Lots of reading and more reading

Really not much to say about my research after the first two weeks. As expected, it was FULL of reading. Some very interesting, some not so…well you get the point.

Interesting material I read on ICT4D or HCI:

Gary’s (my research adviser) and Matt’s book:
Mobile Interaction Design

Since I’m looking at implementing the water quality reporting/alerting service on cellular phones (more commonly referred to as mobile phones in Africa), this addresses the constraints of designing for this platform. Chapter 11 is very informative; it warns against developing applications around cultural dimensions like Hofstede’s cultural classification, and suggests an effective approach when designing for cultures over than one’s own is to employ ethnographic or anthropological techniques.

Most people are shocked when they hear that the mobile penetration rate in South Africa exceeds 100% of the population, which basically means that just about everyone (rich, poor, educated, uneducated, young and old alike) has a mobile phone (or even two). So mobile phones provide a good platform to implement information services like the one I am designing since this is the only ‘computer’ many people in South Africa will have access to. For many, not only is their mobile phone their ‘land line’ telephone, it’s also their main access to information. This is true in many developing countries like my home country Jamaica.

Masters thesis in South Africa??!!

Yup it’s true; I will be heading to South Africa for 10 weeks to do my thesis project to complete my Masters in Information Technology at the Rochester Institute of Technology.  My research area is Information and Communications Technology for Development, (ICT4D) and Human Computer Interaction for Development (HCI4D).  This will be a more technical blog,  my personal blog  is at deanzbro.blogspot.com. 

Where?!
I will be joining the Computer Science department at the University of Cape Town as an international research affiliate working under Prof. Gary Marsden there.
 
What?!
Basically I will be designing an information and alerting service to inform consumers about the quality of the water they drink or use on a daily basis. This falls under a bigger international project called the Aquatest project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and spearheaded by Bristol University which seeks to develop a low‐cost water quality test kit to be used by both water professionals and the general public in developing countries to test and monitor water quality. It also seeks an information management solution that will allow for easy collection and management of water quality data gathered from testing.

Why?!  
Simply informing someone when their water source is contaminated could save a life. Contaminated water is the root cause of numerous diseases such as Diarrhea which claims the life of 1.8 million people a year. In fact it is a major killer among communicable diseases preceded only by respiratory infections and HIV/AIDS (WHO, 2008).  

PLUS it’s a legal requirement! Yup water service providers are required by law to report water quality test data to consumers in an easy to understand manner. In South Africa pretty much none of the water service providers do that. Why? It’s a challenging problem… In a country with eleven official languages and a large illiterate and semi‐illiterate population, how do you present water quality data in a way that is easily understood by all? And what medium is appropriate for disseminating water quality information to consumers given the existing technological constraints?

The answers to those questions, Ha that’s where I come in!! So stay tuned :)