Thursday, June 14, 2007

Mobile User Research: Recent Findings and Ideas

by David Jacques

In the past year we have conducted much research on mobile devices and personal media players and have learned a great deal about user behavior and user needs. In this article we compile a sample of our findings, and ideas for new features and functionality that directly address some of those user needs.

Need to Share

Much of our user research revealed a need people have to share. People share pictures, videos, stories, links, etc. The only thing that stops more people from sharing is the difficulty due to complex user interfaces and processes, leaving sharing something only for advanced users.

Making a Friendlier Bluetooth

We've observed countless people, even advanced mobile users, struggling trying to use Bluetooth to send files, messages, themes, etc, to friends. One of the reasons for this is that the way Bluetooth works has not much changed from the time it was first implemented from a software engineer perspective. The concept of searching for devices, pairing and passcodes is beyond the average user. It was, and is still now, a technology-oriented implementation rather than a people-oriented implementation. You don't send to people, you send to devices.

This leaves immense opportunity to redesign the experience with a more user-centered approach. Here is a thought on a more intuitive, natural way to sharing files.

 

Sending to Blog from Mobile

By looking at the millions of blogs out there, we can see that many people don't just want to share with their friends only, but want to be opened to the World. Some might say that many blogs are written, but few are read. What is important to remember is that regardless, the need that is looking to be met is that people simply want to publish themselves. And with today's camera-equipped, internet-enabled mobile phones, it is a wonder why the functionality to publish to blogs directly from the phone has not been implemented, or has not been implemented well, already. Here is our view of how blogging directly from a mobile phone could be done.

 

Introducing M-blogs, or Mobile Bluetooth Logs

People also have a need to express themselves to their immediate surroundings. That is why people have different styles, to say they believe in this or that, to express their value systems and social class. It is their identity. For example someone wearing a Gucci suit says something different than someone wearing a t-shirt that spells, say, "Fight the Power".

Bluetooth could also be used to publish personal messages, thoughts or other otherwise express people's identity not on a Web site, but to the user's immediate surroundings. In some way this provides another layer for the identity, beyond the immediate appearance. The concept is simple and very possible to implement with today's technology. Users would simply write their thought-of-the-day, picture or other message on their mobile device, enable its transmission and anyone within range could pick it up.

What is interesting with this is that it is fundamentally different than Weblogs in the sense that Mobile Bluetooth Logs (m-blogs) are ephemeral, only available for a short time and while the sender is nearby. And they can be somewhat anonymous. The usage scenarios are endless, but it could make long daily commuting by train for example more interesting.

 

Brand Peer Groups

M-blogging as described above can work with existing technology but would only work with compatible devices. This might require different manufacturers to agree on different standards ( or a clever mobile application development company to write an add-on software for various phones), for people to have mobile devices from the same manufacturer or the same mobile device entirely. But we found out that having the same phone, using the same brand or using the same service provider is not uncommon at all within peer groups. In fact, we've observed many young people buying the same brand or subscribing the same service provider as their friends, because it answers deep-rooted needs of belonging and group adherence.

Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth is

Finally, just a note on target markets. Higher-end, more expensive phones' real target market is not necessarily determined by demographics such as age and salary. People today can use credit cards to buy things they want and can't afford normally, or can receive (at least ask for) phones as gifts. Just go out there and look at the phones some of the teenagers people are using.

Mobile devices are certainly an area in which many people are willing to trade-up and spend more than they normally can afford. For example, we saw a security guard in China who owned a phone worth almost twice his monthly salary. And he changed phones every year to keep up with the trend. That makes for expensive talk time.

About the author: David Jacques is Founder and Principal Consultant of Customer input. He is specialized in human-computer interaction, usability and qualitative research techniques.

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