Influence of local ‘language’ in data entry errors: A pilot study in the rural Indian setting

Abstract

The paper discusses issues related to human computer interaction errors due to the factor of local language primacy. It is posited that more errors are reported when a language that is not the local or mother tongue is used for data entry. Data entry is a means of lively hood for many rural based service providers [11]. The results of this experiment reported in this paper are expected to influence the design of the interfaces for rural based IT work force that is predominantly educated in the mother tongue. A pilot study was conducted using an experimental interface designed to test the frequency of errors in English and local language (Marathi or Assamese) number data entry. Subjects from rural India were given a task to perform. The task involved use of a calculator which was specifically designed for this experiment. Computer based background recording of the data input enabled collection of the speed of input and errors thereof. The results show three findings: first, use of local language for number data entry by rural users produces more accurate results, second the rural users make significantly more errors in limited time given for number data entry and the different local languages affects the error rate.