Kathi R. Kitner

Meaningful Mobility: Gender, development and mobile phones

In this paper we explore development, gender and technology through a focus on mobile phones and examples of their everyday use by rural women in India. We introduce ways in which technologies might be thought about in terms of “meaningful mobilities” by discussing attachments, structures of labour, agency and specifically how mobiles are an active agent in complex and evolving gendered relationships.

ICTs, development and trust: an overview

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on information and communication technologies (ICTs), development and trust and to introduce papers in the special issue: “Trust and information and communication technologies for development”.Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the literature on trust, broadly, and then, specifically, focuses on linkages to ICTs, and human development.Findings – Trust is a broadly defined, yet relatively understudied concept in the context of ICTs and development (ICTD). The paper finds that there are many definitions of trust and ways it is constituted in the context of ICTD. It highlights the opportunity to contribute to the literature and this burgeoning field through research on trust in ICT‐mediated services or systems, trust in information and trust in institutions that are often key providers of these services.Originality/value – The paper holds value to both academics and practitioners working in the field of ICTD by outlining the key pro...

Constructing class boundaries: Gender and shared computing

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been referred to as the dasiathe great equalizerpsila between men and women. Our research in India and Chile explores how gender and class identities intersect with ICTs in the context of shared computing environments with telecenters. Our study indicates that although these shared use projects are implemented in the name of targeting poor women, an dasiaemerging middle classpsila of women, such as stay at home mothers and young unmarried women are one of the dominant user groups in these telecenters. Women are constructing identities, trying to cross perceived class boundaries, and maintaining middle class positions through the use of ICTs and their symbolic value. This symbolic value becomes tied to linear notions and aspirations of progress, advancement, and upward mobility.

Mobile and smartphone use in urban and rural India

Between 32 and 74 million smartphones are forecast in the Indian market by 2015.This article looks more closely into this phenomenon by comparing two studies conducted at urban and rural sites in India. Study A was based upon a corporate ethnography of ‘middle class’ urban user segments in Mumbai and Belgaum. Thirty-three in-depth interviews were conducted with ‘Mobile Only’ and ‘Mobile Heavy’ users. A number of respondents reported that a mobile phone was their first ‘personal’ device, which led to a complex relationship between the user and their phone that was manifest both physically and symbolically. Study B details a development communication project based upon a six-month participant observation of a community radio station located in the rural Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh state. The strategic aim of Study B was to explore the potential of the smartphone as a tool for development communication. Nokia N97 smartphones were provided to community radio reporters and these devices facilitated the production of new programming and innovative community engagement pilots. Both studies suggest that low levels of income and digital literacy, and certain social structures and cultural norms may further constrain forecast adoption rates. However, the studies also demonstrate the range of new possibilities afforded by mobile- and smartphone-enabled applications and services once such constraints are reduced or removed.

Designing for Movement in Public Life with Itinerant Probes

This pictorial illustrates how objects can illuminate peoples experience of public space, an approach we call itinerant probes. Itinerant probes are not individualized, mediated artifacts, but instead dynamic events that en- liven peoples personal and collective memories. Building on the probes literature and recent ecological perspectives, we describe three probes related to lighting that we investigated at three public sites. Our explorations with these probes highlight the intimate histories associated with public spaces.

Big city, big data

This forum addresses conceptual, methodological, and professional issues that arise in the UX fields continuing effort to contribute robust information about users to product planning and design. --- David Siegel and Susan Dray, Editors