National Institute of Design

About: National Institute of Design is a education organization based out in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & User experience design. The organization has 105 authors who have published 98 publications receiving 693 citations. The organization is also known as: NID & National Institute of Design, NID.

Text-Free User Interfaces for Illiterate and Semi-Literate Users

Abstract: We describe work toward the goal of a user interface designed such that even novice, illiterate users require absolutely no intervention from anyone at all to use. Our text-free user interface is based on many hours of ethnographic design conducted in collaboration with a community of illiterate domestic labourers in three Bangalore slums. An ethnographic design process was used to understand what kind of application subjects would be interested in, how they respond to computing technology, and how they react to specific UI elements. We built two applications using these principles, one for job search for domestic labourers, and another for a generic map that could be used for navigating a city. The resulting designs are based on key lessons that we gained through the design process. The paper describes the design process, the design principles which evolved out of the process, the final application design, and results from initial user testing. Our results confirm previous work that emphasizes the need for semi-abstracted graphics and voice feedback, but we additionally find that some aspects of design for illiterate users that have been previously overlooked (such as a consistent help feature). Results also show that the text-free designs are strongly preferred over standard text-based interfaces by the communities which we address, and that they are potentially able to bring even complex computer functions within the reach of users who are unable to read.

Occupational injuries in automobile repair workers.

Abstract: Mechanics are exposed to varied work stressors such as hot noisy environments, strenuous postures, improperly designed tools and machinery and poor psycho-social environments which may exert an influence on their health and safety. The study aimed to examine the occupational injury patterns and identify work stressors associated with injury amongst automobile mechanics. A descriptive ergonomic checklist and questionnaire on general health and psycho-social issues were administered to male workers (N=153). The relative risk factors and correlation statistics were used to identify the work stressors associated with occupational injury. 63% of the workers reported injuries. Cuts were the chief injuries being reported. Poor work environment, machinery and tool characteristics, suffering from poor health and psycho-social stressors were associated with injury occurrence amongst automobile repair workers.

Designing social features for mobile and ubiquitous wellness applications

Abstract: This paper presents research findings on designing social features for mobile wellness applications. The focus is on opportunities to support and motivate wellness by utilizing and enhancing social interaction between users. New knowledge is created using a 'Research through Design' process. The process combines findings of the user studies performed in India during the year 2008, existing research knowledge on mobile communication technology that provides social features to support wellness activities, and technological possibilities provided by the mobile devices available in the market at the time of the research. New design knowledge is presented in the format of design findings and concept descriptions, as well as concept evaluations. These can then be used by practitioners as inspirational material for product design, and by researchers for exploring the domain of wellness applications.

Gender difference in color preference across cultures: An archetypal pattern modulated by a female cultural stereotype

Abstract: A gender difference in color preference among British participants has been repeatedly reported, in which both males and females show a preference for blue-green colors, while females express an additional preference for pink-purple colors6,10,12. To investigate the robustness of gender difference in color preference in a different culture, we tested 81 young adult Indians from a school of Design and compared them to 80 young British students in Psychology. A 35-item International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) and the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) questionnaires were also administered to explore possible links between personality traits, gender schemata and color preferences. Results confirmed a gender difference in both cultures; participants collectively expressed a preference for cool over warm colors, while in addition females showed a preference for pink colors, with a warm bias for Indian females and a cool bias for British females. While these results extend gender difference to Indian culture and support the universality of an underlying pattern they also reveal a culture-specific contribution essentially observed in females. In British participants, color preference was correlated exclusively with BSRI scores in females and overwhelmingly with IPIP scores in males; this gender-specific pattern of correlation was not replicated in the Indian sample. Results point to an archetypal pattern of gender difference in color preference with a remarkable cross-cultural similarity in men and a subtle but significant cultural difference in women whose origin is yet to be explained.

JollyMate: Assistive Technology for Young Children with Dyslexia

Abstract: In this paper, we describe Jolly mate, a product concept that we have envisioned as assistive technology for young children with Dyslexia. Jolly mate, a digital notepad, emulates the Jolly Phonics system of teaching letter sounds and letter formation to children with dyslexia. Jolly mate in turn uses simple handwritten character recognizers created using the Lipi IDE tool from the Lipi Toolkit project, for detecting when a character has been written incorrectly. In this paper we describe the Jolly mate concept in brief, the Lipi IDE tool used to create the recognizers, and their integration.