Context and capability: the future of small screen research and development in Africa.

Abstract

This paper, presents four research directions that point toward increasing the importance of mobile research and development in the Africa's developing countries and countries where people use devices more than desktop computers. These directions however point to a future in which the gap between the user and the desktop is even wider than today. The proliferation of mobile technology is increasing everyday with millions of people getting access to them. And even further in the society and computer use is more intermittent in a greater variety of contexts than the current user models accommodate. The implications of these are that mobile devices, that (i.e. Mobile phones) should be made more available and accessible to every category of people and they must be designed for situational impairments and incurred from on-the-go use. They must also adopt flexible and rapid input mechanism as well as the models that describe them must be revamped to accommodate mobile use and behaviour. There are also opportunities for using mobile devices in education, health care, governance, and in Africa's developing nations where mobile devices are more common than desktop PCs.