gsma mwomen design challenge 2012

GSMA mWomen Design Challenge

1 GSMA mWomen_M&E workshop_30 April 2012 1 GSMA mWomen_proposed M&E outcomes for discussion_23 April 2012 Restricted - Confidential Information © GSMA 2011

GSMA mWomen Design Challenge Overview

A gender gap has emerged in the mobile technology revolution

Women experience lower levels of

access to technology

Women are underserved by

mobile services

• 22% of those who did not want to own a mobile

phone said the main reason was they “wouldn’t

know how to use it”

• 2% of BOP women have ever used the mobile

Internet

• 30% of women who do not own a mobile phone

report not seeing the need

• Suggests services are not tailored to meet

their needs

• 40% of women reported that a disadvantage of

owning a mobile was that it allowed their family to

“keep track” of them.

A woman is 21% less likely to own a mobile phone

than a man in low- to middle-income countries.

300

million women

1.1 billion

subscribers

1.4 billion

subscribers

Women

(2.9 billion total)

Men

(2.9 billion total)

Gender gap

300 million fewer women

subscribers than men

subscribers in low- and

middle-income countries

Sources: GSMA and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Women & Mobile: A Global Opportunity, 2010.. GSMA, Striving and Surviving: Exploring the Lives of BOP Women, 2012.

Note: gender gap data is valid for 2009.

2 GSMA mWomen_proposed M&E outcomes for discussion_23 April 2012 Restricted - Confidential Information © GSMA 2011


Does it matter?

• 93% of women report feeling safer owning a

mobile phone

• 85% of women report feeling more independent

with a phone

• 41% of women report greater access to greater

income opportunities

• A lever for large-scale economic development

• A 10% increase in mobile phone

penetration was linked to a 1.2% increase

in GDP in low- and middle-income

countries 2

• Women play a key role, as they often are

responsible for the health, education, economic

stability and well-being of their families and

communities

• Mobile offers women access to health services

and information, education, banking services,

and tools for managing small businesses

Benefits of mobile to individual women1 Benefits of mobile on a global scale

1. GSMA and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Women & Mobile: A Global Opportunity, 2010.. GSMA, Striving and Surviving: Exploring the Lives of BOP Women, 2012.

2. Deloitte, Global Mobile Tax Review 2006-07, accessed online December 2009.



Several factors hinder women’s use of phones (I)

Technical literacy

barriers

• Mobile interfaces have not been designed for illiterate or novice populations

• Girls often lack access to education, complicating their ability to navigate the phones

• 22% of resource-poor women who did not want a mobile phone said it was because they

'wouldn't know how to use it’

• In some parts of the world, women’s use of phones can be perceived as challenging to

traditional cultures

• For example, husbands and fathers might consider mobile phones to be inappropriate

or unnecessary for their wives or daughters

• 64% of resource-poor women report that their mobile phone makes their husband

suspicious

• 74% of married women who did not want a mobile phone said it was because their

husband wouldn’t allow it

Culture

Sources: GSMA and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Women & Mobile: A Global Opportunity, 2010.. GSMA, Striving and Surviving: Exploring the Lives of BOP Women



Several factors hinder women’s use of phones (II)

• The total cost of ownership inhibits resource-poor women from investing in mobile tools

• Handset

• Airtime

• Services

• Mobile data is particularly costly, as it’s charged on a per megabyte rate

• Power is a particular constraint, requiring resource-poor women to pay vendors to charge

phones or to travel many miles to the nearest power source

• 38% of base-of-pyramid women in GSMA research live off the electrical grid

• Many resource-poor women lack awareness of features beyond voice and SMS

• For example, just 2% of resource-poor women report having used mobile internet

• Resource-poor women’s priorities are family health, education and economic opportunities

• They will value mobile services that meet these needs

Cost

Perceptions

of value

Sources: GSMA and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Women & Mobile: A Global Opportunity, 2010.. GSMA, Striving and Surviving: Exploring the Lives of BOP Women, 2012.



Smartphones are the future of the mobile revolution

Smartphone price points

lower

Increased demand

Increased production

Increased supply

Smartphones more

accessible

Growing 2nd hand

smartphone market

Proliferation of

smartphones in

emerging markets

• Shift from feature phones, which tend to

offer little beyond voice and SMS tools

• Greater range of features and services

• Emergence of mobile as channel for

internet in the developing world



So, what can we do now

to stop women falling further behind

as smartphones proliferate in the future?



Introducing the GSMA mWomen Design Challenge:

Redefining the User Experience

• Aims to meet the needs of resource-poor women by inspiring improved design of the smartphone user

experience

• Invites designers, programmers and innovators of all kinds to submit new designs for the standard Android

smartphone launcher so it better meets the needs of resource-poor women

• The more easily a woman can navigate her phone, the more she’ll use it, and the more she’ll realize value from

the pre-installed apps, widgets, and other functionality that can enhance her and her family’s lives



The Design Challenge is one element of the GSMA mWomen Programme

Promote improved mobile access and usage by resource-poor women

in the developing world by

• Encouraging an industry shift towards investing in women

• Catalysing availability of life-enhancing value-added services

to meet women’s needs

• Promoting solutions that address women’s technical and

cultural barriers to adoption



How to design a better smartphone user experience for low-resource women

• Novel designs for organizing and navigating

content and services for technically illiterate,

low-resource populations

• Should be based on key needs and constraints

facing resource-poor women, e.g.

• Share a phone with family

• Manage power consumption

• Contact family members in an emergency

• A simple, intuitive Android 4.0 launcher

interface for users with low levels of technical

literacy

• A graphical widget enabling the user to perform

a common task, as suggested on the website

What to design

• Six screen graphics of the launcher and widget

demonstrating

• Layout

• Navigation

• Functionality

• Other design choices

• Text statement explaining the design choices

reflected in the graphics

• Short video demonstrating how the design

would be used

What to submit



Judging criteria

Intuitive: How easy is the system for someone who has never used a smartphone?

Appropriate: To what extent does the solution address the barriers limiting women’s use of mobile technologies?

Creative: How original is the idea relative to existing solutions in the marketplace?

Viable: How realistic is commercialization of the proposed solution?

Usable: How likely would a resource-poor woman be able to use the phone?



Winning designs will earn cash prizes and opportunities to

commercialize their innovations

Winners will be announced and featured at the

GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona

on 25-28 February 2013

Grand prize winner: US$20,000 prize and a

meeting with potential investors to discuss

options for commercializing the concept

2nd place winner: US$10,000 prize

Emerging talent winner:

• Reserved to an entry from an individual

entrepreneur or academic institutions in

a low- or middle-income country

• US$10,000 prize

http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/



How to participate

• Register on the challenge website

• Use the online form to submit all materials

• Deadline is 11:59pm GMT on Friday, 14 December,

2012

• Finalists announced and exhibited on

http://designchallenge.mwomen.org/ in late

January

• More information on the website below

http://designchallenge.mwomen.org/

gsma mwomen design challenge 2012

Technology

women mobile

greater women

women access

pyramid women

married women

mobile revolution

mobile phonesubscribers

resourcepoor women report