Human-Computer Interaction Design for Low-Literacy Users: A Framework for Inclusive Public Service Portals in Emerging Economies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21590/ijtmh20230904023Keywords:
Human-computer interaction; Low literacy; E-government; Inclusive design; Public service portals; Emerging economies; Accessibility; Intermediated use.Abstract
Public services in emerging economies are moving online faster than the populations they serve are acquiring the textual, digital, and procedural literacies those services assume. The result is a paradox of digital governance: portals built to widen access instead erect new barriers for the citizens who depend on public services most. This paper synthesises three decades of human-computer interaction (HCI) research on low-literacy and first-time technology users into a design framework specifically targeted at government service portals. We first characterise the barrier landscape across four literacy dimensions — textual, digital, procedural, and linguistic — and show how conventional portal design compounds them. We then derive nine design principles, organised into perception (how information is presented), navigation (how users move through tasks), and trust (how users verify, recover, and seek help), and map each principle to concrete interface techniques with implementation notes for resource-constrained government IT environments. Finally, we propose an evaluation protocol combining task-based usability testing with assisted-use observation, reflecting the empirical reality that many low-literacy users access e-government through intermediaries. The framework offers portal designers, e-governance agencies, and civic technologists an actionable bridge between inclusive-design research and the procurement-driven practice of public sector software development.
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