Technological Impact of Demonetization
Fig: People standing in queue outside a bank, to get their old notes exchanged after demonetization
Source: DNA India
Research Goal
Research to identify motivation behind technology adoption.
Contribution
Qualitative field research
Semi-structured, multi-lingual interviews
Surveys
Implementing qualitative & quantitative methods
Data coding & analysis
Presented & co-authored a research paper for CHI 2018 in Montréal, Canada.
Overarching Research Question
The research focused on identifying the motivation behind the use of digital payments and understanding the extent to which people adopted new technologies as a result of demonetization. The overarching question we tried to address in our research was, 'How successful demonetization was in helping Indian population adopt technology through digital payments?'
Field Research Process
During demonetization, large multinational companies and big, established businesses survived the hit, small businesses were primarily affected. Hence, we targeted low-income vendors who made their living through daily transactions.
The study involved in-person interviews in Mumbai, India and 100+ in-person surveys each, at Mumbai and Bangalore. I handled the field research at Mumbai and formulated the interview protocol, which consisted of four themes addressing:
Frustration/confusion caused due to demonetization to identify the problems they faced
Trade impact and resulting adjustments to understand what changes persisted
Technology use focusing more on digital payments
The interviews targeted shopkeepers from commercial and residential areas of Mumbai and to accommodate multilingual interviewees, I conducted interviews in the multiple languages (Hindi, Marathi and English). Since I am originally from Mumbai, the cultural similarity and language knowledge gave me the power to interact with different vendors easily.
After each interview, I spent some time reviewing the recordings and transcribing the interviews in English which the entire team reviewed on a biweekly basis. At the end of every week, the team shared their highlights from interviews and advice on improving the process. We even maintained a summary in MS Excel/Google Sheets which helped us keep track of key points of each interview.
Key Findings
We aggregated the data after about 10 interviews, and the entire team spent time coding the data individually. Since all of us were based remotely, we used Google drive tools heavily for this process. Each of us reviewed the other's transcripts highlighting the identified themes, this way each interview was thoroughly reviewed by at least two people to ensure correct selection of themes.
The high-level themes went through another level of filtering to identify the key findings and best quotes associated with the findings.
Turning to familiar networks for help and trusting customers
Challenges of other non-cash transactions
Prior use of Technology as an influence
Children part of decision making influenced the practices followed at shops
Offspring Involvement and Digital Payment Adoption (*165 respondents)
Factors that motivated low-income vendors to adoption technology
Use of computer linked to the use of PayTM
Exposition Poster
What I learned from the research?
It is crucial to introduce the topic of research clearly to the participants, before the interview process begins.
Don't strictly follow the interview protocol, tweak it when necessary during the conversation. Use it’s core but focus more on what the user has to say and tailor the line of questioning accordingly.
Patience is key in field research especially when plenty of users turn down the opportunity for an interview or surveys.
Transcribing multi-lingual interviews can be tricky and it is important to maintain authenticity during translation.
Never ignore non-verbal cues and silence in interviews is not always a bad thing.
