The impact of mobile technologies and devices on how work gets done has been revolutionary. Economic studies are reporting a positive correlation between connectivity and GDP. Anecdotal "success stories" of how dabbawalas, farmers, artisans, extension workers, traveling salespersons, social workers, etc have adopted and adapted these technologies to enhance their efficacy and productivity abound on the media. As "anywhere, anytime" connectivity percolates to the remotest and lowest sections of our population, and with each new generation of devices, services and infrastructure, its impact on "work" will keep unfolding--in expected and unexpected ways. In brief, "how we work" is undergoing a profound transformation across the spectrum. The westerns world has several tools to run business but the non-IT penetrated world has started to use mobile for voice today. With 3G soon available, the small businesses will discover the wide applicability of mobile devices to bring prosperity and create more business for them. How will the users adapt the consumer-oriented devices to run and utilize to run their business?

In collaboration with Nokia, we at Srishti Labs are interested to understand the role of cell phones in the “ways of working” both at personal and business level. With the innovation capability, this will not only allow us to understand why the growth graph seems to be at an all-time high but also provide insights to our industry partners in future innovations.

The skill sets that will be applied for this exploration include user research including ethnography, business research and design conceptualization to allow us to utilize UBD approach to innovation. The project is led by Girish Prabhu. We will also have two innovation specialists (TBH) with user research and design ethnography background on this project. Starting with in depth longitudinal background research to design research for Nokia, Srishti labs has involved students and professionals to create new ideas for Nokia’s new platform.

Related : Innovation with S.Labs