Mobile devices have officially outpaced PCs for accessing the internet – in fact, they’re used about 55% of the time, according to CNNMoney. So you're not just imagining that they're everywhere. It makes sense — mobile offers convenience. It’s changed the way we shop and get information. But what does it mean for research?
Mobile is all about context
We’re seeing more and more research happening on mobile devices. It’s critical to look at what you’re trying to do (and what you’re asking of people) to know how mobile will work for a research project. If you want someone to do a survey on a mobile device, you need to think about how much time they’ll spend. You may only have them for 2-5 minutes, compared to the 10 minutes people are spending today for online surveys. Sometimes that works great, especially if you’ve created an ongoing insight community that allows you to continue the conversation beyond that one short survey.
The really cool part about mobile is how it allows you to do more real-time observational research. Want to know how customers use your product? Have them show you, documenting it step by step. Since their phones are always with them, they can snap a photo or create a video in a blink of an eye. Looking for a better window into the shopping process? You can use specialized mobile apps, such as Field Agent, to let consumers walk you through what they do. Or you can create an activity using a community like Digsite, which can be used on a mobile device or a PC. Your participants really can be your eyes and ears!
But mobile isn’t always the answer
If you’re looking for some heavy-duty, in-depth engagement, mobile may not be the right choice. If there’s a lot of typing required, many people still prefer to pull out their laptops. And if you’re doing B2B research, it may depend on whether it works for people to be on their mobile devices when you need them to be.
Mobile offerings may only satisfy some of your qualitative research needs, but they do open up a whole lot of options. Given that it’s (relatively) easy for companies to develop on mobile, we’re being inundated with mobile apps for research. You may decide that a mobile application is right for a particular project. Or you may look at using an insight community that enables you to carry on an ongoing interaction with participants, both on mobile and on PC. Either way, it’s clear that mobile is here to stay.
See Digsite in action and discover how if it fits your needs-join us for an interactive demo webcast!
