Designing Umeli: A Case for Medsersiated Design, a participatory approach to designing interactive systems for semi-literate users

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dc.contributor.advisorMarsden, Garyen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorGitau, Shuko
dc.date.accessioned2014-06-30T06:01:25Z
dc.date.available2014-06-30T06:01:25Z
dc.date.issued2012-10
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation documents a journey into the design of Ummeli with a community of semi-­‐literate job seekers in Khayelitsha, Cape Town whose primary access to the internet was through their mobile phones. Working closely with this community over many months, we developed Ummeli, a suite of tools that allow the user to build their CVs; browse and apply for employment and training opportunities; recommend and post jobs; get employment tips and connect to other job seekers. To design Ummeli, Ethnographic Action Research (EAR) was embraced, not as a methodology, but as a research approach, a foundation from which to incorporate participatory approaches to designing Information communication technologies for development (ICT4D). User Centered Design (UCD) was incorporated as a design approach. Ummeli was built by a combination of insights drawn from a lived-­‐in experience, and employing UCD informed methods of participatory design (PD). Here we employed Human Access Point (HAP) a form of PD that allows for a member of the community to be a proxy for the design process. Learn to Earn, an NGO based in Khayelitsha became the HAP, and took the critical role in that they, highlighted, translated, evaluated and represented what was most crucial for the community; their input allowed Ummeli to match the community’s need. In the process, we came across concepts such as Umqweno, which represents yearnings and desires, replacing our own perception systems requirements. Siyazenzela, representing a communal participatory approach to doing life; and Ubuntu, which captures the spirit behind Africa’s communal identity, which were all adopted into the original EAR framework. In this document we set out to demonstrate what it means to be a “reflective practitioner” as we adopted appropriated and reconfigured aspects of participatory UCD methods to fit culturally relevant contexts. The process allowed for constant reflections leading to “aha” moments. In the end, we had created Ummeli, with over 80,000 users, and developed Mediated Design, a culturally indoctrinated xii participatory approach to designing interactive system with and for semi-­‐literate people.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationGitau, S. (2012). <i>Designing Umeli: A Case for Medsersiated Design, a participatory approach to designing interactive systems for semi-literate users</i>. (PDF). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Faculty Science: ICTC4D. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/1949en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationGitau, Shuko. <i>"Designing Umeli: A Case for Medsersiated Design, a participatory approach to designing interactive systems for semi-literate users."</i> PDF., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Faculty Science: ICTC4D, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/1949en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationGitau, S. 2012-10. Designing Umeli: A Case for Medsersiated Design, a participatory approach to designing interactive systems for semi-literate users. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Gitau, Shuko AB - This dissertation documents a journey into the design of Ummeli with a community of semi-­‐literate job seekers in Khayelitsha, Cape Town whose primary access to the internet was through their mobile phones. Working closely with this community over many months, we developed Ummeli, a suite of tools that allow the user to build their CVs; browse and apply for employment and training opportunities; recommend and post jobs; get employment tips and connect to other job seekers. To design Ummeli, Ethnographic Action Research (EAR) was embraced, not as a methodology, but as a research approach, a foundation from which to incorporate participatory approaches to designing Information communication technologies for development (ICT4D). User Centered Design (UCD) was incorporated as a design approach. Ummeli was built by a combination of insights drawn from a lived-­‐in experience, and employing UCD informed methods of participatory design (PD). Here we employed Human Access Point (HAP) a form of PD that allows for a member of the community to be a proxy for the design process. Learn to Earn, an NGO based in Khayelitsha became the HAP, and took the critical role in that they, highlighted, translated, evaluated and represented what was most crucial for the community; their input allowed Ummeli to match the community’s need. In the process, we came across concepts such as Umqweno, which represents yearnings and desires, replacing our own perception systems requirements. Siyazenzela, representing a communal participatory approach to doing life; and Ubuntu, which captures the spirit behind Africa’s communal identity, which were all adopted into the original EAR framework. In this document we set out to demonstrate what it means to be a “reflective practitioner” as we adopted appropriated and reconfigured aspects of participatory UCD methods to fit culturally relevant contexts. The process allowed for constant reflections leading to “aha” moments. In the end, we had created Ummeli, with over 80,000 users, and developed Mediated Design, a culturally indoctrinated xii participatory approach to designing interactive system with and for semi-­‐literate people. DA - 2012-10 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Compter Science, HCI, Design LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2012 T1 - Designing Umeli: A Case for Medsersiated Design, a participatory approach to designing interactive systems for semi-literate users TI - Designing Umeli: A Case for Medsersiated Design, a participatory approach to designing interactive systems for semi-literate users UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/1949 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/1949
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationGitau S. Designing Umeli: A Case for Medsersiated Design, a participatory approach to designing interactive systems for semi-literate users. [PDF]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Faculty Science: ICTC4D, 2012 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/1949en_ZA
dc.languageengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentFaculty Science: ICTC4Den_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subjectCompter Science, HCI, Designen_ZA
dc.titleDesigning Umeli: A Case for Medsersiated Design, a participatory approach to designing interactive systems for semi-literate usersen_ZA
dc.typeDoctoral Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoral
dc.type.qualificationnamePhDen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourcePDFen_ZA
uct.type.resourceTheses
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