How can mobile phones be adapted for textually illiterate people?

Jan Chipchase is one of those people who you should be highly jealous of. His job at Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is that of an anthropologist. They fly him around the world to do research on probably the most interesting topic that can be researched: people.

What he captures thru the aperture of his lens is why I subscribed to his blog a couple of months ago. I suggest you do too.

Recently he want to India to find out the challenges people who can’t read or write face in their daily life. Around 800 million illiterate individuals exist, how would you design a phone for them?

I know Jan won’t agree with me on this one since cost is an issue, but what about making a contact list based on pictures you take with your camera phone? Personally I am horrible at remembering names, but faces stay engraved in the back of my skull forever.

Check out his powerpoint presentation and essay on the discussion.