Introducing ATMs in India: a contextual inquiryIntroductionCulture and designInterface localisationUser requirements for emerging marketsProject overviewMethodBackground researchContextual inquiryAnalysis and modellingConsolidation and guideline extractionResultsPower distanceCollective orientationLong-term orientationCommunication boundariesDeveloping marketsDiscussionConclusionReferencesIntroducing ATMs in India: a contextual inquiryAntonella De Angelia, Uday Athavankarb, Anirudha Joshib,Lynne Coventrya,*, Graham I. JohnsonaaNCR Financial Solutions Division, Advanced Technology and Research,3 Fulton Road, Dundee, Scotland DD2 4SW, UKbIndustrial Design Center, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai-400 076, IndiaAbstractThis paper presents a method and results of an ethnographic study aimed at building anunderstanding of Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) adoption in Mumbai, India. The study combinedfield observations and semi-structured interviews ðN ¼ 43Þ of early ATM adopters, bank customerswho do not use ATMs, and people who used the ATM for the first time as part of our research.Data were analysed to identify specific cultural traits that may affect the adoption of ATMs in urbanIndia. Results demonstrated the unique role of the cultural context in affecting users’ expectationsand behavioural possibilities, thus determining people’s response to the machine. This led to theconclusion that an understanding of cultural biases and metaphors can facilitate technology diffusionand acceptance informing design localisation and supporting the development of strategies tomotivate and train users.q 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Keywords: Automatic teller machines adoption; Design localisation; Hofstede’s culture dimensions; Emergingmarket; Ethnography; Cross-cultural user research1. IntroductionIn many parts of the world the majority of bank customers regularly use AutomaticTeller Machines (ATMs) and today’s Western youth have not known a world withoutthem. For these people, the prevailing perception of a cash machine is that of a toolproviding a familiar functionality of basic financial information and dispensing cash(De Angeli et al., 2002). The technology is hidden from sight; the computer is invisible.It has taken approximately 30 years to establish ATMs as ubiquitous examples of publicwalk-up-and-use devices. The adoption has not been straightforward, requiring trust in0953-5438/$ - see front matter q 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.doi:10.1016/j.intcom.2003.11.003Interacting with Computers 16 (2004) 29–44www.elsevier.com/locate/intcom*Corresponding author.E-mail address: [email protected] (L. Coventry).the technology and willingness to modify behavioural strategies in the very sensitivedomain of personal finance. Financial institutions have played a major, sometimecoercive, role in encouraging ATM adoption. Research has monitored this period revealingmajor drivers and deterrents of adoption and basic usability issues (Stevens et al., 1986;Hatta and Iiyama, 1991; Pepermans et al., 1996; Mead and Fisk, 1998; Little et al., 2003).The ATM flourishes within societies where time is precious and money readilyavailable. This culture is composed of individuals, who have personal bank accounts andaccess to a wide range of technology. For these people, ATMs are convenient andreliable everyday artefacts: push a few buttons and get your money. As ATMs cross newborders and pervade different cultures, we need to understand the role of culturalcharacteristics on people’s perception of, attitudes towards, and action on, the machine.This understanding is instrumental in facilitating technology uptake and improvingdesign localisation, or the process of infusing a specific cultural context into productsdesigned for different cultures (Carey, 1998).This paper contributes to the understanding of technology adoption in developingcountries, reporting a contextual inquiry conducted in the city of Mumbai with the aim ofcollecting consumer requirements for financial self-service technology. It discusses amethod and results of an ethnographic study aimed at building an understanding of IndianATM’s consumers. It concentrates on urban India and ATM adoption but we believe theapproach can be generalised to cover other public (and personal) technologies, as well asother developing markets. Section 2 provides a definition of culture and a brief review ofresearch discussing how interface design relates to culture. This is followed by the userresearch describing methods, analysis and results. The final section provides conclusionsand suggestions for further research.2. Culture and design‘Culture is to a human collectivity what personality is to an individual’ (Hofstede,2001, p. 10). It is the common deposit of knowledge, beliefs, values and attitudes thatshapes people’s interaction in a society with their physical and social environment.Applying this definition to the interaction with a machine, culture has to be regarded as apowerful variable affecting users’ expectations and behavioural possibilities,thus determining people’s response to that machine, including misuse or no use at all.The Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) interest in culture is growing (for instancesee Del Galdo and Nielsen, 1996; Nielsen, 1990; Day, 1998; Gunter et al., 2003). HCIcommunities have been established almost everywhere in the world, and have startedaddressing specific issues of developing markets such as illiteracy and limitedinfrastructures (Shneiderman, 2000; Interactions, 2003). The most relevant part of theresearch has concentrated on a surface-level approach to interface localisation in theimplicit assumption that user needs and requirements were constant between cultures.Today, it is commonly acknowledged that design elements that are appropriate for oneculture may not be appropriate for another. Cultural preferences and biases, such asspatial orientation of information, colour semantics and cultural metaphors influenceusability. For instance, writing protocols affect menu design. Chinese languagesA. De Angeli et al. / Interacting with Computers 16 (2004) 29–4430(written top to bottom) suit a vertical menu configuration, whereas western languages(left to right) suit a horizontal display (Dong and Salvendy, 1999). American users reactquicker to alphanumeric labels, while Chinese users react quicker to pictorial icons(Choong and Salvendy, 1998).A parallel research direction has concentrated