production—aspects that have stimulated new design interventions, which could result in the optimization of the entire value network. Last but not least, it should be noted that the co-design approach resulted not only in a way of delivering a solution that better fit the context of application, but also enhanced the potential benefits of the stakeholders involved, democratizing the value creation process, and therefore increasing the chance of implementing valuable solutions for all. Indeed, with this approach, users and stakeholders worked together in a participatory process where they all put their own interests on the table. Key, in this regard, was to go beyond listening intensively to local communities to acquiring their true engagement, where users were even empowered in the decision-making process. The question facing us now is this: how do we capitalize on what we have learned? Our hope is that we can continue make use of our imagination and design skills. It is our belief that imagination, creativity and holistic thinking from design communities—if they are underpinned by solid research to help understand people and their sociocultural and natural environments—can become important assets to break down boundaries and help move ­sustainable development forward. After all, sustainability is, and remains, a collective­ creative process of change.

Acknowledgements We are grateful to our CEO, Stefano Marzano, and to all 275 Philips Design employees who made the A Sustainable Design Vision Workshop a success. Special acknowledgement goes to the core chulha project team: Praveen Mareguddi, Karma Lendup, Bas Griffioen, and Yasu Kusume. Last, but not

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least, we would like to thank the NGO representatives who worked with us and made both their time and energy available.

References and Sources Karve, P. (April 2007). Interview at the ARTI training center. Philips (2005). Our role in the community in Creating Value, Sustainability Report (2005), pp. 42–43. Porter, M. E. and Kramer, R. (2002). The Competitive Advantage of Corporate Philanthropy. Harvard Business Review, digital online version (Harvard: Harvard Business School Publishing): 1–14. Porter, M. E. and Kramer, R. (2006). Strategy and Society. The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility, Harvard Business Review, digital online version (Harvard: Harvard Business School Publishing): 1–15. Prahalad, C. K. (2005). The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid. Eradicating Poverty Through Profit (Wharton, USA: Wharton School Publishing). Simanis, E., Hart, S., Enk. G. et al. (2005). Strategic Initiatives at the Base of the Pyramid. A Protocol for Mutual Value Creation, work in progress based on a workshop hold at Wingspread Conference Center, USA, Racine, (October 19–22, 2004). United Nations (2000). UN Millennium Development Goals declaration, Web page http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ (November 2005). WBCSD—World Business Council for Sustainable Development (2004). Doing Business with the Poor—A Field Guide. Learning Journeys of Leading Companies on the Road to Sustainable Livelihoods Business (Geneva: Atar Roto Press SA).

Case Study 9 Info Ladies: Empowering Remote Rural Areas with Knowledge Mosharrof Hossain, Forhad Uddin and Sarit Arora

Introduction It is said that information is not knowledge, but in the case of Info Lady and its customers, information is indeed knowledge. Info Lady is a unique concept where specially trained rural women in Bangladesh, empowered with an Intel classmate PC (which, incidentally,

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Assisting local villagers. A colour version of this figure follows page 136.

HFI helped Intel to research and design), Internet modem, mobile phone, and a printer, are helping to solve problems of rural households ranging from agriculture, to health care, marketing, etc., and addressing their communication needs. Take, for example, a village in North Bangladesh, where an Info Lady, Mansura Hussain, is helping Shehnaz (name changed) to connect with her husband, Rehman (name changed). Rehman is an engineer who recently moved to Japan for work. Shehnaz can only talk to him on a mobile phone, which he has provided, or else she has to travel to the nearest urban area to make a call through a landline. The mobile phone is so expensive that she cannot afford it. Also, it takes 4–5 hours to reach a landline phone. This is where the Info Lady, Mansura, stepped in and helped out. Using a laptop and Internet connection, she helped connect the husband and wife through Skype. Shehnaz had delivered a baby, 5 months after Rehman had left for Japan, and through Skype, he was able to see his baby for the first time. Shehnaz is so happy and she mentions that now she can talk for more than an hour to her husband without worrying about the cost. She talks every two weeks with Rehman through Skype and only pays 100 takas for the call which is a fraction of what she used to pay for the phone call. The Info Lady program has become so successful in creating a livelihood for women, that it has tremendous potential to become a role model for such initiatives in other emerging markets. Info Lady is an initiative by D.Net, a Bangladesh-based nonprofit research organisation that helps to provide use of ICT for economic development at the grass root level in Bangladesh and South Asia.

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The Origins: From Mobile Lady to Info Lady The access to landline telephones, Internet and basic infrastructure such as electricity is very low in remote rural areas of Bangladesh. Even in ­villages that have electricity, power outages are very common. Villagers have to travel really far just to make a telephone call. Also, there is lack of access to good and timely information that could help in their business. To understand these challenges more deeply, D.Net started a need’s identification research in 2003 as a part of the ‘Pallitathya’ (rural information) Program. The aim of this program was to create a Sustainable Rural Livelihood Information Network. One of the outcomes of the research was the categorisation of information needed for the livelihood of rural people. The categorization of content included topics such as agriculture, education, health, law and human rights, disaster management, appropriate technology and basic information on service providing institutions. Considering that mobile phone penetration was high as compared to landlines, D.Net started the Mobile Lady project to provide information to the rural areas. The Mobile Lady initiative entailed that trained rural women be equipped with a mobile phone and could connect the villagers to a help line (with a call centre in Dhaka) that could answer many of their questions. In  other words, the Mobile Lady would facilitate communication in situations where the villagers needed some expert opinion/advice. The Mobile Lady with her infrastructure, provided a channel through which the villagers­ could ask the experts in Dhaka, via the help desk, questions on topics such as pricing of their products, agricultural issues, health care and others. The Mobile Lady evolved to become the Info Lady, who was now equipped with the Intel Class Mate PC (a laptop PC) with access to the Internet and the knowledge management database in the Bengali language. This further empowered the Info Lady to solve problems at the grass roots level.

Info Lady: The Business Model Info Ladies have been specially trained and equipped with technology. They travel through remote rural areas on their bicycles to provide the information and services needed by the villagers. Women have been chosen for the Info Lady initiative since they have better access to households in the conservative Muslim ecosystem. By providing information and technology through an information worker, the Info Lady

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PC and bicycle.

initiative overcomes the huge challenge of creating infrastructure and the high cost associated with providing computers directly to the villagers. Each Info Lady may cover up to 15 villages, comprising a population of 130,000. Telecentres run by local NGOs serve as the operations base for the Info Ladies, where they receive training and store their equipment. The ­telecentres also provide Internet access from a fixed location, which is extended to villagers through the Info Ladies and a local wireless Internet service provider.

Challenges and Success Stories One of the big challenges with the Info Lady initiative is that the local ­villagers initially do not leverage the telecentre and the Info Ladies to bridge their information needs gap. Trust is a big factor and behavioural change takes place slowly. Info Ladies have to continually try to motivate the local people and demonstrate the importance of information. Take, for instance, this success story where an Info Lady helped resolve a health problem. Junu Khatoon who hails from the southwestern part of

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Bangladesh, says ‘I am very grateful to my Info Lady because she gave me a new life. I was feeling helpless and the Info Lady showed me the right way’. The problem was that Junu Khatoon was suffering from a gynaecological disorder for the last 3 years. She heard about the Info Lady from other villagers and when the Info Lady visited her village, she shared her problem with her. The Info Lady understood the situation and talked to the help desk in Dhaka. Through the help desk, Junu Khatoon was able to speak to a gynaecologist who recommended a prescription and she was cured of her ailment soon. There are social challenges faced by the Info Ladies as well. Info Ladies can cover large distances if they can travel on a bicycle. However, since it is not considered appropriate in some areas for women to travel by bicycle, Info Ladies have to walk and this really restricts the number of areas they can serve. Another challenge is convincing people to pay for the information services. People do not want to pay any money for information. In order to ensure the financial sustainability of this initiative, Info Ladies have started offering value added services such as • Supporting pregnant women. Many pregnant women in rural areas do not have access to services such as measuring weight and other health parameters. Info Ladies now provide a health check-up service, whereby they regularly checking blood pressure, weight and sometimes haemoglobin and conduct urine tests for pregnant women. In addition, they also advice them regarding optimum diet alternatives. They receive money for conducting these specific tests. This is one of many ways that enables the Info Ladies to generate an income and hence make the Info Lady initiative sustainable.

Children learning through the use of cartoons.

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• Helping children learn through cartoons. Info Ladies now provide the free service of sharing cartoons that which have a social message with children. One such children’s series that is popular is 123 Sisimpur, a local adaptation of the American series Sesame Street. These ­cartoons convey social messages such as the value of education, importance of hygiene, etc. The children, in turn, tell their parents about the things they learn through the Info Ladies free cartoon shows. • These services are proving very helpful to build credibility amongst the villagers and to showcase the value of their services.

The Way Forward At present the Info Ladies are earning between 3000–5000 taka per month (US$50–80). Just recently, one of the Info Ladies earned 180 takas (US$3) in a day and she was so excited that she immediately called up D.Net to inform them about this milestone. There is potential for the Info Ladies to earn as much as 20,000 takas (US$300), as they expand the range of services provided by them. Info Ladies are slowly gaining confidence and are now being invited to all the local events in the villages. They are gradually being seen as a vehicle of progress and prosperity in the village. Now through a Bangla social networking portal (provided by D.Net), Info Ladies are posting photographs and sharing stories of their success with other Info Ladies across Bangladesh. This is becoming a source of inspiration for all those who work as Info Ladies. Increasingly, Info Ladies are feeling confident to try out new ways of providing information and knowledge. This in turn empowers them to create a sustainable livelihood for those who they serve, as well as for themselves.

Case Study 10 Cultural Effects of Status and Relationships in Usability Testing Dr. Alvin W. Yeo

Introduction In Singapore, Herman (1996) reports on a usability evaluation of a real ­system, whereby objective evaluation results from performance measures

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correlated poorly with subjective evaluation results from a questionnaire and an interview. This poor correlation was illustrated with a case in which a participant actually broke down and cried during the software evaluation session, but the participant was very positive about the software in the post-test interview. Herman (1996) attributed this behaviour to the Eastern culture whereby it is ‘considered culturally unacceptable to criticise the designer directly or openly, as this may cause the designers to lose face’ (Herman, 1996). Nakakoji (1994) pointed out that if Japanese users said they liked a system, it is possible that either the test users may be telling the truth or the users were too polite to make negative comments about the system­. In another instance, Fernandes (1995) relating usability experience in Japan notes that co-discovery techniques became problematic when people of differing status were put in the room together. He observes that women talked very little when they were paired with a man in studies using the co-discovery technique. Although all these observations are anecdotal, and the cause of the behaviours has not been ascertained, it does, however raise questions about the validity of employing imported usability assessment tools (UATs). This is of utmost importance given the significant role of usability evaluation in the process of developing quality software. Decisions made, based on erroneous data drawn from ineffective usability evaluation process, may have dire ­consequences on the quality of the software.

Problem Context As many emerging nations are involved in software development for domestic and international use, many tool and technologies used are imported. And despite the possible influence of culture* on software development, in particular on the UATs employed in nations outside its origin, there is little research being reported in literature. To date, much of the reported literature covers the cultural issues in software development teams in outsourcing contexts (e.g., Levina and Vasst, 2008), cultural impact in Web site design (e.g., Marcus and Gould, 2000), but rarely addressing cultural issues and specific UATs, such as Vatrapu and Pérez-Quiñones (2006). This chapter as such attempts to address these issues through an in-depth exploratory study which covers the employment of imported UATs in a ­cultural context outside the UATs’ origin. * In this chapter, the term ‘culture’ is defined as learnt behaviour comprising thoughts, ­feelings and actions which distinguishes the members of one group of people from another (Hofstede, 1994). Boundaries of culture can be national boundaries, occupation, and ­organisations they work in.

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Thus, the key question driving the chapter is: Can imported UATs be employed in emerging nations? Other questions that follow include: Which are the UATs that do work and those that do not? Under what circumstance can these tools fail? What can be done to improve on the efficacy of these imported tools? How can we ensure that the data collected provides the true feedback from the target users? In addition to the answering these questions, this chapter also provides an approach to gauge the efficacy of the UATs.

