GramArth (Rural M-Commerce)
I was working with Texity Systems, where I got this opportunity to work on this 8 months long research project we did for Qualcomm. Qualcomm wanted a research team from India to conduct research in the rural areas. The company was looking at introducing next generation mobile technology for the rural section.
Our research team comprised of 6 people. 2 user researchers, 3 market researchers and 1 local researcher who helped us communicate with the farmers in their dialect.
A typical village household where people have a common landline phone among 3-4 families.
Challenge
For me, though the challenge of travelling to the villages, staying there, and communicating in their dialect (I was lucky that I knew Marathi), was a difficult one but it was a mentally stimulating and rewarding experience. Starting from scratch, deciding which rural sections need to be covered for research work, planning the logistics, finding contact details from the rural folks, working on the research plan with the team, assigning the roles (interviewer, observer, note takers), were some of the initial challenges.
Our team walking our way to a village. The place does not have roads. The village receives electricity for 1-2 hours in a day.
My Role
I was one of the two user researcher on the team. Since we were a multi disciplinary team it was crucial that we all were on the same page when it came to planning the research. My role was to get the team familiar with the benefits of contextual inquiry and carry out field research in the villages.
Mobile number written on the roof of the house.
Process
Research Method
Contextual Inquiry
- Give a better understanding of tasks and the context in which they are performed
- Increase likelihood that users will adopt and like using your system
- Establish good rapport with users
Our team in action.
Primary Research
Understanding the work process of weavers.
Primary research questions
- What is the typical lifestyle of people in a remote village? (Step by step understanding of all the tasks that they engage)
- Understanding the cultural model of the users (the influential people , conflicting values)
- The Psychological aspects (trust, aspirations, fears)
- Understanding the structure of a village, the influential people in the village (Doctor, sarpanch, middlemen, priest)
- Different modes of communication used by the villagers
- Their perceptions about a Community (interactions, sharing, gatherings)
- Understanding their occupations and the different tasks involved in carrying out commercial transactions.
Glimpses of village life in Maharashtra.
Focus on 4 rural businesses
Keeping the time frame and scope in mind we decided to focus on 4 rural businesses in the state of Maharashtra. To understand the inherent complexities of businesses in rural India, we studied the following rural enterprises:
- Handloom weavers.
- Artisans creating folk art
- Fruit and floriculture farming.
Farmer ploughing his field.
A typical work place of Paithani saree weavers in Yeola.
Warli artist painting a traditional warli painting on cloth.
Questionnaires
We brainstormed together to come up with sets of questionnaires for each rural business.
The questions will be an attempt to know more about their:
- Daily life
- Education
- Livelihood
- Workflows
- Alternate source of livelihood
- Modes of Communication
- Sources of information
- Community Gathering
- Device usage
- Livelihood
- Tasks
- Transactions
- Banking
Certain aspect like psychology of the villagers, reasons behind information asymmetry, culture, trust, physical and social constraint will be inferred from the finding from the interviews.
Questionnaire for weavers in Yeola
Field Visits
We were armed with questionnaires, contact details of village folks who will act as mediators between the team and villagers (this was important for ice breaking and making everyone comfortable) and the right mindset.
Planning the logistics (travel, stay, food etc) was equally crucial. Also, attention was given to the kind of attire we wore during field visits, mannerism (thanking the interviewee after an interview), appropriate use of gestures and body language (overcome communication barriers).
We made arrangements for giving gifts (mithai/sweets) to the villagers as a token of gratitude.
A small get-together arranged by our team to bring all the warli artists of a village in Thane under one roof.
Assigning roles
We divided the roles of interviewers, observers, and note takers amongst us. Also made sure our recording equipment was in place. At times we all conducted interviews each carrying a recorder with her/ him.
A meeting with the Sarpanch (Village Head)
Documenting the findings
Writing down the observations (without judging at that point) while interviewing is very important. Audios should be listened to and interpreted as early as possible until the interview sessions are fresh in the mind.
Documenting the findings from the interviews.
Audio Recordings
Audio recordings were useful. The village folk may get intimidated when thy realise that someone is documenting your words. Instead, we used audio recorders which are non intrusive. Of course we took prior permission from the interviewees about recording the interview.
Analysis
The outcome of the field visits was rich data on the ‘work flows’ around the rural businesses.
The team then started work on interpreting the data; white boarding sessions were helpful for these sessions.
Complex work flows were portrayed on paper and post-its. These diagrams were very helpful to understand the different actors involved in the work flow, the task flows, the information flows, communication needs, break points etc.
Interpreting the work flows from the data gathered
Graphical representation
Different actors involved in the work flow of farmers
Understanding the work flow involved in weaving Paithani sarees from buying the loom to selling the sarees in retail shops
Team engrossed in interpreting the complexities of a rural business
Categorising the different stages of production in the rural businesses
Work flow diagrams
Detailed graphical representation of the work flows
A glimpse of the work flow diagrams
Outcome
The outcome of this project was a detailed Product Requirement document which comprised of the details of the rural businesses we covered in our research, analysis of the businesses and requirement and product analysis.
Thank you!
