Research on online behavior of the urban indian home makers

Bing Applications
For the Urban Indian Home maker
Remodelling search engine experience for 1.Comparative Analysis and User needs documentation
users with limited computer skills NID Bangalore Classroom Project

Bing Applications for the Urban Indian Home maker

Understanding internet users in India
How the users are segmented (iCube 2008)

India has 39.3 million active internet users (iCube 2008)

818
• Total Population (in million, NRS 2006)

573
• English speaking population 94% acces the internet from homes and oﬃce
140
• Computer literates
91% of users are from urban areas
87.1
• Claimed Internet users

39.3
• Active internet users


Skewed sex ratio
Internet continues to be male domiantaed

15% of internet users are women

2% are home makers

40% are school and college kids


Why target Urban Home makers?
The untapped potential
Internet penetration in SEC A/B households have the
Indian women continue to play a strong part
of a middle class household and generally
highest growth (iCube2008)
enjoy freedom in decesion making on do- Women are given freedom to make decisions on do-
mestic issues. mestic issues
With increasing internet penetration, more Women have the power to influence financial decisions
families have access to personal computers of the family
and internet from home, but there exists a
disproportionate number of women using Homemakers have daily routines which are easy to
the internet. identify

From statistics on the internet usage, it is Homemakers have still not been specifically targeted by
possible that there exists a large number of internet media
households that have access to a computer
but are not utilised by the women at home. There has hardly been any studies on barriers prevent-
ing home makers and women using internet


Background study: Women behaviour online
Examining gender differences in online behaviour (PEW/Internet 2006)
Women like Internet for the human connections it promotes
Women get information mainly on mail, personal problems, health, medicine and religion
Women are more likely than men to value their email with friends, family, and work colleagues
More men than women perform online transactions, although both share a rapidly growing enthusiasm
for the internet’s function as a tool of commerce
Transactions represent some of the fastest-growing online activities among men and women alike, with
participation in banking more than doubling over the last five years
54% of men and 40% of women have self-confidence as searchers
Women feel the glut of online information more than men do
Women start searches on familiar, proprietary websites or following recommended links
Women are more concerned than men about general criminal use of the internet
Parents are more likely to be online than nonparents


Chalking up a roadmap
Market Study

Market Segmentation Identifying opportunity

Background Study
Comparative analysis of
Examining previous studies Preliminary ﬁeld study
existing products

Research

Questionnaire planning Field research Online survey

Analysis
Insights from User needs
Persona extraction Opportunity analysis
research documentation

Conceptualization
Scenario Selection and
Brainstorming Idea generation User testing
creation reﬁning of idea


Comparative analysis of existing products
Landing page of top four search engines in India
Search Engine (Market Share) Google 64% Yahoo 20% Rediff 7% Bing ( 2%-MSN)
No image. Though the styling
of the brand keeps
changing according to the Usage of image on the page
occasion. No image. which changes everyday.
Elements Icons + labels + news etc
Search box Available Available Available Available
-the web -the web -the web
Search - Pages from India - Pages from India the web - Pages from India

Not Available at 1st page Not available at 1st page
Option of typing search is Translator available in global languages under Not Available in first page. Comes later in Language convertor under
Language translation available in local languages advanced search result page in local languages more and preferences options

Web, Images, Maps, News,
Orkut, Books, Gmail,
more-Translate, Scholar, Web, Images, Videos, News,
Blogs, Youtube, Calendar, Web, Images, News, Local, more-Search Web, images, videos, local, travel, jobs, Maps,
Photos, Documents, Readers services like Image, job , product , yahoo more-Image search, local ads, Bus more-images, webs,
Main links etc search blog search,map search translator,community
Visit us on mobile, set as homepage,
iGoogle, search settings, sign Rediff.com US, Sign in , Create a Make Bing your homepage,
Secondary links in Not Available Rediffmail account Sign in , India, Preferences
Available under advanced
Customization of search search Available under advanced search Not Available Available under preferences
Search suggestions while typing
keywords Available Available Available Available
Available under advertising Available under post your add on result
Ad Posting programs Not Available page Not Available