Experimental Study A possible answer to the key question is to apply UATs, which are in widespread use in a realistic setting. We firstly apply UATs to evaluate the usability of a software application targeted at users in a local setting, and secondly, to evaluate the performance of UATs that are used to assess a software application. Evaluation Setting, Tasks and Participants In this study, the spreadsheet Hamparan was localised to accommodate Bahasa Malaysia, Malaysia’s national language. This presents a realistic scenario, given that the new software application needs to be evaluated to obtain feedback from actual users. A Malaysian experimenter (the author) carried out the usability evaluation employing target users of Hamparan. These 17 participants work in a government organisation, and spoke Bahasa Malaysia fluently. They were recruited from various levels of the organisation­, from managers right down to clerks. The experiments were conducted in the organisation as well. Tasks provided in this study were typical spreadsheet tasks, for example, to explore the various functions of the spreadsheet, such as entering data, using formulas and formatting of the spreadsheet. Criteria of Efficacy In order to ascertain whether the imported UATs employed were appropriate in the usability evaluation, we used two criteria. The imported UATs would be deemed appropriate for the usability evaluation of Hamparan in the described Malaysian context if: Criterion 1: Data collected using the imported UATs can be employed to improve the usability of Hamparan (a formative-evaluation) Criterion 2: Data collected using the imported UATs can be employed to determine the usability of Hamparan (a summative-evaluation)

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UATs Used and Experiment Proper To assess the performance of the UATs, more than one UAT was employed in the experiment. Every UAT has inherent strengths and weaknesses. Triangulation* of UATs was carried out, that is, multiple UATs were employed to take advantage of each UAT’s strengths. The use of multiple UATs would also provide greater confidence in the data collected, if the data collected from the multiple UATs were in agreement. For the study, the following imported UATs were selected: logging-augmented think aloud, SUS† (a questionnaire), and semistructured interview. The interview was semistructured. In the think-aloud session, the interactions of the users were logged. The logging did not compromise the performance of the spreadsheet and was unobtrusive during the think-aloud data gathering session. As for the interview, the objective was gather data about the participants’ opinion of the spreadsheet, as well as their suggestions on how to improve the software. All the participants were asked these questions: • What is your opinion of the spreadsheet you have just used? • Can you suggest any improvements to the software? These UATs are considered imported tools since these tools originate from developed nations and were employed in Malaysia, a developing nation. These UATs were also chosen as they are commonly referred to in the literature and used in industry. In the experiment, after completing a survey form to elicit information about the participants’ spreadsheet experience, the participants were requested to think aloud while they completed their tasks. After the think aloud session, the participants were asked to evaluate the spreadsheet’s usability by completing the System Usability Scale (SUS). Lastly, the participants were interviewed to obtain their opinions concerning the spreadsheet they had just used. Aggregation of Data Collected and Analysis In relation to Criterion 1, the data collected using the UATs were analysed in the following manner. Qualitative data in the form of usability problems was obtained from the think-aloud and the interview data. Criterion 1 would * To offset the individual weaknesses of each UAT, a more comprehensive usability evaluation could be obtained by using multiple UATs. This method is known as triangulation or consensual validation (Holleran, 1991). Rather than relying on a particular UAT (Doubleday, 1997; Holleran, 1991), multiple UATs are employed to record the same phenomenon. † The SUS is a Likert-scale questionnaire which provides a global view of the participants’ ­subjective evaluation of a product’s usability (Brooke, 1996). A University of Cork study placed System Usability Scale’s correlation reliability of 0.8588, on par with the Systems Usability Measurement Inventory (SUMI) (Holyer, 1994).

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Table 6.1 Types of Measures and Behaviours Type of Measures

UATs

Performance measures

Think-aloud

Subjective measures

SUS Interview

Positive Behaviour Making positive comment about the spreadsheet Score between 60–100 Positive opinions

Negative Behaviour Expressing frustration Making negative remarks Scores below 50 Negative opinions

be achieved if the usability problems identified from both think aloud and interview were sufficiently detailed. Here, sufficiently detailed means that the information provided was detailed enough for a software engineer to suggest a possible solution to fix the problem. To ensure data collected were reliable, the data collected from the augmented think-aloud and interview were also compared. In relation to Criterion 2, data from two types of measures were obtained: performance and subjective measures. The performance measures were obtained from the think-aloud data. These performance measures were counts of positive and negative behaviours observed in the think-aloud ­session. The positive and negative behaviours were regarded as reliable measures, as these behaviours were immediate; attempts to alter and falsify these behaviours during the think-aloud session would be detectable. Table  6.1 depicts the summary of what constitutes positive and negative behaviours. The other type of data, subjective measures, was obtained from the SUS and interview. The SUS scores provide an indication of the participant’s opinion of the product’s usability. In the interview, the participant’s opinions of the product were identified from their interview responses. Consistency of the UAT Data Sets To determine if Criterion 2 is achieved, data from these three sources were compared. Only when the data sets agree (or are consistent) can the data give an indication of the software’s usability. The assumption here is that a participant who performed well during the think-aloud (that is, few negative behaviours or many positive behaviours observed in the think-aloud data), would give favourable subjective scores in the SUS ratings as well as the interview comments*. * Nielsen and Levy (1994) indicated that performance and subjective/preference measures positively correlate; good performance such as fast task completion time indicated by the performance measures would indicate positive ratings in subjective data such as preference ratings. This correlation was discovered from a meta-analysis of 113 pairs of objective data (errors rate and/or time taken to complete tasks) and subjective data (preference ratings) drawn from 57 studies reported in leading human–computer interaction conferences and journals (Nielsen and Levy, 1994).

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In sum, if the data collected using the imported UATs met the two criteria, the imported UATs would be deemed appropriate when employed in the usability evaluation of Hamparan in Malaysia (a specific cultural context, outside the country of origin of the UATs).

Results Criterion 1 From the data collected, 63 usability problems were identified from the think-aloud data and 20 usability problems from interview. With regards to Criteria 1, the think-aloud and interview usability problems were grouped into the categories identified as usability heuristics from Nielsen (1993), refer to Table 6.2. These heuristics are basic characteristics of a good usable interface (Nielsen, 1993). Problems identified under these categories can then be improved using the principles associated with that category. As shown in the above examples, the categories provide guidelines on how to improve or fix the problems identified from the think-aloud or interview data. By correcting the usability problems, the usability and, in turn the acceptability, of the spreadsheet could be improved. Thus, Criterion 1 is achieved. Finding #1: Imported UATs can be used to identify usability problems and improve usability of the software. Table 6.2 Categories and Number of Think Aloud and Interview Usability Problems Number of Usability Problems

Categories Inconsistencies with other spreadsheets Unclear commands Spreadsheet problems Unclear dialogue messages/prompts Poor feedback Language problems Mode problems No clear exits No help Shortcut problems Total

ThinkAloud

Proportion of 17 Participants

Interview

Proportion of 17 Participants

19 13 9 7 6 4 2 1 1 1 63

30% 21% 14% 11% 10% 6% 3% 2% 2% 2% 100%

10 1 1 2 2 2 1 0 1 0 20

50% 5% 5% 10% 10% 10% 5% 0% 5% 0% 100%

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Criterion 2 To determine if Criterion 2 was met, data from the three UATs were aggregated, see Table  6.3. The TA (think-aloud) scores were used because the think-aloud data, augmented by logged data, was considered as a more objective measure than SUS (a questionnaire) data and interview responses. Each Â�participant’s aggregate TA behaviour score (first column in Table 6.3) is calculated by subtracting that participant’s number of negative behaviours from the Â�participant’s number of positive behaviours. This order suggests that think-aloud data of participants in the upper rows of Table 6.3 comprised more positive behaviours or fewer negative behaviours as compared to Â�participants’ data in the lower rows of the table. Overall, high SUS ratings, which indicate that the system possesses good usability, were expected to appear in the upper rows. Similarly, positive interview comments are also expected to appear in the upper rows. In Table 6.3, there are two types of UAT data. There are participants’ data in which the UAT data sets agreed, and data sets which did not agree. The following example illustrates a participant whose data agreed. Consistent Data Sets Participant P12 had relatively fewer problems as indicated by the low TA behaviour score—that is, fewer frustrations and negative comments as Â�compared to other participants. This observation is supported by positive comments made in the think aloud session. For example, he noted the ease of entering the data: [P12:E70] Okay ‘Kay, kita edit ya kita sunting’ (‘Yes, we edit; yes, we edit’) S. Sunting. (‘S, Edit’) This is easy. Electri-c- Electri-T-R-I-C- … betul (‘Correct?’) Elec … Elec … Okay … Participant P12 (second row in Table  6.3) was also the only participant in the study who completed all the assigned tasks. Furthermore, participant P12 had the highest SUS ratings. He rated Hamparan 95 out of a possible 100. His  good performance in the think-aloud, and high SUS scores were reflected in his positive comment about the spreadsheet: [P8:Q1] Ahhh … saya rasa ia lebih (‘I feel it [Hamparan] is more …’) effective if we use this [spreadsheet] Inconsistent Data Sets However, there were some participants whose UAT data did not agree. In  particularÂ�, the interview responses of some participants appear to disagree with the TA behaviour scores and the SUS data.

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Table 6.3 Aggregation of UAT Data TA Beh.

SUS Usab.

Status

Familiar

Gender

Taskscompl

Participant

Interview Responses ‘Unless you are familiar with … ahhh … other spreadsheets … then it should be very easy’. ‘Good! Easy to use. Can be commercialised, I believe’. ‘I think it’s okay, it’s more … more like Lotus. I think we better use this in [department] there. … I got the feeling it’s much more better than Lotus. It’s quite difficult at the first time. …’ ‘Umm, old-fashioned, umm, reminded me of Lotus 123.’ (Spreadsheet) ‘I think it’s really difficult to learn. Ahhhh … no, actually it’s not … not that difficult …’ ‘It’s good for daily work … and for saving data …’ ‘… Umm … I think Excel … [‘Excel is easier’]. ‘Of course, if you compare with the … current spreadsheets we have in the market, of course, that one is very outdated. … Now, the spreadsheet is very advanced … So this one is very basic, in a sense. …’ ‘I feel that the spreadsheet … I feel it … if we learn … it’s easier to use … and it is … easier for use to complete all sorts of [tasks] that we want.’

−2

Good

Positive

High

Yes

Female

5

P16

−4 −6

Good Neutral

Positive Positive

High Low

Yes No

Male Female

6 5

P12 P4

−6

Good

Negative

High

Yes

Male

5

P3

−8

Bad

Negative

High

No

Male

4

P17

−11

Neutral

Negative

Low

Yes

Female

1

P7

–12

Bad

Negative

High

No

Male

5

P6

−14

Bad

Positive

Low

No

Male

3

P14

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Interview

Bad

Negative

High

Yes

Male

5

P15

−15

Bad

Negative

High

Yes

Female

5

P10

−16

Neutral

Positive

Low

Yes

Male

4

P2

−19

Neutral

Positive

Low

No

Female

2

P9

−19 −24

Bad Bad

Negative Negative

High High

Yes No

Female Female

3 4

P11 P13

−28

Bad

Positive

Low

No

Male

3

P8

−32 −36

Bad Neutral

Negative Negative

Low High

Yes No

Female Female

3 4

P1 P5

‘I think the system still at a very primitive level … ummm … [deleted] and there are still a lot of room to improve the system … ‘… I wanted to enjoy it but I was like … ahhh, shocked … [deleted] … I was taken aback … It wasn’t that friendly I have to be frank with you. [Laughs] …’ ‘… It’s not that bad a utility … it’s not that difficult to use. You still have to go, ahhh … looking for things? And do trial and error …’ ‘The spreadsheet is good … for, umm … to replace … replace Excel, lah …?’ [‘Why?’] ‘Because it … ah … how to say this … is easier than Excel?) (‘[Pause] Difficult … because I am not familiar …’ [Without hesitation] I don’t like it … but this one is … it’s easier but for someone who is used to using Lotus it’s difficult, you know? Okay?’ ‘Ahhh … saya rasa ia lebih [‘I feel it is more’] … effective if we use this. ‘Not user friendly’. ‘I think it’s easy to use Excel’.) [Laughs] ‘Easier to use Excel’. [Oh.] ‘You … you want to use, Excel is easier’.

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Note: Ordered by Aggregate Think-Aloud Behaviour Count (TA Beh.). Aggregate Think-Aloud Behaviour Count = number of positive behaviours − number of negative behaviours.

