2015-04-01 research seminar

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Investigating HCI Practices in the Nigerian Software Industry Abiodun Ogunyemi Supervisor: David Lamas; Co-Supervisor: Isaias Da Rosa; Host Supervisor: Emmanuel Adagunodo

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Investigating HCI Practices in the Nigerian

Software IndustryAbiodun Ogunyemi

Supervisor: David Lamas; Co-Supervisor: Isaias Da Rosa; Host Supervisor: Emmanuel Adagunodo

Agenda

● Introduction● Overview of the Literature ● Research Methods● Results● Discussion

Introduction● Before the journey to Nigeria…● Collaboration

○ Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

● Cooperation○ Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON)○ Three indigenous software companies

● Goal was to describe the state of HCI practices in Nigeria software industry

Overview of Nigeria ● Population was 150M people in 2012, an approximate 20% of Africa

population● Largest Oil Producer in Africa● 33% of residents are connected to the Internet*● Country is 133rd on the World ICT Development Index and 14th in Africa**● Broadband penetration remains lowest in Africa at 19 per 100 inhabitants**● Wireless broadband penetration in Nigeria is 10%**● High importation rates for varying goods and products● Enormous capital flight

*United Nations E-Government Survey 2014

**ITU, Measuring the Information Society Report 2014

A New Economy Policy in Nigeria“The new policy on cash-based transactions (withdrawals) in banks, aims at reducing (NOT ELIMINATING) the amount of physical cash (coins and notes) circulating in the economy, and encouraging more electronic-based transactions (payments for goods, services, transfers, etc.)” - Central Bank of Nigeria*

● Policy introduced in December, 2011● Test implementations in Lagos and Abuja in 2012

*http://www.cenbank.org/cashless/

Rationale for a Cashless Economy1. To drive development and modernization of payment system in line with

Nigeria’s vision 2020 goal of being amongst the top 20 economies by the year 2020.

2. To reduce the cost of banking services (including cost of credit) and drive financial inclusion by providing more efficient transaction options and greater reach.

3. To improve the effectiveness of monetary policy in managing inflation and driving economic growth.

4. To curb some of the negative consequences associated with the high usage of physical cash in the economy, including: High cost of cash, High risk of using cash, High subsidy, Informal Economy, and Inefficiency and Corruption

Source: Central Bank of Nigeria (http://www.cenbank.org/cashless/)

Some Key Implications

● Many businesses would move online● E-commerce likely to become a major business trend● Software development activities would increase

The Local Software Industry● Overseeing body for ICT issues is the Federal Ministry of Communication

Technology● NITDA is the advisory agency for ICT and software issues● NITDA has a Department for Software and Outsourcing● Organisational Capability Vs Product Development Capability● CMM and ISO 9001 Certification● There are independent bodies too (ISPON, Nigeria Computer Society,

Information Technology Association of Nigeria)

The Local Software Industry...● Local software industry not yet fully standardised and run by effective

government regulations● Mostly dominated by small companies (less than 50 employees)● Most companies used own methods● Nothing is known about the state of HCI practices in the local industry

Overview of the Literature● HCI Practices such as usability engineering might not differ in developed

and developing countries so far(See e.g. Larusdottir, Haraldsdottir, and Mikkelsen, 2009, and Ji and Yun, 2006)● There is still gap between HCI education and practice (Collazos, and,

Merchan, 2015)

Research Method

● Exploratory case study● Online Survey● Semi-structured Interviews

○ Rationale is to deepen understanding of the survey results

Results - Survey Demographics● 95 companies invited, 67 participated and only 22 responses were useful● 17 participants (77%) were from small companies● 15 companies are located in Lagos (Economic Capital State)● 9 respondents ran elementary HCI courses in BSc Computer Science

programs● 50% of the respondents have less than 5 years experience in their roles● 17 companies (77%) are aware of the HCI field

Survey Results...● 15 respondents (68%) possess a

BSc degree, 3 others (14%), have diplomas and other certificates and one respondent (4%), has a High School certificate

● Very scarce HCI practitioners in software teams

● Major HCI aspect prioritized is Graphic Design

Survey Results...● Respondents’ roles are Usability

Designer (2), Programmer (7), Software Engineer (5), UX Designer (1), Project Manager (3), CEO (2), Technical Resource Engineer (1) and Chief Software Architect (1).

