Developing e-banking services for rural India: making use of socio-technical prototypes
20 May 2017-pp 204-206
TL;DR: This poster presents an experience report based on systematic debriefing of involved project leaders and initiators, triangulated with additional documentation to show how to mitigate the challenges of ICT based banking service provision for socially constrained communities.
Abstract: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is one of the key enablers for including underserved communities in economic and societal development across the world Our research analyzes several banking service projects developing technical solutions for rural India This poster presents an experience report based on systematic debriefing of involved project leaders and initiators, triangulated with additional documentation The concept of Socio-Technical Prototype is developed and used to show how to mitigate the challenges of ICT based banking service provision for socially constrained communities The concept of Socio-Technical Prototype extends the notion of prototypes, as it implies a full functioning implementation of the service including all relevant stakeholders in order to not only prototype end-user functionality but also the interaction of the solution with the specific social, technical and physical environment The implications for software engineering in the development of such large-scale prototypes and pilots are outlined
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TL;DR: Overall, the article shows how model and theory help understand IS cases in developing countries, and equally, how those cases provide valuable data to help develop IS models and theories.
Abstract: This article presents evidence that--alongside the successes-- many information systems in developing countries can be categorized as failing either totally or partially. It then develops a new model that seeks to explain the high rates of failure. The model draws on contingency theory in order to advance the notion of design-actuality gaps: the match or mismatch between IS designs and local user actuality. This helps identify two high-risk archetypes that affect IS in developing countries: country context gaps and hard-soft gaps. The model is also of value in explaining the constraints that exist to local IS improvisations in developing countries. Overall, the article shows how model and theory help understand IS cases in developing countries, and equally, how those cases provide valuable data to help develop IS models and theories.
1,380 citations
"Developing e-banking services for r..." refers result in this paper
...The analysis confirms results of other similar sector project deploying ICT that emphasise participation [7]....
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TL;DR: The last half of the twentieth century was marked by steady advance in the ubiquity of information and communication technologies (ICTs) throughout the industrialized world as discussed by the authors, and the emergence of a significant digital divide between industrialized and developing countries is reproducing existing patterns of inequality with regard to these new technologies.
Abstract: T last half of the twentieth century was marked by steady advance in the ubiquity of information and communication technologies (ICTs) throughout the industrialized world. The emergence of a significant “digital divide” between industrialized and developing countries is reproducing existing patterns of inequality with regard to these new technologies (Castells, 1996). During this same period, however, substantial achievements in the few countries which succeeded in narrowing the economic divide separating them from the industrialized world often involved the export-oriented production of ICTs (Kim, 1997; Hobday, 1995b; Amsden, 1989) or, less commonly, their effective use in improving productivity or creating new markets. The continuing rapid decline in the prices of these technologies and the accompaniment of these price reductions with a growing range of applications suggest that they offer further opportunities for economic growth. In particular, ICTs are unique in a number of ways compared with the leading industries of the past that were responsible for industrial growth and development, such as steel, chemicals, and machinery. In many applications , and in some types of production, the conditions of entry for using and, in some cases, for producing ICTs do not require massive investment in fixed plant capacity or infrastructure or in the accumulation of experience. Moreover, ICT applications often appear to be complementary to efforts to improve the quality, speed and flexibility of production, offering a compensating advantage against existing shortcomings in production capacities (Lal, 2000). Because virtually all of the components and many of the systems embodying these technologies are internationally available from highly competitive
310 citations
TL;DR: This paper investigates the following research question: Which principles constitute a user-centered agile software development approach and identifies generic principles of UCASD and associating them with specific practices and processes.
