Engaging Pictorial Images and Voice Prompts Interface Design Strategy to Create Easy to use banking ATM System Interfaces in Nigeria

The existing banking ATMs in Nigeria do not adequately cater for a variety of people with varying abilities and literacy levels despite the significant importance of ATM technological innovations in Nigeria, especially in the banking sectors. Illiterate and semiliterate Nigerians, representing about 40.33%, do not perceive the ATMs as useful or easy-to-use. The purpose of this case study was to identify strategies used by software developers of banking ATM systems in Nigeria to create easy-to-use banking ATM system interfaces in Nigeria. The technology acceptance model was adopted as the conceptual framework. One organization in Enugu, Nigeria was used for this study’s population. Data were collected through semi-structured, in-depth face-to-face interviews with nine banking ATM system interface developers and the analysis of 11 documents. Findings from the participants were validated through member checking. One major theme that emerged from data analysis was value of pictorial images and voice prompts in interface design, that encompass the use of: (a) pictorial images, and enhanced voice prompts with short transaction cycle, (b) voice feedback in users’ own language, (c) text-free user interface and extensive use of hand-drawn, and (d) graphics /imagery and voice as inputs. Strategies illustrated by the findings from this study may serve as a basis for positive economic development and social change in this area and may advance the use of other technology outlets that require easy-to-use system interfaces. Keywords: Banking ATM, pictorial images, Voice prompt, interface design, easy-to-use, ease of use, literacy levels. DOI: 10.7176/JIEA/8-1-0

User Interface Challenges of Banking ATM Systems in Nigeria

The use of banking automated teller machine (ATM) technological innovations have significant importance and benefits in Nigeria, but numerous investigations have shown that illiterate and semiliterate Nigerians do not perceive them as useful or easy-to-use. Developing easy-to-use banking ATM system interfaces is essential to accommodate over 40% illiterate and semiliterate Nigerians, who are potential users of banking ATM systems. The purpose of this study was to identify strategies software developers of banking ATM systems in Nigeria use to create easy-to-use banking ATM system interfaces for a variety of people with varying abilities and literacy levels. The technology acceptance model was adopted as the conceptual framework. The study\u27s population consisted of qualified and experienced developers of banking ATM system interfaces chosen from 1 organization in Enugu, Nigeria. The data collection process included semistructured, in-depth face-to-face interviews with 9 banking ATM system interface developers and the analysis of 11 documents: 5 from participant case organizations and 6 from nonparticipant case organizations. Member checking was used to increase the validity of the findings from the participants. Through methodological triangulation, 4 major themes emerged from the study: importance of user-centered design strategies, importance of user feedback as essential interface design, value of pictorial images and voice prompts, and importance of well-defined interface development process. The findings in this study may be beneficial for the future development of strategies to create easy-to-use ATM system interfaces for a variety of people with varying abilities and literacy levels and for other information technology systems that are user interface technology dependent

Defining Functional Illiteracy to Empower Inclusive Technology Design

Limited literacy presents a significant challenge in HCI research, yet the field lacks consistent definitions and measurement criteria. Researchers often interchange terms such as 'functional illiterates,' 'low literates,' and 'semi-literates,' further complicating the field. This paper conducts a systematic literature review (SLR) of 33 HCI studies, revealing concerns about the absence of a definition in 41% of the studies and the lack of measurement technique in 74%. Based on the results from our SLR and relevant research beyond HCI, we propose the following work-in-progress definition. 'Functional illiterates are motivated adults with some familiarity with text but insufficient to fully comprehend meanings and low skills in the measured digital skill, with enough language proficiency in the study language if they are literate in their native language. This understanding, coupled with addressing the identified issues, will empower the HCI4D community to design more inclusive technology solutions for functionally illiterate users in developing countries

Tangible user interfaces : past, present and future directions

In the last two decades, Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) have emerged as a new interface type that interlinks the digital and physical worlds. Drawing upon users' knowledge and skills of interaction with the real non-digital world, TUIs show a potential to enhance the way in which people interact with and leverage digital information. However, TUI research is still in its infancy and extensive research is required in or- der to fully understand the implications of tangible user interfaces, to develop technologies that further bridge the digital and the physical, and to guide TUI design with empirical knowledge. This paper examines the existing body of work on Tangible User In- terfaces. We start by sketching the history of tangible user interfaces, examining the intellectual origins of this field. We then present TUIs in a broader context, survey application domains, and review frame- works and taxonomies. We also discuss conceptual foundations of TUIs including perspectives from cognitive sciences, phycology, and philoso- phy. Methods and technologies for designing, building, and evaluating TUIs are also addressed. Finally, we discuss the strengths and limita- tions of TUIs and chart directions for future research

