Designing interactive systems for the developing world - reflections on user-centred design

User-centred design (UCD) is a well-accepted and useful design methodology for designing interactive systems. In recent years, developing world researchers have attempted to utilise UCD but with mixed results. The results from two developing world, UCD projects, MuTI Mobile and CyberTracker, have shown that the analysis tools and techniques provided by UCD are useful but difficulties arise when interpreting the analysis findings to produce a requirements specification. In particular, traditional UCD methodologies fail to consider the broader and complex effects of the user´s physical and social environments. The field studies also highlighted the limitations of existing early-stage prototyping techniques, such as paper-prototyping. The authors address these issues by presenting several tools and techniques that they feel are more suited to the developing world and essential components of a candidate dasiaUCD4Devpsila methodology. These tools and techniques include the use of dasia4Devpsila frameworks, such as the dasiaReal Access/Real Impactpsila criteria, to highlight pertinent developing world issues, the use of higher fidelity technology artefacts during early stage prototyping, the importance of developing a motivated user group and the need for a progressive participatory design approach.