Kiosk Usage Measurement using a Software Logging Tool

Rural PC kiosks have become prominent recently as a way to impact socio-economic development through computing technology. Despite the significant backing these projects receive from governments and other large organizations, there are very few rigorous studies which measure their actual impact and utility. We have developed and deployed a software PC logging tool that allows us to gain exact quantitative insight into the usage statistics of kiosks on which the tool is installed. In field trials in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, India, we collected over 120 days of software tool logging data from 13 separate kiosks, while we also questioned the kiosk operators during the same period. We show some evidence that the software based logging tool complements the existing survey based and other ethnographic approaches for data collection. We also show that the tool does a better job in gathering certain usage statistics as compared to questioning the kiosk operator