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In participant P8’s think-aloud data, there were only three positive behaviours compared to 31 negative behaviours. In his think-aloud negative comments, he expressed difficulty when using Hamparan: [P8:E44] Oh, this one don’t what you call it … the … centimetre? [Oh, okay]. Don’t have [the unit]? Difficult to use. [Did not know the unit of column width.] [P8:E70] Very difficult to use … whole day [Laughs] make one file take whole day needs … [Laughs] Participant P8’s SUS score of 22.5 (out of 100) was the lowest SUS score of all the participants. This SUS score means that P8-rated Hamparan possessed very bad usability. However, in the interview, P8 was unexpectedly positive about the spreadsheet: [P8:Q1] Ahhh … saya rasa ia lebih (‘I feel it [Hamparan] is more …’) effective if we use this [spreadsheet]. In Table  6.3, there were four participants who gave positive comments despite having much more negative than positive behaviours. These participants, (P14, P2, P9 and P8 in shaded rows in Table 6.3), also did not rate the Hamparan as possessing positive usability in the SUS. However, their interview responses were quite positive and did not reflect the think-aloud and SUS data. Finding #2: Data collected from the three imported UATs were inconsistent; UATs appeared suspect. Possible Explanation: Status Effects From anecdotes in the chapter, Asians supposedly were polite and gave positive comments. However, in this study, there were instances where quite negative comments were made. There were four participants who made quite negative comments: participant P3, P6, P15 and P13. These participants’ negative comments would be expected to be located in the bottom half of Table 6.3 rather than in the top half. It would seem that these extreme negative remarks were made by higher status participants. Also, it appears that the higher status participants were harsher in their comments compared to the low Â�status participants’ comments. As shown in Table 6.3, of the ten negative interview responses, eight were comments from high status participants. These comments made by high status participants, include: ‘I don’t like it’ [P13]; ‘very primitive’ [P15]; ‘old fashioned’ [P3]; and ‘very outdated … very basic’ [P6]. Some of the negative comments contained intensifiers such as ‘very’, ‘quite’ and ‘really—for example, ‘very primitive’ [P15], ‘very Â�outdated’

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and ‘very basic’ [P6]. Compared to the high status Â�participants’ comments, the negative comments made by the low status participants were less harsh—for example, ‘Not user friendly’ [P1], ‘… it’s not that a bad utility … it’s not that difficult to use …’ [P2], ‘Umm … I think Excel lebih senang lagi … (‘Excel is easier …’) [P7]. On the other hand, of the seven positive comments expressed in the interview, five comments were from low status participants (P9, P8, P4, P2 and P14). The only high status participant with a positive comment was participant P12. However, P12’s positive interview data concurred with the TA behaviour and with the SUS score. Finding #3: Comments from higher status participants were correct and blunt. From the anecdotes in the introduction to this chapter, it would appear that the tendency of Asians to be polite or to hide any ‘unpleasantness’ might have contributed to the positive comments in the interview despite poor performance and poor SUS ratings. While this polite behaviour in the interview may explain the positive comments, it does not explain the harsh negative comments that were provided by other participants. These positive and negative comments expressed in the interview, however, may be explained by power distance. Power Distance Power distance is defined as ‘the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally’ (Hofstede, 1994). From a sample of 50 countriesÂ� and three regions, Hofstede identified Malaysia as the country having the highest power distance. India is ranked 10th/11th, Singapore ranked 13th, Thailand, 21st/23rd; United States, 40th; Britain 42nd/44th (Table 6.4). This ranking means that Malaysians in general are willing to accept the fact of inequality in power as being normal. Hofstede stated that subordinates in high-power distance countries, are unlikely to contradict their bosses directly. The power holder’s authority is unquestioned. This viewpoint is supported by Asma Abdullah (1996) who observed that in Malaysia, subordinates are unlikely to openly reject the viewpoints of their supervisors. Subordinates who do question a power holder’s authority would be seen as behaving improperly and disrespectfully. Furthermore, in a high power distance country such as Malaysia, employees are ‘afraid’ of their employers as employers wield powers such as the authority to fire employees. Thus, a person of higher status and power, such as a manager, will be more likely to voice his or her feelings of discontent to a person of lower status, for example, a subordinate. However, the reverse is not true. A person of lower status is unlikely to go against a person of higher status for fear of retribution.

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Table 6.4 Power Distance Index (PDI) Values Score Rank

Country or Region

PDI Score

Score Rank

Country or Region

PDI Score

1 2/3 2/3 4 5/6 5/6 7 8/9 8/9 10/11 10/11 12 13 14 15/16 15/16 17 18/19 18/19 20 21/23 21/23 21/23 24/25 24/25 26 27/28

Malaysia Guatemala Panama Philippines Mexico Venezuela Arab countries Equador Indonesia India West Africa Yugoslavia Singapore Brazil France Hong Kong Colombia Salvador Turkey Belgium East Africa Peru Thailand Chile Portugal Uruguay Greece

104 95 95 94 81 81 80 78 78 77 77 76 74 69 68 68 67 66 66 65 64 64 64 63 63 61 60

27/28 29/30 29/30 31 32 33 34 35/36 35/36 37 38 39 40 41 42/44 42/44 42/44 45 46 47/48 47/48 49 50 51 52 53

South Korea Iran Taiwan Spain Pakistan Japan Italy Argentina South Africa Jamaica USA Canada Netherlands Australia Costa Rica Germany FR Great Britain Switzerland Finland Norway Sweden Ireland (Republic of) New Zealand Denmark Israel Austria

60 58 58 57 55 54 50 49 49 45 40 39 38 36 35 35 35 34 33 31 31 28 22 18 13 11

Source: Hofstede, G. (1994). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. London: HarperCollins.

The four anomalous results of this study consisting of positive interview responses of P14, P2, P9, and P8 can be explained with respect to this power distance characteristic. All these four participants were low status participants. Given the number of expressions of frustrations and negative comments made by the lower status participants in the think-aloud session, these participants probably did not like Hamparan any more than the higher status participants. However, these lower status participants were more positive about Hamparan as they did not want to question or ‘go  against’ the experimenter—an academic with tertiary education, considered a high status/power holder—maybe for fear of retribution or of appearing disrespectful to the experimenter. The low status participants thus were less critical and ‘less honest­’ in their responses, to the extent of suggesting the

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replacement of Excel with the DOS spreadsheet [participant P9]. On the other hand, high status participants were more likely to voice their dissatisfaction as they were of the same or higher status (compared to the experimenter) in the organisation hierarchy, and they had little fear of retribution. This power distance explanation was reported and presented at the Annual Conference of the United Kingdom Ergonomics Society (see Yeo, Barbour and Apperley, 1998) and at the CHI 98 Doctoral Consortium (refer Yeo (1998)). Conference attendees who had worked in countries with high power ­distance provided positive feedback. This feedback gave further ­support to the power distance explanation. Reexamination of Data Sets Initially, it appeared that only six (35%) of the 17 participants’ data were inconsistent. However, if the status attributes are considered, only one (10%) of the ten high-status participants’ data sets was anomalous. Five (71%) of the seven low-status participants’ data did not agree. While these participants’ characteristics may to a certain extent explain the observations, this investigation of the data sets lacks rigour since the examination was mainly based on an inspection of the data sets. As such, a more rigorous re-examination of the UAT data is warranted. In the reexamination of data sets, the responses of the 17 participants were ranked from rank 1 (participant with the most positive behaviour) to rank 17 (participant with the most negative perception). If the data is consistent, it is expected that the ranking for the UAT-pairs (TA-SUS, TA-Interview, SUS-Interview) will have high positive correlations*. The ranking was also conducted on subgroups as shown in Figure 6.19. (Note that the correlations are quite low for low-status group, but more positive correlations for higher status group.) From the analysis, in general, the UAT data sets appeared to be more consistent when specific subgroups of participants were examined. UAT data sets of participants with Lotus 123 (DOS) experience and participants ­familiar † with experimenter were found to be consistent, based on evidence of the correlation coefficients of UAT-pair rankings. Data sets from these participants are more likely to be more consistent and thus, can be more reliably employed to determine the usability of Hamparan. However, the UATs’ rankings were found to be inconsistent when participants without Lotus 123 (DOS) experience and participants unfamiliar with the experimenter were used. Possible explanations of the consistencies and inconsistencies of the data sets are provided in the following sections. * Spearman’s ranked correlation coefficients was used, details of the analysis can be obtained from Yeo (2001). † A person is said to be familiar with the experimenter if the participant has had at least one 10-minute one-on-one conversation with the experimenter.

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0.47 0.35 0.38

All participants 0.17 0.05 0.01

Lotus123: No

0.78 0.90 0.70

Lotus123: Yes* –0.04 –0.07

Familiar: No

0.21 0.78 0.85 0.70

Familiar: Yes*

DOSexpr: No

–0.55

0.09

0.49

DOSexpr: Yes 0.07

CprUse < 5 yrs

TA-Intw 0.58

0.90

0.44 –0.40

SUS-Intw

0.20 0.47 0.35 0.38

SprShtUse > 40 hrs

Status: Low

0.67

0.11 0.06

0.48 0.59 0.54

Status: High

0.37 0.49

Female

Male

0.10

Age 27 to 36

0.10 0.03 –0.50

0.00

0.71

0.60

0.13

–0.13

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TA-SUS

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–0.11

CprUse > 9 yrs SprShtUse –0.80 <=40 hrs

0.85

0.49 0.38

0.81 0.29

0.60 0.50

1.00

Figure 6.19 Spearman’s ranked correlation coefficients of UAT-pairs. *All correlations were statistically significant at a 5% significance level

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Finding #4: UAT data sets of experienced participants are consistent. Computer Experience Kissel (1995) found that objective measures (the time taken to complete tasks using different interfaces) and subjective measures (survey of preference of interface, ease of use) did not necessarily match. However, objective measures and subjective measures of participants’ who were experienced computer-users matched (Kissel, 1995). Experienced users in Kissel’s (1995) study were subjects who were familiar with a variety of types of software and used computers on a regular basis. Similarly in this study, the correlations of UAT-pairs of rankings of participants who had Lotus 123 (DOS) experience were statistically significant, as compared to participants without Lotus 123 (DOS) experience, were not. Subgroups based on participants’ familiarity with DOS, participants who had used computers at least 9 years, as well as participants who had used spreadsheets more than 40 hours, also had better correlations of UAT-pairs than their less experienced counterparts. All participants who had Lotus 123 (DOS) experience were also knowledgeable in DOS and had more than 9 years of computer experience (with the exception of participant P4 who had only 3 years’ computer experience). These participants had problems using Hamparan, a DOS spreadsheet, obviously less sophisticated than the Windows version of Microsoft Excel with which they were familiar. The participants were thus confident of their ‘opinions’ and thus were candid in their comments, especially in the interview. Nielsen and Levy’s (1994) noted that ‘the experienced users tend to be more extreme in their relative evaluations of the systems being compared’. In contrast, participants such as P8 and P9 (see Table 6.3), who were not experienced in Lotus 123 (DOS), in their interview responses were positive despite poor performance in the think-aloud sessions. Their interview rankings were higher than their TA rankings. These participants probably felt that they were not qualified and possibly lacking in confidence. Thus, these participants may have opted for positive comments despite experiencing more difficulties using the spreadsheet, as indicated by their low TA ranks. Possible Explanation: Collectivism Effect According to Hofstede (1994), Malaysia is a more collectivistic than an individualistic country. Malaysia is ranked 36 out of 50 countries and three regions in an individualist–collectivist continuum. At the individualist end, United States is ranked 1st, Australia 2nd, Great Britain 3rd, New Zealand 6th, while at the collectivist end, Hong Kong is ranked 37th, and Singapore 39th (see Table 6.5). Malaysia’s collectivist ranking means that Malaysians prefer a closely-knit social framework as opposed to a loosely-knit social framework (Zabid, Anantharaman and Raveendran, 1997). Also, the concerns of a group

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Table 6.5 Individualism Index (IDV) Values Score Rank

Country or Region

IDV Score

Score Rank

Country or Region

1 2 3 4/5 4/5 6 7 8 9 10/11 10/11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22/23 22/23 24 25 26/27 26/27

USA Australia Great Britain Canada Netherlands New Zealand Italy Belgium Denmark Sweden France Ireland (Rep. of) Norway Switzerland Germany F.R. South Africa Finland Austria Israel Spain India Japan Argentina Iran Jamaica Brazil Arab Countries

91 90 89 80 80 79 76 75 74 71 71 70 69 68 67 65 63 55 54 51 48 46 46 41 39 38 38

28 29 30 31 32 33/35 33/35 33/35 36 37 38 39/41 39/41 39/41 42 43 44 45 46 47/48 47/48 49 50 51 52 53

Turkey Uruguay Greece Philippines Mexico East Africa Yugoslavia Portugal Malaysia Hong Kong Chile West Africa Singapore Thailand Salvador South Korea Taiwan Peru Costa Rica Pakistan Indonesia Colombia Venezuela Panama Equador Guatemala

IDV Score 37 36 35 32 30 27 27 27 26 25 23 20 20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 14 13 12 11 8 6

Note: Rank 1 is most individualistic country; Rank 53, most collectivistic country. Source: Hofstede, G. (1994). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. London: HarperCollins.

are more important than the concerns of an individual (Hofstede, 1994) in Malaysia. Thus, Malaysians have a high concern for others, keeping other people in mind, advocating a sense of unity with other people, and considering the group as a basic unit of survival (Asma Abdullah, 1996). Two values that are important to a collectivist society are maintenance of harmony and the preservation of face (Hofstede, 1994). Values here are defined as a set of clear and uncompromising statements, what are important to a specific group (Asma Abdullah, 1996). These values influence how a person of a particular cultural group think, feel, and act, as well as how a person works with others (Asma Abdullah, 1996). The maintenance of

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harmony­ is important to perpetuate the closely-knit social framework. One way of maintaining harmony is the preservation of face. Preserving face means maintaining one’s dignity by not embarrassing or humiliating a ­person in front of others (Zabid, Anantharaman and Raveendran, 1997). By preserving one’s face, interpersonal relations can be improved, and harmony as well as respect can be sustained (Zabid, Anantharaman and Raveendran, 1997). Also, direct confrontation of another person is considered rude and undesirable in most collectivist cultures (Hofstede, 1994). In Malaysia, giving frank negative opinions can therefore undermine harmonious relationships and threaten group solidarity (Asma Abdullah, 1996). Finding #5: UAT data sets of participants familiar with the experimenter are consistent. UAT responses of participants who were familiar with the experimenter were more consistent than from those that were not familiar. Even if participants had problems in using the spreadsheet, (that is, low TA rank) the participants who were familiar with the experimenter commented negatively about Hamparan. This contrasting behaviour may be because they knew the experimenter and his disposition, and knew that negative comments would not cause him to lose face. For example, the interview response of participant P17, who was not familiar with the experimenter, was forthright but the participant mitigated his comments, probably to preserve face with the experimenter. ‘I think it’s really difficult to learn. Ahhhh … no, actually it’s not … not that difficult …’. On the other hand, participant P10, who was familiar with the experimenter, commented negatively (without mitigation) in the interview, ‘I wanted to enjoy it but I was like … ahhh, shocked … because there’s, like, nothing there … nothing … kind of arahan [‘commands’) until I really got ­pening (‘a headache’) … I was taken aback … It wasn’t that friendly, I have to be frank with you’. [Laughs] Another perspective on the results takes into account both the participants’ computer experience and familiarity with the experimenter. The inconsistency in participants’ responses may be attributed to both poor experience and unfamiliarity with the experimenter. Due to their unfamiliarity with Lotus 123, the participants experienced difficulty using the spreadsheet, and probably harboured negative opinions of the spreadsheet. However, due to their unfamiliarity with the experimenter, and in order to preserve face, the participants provided positive rather than negative comments. In contrast, participants with Lotus 123 (DOS) experience and who were familiar with the experimenter were candid about the spreadsheet even though they had experienced difficulty in using Hamparan. Their forthrightness may be due to the fact that they were experienced computer users and that they knew the experimenter’s feelings would not be hurt or that the experimenter would not lose face due the negative comments.