● Software development method mostly used is the Rapid Application Development

UX Practice● 17 companies (77%) claim they addressed UX aspects● Results show pragmatic aspects are prioritized more than hedonic.

Usability Practice● 12 companies claim they always

conduct usability testing, and 10 sometimes do.

● Time is the major factor indicated.● Usability testers:

○ representative sample of users - 11 companies

○ own employees - 4 companies○ customer’s employees - 4

companies○ arbitrary sample of actual users - 3

companies

ISO 92141-210 and Human Centred Design Practice

● Major aspect prioritized is the understanding of users, tasks and environments

● User involvement and use of multidisciplinary skill approach are less prioritised.

● Cost effectiveness of involving users

ChallengesChallenges for Usability, UX and HCD practices indicated

Factor Respondents Percentage (%)

Standard tools for integration 2 9%

Knowledge of best practices 5 23%

Short time to deploy 7 32%

Cost 7 32%

Ineffective Government policies 1 4%

Interviews - Software Companies● One medium-sized and two small companies● 10 semi-structured interviews● None of the practitioners have strong HCI backgrounds● Medium company uses ISO 9001 standards and own methods● Others use own methods● Focus groups● Ethnography● Prototyping, Wireframes, Mockups● Outsourcing● Visually appealing and Intuitive System● Strong Market Forces

“one area that we know we need to still work on is even our own development standards; we have not accepted that we are there, (in terms of) our benchmarks...”

An Example of Software Service● Remita http://remita.net/

Interview with HCI and SE Educators● Educators have no strong HCI backgrounds● Feedbacks/Industry needs● HCI course started in 2008● Focus is on usability of user interface● NUC Curriculum Design

Interview with ISPON Representative● Foreign is better than Local● Partnerships with foreign

software companies○ The Case of Neptune

● Foreign Exchange Remittances● Lack of Road Map for Strategic

Development● Spontaneous Government

Policies● Academics and Tools

“We don't have the share capacity to engage people on how functional our brand is. Brand is about knowledge. It is about thinking”

Discussion

● HCI is just at the awareness level● No Gap between HCI Theory and Practice in

Nigeria● Huge Gaps between Global HCI levels AND

the levels in Nigeria

Strengthening HCI Uptakes in Nigeria● Engagement with Policy Makers● Capacity building for developing local contents● National Curriculum Review● Collaboration with Local Universities● Vocational Training● Degree Programmes in HCI● SIGCHI

Thank you!

ReferencesCBN, 2011: Cashless Nigeria. Retrieved online from http://www.cenbank.org/cashless/Collazos, C.A., Merchan, L., 2015: Human-Computer Interaction in Colombia: Bridging the Gap

between Education and Industry. IT Emerg. Mark. 38, 6, 900–915.Hussey, J., Hussey, R.: Business Research: A Practical Guide for Undergraduate and Postgraduate

Students. Macmillan., London (1997).ISO: Ergonomics of Human-System Interaction - Part 210: Human-Centred Design for Interactive

Systems. ISO 9241-210:2010. pp. 1–32 ISO (2010).

ITU, 2014: Measuring the Information Society Report. Retrieved online from https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/publications/mis2014/MIS2014_without_Annex_4.pdfJi, Y.G., Yun, M.H.: Enhancing the Minority Discipline in the IT Industry: A Survey of Usability and

User-Centered Design Practice. Int. J. Human- Comput. Interact. 20, 2, 117–134 (2006).Larusdottir, M.K., Haraldsdottir, O., Mikkelsen, B.: User Involvement in Icelandic Software Industry. Proceedings of the INTERACT 2009. pp. 1–2 ACM, Uppsala (2009).

NITDA, 2007: National Software Policy. Retrieved online from http://www.nitda.gov.ng/policies.htmlUnited Nations, 2014: E-GOVERNMENT FOR THE FUTURE WE WANT. Retrieved online from http://unpan3.un.org/egovkb/Portals/egovkb/Documents/un/2014-Survey/E-Gov_Complete_Survey-2014.pdf