Finding a Job Using Only a Mobile Phone?

Mobile phones are often looked at as tools for international development because of their affordability and accessibility. The article “Beyond Voice: New uses for mobile phones could launch another wave of development” highlights some uses and opportunities for the mobile phone in development. Focusing on people’s needs is key in development, so human-centered design in terms of innovative social technologies to address these issues should be as well. An example of a device that addressed a need of illiterate household workers in Bangalore, India is the Kelesa Konnection, which is a text-free user interface that uses graphics and photographs for visual information and voice for providing information normally provided via text/words. This interface helped women find better job opportunities as household workers because they often only hear about new jobs through word of mouth. The interface included ways to learn specific tasks requested by the employer, work schedule, break-up of wages by task, address of the employer, number of rooms in the residence; number of people residing, and location within the city. Here, we see mobile phones as having the ability to go far beyond simple communication to enhancing livelihoods even for the illiterate. Questions: How can the initial problem of fear with this new technology be mitigated? Since this technology has to be area-specific and constantly updated, do the benefits of the technology outweigh its inputs and costs?

Source: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/people/indranim/text-freeui.pdf