Why research lags behind the mobile explosion and what to do about it. Rethink research, rethink design, rethink methods and avoid putting online research on a phone - but create truly smart mobile research projects.

1. Richard Owen,
Founder & CEO,
CrowdLab
June 18th 2014
Mobile Research: Smart or Dumb?
Observations and musings

2. I think these mobile phone things are here to stay

3. How many countries have more mobiles than people?

4. Smartphones aren’t just for hipsters in Shoreditch

5. Mobile marketers get it

6. Where did it all go wrong?

7. Badsurveys.tumblr.com

8. We focus on the wrong thing
• Not tied to a particular device
The device-agnostic approach to responsive design
By Sarita Harbour | Mobile, Web Design | Jan 3, 2013
Device Agnosticism
• Device agnosticism focuses on the device instead of the user.
The needs of the usershould be paramount, because
applications exist to meet the needs of people, not machines
But

9. It’s not about optimising online research for a mobile world
“We made a bad bet. Our legacy
as a company was building this
big website. So we took a year and
it was painful and we retooled our
mobile approach. Betting
completely on HTML5 is one of
the, if not the biggest strategic
mistake we've made”

10. It’s about understanding people on the move who require
access to software

11. Who live a beautiful mess of a life

12. And want to tell us their stories however they like

13. Not be taken from their lives and out of context

14. Where things get misinterpreted

15. And there is an over reliance on memory
“I don’t
shop there”
Tuesday 16th April 2013
4:15 pm
Real Life
Thursday 18th April 2013
8:15 pm
Focus Group

17. Research
TechnologyDesign
Rethink the agency

18. Rethink mobile research design
Think like a developer
Always be prepared to stop. Don’t rely on a signal.
London is not the UK. Offline Access.
Project structure should be clean and easy to
navigate –people are experts at Angry Birds, but
should be amateurs at research. Use menus & loops.
The golden rules of app design by Apple & Google

19. Break complex tasks into smaller steps that can be
easily accomplished. Slice it up.
Only show what I want when I need it.
Appear/Disappear.
Allow people to manipulate things. It’s a touch screen.
Rethink mobile research design
Think like a developer
The golden rules of app design by Apple & Google

20. Rethink mobile research design
• Don’t think of “surveys” or “guides” think of “content” to be served up to elicit a response
• Split project content into digestible tasks
- even a 25 minute Quant Survey can be 10 x 2.5 minute tasks
- It’s not about time or questions its about how you serve it up
• Let people co-create not just use a pre defined list
• Give them choices of how to answer (whatever means necessary)
• Each task can be set to be completed once, or many times
• Tasks can be locked and unlocked based on date/time, previous responses
• People live with the app for a few days or a few weeks
From developer to researcher

21. • Driven by the power of complex quantitative design, we give structure to allow people to
tell us their stories
- Quantitative question types, but also text, photo, video and audio questions
- Complex condition engine – unlocking tasks, routing and piping
- Help qualitative story telling by giving a roadmap that they colour in however
they see fit – better than a blank canvas
Rethink methodology
• People can move between ethnographic tasks, discussion boards, quantitative
surveys within one project (all methods at all times)
Quant? Qual? Just great research

22. CrowdLab is a fluid, open system that
continually evolves
We allow participants and
researchers to seamlessly weave
between different devices and
methodologies within the same
project
We design projects to mirror people’s
lives and the way they behave
All Channels Open

23. Tracking below the line media
Using mobile to record experiences as they go
about their lives: ideal for outdoor, ambient or
POS that usually gets lost via traditional at
home methodologies
Rethink replacement
Technology makes you better, not obsolete
Real world reflections
After workshops/groups, let people go back to
their lives, talk to their friends/family, think
about things and keep the dialogue going
Behaviourally driven conversations
Use mobile to capture the moment. Use
depths/groups to explore the real behaviour
not the false recollection of it (“The Aldi
Effect”)
Make your life easier
Mobiles instead of flip cams, tablets instead of
pen and paper – less set up, less process
management, less analysis, less time

24. A mum’s life – pain vs. pleasure confessionals
In confidence – feeling good and feeling bad
Duty Free – insight into duty free shopping completely
disguised through travel journal approach so duty free
thoughts, feelings and behaviour emerged naturally
Reframe research
So it doesn’t feel like research

25. Car buying – a week in the decision making process among
people at different stages with surveys, video records and
photo encounters – getting closer to and further from the
decision
Decorating – a month in the decision process among people
at different stages with surveys, video records and photo
encounters – interlocking online and offline, seeing them
stagnate or progress
Rethink decision making
Acknowledge life is not linear; don’t pre-suppose the
way people make decisions

26. Quantitative (N=lots) with media – the power of
video/photo to support a robust piece of evidence
can make the difference
Rethink analysis
Qualitative (n=little), recording lots of “moments”
across a week provides a quantitative both lens in
which to understand a topic
Post workshops about a new telecom
app, participants recorded moments in
life where they might use the app – 48
people gave 250 “moments of use”

27. www.crowdlab.com
richard@crowdlab.com
+44 (0) 7590 462342
Thanks from the Lab