Here is your pdf: The Persistence of paper: a case study in microfinance from Ghana

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Author: Ishita Ghosh, Jay Chen, Joy Ming, Azza Abouzied

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Subject: a case study in microfinance from Ghana – persistence of paper

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The Persistence of Paper:

A Case Study

in Microfinance

from Ghana

Ishita Ghosh

1

,

Jay Chen

2

, Joy Ming

3

,

Azza Abouzied

2

University of California,

Berkeley

New York University, Abu Dhabi

Harvard University

ighosh@isc

hool.berkeley.edu

{jay.chen,azza}@nyu.edu jming@fas

.harvard.edu

ABSTRACT

Paper as a medium persists as the de

facto standard for information

collection, storage, and transfer in many low

–

resource developing

contexts. Of these contexts,

t

he m

icrofinance

industry

continues to

be fascinating in the

ongoing

ICTD

conversation

due

,

in part,

to

its

elimination of paper by digitizing

money transfers

using

mobile

banking

. This success invites

scholars, designers, and industry

practitioners to de

sign technology solutions to eliminate the

perceived

inefficiencies of paper

in microfinance and other

industries

. In

this work

, we

take a step back to

assess the role and

value of paper in order to

give

designers

pause when considering a

blanket digitizat

ion of existing processes, norms, and transactions

.

Specifically, w

e study

a

microfinance ecosystem in the city of

Tema in Ghana

and

find that p

aper passbook

s are

able to

deliver

valuable

context

–

specific

information to its owners that derive

from the spec

ific affordances of paper itself.

Our findings

encourage a more nuanced view o

,

and consequently, in similar low

–

resource settings.

ACM Classification Keywords

H.5.m. Information interfaces and presentation (e.g., HCI):

Misce

llaneous

General Terms

Human Factors

, Design

Keywords

ICTD, Paper, Microfinance

1.

INTRODUCTI

ON

Paper is ubiquitous. Despite ambitious proclamations in the 90s

that organizations

and work

–

spaces would eventually achieve a

paperless

state, paper

persists

. Paper is light, low

–

cost, familiar;

it is easy to use, manipulate, fold, share, and distribute, all

properties that render paper as immensely usable and accessible.

Sellen

and

H

comprehensive

indispensability of paper in wor

k spaces [30

]

. The authors point to

the historical legacy of paper and its co

–

evolution with present

work

design(s) of technology alternatives to paper that contribute to its

continu

ing resilience in professional and personal

spaces.

Existing literature

es

that render it as an effective medium

for

information

including:

its

ease

of use, low cost, light

weight, portability, tangibility, and

cons

e

quent ubiquity in our society [15

]

.

T

hese properties ensure

that paper allows for ea

sy annotation and manipulati

on [3

1

,

21

]

,

for quick spatial maneuverability and adjustment that enables a

more comp

–

a

–

,

29

]

,

and

for effective

recording and recapturing

o

f historical logs or activity [20

]

.

Paper has

endured in low

–

resource settin

gs across

the developing

world as well.

T

he extensive use of

paper documents across state

bureaucracies

in the developing world

has inspired ethnographic

accounts

that

reveal

their

intended

use for exerting control over the

public [14

]

while simultaneously offering

the public

a

site for

enhanced participation

[8]

.

Other work has demonstrated the

explicit intent by the state to digitize existing

paper documents to

reduce corruption

[36

]

.

Still other literature has focused

extensively on the

augmentation

of paper docu

ments with

technology in low

–

resource settings to better capture, store a

nd

process data [26

,

3

,

12

]

1

.

These interventions generally preser

ve

existing workflows and

replace paper or augment the processes

with

Information Communication Technologies (

ICTs

)

.

The

domain of

ICTs

and Dev

elopment (ICTD)

often exemplifies

th

is

drive for digitization in low

–

resource settings acro

ss the

developing world, and the shift

from

physical

platforms such as

paper.

However, d

espite this push for digitization, p

aper continues

to play an important role in information ec

ologies in the

developing world.

In microfinance, paper

is embedded

in local information practices

of

community

groups

[10

,

26

]

. Paper

is

the time

–

honored platform

for recording and storing microfinance data, bot

h at the customer

as well as

at the provider

.

Paper

is used to generate and sustain

trust between transacting parties, and

is

in general well

–

providing a greater sense of security than other infor

mation

resources that might have to be provisionally ow

ned, shared, or

borrowed [23

]

.

R

esearchers have

made specific note of

the

enduring assurance that paper receipts bring to low

–

income, low

–

literate customers in wholly digitized systems, such as mobile

banking

,

despite the delivery of SMS receipts confirming

these

very same transactions [9

,

22

].

Given

embeddedness and

value,

interventions proposing

digitization

require

careful deliberation.

More specifically, u

nder

what con

ditions is

digitization

recommended

and to what extent

?

A

re

there attributes

of paper

that

should be

preserv

ed

and

what

1

Most

r

ecently, Dell

et al [6

]

study paper

–

digital workflows in

development organizations and outline design opportunities around this.

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.

, May 15

18, 2015, Singapore, Sing

apore.

Copyright 2015 ACM

978

–

1

–

4503

–

3163

–

0/15/05$15.00

dx.doi.org/10.1145/2737856.2738029

.

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