Nearly half of mobile users have “ditched a brand” following a poor mobile experience [Infographic]

Consumer research shows the importance of getting mobile experiences right

The Going Mobile 2012  research by Foolproof undertaken from November 2011 to March 2012 assessed the quality of mobile user experience based on consumers' mobile behaviour and usage patterns.  The research reveals some great practical insights around what consumers expect from their mobiles:

They see it as ‘big bang’ event: mobile is creating new time and space for consumers. Time that was previously unproductive or inert is now filled with mobile interaction. What are users doing with this time? What brands are they engaging with in this new, very intimate, digital space? Which tools and services create value for them...and which are just creating noise?”

Knowing the answers to these questions can be the difference between success and failure in the design of mobile services.  Mobile helps today's time poor consumers to use 'dead time' easily and efficiently.

The research, gathered quantitative and qualitative methods, looked into creating useful, useable insights for service and product design.  Read their methodology to find out more.

Key highlights on mobile consumer perceptions from the survey:

• Unlike their other devices, consumers have a strong sense that their smartphone is ‘alive’ and an extension of their own body and personality. There is very real affection between some users and their phone.
• Despite the phone being an essential everyday tool, there’s still a sense of excitement and expectation about how services will develop – and how these will change the user’s life still further.
• For many, their phone and tablet offer a sense of freedom and renewed control over their life.
• Consumers describe feeling closer to, and more personally involved with brands who create valued mobile apps and services.
• Unused and unloved apps don’t routinely get deleted, but persist as a reminder of a failed promise by the brand that created them.
• Consumers are already showing sophisticated shopping behaviours that weave usage of phones, tablets and desktop PCs into the purchase decision process. This includes the merging of the physical and digital worlds in the shopping journey.
• There’s a security paradox: consumers have a heightened sense of security and privacy risks, but avoid using services which have complicated or difficult security processes.

This research raises questions for B2C and B2B marketers.  As consumers, it seems we are prepared to engage with trusted brands quickly and to develop deep, intimate brand relationships, as long as brands provide highly relevant and targeted services which enrich their lives.  As business people, our 'always on, always connected' smart phones and tablets provide a vast, untapped resource in improving our productivity, efficiency and work satisfaction.