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While the collectivism explanation has been reported in Yeo (2001), further support of the explanation was obtained from a Japanese usability expert, Professor Masaaki Kurosu. Professor Kurosu agreed with the explanations provided and added that he observed similar tendencies among Japanese subjects; Japan is also a more collectivistic than individualistic ­country (Kurosu, pers. comm., 2001). The author also asked whether Professor Kurosu agreed that the interview was the most inconsistent UAT. According to Professor Kurosu, the UATs are employed under a specific social situation which includes the relationship between the experimenter and subject, and is influenced by the testing situations, such as the testing location, or the physical environment. He said that of the three UATs, he believed the SUS might be the ‘most independent’ from the usability evaluation situation, ­followed by TA, then the interview. The interview was dependent on the user evaluation situation as the participant was interviewed face-to-face, and thus those participants were under the highest ‘social pressure’ (Kurosu, pers. comm., 2001). This social pressure refers to the culture which exists among Malaysians, such as the collectivistic behaviours mentioned above.

Implications for Usability Evaluation in Malaysia From the results, imported UATs (TA, SUS, and interview) can be used to evaluate the usability of the software. However, data sets of the UATs suggest that there are inconsistencies. It would appear that the inconsistencies of the data sets may be due to the participants’ characteristics. These characteristics include: • Experience of the participants (less experienced participants gave more positive but less accurate comments as they were not knowledgeable about computers and software) • Preservation of face (given that Malaysia is a collectivistic society, maintenance of harmony is important, thus, participants gave positive comments) • Respect for hierarchy (Malaysia is a high power distance country, with low-status participants unwilling to give negative comments to high-status members) It is suggested that these findings need to be taken into account when conducting usability evaluation in Malaysia or countries with similar cultural background. From the findings, in order to ensure the imported tools employed in usability evaluation are effective, the imported UATs may have to be

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localised for the Malaysian context. In which case, the UATs, which collect objective measures, should be used, as these techniques appear to be less influenced by factors such as preservation of face; participants do not have to go face-to-face with the experimenter. However, if only subjective UATs such as interviews are available, participants with these attributes should be recruited: • Experienced in tools similar to the product being evaluated • Familiar with the experimenter, or • Of higher status than the experimenter If the product being evaluated possessed poor usability, the participants with the above characteristics are more likely to provide accurate (forthright) feedback than other participants with other attributes. However, by selecting only participants with the above characteristics, it should be remembered that these participants would comprise only part of the target groups of users. As such, it is more appropriate to adapt the UATs such that accurate feedback can be obtained. Barbour (pers. comm., 2009), an ethnolinguist who commented that another way to elicit relatively accurate feedback face-to-face is to form a good rapport with the interviewee. Also, mention that they should assist the experimenters (leveraging on the collective sense of helping the group), and also to appoint them as consultants (giving them status/a voice).

Concluding Remarks While all UATs can be used, it is likely that some UATs are more efficacious than others, and some UATs would need to be adapted to accommodate the cultures involved. There is also a need to adapt UATs to minimize the cultural effects, especially with respect to the people (and their culture) involved in the usability testing. To alleviate the cultural effects, some suggested guidelines include:

1. Understand the local settings, the people involved (experimenters, users) and the environment.



2. Design the usability test and identify the appropriate UATs to use.



3. Conduct the usability evaluation, using a multimethod approach is encouraged (subject to available resources).

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These guidelines are of particular importance to emerging nations, such as Malaysia, which import tools and technologies. Ideally, emerging nations should be creating their own tools, but pragmatically, it is more efficient to adopt existing ones. However, based on the results of this study, it is suggested that all imported technologies should be first examined and appropriately modified to accommodate the cultural contexts before using them.

References Abdullah, A. (1996). Going Glocal: Cultural Dimensions in Malaysian Management. Shah Alam, Malaysia: Malaysian Institute of Management, SNP Offset. Barbour, J. (2009). Personal communication. Brooke, J. (1996). SUS: A quick and dirty usability scale. In P. Jordan, B. Thomas, B.  Weerdmeester and I. McClelland (Eds.), Usability Evaluation in Industry (pp. 189–194). London: Taylor & Francis. Doubleday, A.R. (1997). A comparison of usability techniques for evaluating design. Proceedings of the Conference on Designing Interactive Systems: Process, Practices, Methods, and Techniques (pp. 101–110.). ACM Press, New York. Fernandes, T. (1995). Global Interface Design. Chestnut Hill, MA: AP Professional. Herman, L. (1996). Towards effective usability evaluation in Asia: Cross-cultural Â�differences. In Grundy, J. and Apperley, M. (Eds.). Proceedings of OZCHI’96: Sixth Australasian Computer Human Interaction Conference. Hamilton, New Zealand, IEEE, 135–136. Hofstede, G. (1994). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. (Paperback ed.). London: HarperCollins. Holleran, P. (1991). A Methodological Note on Pitfalls in Usability Testing. Behaviour and Information Technology, 20 (5), 345–357. Holyer, A. (1994). Methods for Evaluating User Interfaces. Retrieved November 14, 2001, from Cognitive Science Research Paper No. 301, School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences, University of Sussex.: http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/ cgi-bin/htmlcogsreps?csrp301. Kissel, G. (1995). The effect of computer experience on subjective and objective software usability measures. (Eds.). Proceedings of CHI 95: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 284–285). Denver, CO, May 7–11: ACM Press. Kurosu, M. (2001). Personal communication. Levina, N. and Vasst, E. (2008). Status differences and overlapping boundaries in Â�offshore collaboration. MIS Quarterly, 32 (2), 307–332. Marcus, A. and Gould, E. (2000, July). Crosscurrents: Cultural dimensions and global Web user-interface design. Interactions, 7 (4), 32–46. Nakakoji, K. (1994). Crossing the cultural boundary. Byte, 19 (6), 107–109. Nielsen, J. (1993). Usability Engineering. Boston, MA: Academic Press. Nielsen, J. and Levy, J. (1994). Measuring usability: Preference vs. performance. Communications of the ACM, 66–75.

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Vatrapu, R. and Pérez-Quiñones, M. (2006). Culture and usability evaluation: The effects of culture in structured interviews. Journal of Usability Studies, 1 (4), 156–170. Yeo, A. (1998). Cultural effects in usability assessment. In C. Karat and A. Lund (Ed.), Proceedings of CHI 98: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Summary)—Doctoral Consortium. (pp. 74–75). Los Angeles: ACM Press. Yeo, A. (2001). Global-software development lifecycle: An exploratory study. In J.  Jacko, A. Sears, M. Beaudouin-Lafon and R. Jacob (Ed.), CHI’01: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 104–111.). Seattle, WA: ACM Press. Yeo, A., Barbour, R. H. and Apperley, M. (1998). Cultural influence in usability assessment. In M. Hanson (Ed.), Contemporary Ergonomics 1998 (pp. 274–278). Cirencester, Gloustershire, U.K.: Taylor & Francis. Zabid, A.R., Anantharaman, R.N. and Raveendran, J. (1997). Corporate cultures and work values in dominant ethnic organisations in Malaysia. Journal of Transnational Management Development, 2 (4), 51–63.

7 Interviews Contents Interview 1..................................................................................................... 198 How Did It All Begin? A Conversation with Roopa Purushothaman........................................................................................ 198 Interview 2..................................................................................................... 199 Advertising, Culture and Emerging Markets—A Conversation with Ram Sehgal...................................................................................... 199 Interview 3..................................................................................................... 203 Conversation with Tapan Parikh, a Multicultural Computer Scientist Who Wanders the Emerging Markets................ 203 Interview 4..................................................................................................... 211 What You See Is What You Get? Not so for the Ethnographer, Says Steve Portigal................................................................................... 211 Interview 5..................................................................................................... 216 Dmitry Volkov on Users, Innovation, Design and Other Things Russian...................................................................................................... 216 Interview 6..................................................................................................... 221 Darelle van Greunen on the Difference that Design and Innovation Can Make to Users in an Emerging Country.................. 221 In this last section, we present conversations we have had with six diverse people, who have one thing in common. They have all had a lot to do with emerging markets. While one of our interviewees is the person who helped the developed world focus on emerging markets, the others have been Â�contributing to innovation and design in emerging markets in their own unique way. Our interviewees come from diverse disciplines such as Â�advertising, computer science, ethnography, media and economics. Through these conversations, we have attempted to present individual perspectives about the emerging markets, as these markets journey from being the new kids on the block to being the game changers.

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Interview 1 How Did It All Begin? A Conversation with Roopa Purushothaman As an important member of the very well known team at Goldman Sachs who came up with the term BRIC and everything symbolised by BRIC and emerging ­markets, can you tell us a little bit about how this entire new perspective of a group of ­countries who were ‘emerging’, came about, in the first place? Longer-term investors such as pension funds and corporates asked us to look at how aging in the advanced economies would affect consumption cycles. We said good question, but how about we examine aging in the developed economies within the context of economic growth in the world’s largest developing countries. If the question is really about how global demand will evolve, we need to look at both of these evolutions happening together. When we did this, we found a powerful way to compare incremental demand globally and found that these developing markets would cause important economic and geopolitical shifts, perhaps earlier than many ­people expected. Do you feel that anything has changed in terms of your assessment of the BRIC nations and other emerging countries? Because it was such a long-term view, you are not going to see changes or revisions happening due to cyclical volatility. For the first 5 years after the analysis was carried out, growth in the BRICs outpaced the original ­projections. There will be times when they underperform—however, the trend growth paths based on our demographic and productivity catch-up assumptions haven’t changed. For India, for example, trend growth averages around 6.5% over the next few decades; that is pretty conservative relative to other projections. If you were to choose three attributes that describe the essence of the emerging markets, what would these attributes be? Volatility is the main attribute I would highlight. Do you feel that the dissimilarities between the BRIC countries makes it impossible for them to really work as a group? The point is that the complementarity between the BRICs can work for them. Two are commodity consuming, two are commodity producing; they will not all move in the same direction at the same time, but that diversity is a good thing.

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If you were to think of consumers in BRIC and other emerging markets and ­consumers in mature markets, what would you say are the three main differences between consumers in these two markets? I can speak largely on India—however, it’s income per capita is much lower than that in the rest of the BRICs. Consumers here are still at an inflection point where they are just about to hit a crucial rise in income that will mean a transition away from basic food/apparel consumption to a more rapid absorption of basic consumer durables. In India, consumption patterns are also far from homogeneous so average figures on consumption patterns mask huge swings as you move across geographies. If you were to look into the future, say 2020, would the role that the emerging markets play in our lives be any different from the role they play today? Some of the larger emerging markets will move from being influential on global markets (like consumer goods, commodities financial services) to dominating movements in these markets.

Interview 2 Advertising, Culture and Emerging Markets—A Conversation with Ram Sehgal ZenithOptimedia observes that the G7 countries are ‘contributing less to advertising growth than the much more dynamic BRIC’ economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China. As well, it notes that the Saudi/Pan-Arab region— where ‘expensive oil has an advertising upside’ has been ‘­contributing nearly as much as India’. Thus, ‘together, the BRIC and emerging Muslim markets account for approximately a third of the growth in global advertising’. Juniper Research predicts worldwide spending on advertising on the wireless Web will reach nearly $2 billion by 2014 from $500 million in 2006/07, fuelled primarily by markets such as India and China, reports GigaOM. It projects the overall market for mobile advertising to rise to $6 billion in 2014 from $1.4 billion in 2006/07. It is expecting such huge growth from emerging markets because fixed-line Internet service is less widely available there. In fact, according to Business Standard, mobile users accounted for nearly 90% of Web visitors in India ­during 2008. News items such as the snippets given above are commonplace today. Interestingly, no one would have imagined that the BRIC countries would contribute more to advertising growth than the G7 countries even a decade ago!

