computing for socio-economic development kentaro toyama assistant managing director microsoft...
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Computing for Socio-Economic Development
Kentaro Toyama
Assistant Managing Director
Microsoft Research India
Emerging Technology Conference (ETech)
March 5, 2008 – San Diego
Outline
The Challenge of India
Three Projects from MSR India– Simultaneous Shared Access– Text-Free User Interfaces– Digital Green
Five Stages of Design
Outline
The Challenge of India
Three Projects from MSR India– Simultaneous Shared Access– Text-Free User Interfaces– Digital Green
Five Stages of Design
India
People• ~1.1 billion people
– Over half under 25 years old• 22 official languages• Annual incomes $100-$100M+• 28 states
Area• ~1/3 the area of United States
Technology• ~30M PCs, installed base• ~110M households with TV
– 65M cable consumers
Sources: CIA Factbook, TRAI, CNN
Roads in India
People• ~1.1 billion people
– Over half under 25 years old• 22 official languages• Annual incomes $100-$100M+• 28 states
Area• ~1/3 the area of United States
Technology• ~30M PCs, installed base• ~110M households with TV
– 65M cable consumers
India, a Personal View
but, power held by fewtremendous energy and optimism
incredible diversity, EM microcosmreminiscent of European Union
impact of weather (ubiquity of agriculture)
huge interest in PCs, by everyoneinformation still flows
(e.g., 250M mobiles)
Huge potential opportunity for computing industry.
But, there are new challenges that
neither India nor the industry have ever faced before.
Infosys campus, Bangalore
A small Internet café on a market street in a town near Bombay
Rural village with a VSAT Internet connection near Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
Technology for Emerging Markets
Understand potential technology users in economically poor communities:
– E.g., urban domestic labourers– E.g., rural entrepreneurs
Adapt, invent, or design applications of computing that contribute to socio-economic development of poor communities worldwide.
Computer-skills camp in Nakalabande, Bangalore(MSR India, Stree Jagruti Samiti, St. Joseph’s College)
Microsoft Research India
Multidisciplinary ResearchAishwarya Lakshmi Ratan
–Public Administration and International Development
Jonathan Donner
– Communications
Nimmi Rangaswamy
– Social Anthropology
Indrani Medhi– Design
Kentaro Toyama (Group Lead)
– Computer Science
Paul Javid– Computer Science
Society
Group
Technology
Individual
Society
Group
Technology
Individual
Innovation
Understanding
Impa
ct
Innovation
Understanding
Impa
ct
Rikin Gandhi– Astrophysics
Randy Wang
Computer Science –
Saurabh Panjwani– Computer Science
Outline
The Challenge of India
Three Projects from MSR India– Simultaneous Shared Access– Text-Free User Interfaces– Digital Green
Five Stages of Design
Simultaneous Shared AccessUdai Singh Pawar, Joyojeet Pal (UC Berkeley), Kentaro Toyama
Education in India
300M children aged 6-18; 210M enrolled in school; 105M actively attending.
Mostly children of low-income farmers, villagers, migrant wage workers
Teachers poorly trained and frequently absent
Schoolchildren outside of Bhopal
Truepersonalcomputer
A Computer Per Child?
Intel’s Classmate PC
XO from One Laptop Per Child
Typical PC Classroom
Rural school in Chinhat, Uttar Pradesh
Photo: Randy Wang
Even with computing…
One PC, many children.
Photos: Joyojeet Pal
MultiPoint: Solution
Provide a mouse for every student
– One cursor for each mouse, with different colours or shapes
– USB mice• Have tried up to 20
– Content modified • Game-like environment
MultiPoint: Screenshot
MultiPoint: ResultsKids understand MultiPoint immediately.
All students more engaged for longer periods of time.
– Even children without mice engage longer.
Self-reporting is positive.– Exception: one student didn’t like
MultiPoint because of competitiveness
For memorization tasks, MultiPoint as effective as one PC per student
Before
After
MultiPoint: Advantages
Costs reasonable; incentives aligned
– Cost effective: One computer + 5 mice comes to ~$100 per child.
– Content authors can adapt to paradigm
– Government / administrators can claim better use of computers
– Teachers can keep more students entertained
– Students have more fun (cf., multi-player computer games)
Shared PC
Nothingpersonal
Personalmouse
(MultiPoint)
Sharedprocessor,monitor &keyboard
Sharedprocessor &
monitor
Sharedprocessor
Nothingshared
Personalmouse & keyboard
(Split Screen)
Personalmouse,
keyboard& monitor
(Multi-console,Thin client)
Truepersonalcomputer
Continuum of Sharing
Split Screen
Two users, two mice, two keyboards, two instances of the OS, but only one monitor
Split Screen Research
Two young adults learning with Split Screen
Photo: Divya Kumar
IT training centre in a busy low-income urban community
– Run by HOPE Foundation– Co-certified by state gov’t
Content is basic computer skills education:– Computer basics– Office suite (Word, Excel)
No problems with usability; individual Split-Screen users can accomplish as much as single-screen users.
Minor technical problems.
Collaboration effects strongly correlated with existing degree of friendship between users
Outline
The Challenge of India
Three Projects from MSR India– Simultaneous Shared Access– Text-Free User Interfaces– Digital Green
Five Stages of Design
Text-Free User InterfacesIndrani Medhi, Kentaro Toyama
Illiteracy
1-2 billion illiterate population in the world.
98% live in developing countries.
India’s rate of literacy (optimistically) estimated at
~60%.
