SAN FRANCISCO — We know that mobile data is the key to unlocking future profits in the wireless industry.
So, like the blind man describing an elephant by touch alone, the industry must use whatever tools of perception it has at hand to understand the nature of the beast.
The “beast” being that elusive creature, the mobile data user.
Two new studies shed light on that very question and were delivered Tuesday morning in a pre-show session dubbed “Mobile Web Strategies.”
“Cost is still a huge barrier for a lot of people,” said Carol Taylor, director of user experience at Motricity, referring to the basic cost of data plans at many carriers.
The industry needs to determine what services are appropriate to mobile and make them relevant and present services in a unifed, “dashboard” style, according to Taylor.
“Discovery is important,” Taylor said. “But if your service isn’t self-explanatory, you haven’t done your job.”
Motricity and the University of Washington’s Department of Technical Communications surveyed about 500 mobile data users about a month ago and they dialed in on the 70% of that sample that declared themselves active users of the mobile Web. (Get more detail at www.motricity.com/mobileux.)
What behaviors were these active mobile Web users exhibiting?
In descending order of frequency, the mobile Web animal wants to stay connected and current, they seek efficiency but also surf to fill time. More specifically, they communicate (79%), scan for something new such as e-mail (50%), check a fact (33%) or just surf (11%).
Where do these behaviors take place?
Home (44%) and work (38%) are predominant, followed closely by the car (33%).
Most of this activity occurs when the user is alone (49%) and often waiting in line (46%).
You may be wondering how this behavior holds for iPhone users and the answer is: more of the same. Same behaviors, simply more time spent on them, Taylor said.
“They’ve got an unlimited data plan, a cool new device and that leads to more consumption,” Taylor said.
Motricity went so far as to compile its data into five “personas,” constructed to develop a sense of real people in the real world.
“Stu” is the proverbial early adopter: male, single and sagging under disposable income. “Derek” almost subconsciously, reflexively uses a carrier’s portal to check the same sources of desired information over and over again: news, sports, weather, news, sports, weather. “Allison” is a practical user who seeks efficiency as she balances the work/life formula. “Claire” finds the mobile Web too expensive to justify and represents “a huge opportunity,” Taylor said. “Mark” is a voice-centric customer who needs to be lured into appreciating the benefits of the mobile Web.
“We need to understand why people don’t use the mobile Web more,” Taylor said. “We in the industry are not necessarily the mobile use target.”
Pankaj Asundi, vice president for media and content at Ericsson, shared a global segmentation study based on 35,000 face-to-face interviews in 11 countries.
Asundi charted a half-dozen user types on an X-Y axis, with “lasting benefit” on the left, “instant gratification” on the right, “stability” at the bottom and “exploration” at the top.
“Careerists” and “Experiencers” live in the upper right corner, while “Basic Users” live in the bottom left, the executive said. “Careerists,” for instance – a persona many attendees will recognize as themselves – are 25 to 39 years old, use high-end devices, have limited free time and manage life and work by exploiting the mobile Web.
This exercise helps Ericsson “refine and define” its own service offerings, Asundi said. And it helps map a carrier customer’s demographic against a global superset of users to help shape the carrier’s service offerings and manage the perennial tasks of developing loyalty (i.e., reducing churn) and conversion (i.e., stealing other carriers’ customers), Asundi said.
