Earlier this month Adobe – creator of Flash technology – announced that it will no longer develop out Flash for smartphone and tablet devices and will only continue providing security updates and patches. When it comes to mobile support, Adobe is instead getting on the HTML5 bandwagon with Apple, Google, Microsoft, and RIM. Regardless of the fact that Flash has never been supported in Apple iOS’s Safari (a large portion of the US and global smartphone market), the technology has never been truly optimized and scaled for any mobile platforms.

What does this mean for market research? Flash is still a great resource for creating visually-rich survey questions, but because the technology has only been (and only will be) designed for desktop survey-takers, researchers who still require the technology should take one or more of the following measures to ensure a proper respondent experience:

1. Implement automatic browser checks at the beginning of the questionnaire that disable respondents with unsupported browsers from taking the survey.
2. If the technology from #1 is unavailable, disclose to respondents on the first page of the questionnaire the specific browsers and devices for which the survey has been designed.

Of course the best way to ensure universal support and to eliminate “device bias” among your respondents is to use plugin-agnostic technologies like HTML, CSS, and Javascript that are supported by nearly all browsers and devices. As the HTML5 standard is finalized over the next few years, more and more resources will emerge (and have already emerged) that reproduce some of the visually rich and intuitive content that Flash has traditionally brought to the table. This technology standardization and defragmentation across platforms (desktop vs. smartphone vs. feature phone), coupled with the rapid smartphone adoption seen in developed nations, should provide researchers with a more streamlined design process for multimode surveys down the road.

Watch this video to learn about Kinesis Survey‘s extensive mobile survey capabilities and see cutting-edge mobile research technologies in action.

Video by: Raven Productions

The AAPOR Annual Conference short course entitled “Designing Surveys for Mobile Devices,” presented May 11th by Mario Callegaro of Google and Tim Macer of Meaning Ltd., was the best-attended mobile session that we have seen so far.

The first half of the tutorial focused upon statistics that impact the survey research industries.  Callegaro presented data indicating that the frequency of mobile internet access is increasing rapidly (as of May 2010, up to 43% of mobile phone users were accessing the mobile internet several times daily), that smartphone ownership is sharply rising, and that respondents are attempting to answer surveys via their mobile devices. In a June 2010 Google Advertiser Satisfaction Survey of the US and Canada, Google measured the break-off (dropout) rates of respondents who used desktop/laptop/tablet devices versus mobile devices and found the break-off rate to be much higher among mobile device users (24.2% vs. 8.4% for the computer group). This data indicates a clear non-response bias, as assumed to be attributable to the frustration experienced by the mobile users when attempting to answer certain question types on small screens.

The second half of the presentation provided mobile survey design suggestions and software vendor comparisons that are in part available on the Meaning Ltd. website (www.meaning.uk.com.)  Check out the website for this information, and also to get an objective viewpoint as to where mobile is headed in the research industry. Vendor recommendations and segmentations, as well as thoughts about the various approaches to mobile research solutions, are available.

In their closing, both Callegaro and Macer emphasized that “the survey software cannot do it all,” and that market researchers need to begin assessing redesign issues on a project-by-project basis. While not all research projects will require mobile device support, many will need to be mobile-enabled due to the continual growth of mobile device usage.  The speakers’ first step recommendation was to immediately begin monitoring the percentage of respondents that are entering projects using a mobile device, and also which specific device types are being used.  This small piece of metadata will be invaluable in determining when it is essential to take further action. They also encouraged researchers to begin making simple design modifications that allow surveys and other research projects to be more easily rendered across a wider variety of devices. For additional recommendations about mobile survey design, see a previous Kinesis blog post.

The March issue of Research Magazine includes a detailed review of Kinesis Survey™ by Tim Macer. We certainly like what he had to say. Some highlights:

• “Offers a feature set as advanced as any of the established major players”
• “…Kinesis has already enticed an impressive list of high-profile research companies in the USA away from more established web survey software providers.”
• “’Ease of use’ has long become a cliche of software marketing. Yet this software is a lesson in what the term should mean.”
• “High-end platform for web, mobile or mixed-mode online self-completion surveys with integrated real-time reporting and publishing.”

Pick up a copy of Research Magazine to read the full review.

The Kinesis team is just back from exhibiting at the ARF Re:think 2011 Convention in New York. What was HOT for Kinesis at ARF?  QR codes.

Kinesis recently unveiled built-in support for QR code generation that enables respondents to take a picture of a displayed QR code with their camera phone and immediately trigger a mobile survey. The QR codes posted on the Kinesis booth signage drew a lot of attention from among the ARF attendees, and rightfully so.

QR codes are gaining in popularity for all aspects of advertising and marketing.  Retail stores and restaurants can recruit for feedback and offer promotions in real-time as their establishments are being patronized. Magazine and signage advertising can easily provide readers with access to additional product information. Business cards can be used to direct prospects to the company website.

