Pankaj Doke

GappaGoshti™: a social networking platform for information dissemination in the rural world

The poor, rural, semi-literate farmer in India is in dire need of credible information services for sustenance. Various telephony, Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS), Short Messaging Service (SMS) texts, kiosks, and mobile based approaches have attempted to cater to their information needs, but have failed to give an engaging and useful experience. We have attempted to give the rural farmer a rich and useful Internet-like experience through a mobile based multimedia social networking platform - GappaGoshti#8482;. We have created an engaging user experience which transforms into a platform used for information exchange, advice exchange, announcement board and more such services in spite of the technology and social challenges.

GappaGoshti™: Digital inclusion for rural mass

In this paper we present our experiences and learnings accrued over more than a year while piloting a rural social network in India. We share our views on the challenges faced, both - technical and social. We also share our analysis of how the system was and is being used across various versions of the platform. We conclude with a summary of key observations necessary for deploying a rural mobile based platform.

KLM operator values for rural mobile phone user

Keystroke-Level Model (KLM) is a simplified cognitive modelling technique. The value of KLM operators have been defined for keyboard/mouse based interaction and literate western users. We conjectured that the values of the operators, especially the mental operator, would change for semi-literate Indian users using mobile phones, given their diversity. We have conducted tests with two user groups -- highly literate and semi-literate, to derive KLM operators. We discovered that the values of all the operators remain unaffected by literacy levels. However, the mental operator still varies according to the complexity of the interface. While performing the analysis we also discovered certain qualitative aspects of mobile based interactions which we have shared in this paper. Our findings would aid the upcoming rural mobile application HCI industry in India.

A Case Study in Participatory Service Design for Rural Healthcare System in India Using a Pattern Language

Application of a Service and Touch Point design pattern language for a rural healthcare service in India with the participation of a multidisciplinary team comprising designers, IT professionals, business analysts and doctors was studied. We discuss the process followed, and the benefits of using a service design pattern language. Specifically: the participants could start with a few patterns and progressively acquire an understanding of the patterns through mutual assistance; the patterns and associated sharable artefacts facilitated communication and continuity of thought process among the team members; the team could dynamically refine a set of appropriate patterns and were guided to rich, comprehensive and innovative solutions. The real life constraints neither hindered the progress nor the quality of the solutions. The potential of embedding the pattern language in a socio-technical system to mediate the process was demonstrated. The study provides several theoretical and practical insight concerning the use of pattern languages.

A Survey of Virtualization on Mobiles

In this paper we cover the landscape of virtualization, with a focus on mobile phones. We present the evolution of virtualization from the 70’s to date. We draw parallels between virtualization systems on mainframes, on commodity systems and mobile phones. One clear pattern that emerges is the business need of virtualization and the adoption of virtualization software eventually culminating in hardware support by the processor for virtualization. This last event also plays a key role in standardization and mass adoption of the virtualization software. The mobile virtualization area is quite dynamic and nascent today. However, given the rate of innovation, we expect standardization of mobile virtualization in the coming few years with novel applications not seen before. Some of the research prototypes which we deliberate upon are game changers for the computing industry. In this survey, we also draw attention to key challenges and research areas in mobile virtualization. This paper is an attempt to weave together a holistic picture of mobile virtualization research and industry, and summarize it.

Augmented Reality in agriculture

This paper presents a prototype Augmented Reality system which we have developed for farmers. It uses Augmented Reality for aiding the farmers in insect identification and pest management. Traditionally, farmers in India are not trained entomologists and tend to destroy insects found in their fields. However, not all bugs deserve this treatment and are in fact sometimes needed for the wellbeing of the farm and the ecosystem. With an innovative application of Augmented Reality, we intend to aid the rural farmer in identification of the bugs and pest management. This identification system would suggest the farmers appropriate pesticides and treatments for the bugs. This concept can be later extended to catalogue and educate the rural population about Indias rich flora and fauna.

A User Study About Security Practices of Less-Literate Smartphone Users

This paper describes the insights gained from user studies conducted with less-literate smartphone users in the context of Usable Smartphone Information Security. For the purpose of this study, we present the analysis and findings from 70 users. 37 users were selected using convenient sampling from a metropolitan city and 33 from a nearby town. We report findings on PINs and Pattern passwords, Phone as an Information Device and as a Commodity, Asset Valuation, Risk Identification, Risk Assessment, Risk Mitigation, Password Management, Privacy, amongst others.

A Grounded Theory Approach for Designing Communication and Collaboration System for Visually Impaired Chess Players

Social interactions for visually impaired take place in the traditional way, such as meeting and calling, digital platforms are largely not utilized by them. Empirical research for visually impaired has focused largely on accessibility, usability and is yet to understand the problems from CSCW aspect holistically. We carried out a qualitative study of communication and collaboration activities for 43 visually impaired chess players in India. Through semi-structured interviews, the participants’ experiences in using existing collaboration and communication channels were noted. A Grounded Theory based analysis was performed using Atlas.ti and themes were identified. Research indicates that - social collaboration and ‘staying in touch’, searching and sharing new information, exploiting existing ways of mobile interactions, and having several interests help visually impaired in their daily lives for social collaboration and communication. This study provides insights concerning designing CSCW mediums for them.

Multidisciplinary Team Dynamics in Service Design- The Facilitating Role of Pattern Language

Service design is an evolving discipline. Service value is co-created by service providers and their customer. The complex nature of services requires collaboration in a multidisciplinary team at the design stage itself to create service systems that lead to a delightful customer experience. While working in a multidisciplinary team for service design there is a need to effectively capture the knowledge of participants from different disciplines and integrate it in the design process. Team dynamics play an important role in this context as it is an unconscious, psychological force that influences the direction of a teams behavior and performance. Therefore, there needs to be a language that serves as lingua franca to improve the communication and a medium to ensure effective collaboration within a team. It this paper we share our study of the team dynamics in a multidisciplinary team while designing for services, and highlight the role of pattern language as an effective mediating entity.

Cache Enabled MVC for Latency Reduction for Data Display on Mobile

Data display on a mobile device is not the same as on a desktop system. There are constraints of memory and screen size, which make it difficult to display large a amount of data. We have proposed a simple but novel caching and data replenishment mechanism through which a large amount of data can be displayed efficiently on a mobile device without slowing down the mobile.