case_studies_8

**Week 8: Human-Centred Design Case Study of Cellphones in Developing Countries**

 * //In three paragraphs, describe the role of Jan Chipchase in defining the role of cellphones in the developing world for Nokia, and the benefits of analyzing and defining cellphone use and design in different cultures as part of their market expansion.//**

Jan Chipcase is a “human-behavior researcher” for Nokia. This requires him to divulge himself into the lives of others in order to gather detailed knowledge about human behavior and bring this information back to the designers, technologists, and marketing team. The goal is to design a cellphone that will get the rest of the non-cellphone owning population to purchase one. This can be difficult seeing as these people generally cannot afford one.

Cellphones have shown great potential and results in increasing profit for businesses, be it a small-plot farmer in a developing country. They can also help people who typically need to travel great distances or wait a long time in order to receive at times vital information. It is important that Chipcase do detailed and meticulous research as he states “pushing technologies on society without thinking through their consequences is at least naïve, at worst dangerous” (Corbett 2008).

Forty percent of the cellphones sold in 2007 were made by Nokia (Corbett 2008) and after such great success; it is now their goal to expand their market. They need to find a way to create a cellphone that will be affordable and suitable to other cultures and their lifestyles. Not only will this be groundbreaking for the company itself, but it could aid in eliminating some of the world’s poverty and increasing productivity.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/magazine/13anthropology-t.html?_r=2&emc=eta1&pagewanted=all