Jacques Hugo
June 2000
The purpose of the study was to gather specific contextual information from cellphone users - general demographics, their experience with cellphones, where, how en why they use them, problems, environments, tasks and their likes and dislikes.
The primary objective of this phase of the project was to understand how an individual integrates a cellphone into his or her daily life and work.
A secondary objective was to gather information and to get a general "feel" for the nature of the investigation in preparation for the next phase of the contextual inquiry where more in-depth discussions with, and observations of participants in their natural environments would be conducted.
To meet these objectives, we considered the following questions:
Almost all participants were very keen and eager to talk to the investigators. A few were in a hurry and we had to cut the interview short. An average of 40 minutes was spent per participant.
It was very difficult to find "business users" to participate (please note that we have re-defined this to mean "a person who uses a cellphone to perform a part or all of his normal work"). At least half of the participants fell into this category - this included people like consultants, sales assistants, delivery people, security officers, insurance agents and fleamarket proprietors.
No attempt was made at this stage to conduct comprehensive contextual observations (that is, non-intrusive observation of a communication event in the context of a person's normal life and work). Instead we have decided to gain an overall impression of where and how people use cellphones. Due to time restrictions, we concentrated mainly on recruiting individuals in shopping areas where there was a lot of activity. We paid only short visits to locations like taxi ranks, train and bus stations. Most of our time was spent inside shopping malls, at fleamarkets, on sidewalks and in office buildings.
The majority of cellphone users, regardless of education level, used only a small number of the available features and functions of the cellphone. Almost everybody interviewed had problems with more advanced functions like call holding and switching, voice mail and SMS.
Younger people and those with less experience with cellphones (especially students!) seemed to care more about physical appearance and design of cellphones than older people. About half of the participants indicated that if they were to acquire a new cellphone, they would like the Nokia 8210 because of its "cool design", but most of them were rather vague about this model's features and functionality!
The single biggest problem experienced by users was network coverage in rural areas. This was accompanied by the inability to charge batteries where there was no electricity available. Several participants made specific suggestions for these conditions, for example solar power devices for charging batteries (one person said "why can't I just leave my cellphone in the sun for a while to charge the battery?"), using standard commercial battery alternatives, or extended battery life.
However, even in areas with network problems, people would acquire cellphones even if they have to climb a hill or walk 10 miles to a place where they can connect. The ability to stay in touch is worth more than the effort needed to do so!
A significant number of participants thought that their cellphones were not "user-friendly" (this was without any prompting from us). This was especially the case when trying to use a different model than the one they were used to.
A number of important cultural issues were identified:
For most participants the main reason for owning a cellphone was for communicating with friends and family. This applied to all individuals, regardless of whether they were "private" or "business" users - even if the cellphone was used for work, they still regarded communication with family and friends as more important.
Individuals who use their cellphones in public places tend to fall into two groups: those who have learned that they attract too much unwelcome attention now tend to avoid using their cellphones in such areas, and those for whom the cellphone is a status symbol.
Africans in general have loud voices and this makes their communication behaviour especially aggravating to people who prefer more discreet behaviour in public.
All participants with a higher education have indicated that technology access is very important for Africans (individuals as well as communities) due to its potential for empowerment. It is therefore vital to consider the social context of communications technology in conjunction with economic and political factors.
Loud talking often occurs when one of the callers is in a noisy area, for example in a shopping mall, taxi rank, train station, etc. Instead of waiting until conditions are quiet, people often simply shout! NOTE however that this pattern seems to change for professional people - they tend to avoid drawing attention to themselves and would NOT use their cellphones in public places.
All participants said that they would NOT use a cellphone in church, at a funeral or when they have a family gathering.
Most of the "business users" used a cellphone provided by their employers and in this case their use was restricted to work-related calls.
The categories of African people who use cellphones for work appear to be no different from whites. This includes everybody who moves around a lot in the course of their work: consultants, service people, maintenance and customer support people, delivery people, sales agents, etc.
Comments made by participants in response to questions about problems experienced and desired features have led us to make the following interpretations:
Cellphones often cause interference (electromagnetic) near computers, normal telephones, TV and radio. This should be addressed in new models.
Based on Geert Hofstede's classic study of cultures and organisations, the following points can be identified for conditions in South Africa (Hofstede, Geert. 1997. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. McGraw-Hill, New York)
It must be noted that South Africa is characterised by a very complex power struggle in a large variety of sectors, including political, social and organisational. In spite of this the Power Distance is relatively low compared to the rest of Africa - there is a new tendency to view subordinates and supervisors as closer together and more interchangeable, with flatter hierarchies in organisations and less difference in salaries and status. Parents and children, and teachers and students, may view themselves more as equals (but not necessarily as identical.). Equality is expected and generally desired, especially in the post-apartheid era. However, in many organisations with a legacy of white management, clashes between different cultures sometimes occur.
As one might expect in a country with a relatively low Power Distance and which is at the same time undergoing dramatic social changes that tend to emphasise Individualism, South Africa exhibits increasingly loose cultural ties; everyone is expected to look after one's self or immediate family but no one else.
At work, individualistic cultures increasingly value personal time, freedom, challenge, and such extrinsic motivators as material rewards. In African family relations, people have traditionally valued honesty and truth, talking things out, using guilt to achieve behavioural goals, and maintaining self-respect. These values are become more and more visible in South Africa, especially because Africans now dominate in the Government. There is a strong tendency to emphasise the political power of voters, maintain strong freedom of the press, and profess the ideologies of self-actualisation, self-realisation and nurture strong private opinions. However, there is some imbalance - one would normally expect such a society to restrain the power of the state in the economy, but this has not been achieved yet.
There are signs of gender roles changing in black South African culture, but it is a slow process (mostly resisted by males) and black South Africa can still be described as a masculine culture.
The traditional assignment to masculine roles of assertiveness, competition, and toughness, and to feminine roles of orientation to home and children, people, and tenderness are still very much in evidence, especially in rural areas. As one might expect, in city life and in organisations these traditions are breaking down more rapidly than in rural areas.
Taken as a whole, South Africa exhibits fairly low Uncertainty Avoidance - there is a rapidly growing entrepreneurial spirit, but it would be misleading to generalise. Rural black cultures are not known for risk-taking and are generally characterised by anxiety caused by rapid changes, especially as a result of the power shift, rapid introduction of technology, etc.
Again, this is a complex scenario due to various factors like unemployment and growing urbanisation. In organisations one still finds many formal rules, but long career commitments are no longer the norm.
At the same time, even urbanised African communities still tend to be expressive; people talk with their hands, raise their voices, and show emotions. People seem active, emotional, even aggressive; shun ambiguous situations; and expect structure in organisations, institutions, and relationships to help make events clearly interpretable and predictable. Teachers are expected to be experts who know the answers and students are still very dependent on direction and even "spoon-feeding". What is different or new is often viewed as threatening.
However, there are increasing signs of low uncertainty avoidance especially among the more affluent and powerful sectors of black communities. Here one finds the typical low uncertainty avoidance patterns: people are less expressive and less openly anxious; people behave quietly without showing aggression or strong emotions. They seem easy-going, even relaxed and what is different may be viewed as simply curious, or perhaps ridiculous.
(Note: Some content above based on the paper titled "Cultural Dimensions and Global Web User-Interface Design: What? So What? Now What?" by Aaron Marcus , CHI-SA 2000 Conference in Pretoria, South Africa)