Ghana Pilot and Launch

Initial Pilot

  • Themes/Goals
    • Initial Test of the Technology. (Kiosks a P2.)
    • Proven traction in providing knowledge without literacy (information scenarios).
    • Information sharing between people.
    • Centered in 1 village.
    • We need at least 100 good content pieces in order to begin the pilot.
    • Devices will have about about a max of 100 pieces - (15 min., 24 kb/sec, 100 pieces = 259MB)
    • Create simple content on device and share with others by device-to-device sharing.
    • Basic Complex Content Scenarios (hyperlinks).
    • More anecdotal evaluation than statistical.
    • Rigorous evaluation.
    • 50% from initial content we hack from the digital voice recorders and NGO audio. 25% simple content from NGOs recorded during small pilot. 25% simple content from device users during small pilot.
    • Sufficient backdoors to fix issues (either content or software or both) by an expert IT guy.
    • Good spectrum of content for seeding the program.
  • Non-Goals
    • Test the Kiosk-to-Kiosk sneaker network.
    • Literacy Scenarios.
  • Timelines
    • Duration - 6 week
    • Target Start Date - early September
  • Tech Setup
    • 1 kiosk, 100-200 devices
    • no battery charging setup
    • assumes limit on max content items in kiosk
    • no explicit architectural structure
  • Scenarios
    • (CS1) - OOTB Device experience.
    • (CS2, Not full support) - Help on device.
      • Linear audio content.
      • Not a goal to have hyperlinks to help scenarios.
    • (CS3) - Content Discovery
      • Device - audio discovery
      • Kiosk - audio discovery
      • Kiosk - video discovery (and text?)
        • System defined categories
      • Kiosk - text discovery (?)
    • (CS4) - Listen
      • Simple Content
      • Complex Content
    • (CS5) - Recording simple content from device
    • (CS7, Not full scenario) - Computer to Device copy
      • IT guy could do this using USB copy from computer
    • (CS10) - Kiosk to Device Copy
    • (CS11) - Device-to-Device copy.
    • (CS14) - Auto Shutoff of device and resume at same point
    • (CS15, not full scenario) - Power
      • Battery power
    • (CS16) - Device Status
    • (CS17, Not full support) - Update software on Device
      • Manual update of software is possible on device (by expert IT guy as opposed to user) - emergency scenarios.
  • Information Scenarios
    • (IS1, Not full scenario)
      • NGO leave audio copies
    • (IS3) - NGO leaves flipchart and device
    • (IS7) - Oral Stories
  • Other Requirements
    • (SR1) - Storage requirements
    • (SR2) - Device can store multiple content modules
    • (SR4) - User can erase a module
    • Device-to-Kiosk copy
  • Mechanical Requirements
    • see requirements for industrial design and device
    • lanyard hole
    • battery can be changed without a tool
    • hundreds can be transported without packing material in truck over bad roads
    • external mic/earphones
    • port for ac
    • 2 ports female serial port and female usb
  • Environmental Requirements
    • water resistant
    • works up to 120 deg. F.
    • dusty environments
      • band that cover device "rim" (NOTE: still questions around whether it is what holds the device closed, whether it fully covers ports, etc. … and how we test it)
      • 5 yrs daily use
  • Measurement & Evaluation
    • Anecdotal
    • Exact details TBD
    • Testimonials (Video inteviews, stories, photos, etc.)
      • Local member or Parliament
      • NGOs
    • Survey with concrete Q&A
    • Measure knowledge before and knowledge after (must know content we have)
    • Primitive Usability Study
  • Quality Expectations
    • We need to this to be "product quality" as opposed to "beta quality" because we want this to get traction with users in the field.
  • Questions
    • Should we budget for a person to man the kiosk for the duration of this initial pilot?
    • NOTE: Testing kiosk scenarios is P2 to testing devices. If we can bring in start date significantly, then we would consider only testing devices in the small pilot.
    • How will we get people to use this? (Village meeting with NGO they know & trust explaining why this is good.)
    • How do we keep people interested throughout the program?
      • Introduce new content often
      • Verbal "thumbs up"/"thumbs down" feedback loop that drives later content we inject into the system
      • What is the best village and kiosk owner to start this with?
      • What are the user and kiosk owner profiles?

Full Pilot - Ghana

  • Themes/Goals
    • Small Pilot Goals plus…
    • Improve literacy.
    • Line up with school semesters (i.e., probably after XMAS and before June)
  • Timelines
    • Duration -
    • Target Start Date -
  • Tech Setup
    • 5 kiosks, 100-200 devices/kiosk
    • battery charging
    • assumes limit on max content items in kiosk
  • Scenarios
    • All Initial Pilot scenarios plus…
    • (CS6, Not full written scenario) Record complex content
      • Record content on device and split into chapters
    • (CS7) - Computer to Device copy
    • (CS17) - User can update Software on Device from Kiosk.
    • (CS15) - Power
  • Information Scenarios
    • (IS2) - Villager brings to Village
    • (IS4) - Gender Rights explains how to file a complaint (needs multiple kiosks)
    • (IS5) - Citizen Lobbyist
  • Other Requirements
    • (SR3) - User can erase a chapter
    • (SR5) - System Audio files - as many as 100-10s system audio files
    • Feedback mechanism on device that is uploaded to kiosk eventually
  • Measurement & Evaluation
  • Quality Expectations
    • We need to this to be "product quality" as opposed to "beta quality" because we want this to get traction with users in the field.
  • Questions
    • Should we budget for a person to man the kiosk for the some part or all of the full pilot?

Full Launch

  • Themes and Goals
    • Sustainability
  • Content for fee Information Scenarios
    • (IS6) - Audio advertising (newspaper)
    • (IS8) - Presidential Candidates expand on platforms
    • (IS9) - Distance Learning for small businesses

Cut from V1

NOTE: Move this later

  • (CS8) - Copy from kiosk to many devices simultaneously
  • (CS9) - Copy from one device to many devices simultaneously (daisy chaining?)
  • (CS13) - Record from radio to device

//

Notes from February Management meeting on the Pilot Program in Ghana

* We will need two pre-Pilot trips to Ghana to prepare for the Pilot. One is planned already: ghana-visit-200804
* We will purchase ~10 Digital Voice Recorders to give to local NGOs to begin producing early content.
* We want a 25% (education/literacy) to 75% (general knowledge) split on content.
* Q: Do we need this to coincide with a school semester?
* Yes, but there are two questions:
* 1) running pilot while school is in session (yes, we must, and as long as we don't hit Christmas holidays, we should be fine), and
* 2) starting pilot at beginning of a semester (this would be nice, but since that would be around mid-September, we might not have pilot devices ready by then). Cliff will get exact dates of school session and we can evaluate.
* We need at least 100 good content pieces in order to begin the pilot.
* We expect that the volume of content pieces will continue to grow during the pilot. We need to set that up to succeed.
* We need to figure out how to measure and evaluate pilot success.
* We would like local NGOs to test run the content authoring system to create content for the pilot. Worst case scenario, we will port from DVR format (mp3?) to our format. Q: Are CODECs utilities available on Windows?
//