Leslie Townsend from Kinesis Survey Technologies gave a presentation on making research communities mobile-friendly. She noted that communication habits are shifting to mobile as smartphones account for over half of phones globally. Research community members also increasingly use mobile devices. She recommended 5 steps: 1) simplifying registration and profiles, 2) collecting mobile numbers, 3) using shorter surveys, 4) eliminating Flash, and 5) leveraging social media. She emphasized the need to enable full community functionality across all mobile devices to improve engagement.

1. A
Presenta*on
from
the
NewMR
Communi*es
Event
15
February
2013
All
copyright
owned
by
The
Future
Place
and
the
presenters
of
the
material
For
more
informa:on
about
NewMR
events
visit
h?p://newmr.org
For
more
informa:on
about
dub
visit
h?p://dubstudios.com
Event
Sponsor
Making
Research
Communi:es
Mobile-­‐Friendly:
the
Whys
and
How-­‐Tos
Leslie
Townsend
Kinesis
Survey
Technologies

2. Leslie Townsend, Kinesis Survey Technologies, USA
Session 3: Research Communities, March 15, 2013
Making Research Communities
Mobile-Friendly:
The Whys and How-Tos

3. Leslie Townsend, Kinesis Survey Technologies, USA
Session 3: Research Communities, March 15, 2013
Making
Mobile
Research
Communi*es
Mobile-­‐Friendly
The
communica*on
habits
of
consumers
are
changing.
• Already
smartphones
account
for
more
than
half
of
all
mobile
phones
in
the
U.S.
and
Europe,
and
will
reach
the
global
majority
by
the
end
of
this
year
• Social
networking
and
gaming
are
:ed
#1
as
the
most
popular
mobile
ac:vi:es
• Tablets
are
the
fastest
growing
product
category
in
the
history
of
consumer
electronics

4. Leslie Townsend, Kinesis Survey Technologies, USA
Session 3: Research Communities, March 15, 2013
The
device
preferences
of
research
par*cipants
are
also
changing.
• More
than
30%
of
survey
traffic
on
the
Kinesis
plaUorm
comes
from
mobile
devices
• Other
research
plaUorm
providers
have
indicated
their
mobile
traffic
is
anywhere
between
10-­‐20%
• Research
community
members,
like
all
consumers,
are
increasingly
demanding
mobile-­‐friendly
solu:ons
Making
Research
Communi*es
Mobile-­‐Friendly

5. Leslie Townsend, Kinesis Survey Technologies, USA
Session 3: Research Communities, March 15, 2013
Making
Research
Communi*es
Mobile-­‐Friendly
Step
#1:
Keep
registra*on/profiler
processes
short
and
sweet.
• 8
data
entry
fields
or
fewer
• Limit
usage
of
branding
elements
and
graphics
• Test
all
registra:on
sites
and
profilers
thoroughly
using
a
variety
of
mobile
devices

6. Leslie Townsend, Kinesis Survey Technologies, USA
Session 3: Research Communities, March 15, 2013
Making
Research
Communi*es
Mobile-­‐Friendly
Step
#2:
Collect
the
mobile
phone
number.
• It
will
be
a
CRITICAL
data
point
in
the
near
future
• Necessary
for
SMS,
app
usage,
loca:on-­‐based
triggers
and
more
• Collect
the
:me
zone
as
well,
so
mobile
communica:ons
are
sent
during
appropriate
:mes

7. Leslie Townsend, Kinesis Survey Technologies, USA
Session 3: Research Communities, March 15, 2013
Making
Research
Communi*es
Mobile-­‐Friendly
Step
#3:
U*lize
shorter
surveys.
• Survey
should
take
less
than
5
minutes
to
complete
• When
longer
surveys
cannot
be
avoided,
offer
appropriate
incen:ves
• Include
a
progress
bar

8. Leslie Townsend, Kinesis Survey Technologies, USA
Session 3: Research Communities, March 15, 2013
Making
Research
Communi*es
Mobile-­‐Friendly
Step
#4:
Eliminate
Flash.
• Adobe
has
stopped
development
of
Flash
for
mobile,
and
has
disabled
new
installs
• Instead
of
Flash,
use
device-­‐agnos:c
technologies
like
HTML,
CSS
and
Javascript
• HTML5
is
the
future
for
the
mobile
web