Abstract: ContextIn the last decade, software development has been characterized by two major approaches: agile software development, which aims to achieve increased velocity and flexibility during the development process, and user-centered design, which places the goals and needs of the system's end-users at the center of software development in order to deliver software with appropriate usability. Hybrid development models, referred to as user-centered agile software development (UCASD) in this article, propose to combine the merits of both approaches in order to design software that is both useful and usable. ObjectiveThis paper aims to capture the current state of the art in UCASD approaches and to derive generic principles from these approaches. More specifically, we investigate the following research question: Which principles constitute a user-centered agile software development approach? MethodWe conduct a systematic review of the literature on UCASD. Identified works are analyzed using a coding scheme that differentiates four levels of UCASD: the process, practices, people/social and technology dimensions. Through subsequent synthesis, we derive generic principles of UCASD. ResultsWe identified and analyzed 83 relevant publications. The analysis resulted in a comprehensive coding system and five principles for UCASD: (1) separate product discovery and product creation, (2) iterative and incremental design and development, (3) parallel interwoven creation tracks, (4) continuous stakeholder involvement, and (5) artifact-mediated communication. ConclusionOur paper contributes to the software development body of knowledge by (1) providing a broad overview of existing works in the area of UCASD, (2) deriving an analysis framework (in form a coding system) for works in this area, going beyond former classifications, and (3) identifying generic principles of UCASD and associating them with specific practices and processes.
228 citations
"Developing e-banking services for r..." refers methods in this paper
...The approaches to combine user centred design and, for example, agile software development [11, 12] are still subject to research, and can be adapted to cover the initial development....
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12 Mar 2012
TL;DR: It is concluded that top-down, technology-centric, goal-diffuse approaches to ICTD contribute to unsatisfactory development results.
Abstract: This paper examines forty articles published in the journal Information Technologies & International Development between 2003 and 2010 in an effort to identify commonalities among projects that failed to meet some or all of their development objectives. We considered whether the selected papers articulated clear development objectives, and whether baseline data was used to inform project design. We then considered two factors associated with how development objectives are implemented: the development perspective (top-down vs. bottom-up), and the project focus (the technology vs. the community). Our goal was not to find fault with our colleagues or their work, rather to advance the debate about the effectiveness of ICTD initiatives at a particularly important point in the history of the discipline. We conclude that top-down, technology-centric, goal-diffuse approaches to ICTD contribute to unsatisfactory development results. Careful consideration of development objectives, perspective and focus is essential in all phases of an ICTD project, from design to deployment. Honest and comprehensive reporting of failure (and success) helps ICTD researchers and practitioners focus on best practices in meeting critical development needs.
127 citations
"Developing e-banking services for r..." refers background in this paper
...Developing ICT to promote development of under-privileged communities has never been easy [3]....
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12 Oct 2012
TL;DR: In this article, the authors depart from some of the fundamental perspectives of participatory design and show how they can be translated to ways of conducting, organising and carrying out participatory designs.
Abstract: Participatory Design is about engaging users in the design of new information technology. Much
of the research within Participatory Design has been concerned with developing and improving
methods, techniques and tools supporting how Participatory Design can be done in practice. Methods
are ‘recipes’ for Participatory Design. Methods are prescriptions (i.e. normative descriptions) of
how Participatory Design projects can be set up so that users are enabled to take an active part in
the activities and decisions throughout which new information technology is designed and built.
Participatory Design methods include tools and techniques, as well as organising principles and
general guidelines for the process. These are all based on a particular Participatory Design
worldview or perspective. This chapter departs from some of the fundamental perspectives of
Participatory Design – as described in previous chapters – and aims to show how they can be
translated to ways of conducting, organising and carrying out Participatory Design.
Participatory Design methods have traditionally all been concerned with information tech-nology development projects – also referred to as ‘system development’ and ‘system development projects’ (Andersen et al. 1990). Information technology is a highly complex technical
artefact. As its functionality depends on a computer program, which is a description of the
technology’s behaviour, it is extremely malleable. At the same time this provides a challenge.
The program does not resemble the final product that the user will experience. The program
has to be executed for the user to experience its interaction and its behaviour. The challenge for
the design process, in the context of Participatory Design, is therefore how to develop a highly
complex piece of technology and at the same time be flexible for learning processes resulting in
changes to both the interface and the functionality of the technology throughout the design
process – and even beyond.
121 citations
"Developing e-banking services for r..." refers methods in this paper
...The approaches to combine user centred design and, for example, agile software development [11, 12] are still subject to research, and can be adapted to cover the initial development....
[...]