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Given this phenomenal shift in advertising, in the BRIC countries, several questions come to the fore. How do the MNC advertising agencies rooted in a very Western mode of understanding people and also catering to a certain set of cultural values and norms, cope with providing services in the BRIC countries and the Arab world? There is, of course, the fact that most MNC agencies have been present in these countries for a long time. Hence, is the question about them ­coping with the new global reality of the emerging countries, even relevant? Actually, it is very relevant because of the shift in the demographics and psychographics­ of the customers that advertising needs to address at this point in time in these emerging countries. While advertisers, especially the MNC advertising agencies, have been present in these emerging countries for a while, they have been reaching out, in the past, to a consumer base which was either very elite and global in attitude or the top end of the middle-class segment, which was considered to have the necessary purchasing power to buy consumer goods and hence was worth persuading. Today, in addition to the consumer base described above, they have to reach out to a much larger and broader base of people who are not counted as potential consumers, thanks to the enormous shifts these emerging countries have experienced because of their economic ‘coming out’. It is therefore not just the English-speaking category of consumers, elite, educated and exposed to Western attitudes, that need to be the advertisers’ target, but also consumers from across the entire socio-economic spectrum. This means reaching out to those who speak a vernacular language and are not fluent in English, those who want the best of both worlds, that is, a ­balance between their own cultural roots and the ‘shiny’ Western world that they aspire to, those who are articulate and demanding and do not shy away from wanting value for money, those who are part of the increasingly prosperous rural landscape and those who have become consumers in the last few years but belong to the lower ends of the socioeconomic pyramid. In view of these wide-ranging changes experienced by the emerging countries, we decided to have a conversation with Ram Sehgal, one of the pioneers of the Indian advertising industry. The objective was to understand the effect of these changes and how the advertising industry had been impacted. The very first thing Ram mentioned was the important role that culture played in crafting a successful advertising strategy. He quoted Enzerberger to further illustrate the fuzziness of the term ‘culture’. Culture is a like dropping an Alka Seltzer into a glass—you don’t see it, but somehow it does something. Hans Magners Enzerberger

Given the importance of understanding the local culture that you just talked about, do you feel that there has been a shift in the composition and attitudes of ­consumers in

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India ever since the country started to be counted as a part of the emerging ­countries phenomenon? Given these changes, has there been a shift in the way advertising strategy is created now versus 10 years ago? Culture is never static. It changes as the society evolves affected by various factors: higher educational levels both among men and women, higher household incomes, constant international exposure through media channels and the introduction of international products. The marketing and advertising strategies will have to reflect these ongoing cultural changes. Until the mid 90s, advertising showed women in their traditional roles as the housewife. To begin with, now she is referred to as ‘homemaker’! In the past, she was shown cooking in the kitchen, washing clothes, applying Vicks to a child suffering from a cold, etc. Today she appears in banking and insurance advertisements. She is shown advising her husband on financial issues. She is seen as an educated and confident person. The rural population as well as advertising in the vernacular have also assumed a lot of significance in the last decade. Thinking about the need for different strategies in developed versus emerging ­countries, do you know of any advertising campaign for the same product that had to be done differently for a developed country like the United States and an emerging country like India? What was different and why? I will give two examples:

a. Colgate advertising in the United States is meant to fight for market share from the brand leader ‘Crest’. The advertising projects brand ­values of Colgate. It does not need to show people brushing their teeth. In India, the penetration of toothpaste usage is lower than in Indonesia! It was necessary to rely on demonstration to shift ­habits from indigenous usage of powder to toothpaste.



b. The Ford campaign in the United States used the slug line, ‘Have you driven a Ford lately?’ When they entered the Indian market, we had to add ‘Made for Indian roads‘.

When deciding on a campaign strategy, what are the parameters that are considered? Are these different between an emerging country like India and a developed country? One important parameter is that of homogeneity of the population. Developed Western markets are far more homogenous than emerging ­markets. It is possible for these developed markets to create and run a national campaign within the broad framework of their cultures. Many of them also enjoy the luxury of a single language. Immigrants may be reached by specific ­language channels. It is interesting to note that the national brand

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advertisers­ use creative people from those respective countries. This takes care of any cultural issues. While in India, the strategy is loaded with demographic and psychographic­ definitions. It needs to cover variables such as religion, caste, educational ­levels, incomes, location, and the dominating social influencers. All these issues create different attitudes and habits among people. This is the reason why so much research is undertaken by the multinationals operating in India to ensure that all issues are addressed. Given the heterogeneity of the Indian market that you just mentioned, do you know of any campaigns that had to be done differently for the different regions of India? There are many variations in attitudes and behaviour among the regions. Ponds Talc runs two different campaigns in the country. The South accounts for over 60% of all-India sales. Around 50% of users are men. They apply the product on their faces, while in the rest of India, women use it as a deodorant. Hence, the campaign in the South addresses the family usage, while in the rest of the country, it shows usage among women. Here is another case. About 75% of Horlicks powder sells in the East and the South. Historically, the quality of milk was poor in these two regions. In these regions, hence Horlicks was promoted as the filling in the nourishment gap. The slug line was ‘Horlicks, the great nourisher’. In the rest of the regions, Horlicks stands for ‘Good Health, day after day’. Considering that, as you said, advertisers have to reach out to all sections of society, are there marked differences between the various socioeconomic segments in urban India? If yes, how does this affect advertising strategy for a product? Take any city in India: the socioeconomic segments have always existed. The marketers took care of these segments by introducing several brands at ­varying price points. Look at the examples: Surf and Wheel, Tide and Ariel, Lifebuoy and Lux, Lakme and L’Oreal! Let us look at another interesting trend. Many local brands are beginning to dominate at the regional level: teas, spices, rice, packaged masalas. This is because now media channels are available in every state. This makes promotion of regional brands cost effective. They are able to present them in the regional cultural context, too. The advertising is focused and connects well with the target segment. How is rural advertising different from advertising for urban India? Before the advent of increased media exposure in rural India, it was difficult to reach the rural audiences. Most companies wishing to market their brands in the rural sector had to resort to innovative but expensive ­methods of advertising. They used vans to promote and sell their products. They participated

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in local melas or fairs. Once the national TV channel began to reach them, TV commercials were aired. They had to be simple and informative­. Most of the products advertised had to do with their farming needs. The major change came about with the penetration of cable TV. The rural ­audiences were exposed to national advertising for various brands. Advertising, in turn, reflected this change with more sophisticated campaigns targeted at the rural audience. Now the rural audiences need to be wooed in the same manner as their urban counterparts. Entertaining story-telling, dance and music unfolds the brand’s tale. Where do you see the world of advertising moving to in emerging countries like India? Toward a unique advertising lingua franca that blends local methods of communication very creatively with global best practices in production.

Interview 3 Conversation with Tapan Parikh, a Multicultural Computer Scientist Who Wanders the Emerging Markets Why have you chosen to focus this particular section on the world population? Whether it is in rural areas of the developing world or even urban or semiurban, there is a very large and varied population. A population that is very heterogeneous in its demographics and its ability to access wealth and information. So I think, in that sense it is an interesting challenge technically to come up with solutions to serve such a varied population. So that’s one reason. The second reason is that technology (and that includes the Internet) is very biased toward a certain kind of viewpoint or perspective and that comes from the background of the people that have access to the technology—the digital haves. I believe that if the perspective and viewpoints of people from the rural areas, from underserved communities, could also be heard I think it would just add a lot to our current discussion of ideas like governance, sustainability, modernity. All of these discussions would benefit if there was more representation from a broader segment of society. So now you see my two major reasons? One, the fact that it is a technical and intellectual challenge, and the second that I think the world would be a better place if we can better include and represent the viewpoints of all the underserved communities. You have concentrated a lot on the developing countries and emerging countries and within that the under privileged population, but what about within the United States? Have you done work there for underserved communities?

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We have started a little bit. So this past year we have been working with ethnic minority farmers, in the central valley in California. This includes recent migrants to the United States. It also includes farm workers, illegal immigrants—all of these communities. And these communities also face many of the same challenges with information accesses that are seen in the developing countries although, sometimes, there are certain aspects that are different. So for example in many cases in the developing world, many times these underserved communities are not being reached by knowledge sources or by institutions that are interested in disseminating knowledge. On the other hand, in the United States, what we found was where those institutions existed, there were extension programs, there where ­community service programs that wanted to work with these communities but due to barriers of cultures and due to barriers of languages just weren’t able to communicate with them effectively. So, in the case of a developing world, the main challenge was related to creating institutional support and increasing outreach and feedback. Here, the challenge was a little bit different, because the infrastructure existed and because the institutions existed, but there were barriers of language and culture. We had to find interesting ways to be able to create mechanisms by which we could do the translation. And that’s just still in the very early stages. When you mention the ‘barriers of different culture or language’, how do you mean it is different from what you would find in a developing world? Let’s just take two examples of a very similar kind of goal. So in India we are working with an NGO named DSC in Gujarat. Their goal is to really disseminate information on the latest agriculture practices to farmers across Gujarat. So there DSC has set up a radio program. We have supported that with a dialup voice mail line and that allows interactive questions-and-answers between the farmers and the NGO. In that case everyone spoke Gujarati. The people at the NGO spoke Gujarati, the people all through Gujarat spoke Gujarati, there where some difference in the dialect and particular problems faced in different agricultural regions, but language wasn’t an issue. The main issue was actually providing a platform for interactive bidirectional communications. And so that is the problem that we were addressing there. The other issue was that the platform had to be provided in a way that it would be accessible to potentially uneducated, unschooled illiterate ­farmers. And that was really one of the major design challenges we faced. Now in the United States we were working in California with another NGO that was interested in disseminating agricultural information to small farmers in California. In this case they already had good mechanisms in place for communicating and getting feed back. In fact, they also had radio programs, television programs, dial-in lines—all of these things were already in place. But the challenge that they really faced was that everybody at the NGO spoke English, and they had a lot of difficulty talking to all the different

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communities that are farming in California. So in California you find Punjabi farmers, you find Hmong farmers, you find Chinese farmers, you find Latino farmers. In other words, you find at least half a dozen different ethnic groups, that are all doing farming in their own way. So in terms of communicating with all of these groups, the NGO’s had really a lot of difficulty recruiting translators and interpreters to be able to allow them to disseminate information and to understand what the farmers’ needs were and how the information was being valued or used. So in this case the real challenge was not the outreach because it was in some sense already achieved but doing it in a way that was linguistically and culturally appropriate. So in that case what we ended up building is actually a translation ­system. Well, we haven’t actually built it yet, but we are in the process of thinking about. It is a system by which we can take messages of the NGO, have them translated by a distributed network of bilingual people and have them disseminated to the farmers. On the reverse end, the system will also have ­messages from the farmers go through the same network of bilingual ­speakers and that also be communicated back to the NGO. So the real challenge was choosing and enabling the appropriate network of ­interpreters who are bilingual people and can serve as the mediator between the ­communities, because of the language difference. If you look at the Indian case, the challenge was essentially one of education and of geography. The way farmers were distributed, there wasn’t proper infrastructure in all cases for them to communicate and there were educational issues. In the last case the challenges were really to do with ­language and culture. So something different had to happen here. The same underlying technology was used in both cases, but with a slight difference. Have you found differences between, say, the work you are doing in the United States versus the work in Africa or India or Latin America? Have you found differences in terms of gender or the political establishments involvement with underserved ­communities. Are there differences that sort of affected the way you had to do the work, the way you had to think of solutions, or is that kind of the same? Do governments everywhere treat underserved communities in a similar fashion or is it really very different? And the internal community issues … are they different? I don’t think you can generally make a developing countries/developed countries distinction. I think both are country specific or context specific. A lot of things become context specific, have to do with specific infrastructure available, the specific skills and resources available, and the specific institutional composition of the environment. Getting back to the previous point, I found in general in the developing sector, in developing countries, there is very often a distrust of the government, or frustration with the inefficiency or the lack of accountability of the government. So very often in those places we end up working with NGOs.