For market research, QR codes are easy to implement and solve many invitation issues for mobile surveys. Often companies desire to capture experience feedback in the moment, but cannot find an easy way to get the survey invitations out to respondents.  If a researcher wants to capture responses from commuter train passengers while they are riding the train, as an example, how does he or she deliver the invitations in real-time?  There is no way to know the phone numbers of those riding the train at any particular time, but there are some invitation delivery options:

• Post a short code for SMS reply that returns a survey link.  Implementing this option may take up to six weeks to obtain the short code, and entails usage-based costs for each use of that code.
• Develop a custom mobile app.  This option could include a survey component, and also offer value-add in the form of an easy way to update schedules, etc., however the app’s availability must still be communicated to passengers and they would have to download the app before using it. Plus it requires significant development time and cost.
• Post a QR code that, when scanned, immediately directs respondents to the survey invitation.  This option can be implemented very quickly simply by generating a code (using one of many free online tools) and posting it on signage inside the train.  To scan the QR code, respondents must first install a free QR code reader app on their phone, but simple instructions for doing this could be included on the signage as well.

QR codes accomplish the same goals as short codes – but eliminate the expense – and they are quickly gaining in popularity.  A recent MGH study found that 32 percent of surveyed smartphone users indicated that they have used a QR code before, and 70 percent said that they plan to use a QR code again or for the first time. Clearly QR codes have the potential to vastly increase the reach of mobile market research. Good thing Kinesis is ready – today.

For the MR industry, the time to capitalize on mobile research is now. According to an eMarketer report, U.S. mobile Internet usage is projected to increase to more than 101.1 million users (32.3% of the population) in 2011, and similar growth is occurring around the world. This group represents a huge and largely untapped respondent pool – and unlike PC-user respondents, they have the ability to provide feedback from virtually anywhere.

Yet even with all of the industry buzz this year, mobile is still a new and unchartered survey platform for most researchers. The challenge for newcomers lies in designing a mobile survey that both meets its research objectives and provides a satisfactory user experience for respondents. Effective mobile survey design requires much more than simply replicating an online survey in mobile format. Certain aspects of the survey design are contingent upon the kinds of mobile phones being utilized by respondents (smartphones vs. feature phones), and other design aspects are the same regardless of mobile device type. Let’s start with a few best practices that should be utilized for every mobile survey.

First, all mobile phone screens offer limited display real estate when compared to PC screens, so in the world of mobile surveys, less is always more. Use minimal branding so that the majority of the viewable area can be devoted to question content (it may be necessary to restrict branding to only the first and last survey pages for feature phones). Then, ensure that questions and response options are written as concisely as possible to optimize the limited display and reduce the need for scrolling or breaking answer lists onto an additional page. The total number of questions contained in the survey must also be limited; mobile devices are intended to be utilized on-the-go, so lengthy surveys that take more than a few minutes to complete are not ideal. Finally, there are some commonly-used online survey elements that are not supported by a majority of mobile phones, and should therefore be avoided. Table structures, Javascript, and even Other: specify questions can be tricky to implement in the mobile world.

Another consideration for all mobile surveys is the invitation delivery method: SMS (text) or email. While text invitations are likely to grab the recipients’ attention faster than email, SMS laws and costs vary greatly by region and must be defined for each mobile project. SMS rates can quickly get expensive for the client – or worse, the target recipients – therefore text expenses must be planned for in advance. Typically email invitations are best if the application permits their use. WAP push is possible in regions such as Europe where a common wireless network standard (GSM) is used.

Shifting gears, there are additional best practices that are determined by mobile device type. Researchers must determine whether their sample will be limited to users of smartphones (with higher functionality) or feature phones (with more limited functionality) or include a mix of both. This decision has several implications. For instance, smartphones offer network speeds that feature phones simply cannot match. Network speed affects how quickly each survey page (and embedded image) loads, and slow load times undoubtedly affect dropout rates. Older mobile devices also have limited color configurations that could result in a distorted visual appearance of the survey and its included elements, and some cannot support images at all. On the other hand, the image capabilities of the latest smartphones rival that of PCs, TVs and digital cameras, and most auto-scale images to fit the screen size. Full-motion video can even be utilized if the sample is limited to smartphones, however its implementation can be challenging because different devices utilize different display formats. Smartphone surveys can also include the use of embedded links (to provide additional product, support, privacy policy, etc. information), whereas most feature phones cannot.

Data entry is another a primary consideration based on device type. Smartphones enable relative ease for data entry because of their full alphanumeric key options, while feature phones have traditional phone-style keypads that make text inputs slower and more prone to typing errors. Touchscreen smartphones have a distinct issue as well – ample space must be provided between response selections so that respondents do not accidentally click the “wrong” response, and thereby invalidate the survey results. This risk can be mitigated by utilizing a mobile survey solution that includes advanced touchscreen support to optimize visibility and interaction.

This list provides a summary of the key mobile survey design considerations, but of course there are others, and every research project has its unique variables. And while much of this blog outlines the limitations of feature phones vs. smartphones, it is imperative to note that feature phones are still very effective in mobile research provided the surveys are optimized for their capabilities. For researchers who are just entering the mobile arena, hands down the number one best practice is to work with a mobile survey solution provider that possesses the software functionality and delivery experience necessary to ensure your project’s success.

Stay tuned for the next Kinesis blog post…it will identify the essential best practices for implementing and managing a mobile panel.