Jan 26, 2012 | Design for the other 90%: Cell phones

The calibre of these Wednesday HCI lunches is pretty high up there from the beginning of this year, and today was no exception, with a fantastic talk by South Africa's IndabaMobile CEO Ken Venn talking about how his company is trying to improve digital access via cell phones to the market in South Africa. It's a humbling experience, really, to think about how much we take for granted here in Silicon Valley for the cellphones and the tools we have at our disposal. Consider these numbers:

• In 2010, 76% of the 50 million South Africans owned a cellphone [source].
• There are more cellphones in the country than there are people (some people own more than one phone). [source]
• The average cell phone bill is 3% of their income (AMPS 2005), with figures from 95 rand (about $12) for prepaid and 390 rand for contract based plans ($50). (source1 source2). This is higher than the $3 quoted by Ken, but I suspect it's harder to get a good image of the true distribution of costs.
• According to Nielsen, more African have access to a cellphone than they do to water

No you won't see Apple on that chart (source)

Anectdotally:

• When South African taxi and bus drivers went on strike, IndabaMobile expected cellphone traffic to rise, but the opposite was true, because most individuals charged their phones at work, and they couldn't get to work.
• Many South Africans want to join Facebook, but won't do so through the cell phones because of high internet meterage fees.
• The cellphone ends up being a digital hub for music, photos and communication, though that content rarely makes it off the cellphone.
• Many South Africans will top up the airtime for their SIM cards at a Spaza (convenience) shop. Alternatively they can go to the South African equivalent to Sears, PEP, and IndabaMobile partnered with them to provide subsidies for users of their IndabaMobile app
• Some will have multiple cell phones or multiple SIM cards in order to save money on provider-specific calling arrangements. Similarly, individuals would by multiple small increments of top-up airtime in order to limit spending at any given time.
• A free cross-carrier callback service called "Please Call Me" will let users send very brief messages that can be used to communicate (like "Please Call Me bread" as an indicator to get bread, instead of calling me back). See also the paper on "beeping", the practice of calling and hanging up after a ring or two.

Design considerations

Given these points it's interesting to think about possible design opportunities in this area, as there is clearly a demonstrated demand for cellphone-based communication, and existing infrastructure clearly shows that people can adopt it and use it to suit their needs. Here are some off the cuff thoughts:

1. How might we... construct cheap cell phones that are rugged and with good enough battery life, but with a higher resolution screen so that individuals might enjoy their content more? Similarly, how might one add wi-fi support to a basic Nokia or clamshell cellphone so that people might be able to access the Internet in designated spots for free?
2. How might we... encourage individuals to overcome a fear of the expenses associated with the Internet? Is the only way to do so to encourage carriers to bring down cost, or are there other methods? Can products in the market provide free vouchers for Internet access on the cell phone? Alternatively, can the Spaza shops or PEP be a central point for letting people explore what can be done using a cellphone's internet access?
3. How might we... let the means of communication also open up other means for access to education or health? (A lot of work already explores this area, but worth noting)
4. How might one... develop the infrastructure to ensure that individuals can retain their own cellphone based content while providing access to newer phones? Or is the "new phone" never a necessity, simply a desire?

Clearly there are many questions and few answers that I feel competent enough to provide without having some grounding in the field, but it's exciting to hear from those who are exploring these questions and trying to address a real, tangible need.