Search result page comparison
Search Engine Google Yahoo Rediff Bing

Offers special topic pages Offer s special topic pages with
with links to most relevant Offers special topic pages with links to most links to most relevant
documents relevant documents Offers special topic pages with links to documents
most relevant documents
Present the results in pages Present the results in pages
with a fixed number of items Present the results in pages with a fixed with a fixed number of items
and allow the users to move number of items and allow the users to move Present the results in pages with a fixed and allow the users to move
easily from one page of items easily from one page of items to another number of items and allow the users to easily from one page of items
to another move easily from one page of items to to another
Home link navigation another
Home link navigation Home link navigation
Yahoo gives some categories for the
Google provides random searched results. It also gives other related Home link navigation Bing gives other related search
Navigation Pattern search results. search options options
Rediff gives other related search options
No of search results per page 10 10 10 10
Under show options we have
All results- Images, Videos,
News, Blogs
Anytime- Latest, 24 Hrs, Past More information about the
week Search pad- makes a note of ur search word page and popular links related
Timeline, Safe search -allows user to costomize options to that link pops up when we
Additional options like Language, Display & layout, No of pages. Post your ads hover over the search result
Feedback Available Available Available Available
Sponsored sites Available Available Available Available



Image search comparison
Search Engine Google Yahoo Rediff Bing

Image search gives the
Image search gives the thumbnail images with 4
thumbnail images with the different options to change
link to the sites along with Image search gives the thumbnail images the view of the search.
the size and the file type. with the link to the sites along with the size
and the file type. Image search gives the thumbnail images
Advanced options like image with the link to the sites along with the Arrangement of advanced
size, type and colour are Advanced options like image size, type and share option. option is there at the side in
there but need to be selected colour are arranged in collapsible form along expandable form and Repeated
by the user. with check boxes. Only size option is available navigation pattern is followed.
Description It follow faceted navigation.


Preliminary Research: Meeting home makers
Having informal interviews with the target group to assess the scenario
To asses the existing scenario and verify our Objective was to asses the perception of internet and
assumptions from the background study technology among older generation
phase, we decided to go into the ﬁeld and
Target users for preliminary interviews were men over
have informal talks with the target user
group to collect preliminary information for
60 and women over 40
research. Sample Questions:
Have you used the internet/computer?
This was done to ensure that there existed a
problem to solve and also get a good idea of How comfortable are you with technology?
the target user environment to conduct a
more detailed study. What are the problems you face with the internet?
How do you think you can beneﬁt from internet?
The study was conducted by interviewing
women during their evening walks in an What would you like to do on the internet?
upscale residential complex.
Who use the internet the most at home?


Defining the problem statement

Identifying the core design problem
To identify what really the problem to be
tackled was, we examined the responses we Problem statement:
got from informal talks with the home
makers. “How to make the internet easier
After making a list of common issues that for women to explore”
was encountered, we could identify that
overall women were not confident of explor-
ing the internet on their own.

We definied the problem statement so as to
keep our design concepts focused.


Planning the research
Preparing questions to ask
With the focus on the problem statement,
the research was planned in such a way as to Field Research
give insights on the main barriers that
women and home makers face while using
the internet and their attitudes about tech- Observations on behavior and
nology. environment of home makers
It was decided to collect data through ﬁeld
research as well as an online questionnnaire.

The ﬁeld research would be to observe
household setup, economical background,
Online Survey
leisure activities and their perspective of
internet
Quantitative data on interests,
educational background, profession
and computer skill of women


Field research methodology
Interacting with the target group in person
The field research was conducted at two residential Data points:
areas: Platinum City, Yeshwantpur and HSR Layout. Age
The participants were initially picked on random Educational qualification
basis, but was later chosen on referral basis to Profession
exclude those who did not have computer access, Family details including spouse and children
bachelors and others who were outside the target
Hobbies
segment.
Interest in technology
The interviewees were primarily homemakers above Experience with internet and computers
40. After a general chat session about technology Online activities
and family, a questions session was conducted usu- Offline activities
ally with the presence of other family members. Social behaviour
Problems faced with internet
A total of 28 personal interviewes was conducted Search behaviour