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In the United State maybe it is just because we haven’t been working here long enough to build up this distrust and frustration, but here we have actually been working more closely with at least some government-supported entities But I don’t know if that is just our experience or if it is more a general trend. So when you design a solution, do you find that the design is affected in any major way by the environment in which the end-users are situated? Has that in any ­significant way made you look at completely different design solutions, even though the problem at a fundamental level may have been the same? Or has that not been the case? Has the design not been impacted so much by the environment? Yes, there are a couple of levels to that, so I think that at an application level the context of the end users results in a significant effect. For example, the applications we are building were very impacted by the particular geographic, cultural and institutional contexts and so those factors have to be very much taken into account. In fact, my goal really is to build an appropriate application for the culture, the context, the activities, the goals and the work process to the extent that I consider the cultural or other issues of that context. And at the application level these are very important concerns; they often change the design and the goals of the application drastically. On the other hand, when we are thinking of the core technologies, that is the underlying technologies, it is important that these really be scalable. They need to be general, they need to be able to be used in many different contexts. So that is the reason that I have tried to make the underlying technology and frame works scalable and then provide hooks to be able to customize to specific ecosystems and then to program on top of the framework. In order to customize the core technology/framework to a specific context, you need to know the actual user population and their ecosystem. How is it that you understand the ecosystem when you are not, from all these cultures where you work? At this point the way it works is that I have 6 to 10 different students. They are all working in different parts of the world. So I have got students working in Mexico, in Uganda, in Ethiopia, in Tanzania, in Kenya, and in India. As they work across five or six different countries on different kinds of applications, we communicate with each other in the group. When you work across all of these diverse contexts, but still communicate and share with one another, you are looking at the work of one another and, from my perspective, being associated with all these projects. From my perspective, I see what is going on in each of them. We then work as one research group and synthesise the needs that we have observed, the solutions that we have been thinking about. This helps us to distill the common elements or common frame work across all of these instances. So it is a two-sided picture. In each of these contexts, all the students are deeply engaged in contextual study and do iterative design, seeking to address a specific set of needs. But at a different level, they are engaged in

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a discussion in the group, about the set of common insights and common needs that arise across all of these different contexts. If you were to mention any two projects that you feel were really pioneering in terms of the way the solution leveraged technology and yet the application of it really ­fundamentally changed something in the lives of people who were going to use that particular solution, which two would you talk about? Well, you know, I think some of them have been successful, but I don’t think any work we have done yet is necessarily transformational or revolutionary, primarily because it’s still been difficult for us to get these solutions to scale. I think in particular contexts, with a set of users and organizations and with a lot of intervention on our side, we have been able to have local successes that have been really useful and valued by the user groups. But I wouldn’t call any of them necessarily revolutionary or transformative, because we were still facing a lot of difficulty in how to scale them, in how to provide broader access. But with that caveat, I will describe two projects. The first one I want to mention is Avaj Otalo. This project was in Gujarat and is essentially a voice-based question-and-answer forum; that’s really been an interesting system. It has been deployed since January of this year. What this comprises is a system where farmers can call a number, a toll-free number, and record their questions. Those questions are answered by experts or by other farmers. Once that is done, then other farmers can call and review the questions and answers that have been added and rated in the system. So it is something like a mailing list but using voice as the medium. The demand for using the system has just been tremendous. This ­project is in collaboration with an NGO named DSC and IBM Research India. The

The Avaj Otalo project. A colour version of this figure follows page 136.

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An opportunity for self-expression.

response has been phenomenal. We have only been provided access to 50 phone numbers, because of the scalability limitation on the server side, but just from these 50 phone numbers we are averaging more than 1500 calls a month! And that means people are on average calling once a day. There is really a lot of demand for this kind of interactive knowledge access. The other thing is that people have really been using it for very unique kind self expression! For example, one particular individual who was just so excited about the system, about having this kind of service available to him, that he called like six or seven times and recorded himself singing a folk song! Eventually the NGO thought that they were wasting their air time and were creating unnecessary delays for other people who wanted to use the system, but many were more than willing to express themselves. The other interesting thing is that the farmers called up regularly and would say, ‘Listen, I think this is going to be a very good answer so make sure that, that on the next radio program you play my answer so that I can tell everybody in my village that I am going to be on the radio’. This is because these questions and answers—at least the best ones— would be rebroadcast sometimes on the radio programs. The assumption before this has been, how could people in these villages who can barely get two square meals a day, want access to any kind of social media or a public space like this? But clearly the demand says that just ­giving people access to systems and forums like this leads to different kinds of expression that I think we haven’t even yet scratched the surface of. And again, I think if we expand the same system to areas beyond agriculture, there is just no limit to what such a platform can allow. The second project I want to mention is called Digital ICS and is a system we built for an agricultural cooperative in Mexico. It’s a coffee cooperative; they

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The project reaches out to the population.

grow organic and fair trade coffee. They had a review system that required a lot of paper-based data collection. People would go out to collect data, making sure that each of the farmers were following the requirements for the certification, that they had all of their questions answered, that they were feeling represented in the cooperative, providing them feedback about improving the quality and yield. But all this happened essentially by collecting paper forms. Instead of that, what we have done now is that we have provided a mobile phone application to the field workers of the cooperative, so now when they go to each farm and talk to each farmer they can actually fill out the entire form on the mobile phone and, even more than that, they can record audio messages, questions and comments or feedback from the farmers­. All of which is periodically transferred to the head management and the head agricultural supervisors at the cooperative. Now this has a number of benefits. One is that if there are any questions that the farmers have, then the scientist or the management can hear them directly and be able to act upon them. The second thing is that this also provides a much more accessible mechanism for farmers to provide feedback to the management of the cooperative­. So if they have any issues with how the management has decided to allocate resources or to organize the operations, they can comment on that and that gets transmitted directly back to the people in charge. And one can imagine that in the future if you are drinking coffee in a coffee shop—let’s say in Berkeley or Bangalore or anywhere in the world— you could have much richer content about the farmer and the farm that has grown that coffee. You would be able to see their picture or you would even be able to comment! You can leave them messages or you can talk back and forth with them. This is the kind of change that would bring back the nature of the local market to the global supply chain.

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I think this also has potential to be really transformative in the sense that it can enable communications from end to end in different global supply chains and products part-chains. The final thing is that, in this project, we have been able to reduce the cost of the cooperative for doing the data collection by almost $10,000 a year. So  this system is not only providing better and more robust and higher fidelity­ data, but it is doing it at a lower cost, which, immediately addresses the sustainability issues of the cooperative. You come from a computer science background and at the same time you are working­ in the field where the solution that you come up with depends on understanding the people, understanding what their needs are, and what their skills are, what their motivations are, so on and so forth. Very far away from computer science. So how does your background help you and how does it hinder? I think the underlying skill that I have in engineering and programming and building systems is a hard skill set. By ‘hard’ I don’t mean difficult, I just mean concrete skill set. That, in one sense, allows me to not just understand a problem and conceive the solution but also enables me to implement the solution. I don’t have to worry about who is going to build it. I have those skills myself, my students have it themselves, and so we don’t have to have someone else come and implement the thing that we think is the good idea. We can build it ourselves. That’s what makes you really confident and feels really fulfilling to have those skills at your own disposal. I think it also improves our credibility when we do this work in the field with our partners. Throughout the design process, having partners feel that this is not a futile exercise, the people who are doing this actually have the skills and necessary experience to be able to deliver and build something, I think that’s very ­reassuring. So I think that’s how my computer science background helps. In terms of hinder, well, I think one way it might hinder is that even if it is not a good solution or even if there is no problem to be solved or even if the solution is much different, even if there is a nontechnical solution, or non­ engineering solution that is better, like a social or organizational solution, even in those cases, because of your skills as an engineer, you will often come up with an engineering or technical solution anyway. In short, even if there are no nails, we often feel like we have to exercise our hammer. We have to exercise a lot of restraint in keeping the hammer in the belt in some sense. So I think that is a bit of hindrance. The other thing is that, as I just described, this process of doing user-centred design entails understanding users and the context, proto­ typing and evaluation. A lot of our training in computer science doesn’t really help us understand this process. In other words, what we learn in computer science is not useful in the design process per se. But on the other hand, HCI and user interfaces design is a component of computer science,

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and the kind of methods and techniques that we learn and teach in those courses are often useful. Have there been projects where you worked with people from other disciplines, whether it’s the social sciences like anthropology or sociology or design or design research, etc.? Has that happened? If yes, what has that experience been like? I have had discussions with anthropologists but there hasn’t been anything concrete that we have worked together on. Mostly I have tried to just understand their perspective, read their papers and have tried to use that to improve my understanding of the various, often hidden factors at play in the context that we were working. Similarly, I have discussions with sociologists but, again, it was more to understand and the importance of different kinds of societal factors and also to think about methods that are useful for evaluation. Most often I have ­collaborated with designers, and in fact the major collaboration has been ­during the Hisaab project. That experience was great. I think I never had a set of collaborators as I did in the Hisaab project where we all worked together. I thought that was just a fantastic experience and I learned a lot. A lot of what I do now benefited immensely from having had the opportunity of working together with that team at that point in time. I was constantly amazed by the quality and the creativity of the work that the designers put into it. Of course, there was a little tension sometimes in that, because as an engineer, I would really, in many cases, be impatient throughout the design process. I would see one of the ideas that the HFI design team would create and I would think, that’s just brilliant let’s just build it, what else do we have left to do’? But I think that the team really worked well together. What would be your advice to anyone who wants to work on development and design projects in emerging market countries? It is critical that anyone who wants to work in emerging market countries have passion and commitment for understanding the people and the context, for exploring the unknown, and not try to force-fit known and easy solutions!

Interview 4 What You See Is What You Get? Not so for the Ethnographer, Says Steve Portigal Using your ‘ethnographer’s eye’, what strikes you as the differences between ­developed countries like the United States/United Kingdom and emerging countries like China/India/Indonesia/Brazil, etc.?

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The key thing is the standard of living, and closely related is the visibility of the contrast between higher and lower standards. You see national and global brands advertising that suggest a developed sense of affluence and consumption that I can’t help but think of as Western, but this business may be offered in locations that are surrounded by extreme poverty. I see both commerce for the middle (and higher) class that is offered in almost denial of the presence of the lower class and amusingly unsophisticated signage, messaging, etc., targeted at (I suspect) the lower class. While there are people in the United States that will never be able to afford to fly on an airplane, we tend to keep that contrast hidden and our mainstream cultural stories assume that everyone can already consume such services. The whole idea of the American Dream suggests that this strong belief about our actual or potential prosperity is deeply ingrained. There’s also a level of chaos (or perceived chaos, from a Westerner’s point of view) that seems to be exacerbated by poor infrastructure (wayfinding, quality of roads/sidewalks, building quality, garbage, etc.). While we have terrible litter problems in North America (San Francisco is facing a small crisis from the amount of plastic bags that end up in the ocean and the Bay) and discarded banana peels are so common in London that someone started a blog called London Bananas merely to document their surprising ­appearances. In Bangalore I walked by a massive pile of discarded banana peels, presenting me with the unanswerable question: who dumped those there, and why? When travelling through and experiencing emerging countries, do you feel that designing for users in these countries needs to be done with any different methods than those used when designing for users in developed countries? The answer is yes, but there are two different cases: design by insiders and design by outsiders. Obviously design by outsiders needs to be handled very differently. As outsiders, we so clearly have no clue as to what is going on: how do you design personal grooming accessories for a society where someone might have trimming or cleaning done by the side of the road? That’s not to say that it can’t be done, but that simply exporting existing solutions, or making small localization tweaks is probably not going to be enough. I know that as recently as 2 years ago mobile phones in India were a shared household item (although I wonder if increased penetration is changing that); there are tremendous implications for the interface design (from  login screens to ­privacy management). Existing Western models for pricing, usability, ­features, and so on won’t apply. So there’s a real effort that outsiders need to make to really get at those core differences. From the inside, I suspect­ that the designers are often not going to be designing for themselves (an approach I  discourage, anyway), but for another class or culture within their own ­society; and while they’ve got a leg up on understanding their fellow citizens

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over us foreigners, there are always going to be use cases, mental models, and meaning that are new to the designer. By the same token, for categories that are being imported from the developed world (i.e., mobile phones), the designer will have to do some cultural translation, say, discovering that mobile phones are not shared among household members in the West. This is probably more about an approach to design than an actual method, but once you’ve got the approach down, then the methods can follow easily. How do you actually go about ‘interpreting’ another culture…what is the process? The first step is to do a lot of noticing. Sometimes that means stepping outside the feeling of confusion long enough to try to identify what it is that is confusing; what is it that is different. On the other hand, one of the pleasures of a digital camera is a tremendous capacity for capturing—without hesitation—the source of surprise, amusement and discomfort. I will often focus just on getting the shot, and then worry about it later. In Bali, I kept seeing people strolling around with motorcycle helmets on. But I was in the back of a van weaving in out and traffic, and was usually watching the surprising scene recede as we sped away. But after seeing it a few times I decided these were a must-have picture, and kept my eyes open in and out of the van until I got a few examples. My reaction was surprise, because we don’t see people actually wearing helmets off their scooters or motorcycles, and I had to laugh just a little bit because to my outsider eyes, they looked silly! But as I thought about it both during and after the trip, I realized that of course the scooter is an essential part of daily life in their culture. Just look at the types of vehicles on the road,

Cycle helmets are catching on.

