USSD surveys require reading text on small screens. For a semi-literate respondent in Homa Bay, decoding a question like “Rate your trust in digital lenders on a scale of 1-5” can take 45 seconds just to understand. That leaves 45 seconds to consider an answer—impossible for nuanced topics.
She handed out SIM cards and airtime vouchers. “Your teams have three hours to deploy, survey, and verify. Go.”