Online research methodology
Collecting data over the internet
The primary purpose of the online survey was to Data points:
collect quantitative data and statistics of women Access to internet
behaviour. Educational qualiﬁcation
Profession
This data was used to assess the type of interests Size of household
women had and how search engines could be opti-
Interest in technology
mized for them. It was also used to collect details of
barriers women faced using internet and how suc- Conﬁdence using computers
cessful they were with searching for information on Success using search engines
the internet. Time spent online
Online activities
The survey was made using google docs and was Problems using internet
publicised through facebook, twitter and to friends Level of assistance required while using com-
using chat. 117 responses was collected over 3 days. puters


Insights from Research
Profession (Segmented)
Profession High School home makers Graduate home makers Home maker education
Home makers Working Women Teacher/Education Other working upto High School Graduate or higher

15%
31%
27% 38%

15%
69% 62%

43%

A good proportion of the Indian women cotinue to be home makers and work mostly in the education sector
Majority of urban Indian homemakers have education atleast upto bachelors level


Internet access for home makers Problems faced by home makers
High school educated with access Graduate with access with internet
No internet access

Language
No leisure time
23% 24%
Ignorance of internet
Lack of Assistance

53%
Low Technical Skill

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Graduate High School

77% of the homemakers have access to internet from home
Low technical skill and understanding of computers is cited as the biggest barrier for using the internet
Ignorance about the features of the internet is a common problem for all homemakers
Language is more of a problem for homemakers with only high school education


Assistance require by homemakers to
Online activities of home makers Searching confidence by home
use internet
Graduate High School makers
Rarely, can use independently Needs help often
Very good Average Bad
Scared to use without help Not interested in internet
Social Networking 6 2

Entertaintment 8 4 14%
14%
26%
49%
Information 19 8 28%
37%
32%
Email and Chat 32 20

Email is by far the most common online activity for homemakers
Searching for general information on topics and news is the next most performed task
Social networking has still not caught the attention of Indian home makers
Only 14% of home makers expressed high confidence levels while searching for information on the internet
26% of respondents claim to be comfortable using the internet on their own, 60% require help
14% of home makers were not interested to use the internet at all
Majority of the users spend minimal time on the internet, just to finish one task and do not explore


Observations from Research
Most home makers had a good social network and were interested in what others were doing
It was found that a good number were curious about the internet but lamented that nobody was there to help them
learn
Some home makers wanted a class or workshop where they could be trained and given an introduction to computers
Many home makers had unique talents and interests which they pursued like cooking, dancing or singing
Majority of women were found to be religiously inclined and had an interest in devotional activities
Home makers felt that priorities have changed after marriage and no longer had the leisure time and enjoyment they
used to
Women were not comfortable making transaction online and felt that it was unsafe to disclose personal information
over the internet
Few women felt that computers and internet has spoilt the younger generation and has made people lazy
Women liked havng someone nearby to ask for assistance while using computers
Older women felt that computers are meant only for the younger generation and was too technical for their operation


Extracting personas
Finding patterns in research data Persona comparison Chart
Grey represents old age
Behavioural patterns that were observed in Size represents relative financial freedom
the research data were grouped together to
form personas which were based on those
observed during the field research. A

Acceptance of technology >
A total of 4 personas were extracted which
reflected the range of interest levels in inter- B
net, educational qualification and the level
of ease by which they could be made to C
explore the internet.
D
All the personas have limited computer skills.
High School Graduate Postgraduate
Educational Qualification >


Persona A: The social home maker
Priya Mohan
Age 38 Hobbies interior decoration, yoga, cooking,
Educational Qualification B.Com walking, movies and music
Profession Home maker Social behaviour Has plenty of friends, likes to meet new
Husband Senior Manager at ParleG people and attend parties
Children Daughter in 3rd Std Uses internet for Email and voice chatting, cooking
recipies