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Much of village commerce is conducted using scooters or bicycles.

including far more scooters than cars, and scooters converted to haul every type of cargo or stand-alone business. I saw how common the scooter (and scooter accessory) retail business was and I began to figure that if you are in that kind of mobile, scooter-based lifestyle, you’re going to be stopping and starting frequently and maybe the helmet just stays on. Keep in mind that I’m just doing observation here, triangulating across a few different points and using my own pattern-matching to figure what I should investigate further. Ideally I’ll try to ask someone. One tool that’s been really helpful is Flickr. I posted a great deal of pictures from Mumbai and Bangalore and I would sometimes state my question or at least my assumption. Thanks to all the online participation in India, I actually got answers, including some detailed explanations. For example, I was struck by a sign for HP gas featuring a smiling anthropomorphized LP canister with the slogan ‘Safety. To ensure your happiness.’ I had to wonder what type of place is this where the benefit they want to highlight is safety? We assume that everything we buy is safe (in spite of many of the recent scandals around tainted products both from the United States and elsewhere) and talk about a much higher level of benefit. Someone on Flickr explained in great deal about the revolution in this new canister design; that tamper-proof features meant that corrupt middlemen could not meddle with the contents of the canister and that design had been used to get around challenging and entrenched behaviour. I don’t think my original reaction was that far off, but I was able to get more of the story. Of course, this is all something I’m doing with no goal beyond the pleasure of curiosity. When trying to understand a culture for more targeted reasons (i.e., a client engagement), I’m going to have a bit more of a filter on my noticing.

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This gas canister carries a message. A colour version of this figure follows page 136.

There is a major increase in MNCs conducting ethnographic/ethnography-inspired studies in emerging markets. What do you think is the reason for this sudden popularity­of ethnographic methods for emerging countries? I think it’s primarily about money. There’s a major increase in MNCs developing products for the new middle classes in these emerging markets, and so there’s hopefully a certain amount of humility in those efforts, not assuming that products can simply be exported as is. As new middle classes are being created, they represent new consumers with very little history as consumers, and that is a very juicy opportunity. So there’s a combination of opportunism and humility behind it. What role do you see for innovation and design in the progress and growth of ­emerging countries? I think there are two key paths here. The first is the use of innovation and design to try to address crushing problems. I’ve read how dwellers in Mumbai slums transplanted into apartment buildings are terribly unhappy and eventually return to a slum environment. That’s counter-intuitive to the naïve ­outsider (foreign and Indian, of course) who tries to solve the problem by giving them an environment like we all have. It doesn’t work. So this is a challenge for innovation and design: how to understand the need much more deeply and how to create solutions that provide safety and security in a ­relevant fashion. There are many examples of small but powerful innovations like a creative use of local materials or low-effort pumps that support subsistence agriculture. The other path, though, is the trappings of modernization­: more cars, more electronics, more global and national brands in retail, fast food, and so on. That’s progress, but there are cultural

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consequences to quality of life, environment, and beyond. I would hope that design can be sensitive to those consequences, but I also suspect the call of consumption (to consume and to produce consumables) is awfully strong. What role do you see that designers can play in an emerging economy like India/China, etc., that may be different from their role in a developed country like the United States? Designers (and I include design researchers in that category) can be the c­ ultural bridges who help ‘foreign’ products and technologies establish themselves in a relevant way. They can look for innovation opportunities among their neediest citizens where there’s been little development of any solutions and where a minor improvement could be enough to dramatically change the quality of life for many people. Designers can also be the long-term ­thinkers who look at the unintended consequences of growth and progress and ensure that their solutions are optimized to reduce negative impacts. If you were to wish for one project that you could do in an emerging country, what would it be? We do a lot of work with consumer electronics companies, and we have the benefit of assuming our target customer has electricity, a high-definition television set, a PC, a home network, and broadband Internet. We help them put together electronic solutions that help people with entertainment, passing the time, being connected with family members in and out of the home, and other crucial aspects of a digital daily life. I would love to understand how those behaviours take place in an emerging country (because the behaviours are fundamentals, only the toys and tools change around the world). I think this would lead to some fascinating concepts for low- or non-technology products for both the developed and the developing market.

Interview 5 Dmitry Volkov on Users, Innovation, Design and Other Things Russian What, according to you, describes an emerging economy? I think this term has never been strictly defined. During the time of the former Soviet Union it was used to designate countries of the Third World, those that demonstrated high economic growth but were neither part of the industrialized Soviet nor developed Western world. Today, more often, Russia considers itself an emerging economy. Along with Brazil, Argentina, India, China, Malaysia and a few others. There is another term that seems to have surfaced—BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China), because it offers not just a profile of their current collective situation, but evokes a certain perspective

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on global development. For international business it usually suggests the most exciting markets for development and expansion. BRIC was considered an area of special interest for the new but highly ambitious top Russian business school, Skolkovo. President Medvediev was present at its third anniversary and paid special attention to developing leaders for emerging markets. Based on your experience of working in Russia, do you think users in Russia are ­different from users in already emerged or developed economies, and how? If I had to outline Russian cultural differences in respect to services and technology I would say that Russian users are more tolerant towards unfriendly customer service and faulty equipment. Times when there were no choice of products and services are gone but still remembered. This perhaps makes Russian customers more inventive in the way they use services or products. For decades everything made abroad was considered more valuable than what was produced locally, even when it was objectively not any better. Regarding other issues such as behaviour on the Internet, according to a study by Rambler Media, Russian users search and use public email daily at a rate of around 60%. The majority prefer a local search engine Yandex. ru, ‘ya.ru’ for short. Search and email are perhaps the most used services in other countries as well. But Russian users are more frequent readers of news. About 70% read news daily, and weather forecasts (we have a lot of bad weather!). My guess is that during the crisis most people also check the dollar exchange rate. This must be a difference, too. In Russia most e-commerce Web sites don’t accept credit cards as a means of payment. Most payments, at a rate of close to 60%, are made to the person delivering the merchandise. So Web sites don’t need to think much about ­providing credible interfaces and security for transactions. The customer can always refuse to pay for the product upon personal examination. The other related issue is the number of payment options available to the customer. Web sites usually offer several—5 to 10—different options for payment, most of which involve some kind of virtual currency. This creates a lot of usability problems. Why do Russian audiences not help contestants to win a million (according to the book Sway, which studied how audiences of the show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire behave across cultures)? I assume it’s not enough to succeed … everybody else must fail. Honestly, I’m puzzled like you are. In Russian schools, helping the neighbour is still an important part of study. During exams in the universities, asking for help from classmates or giving help is considered normal behaviour. In my own experience with schools in the United States, Americans tend to be much more individualistic, but times indeed change.

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Overall, we have a major trend towards less cooperation and trust between people. There’s a decline of communal values, and a rise in individualism. Survival of the fittest has become one of the dominant ideologies. Business schools teach the value of cooperation, but students don’t believe it. What are the three most important aspirations every Russian citizen has? In terms of material goods or services I believe the majority wants fashionable clothes, housing independent from relatives, a decent foreign-made car, and travelling. Well, this is four, not three. Food is a basic necessity. But I think most people are satisfied. Most people have a place to live and are not renting, but rather own by sharing an apartment with parents or relatives. So getting a separate place is a very high priority. By the way, I may be disregarding people from rural areas. Especially the younger generation that wants to move to Moscow or St. Petersburg since these places are happening. Russians really like to travel for warm weather, sun (we have almost none), and out of curiosity. For youth, having a nice mobile phone or even a laptop is definitely becoming important. During perestroika, education was not considered as important since rules of the game were subject to change every year. Then, it was important to make money in the short term. Prevailing wisdom said ‘Take as much as you can and run!’ Take risks, be adventurous … and run! I think the current crisis caused concern for good education to be placed higher on the agenda. Now just about everywhere you hear about the importance of efficient management and technical expertise. I think this an ­important trend. As education became commercialized, it gained value in public opinion as it was free for decades. We had an old folk saying: the problems in Russia are twofold: fools and roads. Now we are more politically ­correct. We say there are still two problems: management and infrastructure … and we’re ready to work on both. If we are talking about nonmaterial aspirations, then stability and confidence in the future would be the biggest concerns. Is Russia only defined by Moscow and St. Petersburg from the perspective of the users of technology? Russia has about 30–40 million Internet users. About 30% of them are in Moscow or St. Petersburg. Both cities are very different from the rest of the country—very cosmopolitan, growing and developing very fast. There are many attempts to equalize the coverage of information and communication technologies, but the difference is still very significant. Both cities appear to the rest of the country as a major place for opportunities. What is the rest of Russia like—from a technology adoption and usage perspective? Most Muscovites wonder whether there is life outside the outer city roadring! It’s a common joke. You can hire our company to study this … we’re interested to know, ourselves!

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What role does information and communication technology play in the life of an average Russian citizen? Most people use mobile phones and the Internet. We have 3 major cellular networks providers and most of the country is covered by cellular Â�networks. We have 3G networks available and all cellular phone operators have been offering mobile Internet. About 11% of users have actually tried mobile Internet. I believe this number is close to figures in the United States, United Kingdom and Italy. The new generation of mobile Internet has been offered by Yota, called Mobile WiMax. But so far it covers only Moscow: http://www. yota.ru/ru/coverage/. We have a total of 191 million subscribers for mobile phone services, with 32 million in Moscow alone. This is strange since we only have about 15 million inhabitants. So two phones per person? I think Nokia is the most popular and known brand of mobile phone in Russia. People think they are the best quality. For young people the number of functions and stylish design is most important. From my experience with the elder generation, the size of the buttons and simplicity is the key to success. The most popular Web sites on RuNet (Russian Internet) yandex.ru—71,14%; search engine mail.ru—70,69%; email rambler.ru—49,74%; search engine odnoklassniki.ru—37,33%; social networking site. Find your former classmates! google.ru—35,04% google.com—28,63% vkontakte.ru—27,76%; social networking site. Find your former classmates! microsoft.com—26,55% rbc.ru—25,42%; business news liveinternet.ru—21,02% loveplanet.ru—17,38%; dating website ru.wikipedia.org—15,88% zaycev.net—15,63%; music and video files exchange readme.ru—14,57%; media, news etc. kp.ru—13,49%; largest newspaper marketgid.com—13,49%; online market youtube.com—12,41%; video mamba.ru—11,50%; dating Web site depositfiles.com—10,81%; file exchange

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Although we have a smaller percentage of Internet users than developed countries, they tend to be more active. Russian users may have multiple accounts in social network sites, as well as multiple email accounts. A Russian Internet user has an average of 70 ‘virtual’ friends (they don’t meet in person but communicate on the regular basis) compared to 10 for European users. Do you find that there are technologies/devices that have created an entire ecosystem of opportunities for people from all sections of society in Russia? My answer is trivial, perhaps: the Internet and mobile phones. The Internet created a lot of business opportunities while mobile phones made business more efficient. Both means of communication benefit cities as well as rural areas. Heavy traffic in cities has made meeting people in person difficult. Instead, they call each other more often. Young people prefer SMS. What role do you see for innovation and design in the progress and growth of Russia? I assume most people would consider that talent, intelligence and connections would be the key to success for business in Russia. Some would add hard work and criminal ties. What about innovation and design? My  own perception is that innovation is what makes business worth it. But ­honestly, most of the time I’ve found solutions by copying somebody’s idea and just making it slightly better, or marketing it better. In short, these tactics seem to produce faster results. But I’m convinced that in the long run innovation is the key to becoming really big and really successful. That’s where we’re headed. What role do you see designers can play in an emerging economy like Russia that may be different from their role in a developed country like the United States? I think that customers in Russia pay more attention to the appearance of the product rather than to its functionality or usability. It’s very important that a product looks fancy and expensive. This is particularly true for both clothing and Web sites. Unlike in the United States where people wear what is comfortable, Russians, especially women, wear what is impressive. What changes, if any, do you think should be made to the very Western methods of user research (one-on-one interviews, focus groups, etc.) when a designer tries to understand users in Russia? Russians have fewer concerns about privacy. We do organize focus groups and interviews. But more often companies simply use online surveys and outbound calling campaigns to obtain information. So you should not be surprised to be called late at night by some call centre operator knowing your name, age and profession asking about some product or service.

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What is your advice to anyone who wishes to conceptualise and design innovative products and services for Russia? It’s important to learn about the local culture and traditions. There are Â�substantial differences based on age. There is a lot of scepticism about new services because people expect scams, especially in the financial sector. As regards technology, are there local examples of innovative, path-breaking product and services design that have significantly changed people’s lives in Russia? We have a very innovative design lab both for offline and online products: www.artlebedev.ru. They have a lot of innovative concepts and are very Â�stylish. But they haven’t found their way into large production facilitiesÂ�. Google is also quite innovative; remember that Sergey Brin is Russian. We have a huge economy for virtual currencies: example, Webmoney, which I think is also a typically Russian type of economy—no taxes. Also, Paypal is also partially Russian (Ukranian) with Max Levchin cofounder. I think he was the main tech guy there. What are the challenges and opportunities that you see for usability and design in Russia? Raising usability specialists and education for designers. The most important problem is the lack of knowledge.

Interview 6 Darelle van Greunen on the Difference that Design and Innovation Can Make to Users in an Emerging Country What according to you describes an emerging economy? In my opinion an emerging economy is best described as an economy which has the potential to grow. This means regions of the world that are not only experiencing rapid growth but that also have the potential to experience rapid growth and remain sustainable. This includes regions where barriersÂ� and difficulties can be turned into opportunities for sustainable growth opening up new markets for economic growth in areas such as ICT and then specifically telecommunications and mobile technologies. In my opinion, characteristics of a typical emerging economy include: • There is a severe separation between rich and poor. • They are likely to lack trained ICT workers.

