Understanding group communication in rural India

In this paper, we present our study that was based on group exercises undertaken in an Indian village. We wanted to understand how co-located and non co-located groups communicate with each other, such that a technology solution best suited to the context and needs of rural Indian users are developed. We highlight our findings and suggest some design avenues. One of our findings was a strong preference for proximate group experience with aural and visual cues. The study enabled identifying guidelines to design a rural-India group communication solution. Supporting the formation of subgroups to increase efficiency of discussion emerged as an important aspect. Moreover, existence of an additional channel for communication through non-verbal cues such as gestures, facial expressions and body language was discovered to have an important bearing on a satisfactory communication experience in a group.