Text-Free UI, Take 1
Design Principles:
– Pen or touch interface
– Liberal use of icons and images
– Voice feedback
– Care in details of graphics; semi-abstracted cartoons
– Aggressive use of mouse-over functionality
– Consistent help iconMonster.com for domestic labourers?
Maps for illiterate users?
Results, Take 1
Task: For a friend who is unemployed, find the best-paying job in her neighborhood.
Results: Subjects could manipulate the application, but only 30% completed the task, even with significant prompting:
Problem: Deeper problem in motivation and lack of cognitive model of how the PC worked.
Can any UI be converted into one that is usable by illiterate users?
ILLITERACY
FEAR OF TECHNOLOGY
LACK OF TRUST IN TECHNOLOGY
LACK OF AWARENESS OF WHAT TECHNOLOGY CAN DELIVER
New Problem!
Can a UI be developed to allow an illiterate, first-time PC user to access information he/she needs without any assistance or prompting?
New question:
Original question:
Full-Context Video
A full-context video explains the broader context of the application and how it works, in addition to instructional material about how to use the application.
Full-Context Video
Results, Take 2100% of subjects completed task with full-context video!
Round-two subjects were incredulous that round-one subjects didn’t understand the application.
Impact of video not permanent for most subjects. Many wanted to see the full-context video each time, even after seeing it before.
Full-context video appears to increase motivation, as well as performance.
Those who saw full-context video were interested in providing feedback on the specifics of the UI.
Text-Free UI, Take 2
Design Principles:
– Pen or touch interface
– Liberal use of icons and images
– Voice feedback
– Care in details of graphics; semi-abstracted cartoons
– Aggressive use of mouse-over functionality
– Consistent help icon
– Full-context video
Outline
The Challenge of India
Three Projects from MSR India– Simultaneous Shared Access– Text-Free User Interfaces– Digital Green
Five Stages of Design
Rikin Gandhi, Rajesh Veeraraghavan, Vanaja Ramprasad, Randy Wang, Kentaro Toyama
Digital Green
Agriculture Extension
Dissemination of expert agriculture information and technology to farmers
“Training & Visit” extension popularized by the World Bank in 1970s
– Face-to-face interactions of extension officers and farmers
100,000 extension officers in India– Extension agent-to-farmer ratio is 1:
2,000– 610,000 villages in India with average
1,000-person population
Typical extension officer salary is$100 per month
Extension officer “commuting” between farms
??
Main source of information about new technology and farm practices over the past 365 days (India: NSSO 2005)
Agricultural Social Networks
Six months in field trying various combinationsOver 200 days of surveys, ethnographic investigation, and iterative design
Early Experimentation
Digital Green System
1. Participatory content production
2. Video database
3. Mediated instruction
4. Structured sequencing
20 villages in Karnataka:– Language: Kannada– Crops: Ragi, banana, mulberry, coconut– Population: 50-80 households– Irrigation: 10-20 households with access– Television: 15-20 households
Metrics:– Knowledge: Before-and-after– Attendance: Farmers at each screening– Interest: Intent to take-up a practice– Adoption: Number of households taking up
each new farming practice or technology
Experimental Set-UpPreliminary Evaluation
ExpertExpert
Extension Officer
Extension Officer
Farming Community
Farming Community
Farming Community
Farming Community
Farming Community
Farming Community
Research AssistantResearch Assistant
Local MediatorLocal Mediator Local MediatorLocal Mediator Local MediatorLocal Mediator
Poster Green(4)Same as Digital Green with local mediator, but no TV/DVDMediator makes posters and holds regular group sessions
Classical GREEN (8)Same as usual
Digital Green (8)3 sessions per weekCost:
Rs. 9,500 ($240) for TV/DVD per villagePC / camera costs sharedExtension officer sharedMediator salary
Accountability:Daily metrics and feedbackOfficial extension staff
9-month study
7 times more adoptions over classical extensionat less cost per village
9 months: 12 villages, 3 nights a week, 1,000 regulars
Sustained local presence
Mediation
Repetition (and novelty)
Integration into existing extension operations
Social homophily between mediator, actor, and farmer
Desire to be “on TV”
Trust built from identities of farmers and villages in videos
Digital Green: Results
Digital Green is at least 10 times more effective per dollar spent than classical extension!
Outline
The Challenge of India
Three Projects from MSR India– Simultaneous Shared Access– Text-Free User Interfaces– Digital Green
Five Stages of Design
Five Stages of Design
Stage Knowledge Gained
Wonder Technology / Surface Problem
Exuberance Surface Solution
Realization Real Problem
Adjustment Real Solution
Identification User
Deeper
Intuition
Good design comes out of deep intuition into the user.
StageSimultaneous
Shared Access
Text-Free UI Digital Green
Wonder rural education illiteracyagriculture extension
ExuberancePCs for
everyone!UIs without text! Video for farmers
Realizationper-student PC
too costlyUI manipulation
not the issue“Experts” on TV
not trusted
Adjustment shared PC full-context videolocal video;medi- ated instruction
Identification“We’ll share and play!”
“Demystify it for me.”
“Farmer Idol”
Cyclical
processFive Stages in Our Projects
Time spent with (potential) users is key!
Conclusion
The Challenge of India
Three Projects from MSR India– Simultaneous Shared Access– Text-Free User Interfaces– Digital Green
Five Stages of Design
Thank you!http://research.microsoft.com/research/tem
Photo: Indrani Medhi