INSIGHT on INSIGHT: Utilizing Mobile Research Platforms

WHAT AND WHEN:  Proper usage

The constant connection of smartphones has spurred the development of dozens of mobile-based research tools to capture insights from people within the context of their everyday lives.

These apps use the mobile device for two-way communication, delivering questions, tasks and media to users and capturing their response via text entry, audio, photos or video and with GPS and time stamping.

The ever-higher penetration of smartphones has continued to improve the ability to get a representative sample of respondents when necessary.

WHY: The benefit and value

Mobile research offers several benefits over other forms of data capture:

• Participants can be instantly reached through notifications on their phone.
• Task-based research can be quickly completed through a first-come-first-served approach.
• Data collection and activities can be easily captured in most any setting, from inside a store to inside a home.
• Activity-based pricing allows for economical collection of limited data, but larger studies can quickly become cost-prohibitive.

HOW:  Tips to guide a basic approach

The selective nature of mobile research increases the risk of error or bias in several ways.  As projects are designed, be sure to consider the following:

What controls are in place to make sure respondents are representative of the sample you want to study?  Fast respondents may share certain traits that allow or motivate their fast response (like being unemployed, single, lower income or older).

What quality control points are included to make sure information is complete and accurate?  Mobile research comes with significantly more distractions, which can cause quick and superficial responses.

How much is being asked of participants?  Don’t ignore the shorter attention spans of the mobile lifestyle when setting expectations of what you want to get from the research.

What fits on the screen?  The amount of information and legible detail on a mobile screen is significantly less than a computer monitor.

APPLICATION:  What to do with the results

Mobile research is a great way to quickly capture data.  Some of the many applications for it include:

Using participants as a mobile work force to confirm real-world situations like store modular designs, display compliance, out-of-stocks or retail pricing.

Using quick polls to integrate real-time data into decisions.

Gathering economical ethnographic perspective surrounding the zero, first or second moment of truth.