Customizing content for rural mobile phones: a study to understand the user needs of rural India

Abstract

Mobile phones have initiated affordable, need-based and user-centric information services in rural India. Though rural India majorly comprises illiterate, semi-literate and literate population, they have access to mobile phones and are familiar with various social media functions of these phones. This paper has explored how semi-literate and illiterate rural people use mobile phones to enhance their day-to-day activities, in spite of being severely handicapped due to low/no literacy and by limited understanding of the functions of the mobile phone. The research follows a grounded theory design. Data were collected from the unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled labour class (migratory workers), living as tenants in the village of Sikandarpur Ghosi and Sukhrali in the district of Gurgaon, Haryana, India. The paper suggests how a planned and proactive approach towards content customization should be considered by the policy makers and industry experts to optimize mobile phone use in the rural areas of India through (a) language, (b) vernacular keypads, (c) mobile content and (d) (if possible) through mobile phone design according to the rural needs. This would serve twofold purposes of increasing digital literacy and strengthening the information communication network within the village. Suggestions on funding for development of such initiatives have also been made in order to ensure that the approach be more proactive and implementable.