My mission to understand the world, its cultures, and its people has led me to French-speaking Africa. Cameroon, to be precise. I am here for two months to help an NGO that works on improving awareness and treatment of mental health in the country.
Next to my volunteering, I want to find out how Cameroonians, and people in surrounding countries, experience the tech world.
How do they use their apps? What role does tech play in their lives? And most importantly, which Western-designed technologies hinder them from having a satisfactory UX?
I am fortunate to be able to speak French, so I don’t have to live in the typical ex-pat bubble you can find in each capital city. I live in an authentic neighbourhood, buy groceries at the market, eat street food, and hang out with the locals. And, of course… commute and go to the office.
I investigated daily online routines and frequent struggles. I spoke to my location connections. They come from a variety of backgrounds and disposable income groups. I also conducted guerilla interviews on public transport. I then reached out to a few local UX specialists and met with them. All these people were surprisingly consistent in their answers. They all suffer from and recognise a few main problems.