1,623
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
1 collections
    4
    shares

      Celebrating 65 years of The Computer Journal - free-to-read perspectives - bcs.org/tcj65

      scite_
       
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Conference Proceedings: found
      Is Open Access

      Krishi-Mitra: Case Study of a User-centric ICT Solution for Semi-literate and Illiterate Farmers in India

      proceedings-article
      ,
      India HCI 2010/ Interaction Design & International Development 2010 (IHCI)
      India HCI 2010/ Interaction Design & International Development 2010
      20 - 24 March 2010
      User interface, low literacy users, agriculture, information system, user-centered ICT, interaction design, usability testing, digital divide, audio-visual metaphors, interaction design, information design
      Bookmark

            Abstract

            More than 70% of the Indian population resides in rural area. This non-English speaking population practices agriculture as the main livelihood. Although farmers in India possess deep knowledge about traditional agricultural practices, they often lack immediate, contextual and real time access to vital factual information such as the current market prices for specific produce at their local agro-market, seed procurement, pest management, real-time updates on weather conditions etc. We designed and tested “Krishi-Mitra”, a user-centered ICT (Information and Communication Technology) solution that aims to revolutionize the rural farming communities in India by providing seamless access to vital agricultural information. We envisage “Krishi Mitra” as a user-centered information system with an easy to use, efficient, scalable, community oriented design that aims to promote professional growth of the rural farmers. The user interface of Krishi-Mitra is thoughtfully designed using audio- visual-textual cues and familiar high affordance metaphors that are easily understood not just by literate but also by the illiterate and semi-literate farmers. It supplements direct two-way interaction between farmers and agricultural experts, thus eliminating possible exploitation of farmers through deceitful intermediaries. To scaffold this design endeavor, we conducted rapid ethnographic research to uncover a deeper understanding of the information needs of rural farmers in two different districts in the State of Maharashtra in India. In this paper, we introduce the interface design of Krishi-Mitra realized through a conceptual prototype and discuss qualitative usability testing results of the User Interface of Krishi-Mitra conducted with five farmers in the Ahmadnagar district of Maharashtra in India. We believe that the findings and discussions from this case study will prove useful to interface designers and user researchers to inform and guide future work in this important area.

            Content

            Author and article information

            Contributors
            Conference
            March 2010
            March 2010
            : 1-8
            Affiliations
            [0001]Interaction Designer

            Human Computer Interaction Design

            Indiana University, Bloomington, USA
            [0002]Lecturer

            Department of Lib. & Inf. Science

            University of Pune, Pune India
            Article
            10.14236/ewic/IHCI2010.9
            62ce3b52-9f15-4a80-a271-e70d5fb1b162
            © Rajasee Rege et al. Published by BCS Learning and Development Ltd. India HCI 2010/ Interaction Design & International Development 2010, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Mumbai, India

            This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

            India HCI 2010/ Interaction Design & International Development 2010
            IHCI
            Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Mumbai, India
            20 - 24 March 2010
            Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)
            India HCI 2010/ Interaction Design & International Development 2010
            History
            Product

            1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

            Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/IHCI2010.9
            Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/
            Categories
            Electronic Workshops in Computing

            Applied computer science,Computer science,Security & Cryptology,Graphics & Multimedia design,General computer science,Human-computer-interaction
            User interface,low literacy users,agriculture,information system,user-centered ICT,interaction design,usability testing,digital divide,audio-visual metaphors,information design

            Comments

            Comment on this article