Mobile for illiterate Indian Villagers

I was trying to train my mom how to use a mobile phone. But I was facing lots of difficulties because she is illiterate and had not dealt much with machine or gadget. This inspired me to think of mobile which will be suitable for such persons. Considering that, there are considerable number of population in India are still functionally illiterate, it might be worth spending time thinking about it (I can’t do more than this).

Here are the challenges I faced:

1. Making call - Because she can’t read, she is not able to search the person she wants to call.
2. Adding new number – Again because she can not recognize numbers and letters, she is not able add new numbers in mobile address book.

If I have to create a mobile phone for illiterate villagers of India, I would have the following functionality. I am only considering the basic utility mobile which will let them make and receive call and may be allow doing few extra things.

1. Photo based address book – It will allow searching person (one-by-one) based on picture rather than name.
1. Voice based Address book – If a voice name can be recorded against a number, it would be great i.e. as you select a number while searching mobile will speak the name of the person. This can be very useful if for some reason, display start malfunctioning. But still photo would be required, because two persons can have same name.
2. Voice recorder - Now if voice name is allowed to be stored in address book then it means that, phone should also have voice recorder.
2. Camera – Seems luxury but required, if phone address book is photo based. This will allow people to take a photo and then add mobile number of the person and save.
3. Symbol based keypad – Now because illiterate can’t read, standard keypad will not work. We would need the keys with symbol on the top.
1. Layering the keys - Again here care should be give so that symbols are one layer below a transparent layer on keys so that its does not get erased quickly.
4. Voice feedback to key pressed – A voice feedback should be given about the key pressed in local language. For example - if key ‘2’ is pressed is should sound ‘Do’ in Hindi. It will be useful while adding new contact.
5. Speaker - Because of feature 4, a speaker would also be needed.
6. Start and End Call button - There should be distinct two separate buttons to make a call and end the call. It’s easier to remember two keys for the two functions rather that same key for two functions based on state of the mobile.
7. Easy scroll button - Its must because target audience can not make quick search by typing names. They will have to depend on frequent scrolling.
8. Long battery life – Given erratic and even absent electricity in our village, having long battery life would be very essential.
1. Mechanical charger - Again, having some other means of charging (other than standard) the battery, say solar or mechanical (like dynamo etc) would be very handy.
9. Water and shock proof- We can not expect villager to take lots of care for their mobile. It will be used and abused. It has to be strong and robust. It should be water and shock proof given the nature of work performed in villages. Special care needs to be given to the display screen because if it breaks, whole mobile will become useless.
1. Safety glass cover – A replaceable safety glass cover just like wrist watch used to have for the display can be very useful
10. Call Bill – In village, people tend to share the resources. Even mobile phone can be shared. But it costs to make a call and even small amount is important for people in village. I have seen people fighting to reduce the fare by 50 paisa while traveling. To address this situation, mobile should announce the amount at the end of call. It will enable them to share the mobile without loosing money.
11. Torch – It’s not mandatory but very useful feature given the lighting in village streets. It also very useful given the limited hour of electricity supply or no supply at all.