What is it about?
In our research, we address the need for affordable and easy-to-use mobile financial services for low-income, low-literate communities who typically use smart featurephones. Many current financial apps are designed for smartphones, which can be too expensive for these users. We explored the challenges these communities face with mobile financial services and developed a prototype-based app specifically for their feature phones. Our goal is to help make financial services more inclusive, allowing these communities to take part in cashless transactions using low-cost phones with app support.
Featured Image
Photo by Benjamin Dada on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Most research on improving mobile financial services (MFS) user experience for low-literate communities has focused on touchscreen smartphones, neglecting those who can only afford featurephones. Our study addresses this gap by examining design considerations for an accessible mobile wallet app tailored for button-based devices. We provide insights into the challenges faced by marginal, low-literate communities when using fintech applications and recommend enhancements for MFS solutions on appstore-supported featurephones. Our findings have the potential to influence the design and deployment of mobile services for this underserved segment, promoting financial inclusivity by offering a more affordable pathway to digital services.
Perspectives
I hope our work sparks interest in designing for marginalized communities who have often been overlooked in technology design, inspiring others to create more inclusive and accessible solutions.
Tawfique Elahi
North South University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: MFS Design in Appstore-enabled Smart Featurephones for Low-literate, Marginalized Communities, April 2023, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery),
DOI: 10.1145/3544548.3580661.
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