9. Leslie Townsend, Kinesis Survey Technologies, USA
Session 3: Research Communities, March 15, 2013
Making
Research
Communi*es
Mobile-­‐Friendly
What
If
Step
#4
Is
Not
Possible
Right
Now?
• Add
a
no:fica:on
informing
members
that
your
community
website
not
mobile-­‐
compa:ble
• Begin
prepara:ons
to
move
away
from
Flash
• Do
not
DO
NOTHING,
or
else
your
community
members
will
feel
like
this…

10. Leslie Townsend, Kinesis Survey Technologies, USA
Session 3: Research Communities, March 15, 2013
Making
Research
Communi*es
Mobile-­‐Friendly
Step
#5:
Leverage
Social
Media
• 98%
of
the
U.S.
online
popula:on
uses
social
media
–
talk
about
a
great
recruitment
source!
• Globally
more
than
half
of
Facebook
and
Twi?er
users
access
via
mobile
phones
• Social
media
pages
are
“pre-­‐mobilized”
for
your
use

11. Leslie Townsend, Kinesis Survey Technologies, USA
Session 3: Research Communities, March 15, 2013
Making
Research
Communi*es
Mobile-­‐Friendly
Quick
&
Easy
Checklist:
Simplify
registra*on
&
profilers
Collect
the
mobile
phone
number
U*lize
shorter
surveys
Eliminate
Flash
Leverage
social
media

12. Leslie Townsend, Kinesis Survey Technologies, USA
Session 3: Research Communities, March 15, 2013
Making
Research
Communi*es
Mobile-­‐Friendly
End-­‐to-­‐end
mobiliza*on
–
how
do
you
achieve
it?
• Move
your
community
to
a
device-­‐agnos:c
content
management
plaUorm
(with
device
detec:on
capabili:es)
for
easier
development
and
maintenance
• Support
the
mobile
experience
from
end-­‐
to-­‐end;
ALL
commonly
used
community
func:onality
should
be
mobile-­‐enabled
• Capitalize
on
the
new
community
features
that
mobile
enablement
provides
to
increase
engagement

13. Leslie Townsend, Kinesis Survey Technologies, USA
Session 3: Research Communities, March 15, 2013
Making
Research
Communi*es
Mobile-­‐Friendly
Mobile
requires
the
capture
of
addi*onal
metadata
and
user
seZngs.
• Device
and
browser
type
in
use
• Separate
legal
opt-­‐ins
for
SMS
and
loca:on-­‐
capture
• Time
zone
and
‘do
not
disturb’
parameters
• Acceptable
invita:on
and
communica:on
methods

14. Leslie Townsend, Kinesis Survey Technologies, USA
Session 3: Research Communities, March 15, 2013
Making
Research
Communi*es
Mobile-­‐Friendly
Be
ready
for
the
research
processes
of
tomorrow.
• Social
media
research
• Loca:on-­‐based
research
• Mobile
research
• Integrated
SoLoMo
research

15. Leslie Townsend, Kinesis Survey Technologies, USA
Session 3: Research Communities, March 15, 2013
Thank you
Leslie Townsend
Kinesis President & Co-founder
Making
Research
Communi*es
Mobile-­‐Friendly

16. Leslie Townsend, Kinesis Survey Technologies, USA
Session 3: Research Communities, March 15, 2013
Q & A
Ray
Poynter
Vision
Cri:cal
University
Leslie
Townsend
Kinesis
Survey
Technologies

17. Leslie Townsend, Kinesis Survey Technologies, USA
Session 3: Research Communities, March 15, 2013
Leslie Townsend
Visit
the
Kinesis
website:
h?p://kinesissurvey.com
Read
Kinesis
blog
@
h?p://kinesissurvey.com/blog/
Follow
Kinesis
tweets
at
@
h?p://twi?er.com/kinesis_survey
Email
Leslie:
ltownsend@kinesissurvey.com