mobile learnings and best practices

The Need for Speed – May 18

Mobile Research

Learnings and Best Practice

Mike Stevens Managing Director Vision Critical UK

The Need for Speed – May 18

SMS Surveys

Applications

Mobile Web

The Need for Speed – May 18

Two predictions

There will be more smartphones than

humans by the end of 2014

+

The average mobile connection speed will

surpass 1 Mbps in 2014

The Need for Speed – May 18

10 learnings from

research-on-research

The Need for Speed – May 18

Mobile web survey platform touch and non-touch mobile interfaces

5

The Need for Speed – May 18

Given the choice, 1 in 8 will

take a mobile survey 1

The Need for Speed – May 18

89%

11%

In a nationally representative study, 11% of respondents used

their mobile phone

Desktop Mobile

The Need for Speed – May 18

Mobile respondents are

younger and more female 2

The Need for Speed – May 18

Male Female

Male Female

Mobile

Desktop

18-34 35-54 55+

18-34 35-54 55+

Gender Age

The Need for Speed – May 18

Mobile respondents are also

just more into mobile 3

The Need for Speed – May 18

smartphone owners who took our test studies on

mobile devices were more likely to use

their mobile for music, photos,

internet browsing, app downloads

and games

The Need for Speed – May 18

Mobile respondents take the

survey straight away* 4

* almost

The Need for Speed – May 18

Amongst those who choose desktop, 58%

answered the survey the first day it launched

Amongst those who choose mobile, 88%

answered it the first day

The Need for Speed – May 18

Mobile respondents are ... er ...

mobile (kind of) 5

The Need for Speed – May 18

Amongst those who chose desktop, 97%

answered the survey at home or at work

Amongst those who chose mobile, 15%

answered from transit or somewhere

other than home or work

The Need for Speed – May 18

Mobile surveys take longer to complete 6

The Need for Speed – May 18

Every 2 minutes of survey on a desktop

equates to 3 minutes on a mobile device

The Need for Speed – May 18

Slightly more drop out from mobile surveys 7

The Need for Speed – May 18

4% 5% 4% 0%

Short Medium Long Desktop

% dropped out in survey

But survey length has no effect on dropout rate

at least not up to the 9 ½ minute mark

Mobile

(4 min) (6 min) (9.5 min) (6 min)

The Need for Speed – May 18

Mobile surveys are

relatively enjoyable 8

The Need for Speed – May 18

“This survey was fun to complete”

50%

38%

Mobile Desktop

Agree strongly

The Need for Speed – May 18

Data from mobile and desktop

surveys is comparable 9

The Need for Speed – May 18

No statistical difference

between mobile and desktop

data across virtually all

question types

35%

29%

36%

38%

30%

32%

Increase

Remain the same

Decrease

Desktop

Mobile

The Need for Speed – May 18

Blackberries and iPhones really are different 10

The Need for Speed – May 18

Median length of survey, in minutes

10.5

Touch Device

14.6

Non-Touch BlackBerry

“This survey was fun to complete.” “This survey was more enjoyable than most.”

83% 72%

0%

50%

100%

Touch Non-touch

82% 74%

0%

50%

100%

Touch Non-touch

The Need for Speed – May 18

3 tips for best practice in

mobile survey design

The Need for Speed – May 18

1. Maximise screen real estate

banners

branding

logos

The Need for Speed – May 18

2. Minimise scrolling

multiple questions

long choice lists

grid options

The Need for Speed – May 18

3. Optimise use of images

never a nice-to-have

re-size and compress

re-think survey design

The Need for Speed – May 18

So ...

• Mobile research is a new frontier that needs

careful exploration

• Well designed interfaces are key to engaging

respondents properly

• You cannot just assume equivalence of data -

you need proof

The Need for Speed – May 18

Questions?