User Insights into
Mobile Social
Nancy Broden, Interaction Design Director
Punchcut

“ Mobile phones are no
longer just about
conducting
conversations; they are
now emerging as a center
of people’s lives for
Navin Mehta, Motorola
V.P. of Applications Management
everyday transactions.”
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Mobile is
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The Promise of “2.0”
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The Rush to Mobile
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New Technologies create New
Contexts
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New Technologies create New
Contexts
New Contexts demand New
Solutions
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New Technologies create New
Contexts
New Contexts demand New
Solutions
New Solutions require New
Thinking
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Punchcut Study: Purpose
The mobile social networking study provided us with an
understanding of why individuals engage in social
networking behaviors and how the use of a mobile
device supports these behaviors. We sought answers to
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How often do the study participants engage in social networking
/
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/ behavior?
/ Under what circumstances do study participants engage in this
/ behavior? What triggers it?
To whom is this activity directed? What is the relationship of the
creator/sender to the recipient(s)? Is the behavior different based on
/
/ the intended audience?
What percentage of the behavior is accomplished via mobile device
versus other means? What are the circumstances under which one
method is used versus another?
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Punchcut Study: Participants
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4 women, 7 men
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/ 19 - 30 years old (m = 25.6)
Residing in San Francisco and Oakland, CA
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2 were full-time students; 3 attended school part-time and
worked part-time; 6 worked full-time. 3 of those employed
/ full-time had flexible work schedules and/or locations.
3 participants lived with a parent; 2 shared space with a
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room-mate or partner; 6 participants lived alone.
All owned a mobile phone with a data plan that enabled
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/ them to access the internet via the device
All owned a personal computer and had high-speed
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broadband access to the internet
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Punchcut Study: Methodology
Two methods were used to gather data:
1 Contextual and structured one-on- 2 Completion of an online
one interview session with each questionnaire by participants
participant. This allowed us to over a 14-day period to
witness first-hand the participant’s capture daily self-reported
social networking activities in the social networking activities.
context in which they occur, and to The data from the
probe on the participant’s questionnaires was compiled
perceptions and attitudes toward into a spreadsheet for
social networking in general, and analysis.
on the activities they had
performed during the contextual
portion of the session in particular.
The data from the session was
collected by the observer using
handwritten notes and still images.
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Social Networking Activities
We gathered data on the use of:
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Results: SMS
Text messaging via mobile phone was the one
activity performed the most by study participants
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Differences noted between participants under- and over-25s
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/ Text message recipients were close friends of the sender
SMS is “easier”, “less formal” and “quicker” than voice calls
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Text messaging replacing instant messaging?
/
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Results: Community-base Web
Reading, posting comments and/or updating
personal content on community-based Web sites
was the most popular activity
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PC-based access was preferred
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/ Visiting the sites was a routine, performed at the same
/ times every day
/ “Reluctant members”: peer-pressure responsible for
/ membership in one community site over another
/ Useful for keeping in touch with extended networks of
/ friends and family
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Results: Photo/video Creation &
Taking and sharing photos happened with
equal frequency on mobile and PC
/ Frequency and method determined by context
/ Sharing photos was the easiest and least time-intensive method
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/ to engage with networks
/ Mobile video creation and sharing is “too difficult”
/
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Results: Instant Messaging
Instant messaging is a PC-based activity
/ Used for same reasons as SMS by “computer-centered” participants
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/ IM clients used to reveal buddy status, but not to initiate chat
/
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Considerations
//Build on already occurring social
networking activities
//Provide a variety of tools tools to suit
the range of contexts and levels of
engagement
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Mobile communication devices are not
//little PCs
Usability considerations are magnified
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Ask yourself
// Who is the service targeting?
// How will they be related to others using
the service?
// How else will they be interacting with the
service?
// How will the service change over time?
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Remember…
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Punchcut is a user interface design
company specializing in improving mobile user
experiences. We provide strategy,
design, and development services — from user
research to the complete design and
development of custom interfaces and
applications.
Our clients span the wireless industry, including
operators, device
manufacturers, application developers, and