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Sunday, November 3, 2013

Harnessing (available) resources for development

Barcamp Sunyani 2013 advert
Last year, the very first barcamp was held in Sunyani. It was an event that saw stakeholders in the region, meet to network and discuss issues related to its development.
This year, another barcamp beckons. As an agricultural hub of Ghana, there is the need to find out the resources available to us, to improve the sector.
  • What information is available to farmers and those in agriculture?
  • What role does (or can) ICT play in agriculture?
  • What organisations are doing a lot to better the agricultural sector in Ghana as a whole?
  • What can I do as an individual to help in the development of my community?
For answers to these and other questions, join us at Barcamp Sunyani on the 9th of November, 2013 at the University of Energy and Renewable Resources, at 9am prompt.
Do follow discussions on twitter via the hashtag #bcsyi. You can also register for the event online.
See you when I see you...

Friday, November 1, 2013

Vodafone does listen, no?

In an earlier post, I shared my frustration with the bundling of mobile data on Vodafone Ghana's network.
Last week, after trying to bundle 400MB worth of data -- unsuccessfully (sigh), I realised that my call credit (¢10) had 'disappeared'!
Surprised, I phoned the call center and was assured by the (male) attendant that a report would be made on the incident.
It. Never. Was.
The following day, I phoned again and a female attendant helped me. She also assured me of making a report on the incident -- and she did.



The report was to have my call credit refunded, but it wasn't. I therefore sent a follow-up e-mail.


That worked, because I checked my credit balance later and voila -- full refund had been made!
This rekindles my appreciation of Vodafone's customer service; I pray they continue.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

A case for 'local' user interfaces?

The tweet above got my attention. Most folks in Ghana still enjoy SMS and those with smartphones enjoy text-based apps like Whatsapp. (Do note that Whatsapp now has voice-enabled input functionality).
From the convo on twitter, one realises that my friend is concerned about folks who cannot read English. I am however of the view that, a great majority of such folks can read in their local tongues.

A suggestion for developers who wish to design text-based apps for non-English speakers can be to use an API from Kasahorow. This would afford them the flexibility of using local languages.
However, another cool approach for developers looking forward to implement text-based apps, would be to use voice in place of text.

When it comes to using visuals, a lot of work has to be done to come out with better metaphors. This is because I've been contemplating how User Interface designers (in Ghana -- and Africa) could come up with icons that are 'local' enough to be understood and appreciated by their users.

Is this necessary, though?

What would the icons be like? A basket instead of a shopping cart? An earthenware bowl in place of fork and knife?
Well, as I've stated, more research needs to be done to really get a hang of this. An argument will be that the world is a global village, no? But what of the 'local' folks?

Forgive me if my thoughts are not 'falling in place' now.
I'm an enigma to myself.