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• They are likely to possess weak and inexperienced institutions and systems of economic governance. • They have sharp sensitivities to cultural autonomy and threats. • They tend to be less engaged and knowledgeable about forums where the global information society is being enforced. The opportunities for Africa and Africans are enormous. The richness of culture and diversity that spans the continent from east to west and north to south is unique. Africa today does face many challenges: job creation, health, education, culture and trade. Yet, with a visionary approach, and the adoption and implementation of ICT, Africa will become a greater, more active and invaluable participant in the global village. In Africa, ICT is big. It is big in the sense that when it is adopted and deployed it can have a seriously positive impact on a very large number of people. Across Africa today, ICT is being used as a catalyst for positive socioeconomic change. Every region of the continent (southern, northern, eastern and western) is implementing innovative ICT solutions that are benefitting citizens, communities and entire countries. ICT is helping Africa to change from having a digital divide to having digital opportunities. Based on your experience of working in South Africa, do you think users in Africa are different from users in emerged/developed economies? How? Yes, users in Africa are certainly different from emerged or developed countries. While many sustainability issues are relevant in both developed and emerging economies, the way they play out with respect to the users ­frequently differs. Local realities pose particular challenges in emerging economies, affecting the context for sustainability. These can include ­massive poverty, weak social capital, significant inequality of access, power and wealth, and weak governance and corruption. Expectations from users are extremely high and evolve rapidly depending on the political, economic and international climate. The cultural diversity of South African society has important implications for software as far as user-centred design is concerned. For example, under normal circumstances the user and task analysis techniques offered by HCI provide adequate information about users and their work. However, these techniques are inadequate when a large number of cultural variables must be factored in. To cope with cultural diversity and still ensure optimum performance, a designer needs to know about a wider range of factors that will affect a person’s work and social behaviour in a technological environment. This implies that the South African HCI practitioner cannot function effectively without including ethnographic techniques in his/her toolbox. The average typical user also has relatively low written literacy levels as well as low levels of technology literacy. When designing, for example, user interfaces to support the ever-changing business processes in South Africa,

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one has to consider three main categories of issues relating to people, process and technology. How is South Africa different from the rest of Africa, from the perspective of the users of technology? South African users per se differ in the sense that the South African ­society is shaped by indigenous socioeconomic forces and cultural practices as much as it is by globalisation forces. Computer users are not a homogeneous group and, for that reason, it is important to acknowledge and understand the role played by HCI, not only in the design of software for diverse user groups, but also in the efforts to build a healthy ICT industry that can enrich people’s economic, social, cultural and political lives. South African users often display unique interaction patterns which reflect ethnic and cultural issues. Seen against the background of South Africa’s social and political conditions, it seems that even poor usability can be blamed on factors like linguistic, cultural, literacy and economic diversity­. These realities can in turn be located within an historical context, for ­example the legacy of apartheid education that has now forced South Africa into ­trying to catch up with the competency bases of developed countries. Problems of poor user interface design that are ill-adapted to users’ requirements are common. ICT tools are filled with worthless information originating from organisations’ lack of expertise and experience in the use of such tools. Since the use of such tools is relatively new, South African user’s expertise is still poorly developed. Learning often takes place by trial and error. The absence of solid expertise often proves to be an inhibitor in the development of appropriate use of ICT technologies. You have talked about the fact that ICT is regarded as a vital catalyst for social change and economic development in Africa. Can you give an example or two as to how ICT is acting as a catalyst for social change? ICT is delivering positive social and economic change. The challenges facing Africa cannot be solved exclusively by ICT; however ICT can and is playing an active and important role in the continent’s economic growth and development.  In the African continent healthcare, education, finance and e-governance­ are some of the industry sectors where the impact of ICT is felt most. ICT has enabled tremendous growth in the online-education sector (e-learning) and thousands of online resources across the globe can now be accessed online. One such example is that of eTeaching with KEWL 3.0 (Knowledge Environment for Web Learning). It is a Web 2.0 enabled eLearning environment designed for the creation of online courses with a choice of pedagogies and technologies. KEWL originated in South Africa and is now used not only in Africa but several other emerging economies. Built upon the Chisimba platform, KEWL 3.0 has an open architecture and ease

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of integration with content and functionality from anywhere in the Web 2.0 world. KEWL 3.0 has many features expected from a cutting-edge e-learning environment but was developed and designed with the emerging economy users in mind. As more government services become available online for businesses and citizens, these public agencies promote a circle of adoption and investment and become conduits of technology, users of ICT infrastructure and ­promoters of ICT services. Further, as government usage stimulates demand for ICT solutions, it helps promote investment in the supply of additional infrastructure and services. It furthermore supports and encourages services delivery in countries where this is often severely lacking. In the Western Cape Province of South Africa, the local government has established the Cape Gateway Portal, which is a single point of access to government information and services for the citizens of the Western Cape. Due to the success of this initiative, the government information and services are now available on kiosk systems, the Internet and soon on mobile devices. The adoption of mobile money services is also emerging as a fundamental tool for financial inclusion. In terms of the addressable opportunity, approximately 1 billion people currently have mobile phones but no access to banking services. Several initiatives in this space are underway including mobile banking services and the mobile transfer of money using SMS technology. E-health has evolved as an innovative solution for transforming the delivery and cost structure of healthcare. Local officials in emerging economies such as Rwanda, now use mobile phones to input health data that provides real-time information on potential disease outbreaks and medicine ­shortages. In Uganda the use of mobile phones to support midwives in rural areas are currently under investigation. In South Africa, the capturing of patient medical records in rural areas using mobile technology has become a point of investigation given the lack of other infrastructure in these areas. Do you find that there are technologies/devices such as the mobile phone that have created an entire ecosystem of opportunities for people from all sections of society in Africa? If yes, why do you think this is the case? Can you give some examples? While the challenges of connectivity, infrastructure, hardware availability and support constitute the realities of Africa are well documented in literature (Abungu, 2002, Akinboade and Lalthapersad-Pillay, 2005, Czerniewicz, 2004, Ford and Whaley, 2003, Klein, 2004, Nwauche, 2005, Traxler, 2007, Traxler and Leach, 2006), it also records an enormous growth in mobile cellular technology use. Mobile phones are advocated as a poverty-reduction tool in emerging economies. Across rural–urban and rich–poor divides, they connect people to people, to information, to markets, and to financial services. Mobile phones may even achieve for very little money what governments have spent millions trying to do: teach people to read. The spread of mobile

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phones in poor countries and their ability to leapfrog infrastructure-intensive­ landlines is well established. Mobile phone technology’s societal penetration is not only faster than any other technology in the past, but also the single most widespread ICT today. Amongst the developing regions Africa has had the highest mobile cellular technology growth rate (32% over 2006 to 2007) and the mobile penetration has increased from one in 50 people in 2000 to over 1 in 25 people at the end of 2008. This trend is set to continue and the mobile cellular divide is expected to be reduced significantly over time. In South Africa, it is suggested that mobile technologies, not only provide mobility, but also empower the user with ability. This ability refers to the user’s capacity to connect to the information society as a contributor and a user. This connection ability is of primary advantage in the areas where other means of access are not available as a result of various infrastructure and physical realities. The use of networked personal computers being extended to the mobile platform for the added dimension of mobility and contextual access depicts the course that is evident in Europe, the Pacific Rim and North America. Here access to the information age is predominantly gained through desktop computing. Africa and other developing regions are, however, testing/contradicting­ this conventional thinking and entering the information society from a mobile centric perspective. Mobile technology is extended with desktop capabilities where the functionalities of the technology are not able to support the activities of the user. This alternative access to the information age challenges the concept of a digital divide with that of a digital opportunity. Mobile technology has integrated into just about every sphere of the commercial and social fibre of Africa. Barely half of adults—or 13.5 million ­people—in  South Africa  have bank accounts in a country of 45 million people­. However, more than 20 million people possess a mobile phone, a device that has revolutionised everyday life for Africa’s poor. A new mobile phone banking venture, shows how smart companies can profit from this anomaly. MTN Banking, a 50:50 joint venture between South Africa’s Standard Bank and MTN, the continent’s biggest cellular provider by sales, offers customers full-service banking from their mobile phones. Customers collect a starter pack at MTN outlets containing a Mobile Money bank card and instructions on how to download banking software to their phones. Within 15 minutes they can begin to transfer money, pay bills or buy prepaid mobile airtime on their handsets. Starting next year, the banking-services menu will be embedded on all SIM cards offered by MTN, including the prepaid SIM cards most South Africans use. Banking via mobile phone is not new. Many banks offer call centre services or individual banking functions accessible through the wireless application protocol or text messaging systems. However, while other mobile offerings require users to send a number of characters to transact banking, the MTN

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system allows users to scroll through a simple menu. MTN Banking is, its investors’ claim, the world’s first stand-alone mobile phone bank to be established in partnership between a bank and a mobile phone provider. And it is aimed squarely at South Africa’s ‘mass market’ customers, most of whom will never have so much as entered a bank. You have studied the growth of the online retail sector in South Africa and its ­contribution to the economy. Do you feel that a designer of online retail channels in South Africa can take the best practices from online retail design of other developed countries and implement the same design in South Africa? It is difficult to answer this question in a particular manner. E-commerce specifically online retail in this emerging economy has grown tremendously over the past years. Even though online retail sales lag the conventional retail sales, it poses a great growth potential. For online retail to be successful, e-commerce Web sites that are responsive to the users’ needs is a critical prerequisite. Designing such a Web site in South Africa is a challenge since the population varies greatly with regard to cultural background. A recent study (Van Greunen, Martim, Herselman, 2009) indicated that South African users are more comfortable using the locally developed online retail sites as opposed to a very well-known often sited international retail site. Findings from the mentioned study include the following: In general, most users preferred the South African retail Web sites over the well-known international Web site. It can therefore be concluded as a result of the role of culture in the use of online retail sites, South African users have different needs from international users. It was also concluded from the study that some South African retail companies are aware of usability and have ensured that their Web sites are usable. South African users are still sceptical about security and trust issues. Online retailers therefore, should require users to provide the relevant information. Information such as gender, title and date of birth can be irrelevant. The aim should be to enable the customer to complete a sale. South African users ­prefer colourful, well presented Web sites. Error messages needs to be clear and visible since users do not read the information provided on the Web sites. What changes, if any, have you had to make to the very Western methods of user research (one-on-one interviews, focus groups, etc.) in your usability and design work to suit the user population in South Africa? In my opinion it is important to understand that the traditional approaches to usability and design work are not necessarily usable in the South African and African context. All the methods can work, but before employing any of the methods or techniques, it is important to have a thorough understanding of the context. This includes the following:

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• An ethnographic orientation (understanding of users) with regards to the user and the specific organisation. • An understanding of the linguistic diversity of the intended target users considering their reading and writing ability, as well as what their home language is. • An understanding of the literacy diversity of the intended target users with reference to their written language knowledge and their exposure to technology. Different techniques can be used to establish the above, but without this background knowledge, none of the traditional Western methods of user research will be successful. What role do you see designers can play in an emerging economy like South Africa that may be different from their role in a developed country like the United States? The designers from other countries have a window of opportunity. While other countries seek to replicate the United States’ existing design strengths (such as design guidelines), they can continue making their creative processes stronger. Countries such as the United States should consider how emerging economies have benefited from design in order to understand how to take advantage of the new opportunities offered by the global marketplace. It has to be said that designers in emerging economies can make a difference by providing models, roadmaps and strategies for e-inclusion in diverse user populations. Not only are they able to design for their users but also to design to meet the needs of their users. By involving their users and putting the needs of the users first, they will know the local context that they are designing for. Designers from emerging economies not only have similar diversities to their user population but will also be familiar with the culture context and what is required to establish e-inclusion and access to ICT. If designers from different parts of the world are not able to work together and make the most of the opportunities, the designers of the emerging economies may, in the time to come, become the leaders of design. What would be your advice to anyone who wishes to conceptualise and design ­innovative products and services for Africa? Context … context … context. Designers and developers should understand the context of use of the product they are designing. Not only the context, but a thorough understanding of the intended user population is required. Involve local knowledge experts in as far as possible. Also ensure a thorough understanding of local culture and requirements. Understand the technology and literacy levels of users, how they read text on screens for example. What are their abilities to read and understand documentation?

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Are there examples of innovative/path-breaking design of products and services done locally (preferably using technology) that have significantly changed peoples’ lives in Africa? There are a number of innovative mobile projects which have made a significant impact in Africa. Some of these include the Collaboration at Rural (C@R) project (a project for using SMS technologies to order products from ­suppliers in rural areas); the PATHS project (an ehealth initiative in rural clinics in South Africa); mobile banking projects in Uganda and mobile health initiatives in Rwanda. Can you describe a couple of your favourite projects and why they are your favourites? It is difficult to single out specific projects as each project has a different impact and purpose. There is the project with voice interfaces to assist HIV care workers in rural Botswana; the Africa Drive Project which used ­various technologies to familiarize teachers with technologies such as Word Processing, Internet and email and, at the same time, upskill them in ­subjects such as mathematics and science.