Lab+Three


 * CCT333 Week 3**

1. Describe Jan Chipchase's prior job (he now works at frog design [] ) in relation to his work at Nokia. What are the two names he is given in the article? (3 paragraphs)

ANSWER: At Nokia, Jan Chipchase is best known as a "user anthropologist". It afforded companies like Nokia a chance to be in direct contact with the market that was being designed for. Chipchase’s role as a "human behaviour researcher" in defining the use of cell phones in developing countries includes surveying individuals in order to discover what cell phone designs would best suit their needs.

For instance, he asks people in developing countries to draw their ideal phone so they are able to discover their wants, needs and ranking of importance.Chipchase has to observe the lives of potential consumers in developing countries in order to accumulate as much information as possible about human behaviour that he feels is important to the designers and technologists. He acknowledges grassroots and street up innovations of design as going way beyond his knowledge and better suited to the users in developing countries. This information then helps in providing individuals with the best technology and design that effectively assists them in their daily lives as well as improving forms of identity in a technologically evolving world.

As the executive creative director of Global insights at frog design, Chipchase with his extensive work at Nokia and current research, came to acknowledge the abstract idea of ownership. He differentiated between use and ownership of mobile phones. In developing countries, he found illiteracy to be irrelevant in the use, operation and ownership of a cellular device. Similar to his work at Nokia, Chipchase now designs for users in developing countries in a way that is affordable and effective. An example of how he does this is through ' Movirtu', "a for-profit social enterprise that provides innovative mobile technology and business models for wireless telecommunication service providers servicing rural poor communities in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia".(http://cct333-w11.wikispaces.com/Lab_3) For less than $2 a day, users can now have shared accessibility to phone service. This is the commercialized form of his previous work with "sente".

2. “It’s really quite striking,” Hammond says. “What people are voting for with their pocketbooks, as soon as they have more money and even before their basic needs are met, is telecommunications.” (World Resources Institute) In the spirit of this quote, describe four instances of how owning a cellphone enables users to better their lives. (4 paragraphs/ one for each instance)

Micro Financing:This  provides an equal opportunity to all individuals through loans, the ability to set up small businesses, creation of income and banking without the interference of big financial institutions. It gives people of a lower income range to take out small loans which are reasonable to pay back in a certain amount of time. This also in many ways helps in achieving a sustainable economy where people are able to pay back smaller loans just in time.

Productivity: This helps even in terms of production. Farmers and fishers can now save time and money in carrying out their day to day business activities. It enables more effective sales and distribution of resources for lower income earners. Having a cellphone or some kind of basic mobile communication improves productivity.

Identity: In "Jan Chipchase Our mobile phones video"(http://www.ted.com/talks/jan_chipchase_on_our_mobile_phones.html) Jan illustrates how instead of actual addresses, those in developing countries would use a cell phone number as an address. In a place where systems for proper identification haven't been developed, mobile access have been an adequate means of identification and communication.

Survival: Cellphones and mobile communications afford a chance for survival. In terms of productivity, if a farmer cannot have access to a mobile phone to find out the current state of market shares, he or his five year old child might have to it. In the event that on getting there, the markets aren't favourable, one would have lost means to an end. In addition, in the event of emergencies, having access to a mobile phone service can minimize the extent to which devastation can occur.