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Application selection and human factors

In order for the Lwazi project to make an impact on the lives of South Africans, a service domain (e.g. Health, Education or Labour) and a specific application (e.g. an Automated Health Hotline or Bus Schedules) had to be selected, based on an extensive survey of the information needs of the target audience. Once the application had been selected, the design had to take into account important human factors, such as the language and culture of the target group.

Application selection Selecting a service domain and telephone application required an in-depth investigation into the information needs across, at least, three districts of South Africa which were characterised as rural, semi-urban, and urban. In each district, information was collected by means of key informant interviews with potential stakeholders, focus group interviews with potential end-users, and workshops with grassroots experts. We expect that the Lwazi service will improve coordination between organisations and individuals within and across a range of service domains, including Health and Education.

Human factors Human factors research for telephony systems was also conducted to understand how people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, or varying levels of literacy and familiarity with technology, interact with telephone-based systems. Expertise in usability and speech-based user interface design for the developing world is an important aspect of Lwazi. Incorporating aspects relating to these fields into the Lwazi service, facilitated its uptake by end-users.