“I love the internet, its become so easy to keep in touch with
my friends in other cities”
Priya’s does not feel the need to work since they are financially well off
She spends her time at home talking on the phone with friends, she regularly goes to their houses and has small get
togethers
She is particularly interested in yoga, enjoys cooking new dishes for her husband and daughter
She uses the internet mainly to check her email and voice chat with ther friends in other cities. She likes forwarding
interesting mails to friends. She uses google occasionally to look for recipies. Her activities are influenced to a large
extent by her friends.
She has her own bank account, credit and ATM card which she uses for her shopping


Persona B: The busy home maker
Anita Mathur
Age 42 Hobbies takes tutions, classical music,interior
Educational Qualification M.Sc Chemistry decoration, devotional activities
Profession 12th Std Chemistry teacher Social behaviour Does not have time to socialize because
Husband Engineer at Electricity Board of tutions
Children Son in 11th Std Uses internet for Email, she tries to use google to get
info, but is not comfortable with it.

“There is so much of useful information on the internet, but
its so difficult to get what you want”
Anita is busy most of the day either at school or taking tutions after coming home
Since her husband returns late from work, she has to handle the house all by herself including paying bills.
She hardly has any leisure time to meet people or talk on the phone
She uses the internet only for checking her mail, she is not confident to explore the internet because she does not have
the time to learn.
She is not able to figure out how the internet can help her reduce the strain in her life
She has her own bank account trough which she handles house finances, generally takes financial decisions with hus-
bands consent


Persona C: The experienced home maker
Mrs Bharathi
Age 68 Hobbies listening to old music and movies,
Educational Qualification 12th Std reading regional magazine, devotional
Profession Home maker activities
Husband Retired Engineer from TATA Social behaviour Has friends nearby, talks to relatives on
Children Son is working in US, 29 phone often
Daughter is married in Delhi, 33 Uses internet for Voice chat with children

“The internet has brought the whole world to our fingertips,
its amazing”
Mrs Bharathi is content with her life, her children are settled in life and they are financially well off
Her son recently bought them a PC and internet connection so they could communicate using skype
She loves speaking with her 1 year old grandaughter over webcam whenever she can, but needs the help of her hus-
band to set up the connection
She is fascinated by the advancements in technology like the mobile and the internet, but is scared to use it on her
own, she fears she will spoil it by doing something wrong
She is not interested to operate the computer but rather prefers getting her husband initiate voice chats and reading
emails


Persona D: The reclusive home maker
Radhika Jain
Age 39 Hobbies cooking, interior decoration, fashion
Educational Qualiﬁcation B.A Literature in Hindi and lifestyle, reading newspapers, hindi
Profession Home maker books, seeing movies
Husband Has a trading business Social behaviour Has very few but close friends, goes for
Children Daughter is in 9th Std movies, does not like mingling
Uses internet for Feels its waste of time

“The internet has made the younger generation very lazy”

Radhika’s husband is a businessman and is away from home regularly on work
She used to be a hindi teacher, but had to quit owing to family pressure to take care of the home after she gave birth
to her daughter
She has a passion for Hindi and poetry, she loves reading regional magazines and going for movies with her close
friends whenever she can
She tries to keep herself occupied at home by reading books, talking with her friends and running errands, she feels
TV and the internet are a waste of time
Her daughter is in the 9th Std and she is very particular about her academic performance and future
She has a joint bank account and uses it for accounts related to home. She does not use a credit caard


Opportunity areas
Areas to work on
Computer training and assistance
Awareness about relevant internet services that are available to homemakers
Simplified interfaces which use metaphors from daily objects and actions, like phones and televisions etc.
Targeted advertising and services that match routine of home makers, like grocery shopping, or arranging parties
Make ecommerce/bill payment sites easier to access and remove myths regarding safety
Easier shopping and product comparison sites
Leverage the social nature of women by allowing sharing of comments in a more simplified manner
Viral marketing to advertise services
Remember information for later retreival quickly
Make finding relevant or daily/routine information easier
Not overloading pages with information and instructions
Use of visual content over textual content
Content sharing platforms to let home makers share their knowledge

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