DIREKT Phase 1A Research Index

Phase: 1A — Zambia discovery and assumptions validation
Status: Complete with accepted limitations
Implementation branch: build/android-v1
Next phase: Phase 1B — interaction design and synthetic prototype

Purpose

This directory records the evidence, assumptions and later validation obligations behind DIREKT's Zambia product baseline.

Primary field interviews are not currently practical. The owner has therefore authorized current official and credible secondary research to establish a provisional design baseline. This is sufficient for Phase 1B design and, after that checkpoint, Phase 2 technical scaffolding.

Desk research does not authorize production claims, regulator integrations, real identity-document collection, public pilot launch or pricing assertions. Those require later legal, operational and Zambia user validation.

Mandatory reading order

  1. SECONDARY_RESEARCH_BASELINE.md
  2. PHASE_1A_EXIT_REVIEW.md
  3. ASSUMPTIONS_REGISTER.md
  4. CATEGORY_EVIDENCE_MATRIX.md
  5. LEGAL_AND_REGULATORY_RESEARCH.md
  6. the topic-specific research documents
  7. the retained interview and observation instruments before any real pilot research

Approved Phase 1A baseline

Area Provisional decision
Market context Lusaka District
Initial categories Plumbing, electrical repairs, motor-vehicle mechanics, appliance/electronics repair
Provider models Fixed premises, mobile and hybrid
Provider eligibility Registered business, qualified individual or experienced informal provider with honest claim disclosure
Trust presentation Separate check-specific claims; no blanket verified/safe claim
Location Area, neighbourhood, landmark, pin and optional Plus Code; private precision minimized
Customer contact Tracked enquiry followed by consent-aware call or WhatsApp handoff
Customer payments Deferred from first MVP
Provider payments Subscription adapter later; MTN MoMo and Airtel Money are candidates only
Android Native, low-bandwidth, offline drafts, compressed/recoverable uploads

Decision and evidence documents

Document Purpose
SECONDARY_RESEARCH_BASELINE.md Current evidence-backed provisional market and product baseline
ASSUMPTIONS_REGISTER.md Supported, provisional, rejected and deferred assumptions
PILOT_AREA_DECISION.md Pilot-area comparison and later exact boundary
PILOT_CATEGORY_DECISION.md Category scoring and later final pilot confirmation
CATEGORY_EVIDENCE_MATRIX.md Potential evidence and verification limits by category
TECHNOLOGY_AND_CONNECTIVITY_RESEARCH.md Device, Android, data, offline and performance constraints
LOCATION_AND_ADDRESSING_RESEARCH.md Area, landmark, pin, Plus Code and location-privacy model
PAYMENTS_AND_COMMUNICATION_RESEARCH.md Call/WhatsApp/OTP and mobile-money decisions
LEGAL_AND_REGULATORY_RESEARCH.md Questions requiring qualified legal review
DESK_RESEARCH_REGISTER.md Source-level research register
PHASE_1A_EXIT_REVIEW.md Formal Phase 1A decision and accepted limitations

Retained future field instruments

These documents remain valid for Phase 1B feedback, Phase 10 review and Phase 11 pilot validation. They are no longer prerequisites for starting design:

Evidence classification

Every claim must use one of these labels:

  • OFFICIAL-SOURCE — supported by a current authority or regulator source;
  • CREDIBLE-SECONDARY — supported by identified research or public data;
  • SYNTHETIC-TEST — produced through a non-production prototype using fictional data;
  • FIELD-OBSERVED — directly observed in the target operating context;
  • PARTICIPANT-REPORTED — reported by a coded participant;
  • DOCUMENT-INSPECTED — based on an inspected example document;
  • LEGAL-REVIEWED — confirmed by qualified Zambian legal counsel;
  • PROVISIONAL — approved for design but still revisable;
  • REJECTED — contradicted by evidence;
  • DEFERRED — intentionally unresolved for a later gate.

No secondary source may be described as a completed user interview or field observation.

Privacy rules

  • Public examples must be fictional or properly anonymized.
  • Never commit real identity documents, certificates, licence numbers, exact private coordinates or raw interview recordings.
  • Real pilot evidence must use approved private storage and access controls.
  • Public profile location must use the least precision necessary.
  • Legal or regulatory conclusions remain provisional until qualified review.

Exit condition

Phase 1A is complete with accepted limitations. Phase 1B is authorized. Primary Zambia validation remains a mandatory prerequisite for the controlled public pilot and production claims, not for beginning prototype design.