Mobile Literacy
Designing Mobile Technology for Emerging Markets
Mobile Literacy is a design and research project to understand how mobile technology can work more effectively in emerging markets. Adaptive Path went to rural India to investigate the impact of mobile technology and developed concepts for new mobile devices for this market.
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- The Mobile Literacy Concepts
- The Mobile Literacy Research
- FAQs
- Design Principles
- Project Team
MobilGlyph: Making Data Tangible
In rural India, being able to store a number in contacts and then call that contact is a primary mechanism for overcoming traditional infrastructure challenges, like learning the prices of goods at market. However, currently, most mobile phones available to people in rural areas of India, have a text driven interface, making it near impossible for illiterate users to obtain and store contacts. Solving the "save a contact" problem for illiterate users became one of the focuses for our project. To show how data could be made tangible, and how illiterate users could easily share contact information, we created a concept called MobilGlyph.
Read more about this concept on our blog
MobilGlyph: Making Data Tangible from Adaptive Path on Vimeo.
Steampunk: A Mobile Device Concept for Rural India
The Mobile Literacy Steampunk phone concept includes the kind of interfaces that many people in rural areas of developing countries are familiar with: scroll wheels, non-digital meters, physical buttons and knobs. These concepts are similar to the physical interface elements found on objects modded by Steampunk enthusiasts and artists. This Steampunk phone concept also invites cell phone repair, which is common throughout India.
Read more about this concept on our blog