Mobile phones interaction techniques for second economy people

Second economy people in developing countries are people living in communities that are underserved in terms of basic amenities and social services. Due to literacy challenges and user accessibility problems in rural communities, it is often difficult to design user interfaces that conform to the capabilities and cultural experiences of low-literacy rural community users. Rural community users are technologically illiterate and lack the knowledge of the potential of information and communication technologies. In order to embrace new technology, users will need to perceive the user interface and application as useful and easy to interact with. This requires proper understanding of the users and their socio-cultural environment. This will enable the interfaces and interactions to conform to their behaviours, motivations as well as cultural experiences and preferences and thus enhance usability and user experience. Mobile phones have the potential to increase access to information and provide a platform for economic development in rural communities. Rural communities have economic potential in terms of agriculture and micro-enterprises. Information technology can be used to enhance socio-economic activities and improve rural livelihood. We conducted a study to design user interfaces for a mobile commerce application for micro-entrepreneurs in a rural community in South Africa. The aim of the study was to design mobile interfaces and interaction techniques that are easy to use and meet the cultural preferences and experiences of users who have little to no previous experience of mobile commerce technology. And also to explore the potentials of information technologies rural community users, and bring mobile added value services to rural micro-entrepreneurs. We applied a user-centred design approach in Dwesa community and used qualitative and quantitative research methods to collect data for the design of the user interfaces (graphic user interface and voice user interface) and mobile commerce application. We identified and used several interface elements to design and finally evaluate the graphical user interface. The statistics analysis of the evaluation results show that the users in the community have positive perception of the usefulness of the application, the ease of use and intention to use the application. Community users with no prior experience with this technology were able to learn and understand the interface, recorded minimum errors and a high level of v precision during task performance when they interacted with the shop-owner graphic user interface. The voice user interface designed in this study consists of two flavours (dual tone multi-frequency input and voice input) for rural users. The evaluation results show that community users recorded higher tasks successes and minimum errors with the dual tone multi-frequency input interface than the voice only input interface. Also, a higher percentage of users prefer the dual tone multi-frequency input interface. The t-Test statistical analysis performed on the tasks completion times and error rate show that there was significant statistical difference between the dual tone multi-frequency input interface and the voice input interface. The interfaces were easy to learn, understand and use. Properly designed user interfaces that meet the experience and capabilities of low-literacy users in rural areas will improve usability and users‟ experiences. Adaptation of interfaces to users‟ culture and preferences will enhance information services accessibility among different user groups in different regions. This will promote technology acceptance in rural communities for socio-economic benefits. The user interfaces presented in this study can be adapted to different cultures to provide similar services for marginalised communities in developing countrie

THE EFFECTS OF ANTHROPOMORPHISM AND AFFECTIVE DESIGN PRINCIPLES ON THE ADOPTION OF M-HEALTH APPLICATIONS

Published ThesisPrevious research has found that M-Health initiatives have not been adopted and used effectively in many cases, especially in rural communal locations. Based on this, the researcher has surmised that factors contributing to the non-use of such initiative could be the resulted of a lack of knowledge with regard to the use of technology, literacy challenges, possible fear of technology and a lack of information regarding interventions that have the potential to improve quality of life. Consequently, an initiative that has usability as its core function may play a critical role in the use and adoption of such technologies. The researcher wondered if and how anthropomorphic and affective design principles which aspire to extract an emotional or positively reinforced sub-conscious reaction from users may influence the adoption and use of M-Health initiatives when applied to said interventions. This study therefore set out to investigate the effects of anthropomorphism and affective design principles on the adoption of M-Health applications, with the Sethakeng rural community in the Northern Cape province of South Africa research population after consent was obtained from the relevant community leaders. The researcher wanted first to ascertain whether anthropomorphism and affective design could influence the adoption of Mobile-Health applications, then to identify which was the more effective method to design Mobile-Health applications and finally, to provide guidelines and recommendations about the most effective design theory, as identified in the study, when designing applications. This study predominantly employed a mixed approach research methodology which included action research cycles and quantitative data in the form of usage statistics, obtained from CloudWare, in the final report. A case study was conducted in a rural South African setting to explore and eventually understand the relation between the case community and the intervention. A qualitative research design best allowed the researcher to get a better understanding of the research problem identified and the obstacles facing the relevant rural community and quantitative data assisted with better understanding the relevant usage trends in terms of the M-Health intervention. The objectives of the case study were to observe the phenomenon and describe it with regards to the case community, document the reactions of the case community to different instances and variations of the phenomenon and, lastly, to report on the design principle that yielded the most positive reaction from the community from a usage perspective; thereby indicating the adoption of the design methodology employed. The research contributed towards the successful development, placement and scrutiny of two emotion-driven interfaces for the same M-Health intervention. A distinctive perspective was provided with regard to affective and anthropomorphic design to identify the better design model for improved application acceptance in a rural community context. At the conclusion of the study, evidence suggested that community members found the anthropomorphic interface design superior. The researcher was thus able to explore, identify, develop and list a set of guidelines that can be used in the area of emotional design. Each guideline was based on what worked in practice and was applied successfully throughout this study. The researcher would like these guidelines be implemented and utilised by other designers in the field of interaction design for future designers

The cocktail party effect. An inclusive vision of conversational interactions

Studying the behaviour of disabled users can provide data for designing inclusive technologies for everyone. The focus of this paper is the field of inclusive design in conversational interaction.S..

Usability engineering of interactive voice responsive (IVR) systems in oral users of Southern Africa

Includes bibliographical references (p. 96-109).This research study focuses on the feasibility of using the telephone as a tool for information access in the oral communities of Southern Africa. The OpenPhone and BGR systems are used as case studies and their designs have been influenced by field studies with the targeted users. The OpenPhone project aims to design an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) health information system that enables people who are caregivers for HIV/AIDS infected children to access relevant care-giving information by using a telephone in their native language of Setswana in Botswana, Southern Africa. The BGR system allows soccer fans to access results of recently played matches in Premier Soccer League (PSL) of South Africa