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
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
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89%
11%
In a nationally representative study, 11% of respondents used
their mobile phone
Desktop Mobile
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Mobile respondents are
younger and more female 2
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Male Female
Male Female
Mobile
Desktop
18-34 35-54 55+
18-34 35-54 55+
Gender Age
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Mobile respondents are also
just more into mobile 3
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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
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Mobile respondents take the
survey straight away* 4
* almost
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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
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Mobile respondents are ... er ...
mobile (kind of) 5
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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
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Mobile surveys take longer to complete 6
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Every 2 minutes of survey on a desktop
equates to 3 minutes on a mobile device
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Slightly more drop out from mobile surveys 7
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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)
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Mobile surveys are
relatively enjoyable 8
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“This survey was fun to complete”
50%
38%
Mobile Desktop
Agree strongly
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Data from mobile and desktop
surveys is comparable 9
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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
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Blackberries and iPhones really are different 10
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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
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3 tips for best practice in
mobile survey design
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1. Maximise screen real estate
banners
branding
logos
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2. Minimise scrolling
multiple questions
long choice lists
grid options
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3. Optimise use of images
never a nice-to-have
re-size and compress
re-think survey design
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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?