Kasper Rodil

Putting it in perspective: designing a 3D visualization to contextualize indigenous knowledge in rural Namibia

One design endeavor we pursue in a long-term research and co-design project is the creation of a 3D visualization interface for an indigenous knowledge (IK) management system with rural dwellers of Herero ethnicity in Namibia. Evaluations of earlier prototypes and theories on cultural differences in perception led us to further investigate the suitability of different perspectives of view for the given user group. Through a combination of drawing sessions, design discussions and a high-fidelity technology probe we explored the visual perceptions and preferences of community members; specifically focusing on representation and recognition of objects and places in their everyday environment. We report how the findings from the study have informed design decisions for our particular system while also suggesting that certain viewing angles for 3D visualizations could be more suitable for rural dwellers in general and the collaborating community in specific.

Homestead creator: a tool for indigenous designers

The article presents in-situ findings of introducing a tablet prototype, with touch interaction and 3D graphical visualizations, to empower knowledgeable village elders in Namibia to locally re-create a 3D graphical context for previously recorded video clips of indigenous practices and narratives. Findings indicate that tablets enable those indigenous users to partake in design sessions more equally than with laptops and other input devices. Through a GUI design example we illuminate the unique opportunities and challenges in designing in the space where cultures meet.

A new visualization approach to re-contextualize indigenous knowledge in rural Africa

Current views of sustainable development recognize the importance of accepting the Indigenous Knowledge (IK) of rural people. However, there is an increasing technological gap between Elder IK holders and the younger generation and a persistent incompatibility between IK and the values, logics and literacies embedded, and supported by ICT. Here, we present an evaluation of new technology that might bridge generations and preserve key elements of local IK in Namibia. We describe how we applied insights, generated by ethnographic, dialogical and participatory action research, in designing a structure in which users can store, organize and retrieve user-generated videos in ways that are compatible with their knowledge system. The structure embeds videos in a scenario-based 3D visualization of a rural village. It accounts for some of the ways this rural community manages information, socially, spatially and temporally and provides users with a recognizable 3D simulated environment in which to re-contextualize de-contextualized video clips. Our formative in situ evaluation of a prototype suggests the visualization is legible to community members, provokes participation in design discussions, offers opportunities for local appropriation and may facilitate knowledge sharing between IK holders and more youthful IK assimilators. Simultaneously differing interpretations of scenarios and modeled objects reveal the limitations of our modeling decisions and raises various questions regarding graphic design details and regional transferability.

Design Democratization with Communities: Drawing Toward Locally Meaningful Design

The authors present community drawing as meaningful representations to inform locally valid technology design. They investigate recognition within and across cultural borders, thereby exposing variances of localities. The study contributes to the still scarce body of empirical work on culturally meaningful development of visual representations and recognition, as part of a longitudinal research project in which we co-design a 3D visualization for a specific Namibian pilot site.

Community-based co-design in Okomakuara a contribution to 'design in the wild'

Although the wider motivation and principles of Participatory Design (PD) are universal its concepts and techniques are highly contextual. Community-based co-design is a variation of PD, where processes are negotiated within the interaction. Thus this workshop gives participants the opportunity to validate their own conceptualisations, techniques in-situ application against a selected Herero communitys evaluation. Besides a day of new impressions and thoughts we intend to record the discussions and present a shortened video at the conference.

Mobile technologies for preservation of indigenous knowledge in rural communities

In this paper we explore the opportunities of mobile technologies in three of our own development endeavors with rural communities, promoting the preservation of indigenous knowledge. We reflect upon and recognize the fact that the representation of indigenous knowledge will be transformed within the digitalization process under the limitations and capabilities of the tools. We believe that a continuation of local appropriation and co-design of tools will lead to an integrated, intuitive and non-intrusive indigenous knowledge preservation process within the local communities.

Homestead Creator: Using Card Sorting in Search for Culture-Aware Categorizations of Interface Objects

Designing intuitive interfaces for rural African users requires us to understand the users’ conceptual model. We acknowledge differences in categorization approaches based on cultural factors, among others. In the absence of comprehensive literature and theories, we explore card sorting as a means to derive a local categorization of interface objects for one of our prototypes. Results indicate a locational-relational categorization scheme among Herero elders in Namibia.

Tapping into local lore: toward scalable local mapping and tagging for rural Africa using mobile devices

In this paper we present a context-aware tool designed for mapping and tagging objects and places of importance to rural communities using sensor-enabled mobile devices. These data sets comprise comprehensive models of specific environments which we use for creating interactive visualized knowledge sharing platforms for indigenous knowledge in Southern Africa. The tool was originally created for researchers to efficiently capture large amounts of data in the field, but we realized that true scalability of the approach would only be attained when including local users. The tool has been through multiple design iterations and in-situ evaluations across several locations in Namibia, and this paper presents findings from our research into the feasibility and effectiveness of the tool to capture meaningful localized data in an efficient and scalable way. From this we conclude that it is very promising when used by trained researchers, but that the interface will need to be significantly redesigned and appropriated for local community members.

Participatory exploration of digitalizing cultural content: getting married. are we ready?

This paper describes a joint investigation of a Herero wedding ceremony as a sample of cultural content to be digitalized. We have through participatory exploration scrutinized embodied media bias and representation with Herero elders in Namibia. One finding is that this method has enabled the elders to be active agents in the digital portrayal of their culture.

A Participatory Perspective on Cross-Cultural Design

Designers face a number of challenges in terms of how to design interactive systems with indigenous groups. Every layer of development faces obstacles from designing localized interfaces to facilitating prototype evaluations in the wild. This article argues for the importance of continuous user involvement and participatory design. This is highlighted through explaining ongoing research in the creation of a 3D visualization knowledge management system to support preservation of indigenous knowledge (IK) in Africa. Through the sharing of experiences from the field I underpin the importance of acknowledging users’ expertise and knowledge about the design context. Through presentation of a selection of these challenges in localizing systems development I wish to raise awareness of an required sensitivity to cultural differences in IT.