ICT4D 2010 - Mobile HCI 2010 Workshop Mobile HCI and Technical ICTD: A Methodological Perspective

Technical Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD) research, which refers to ICTD topics specifically relevant for computer scientists and engineers, lacks appropriate research methods along the entire development lifecycle spanning design, development, deployment, evaluation and monitoring.
This, among other results, became clear during the CCC Workshop on Computer Science and Global Development in Berkeley, August 2009, where ACM SIGDEV became the tentative name of an ACM special interest group on technical ICTD.
Many ICTD projects have failed meeting the challenges of technical ICTD by using inappropriate top-down technology centric research methods and definitions based on assumptions of user requirements and context instead of real facts. Successful technical ICTD research needs a shared methodology and rigorously applies appropriate research methods.
Mobile HCI has a great set of methods supporting effective research in all phases of mobile research. Methodologies for data collection, theory building, testing of hypothesis, and framework creation are represented with survey research, applied research, basic research, and normative writings. Methodologies are available for laboratory experiments supporting controlled experiments and theory testing in artificial environments. Generation, testing, and description of hypothesis and theory as well as studying of current practices and evaluation of new practices in natural settings are supported by methodologies like case studies, field studies and action research. Due to the huge opportunities of mobile computing in developing countries, technical ICTD could benefit from this complete set of Mobile HCI methodologies supporting all phases of a mobile research lifecycle.
Moreover not only technical ICTD could benefit of Mobile HCI but also vice versa. A review of Mobile HCI publications revealed that there is very little research done using field methods or studies (action research, case studies, field studies) in natural settings. Most Mobile HCI studies focused on the technical aspects of prototyping and performing evaluations, if at all, in laboratory settings only. This is where Mobile HCI could learn from technical ICTD because field studies in natural settings and real world evaluations using action research and participatory design form the foundation of good technical ICTD research. The utilization of the rarely used Mobile HCI research methods in technical ICTD could foster a valuable cross fertilization.