The idea of respondents completing questionnaires on mobile devices has long been “the next big thing” in online research, however, like many “next big things”, most of us have been waiting for it to actually happen. However, with the explosion of mobile Internet usage over the last few months, it looks like that time is rapidly approaching.

At the recent ESOMAR event in Chicago, we had the opportunity to present our paper “Best Practices In Mobile Research”. As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, Internet usage on mobile devices is gaining traction. This was supported by the research we did for our paper as we found that members of our national panels are already receiving survey invitations on their smartphones, meaning that if they want to complete the questionnaire right then and there, they can click the invitation link which will then open the questionnaire on their mobile browser. And we aren’t the only ones to witness this. We’ve had clients tell us that they’ve been contacted by respondents who have tried to complete questionnaires on their mobile devices.

The problem with respondents trying to complete questionnaires on their smartphone is that online questionnaires are almost always designed for the traditional desktop internet experience. Obviously, this results in a number of complications. For example, some question types require scripting that is automatically disabled by smartphone manufacturers (“Other, specify” being an example) meaning that respondents can get stuck at a question, unable to advance because their response option won’t work properly.

Another issue is the limited screen space on a mobile device. These small screens can make reading (and responding) to a question very difficult due to the amount scrolling that might be required. As those of us who use the mobile web can attest to, scrolling a webpage that has not been formatted for mobile devices is not only extremely frustrating, but respondents could easily misinterpret a question if they choose not to fully scroll.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that when done properly, there are many benefits to mobile research. This includes higher response rates, getting access to respondents who aren’t typically at a computer, more timely responses, etc.

And here’s more good news: in our ESOMAR paper we found that the answers provided by respondents on their mobile device do not vary significantly from the answers provided by those answering the same questionnaire on a desktop.

Furthermore, a sizeable proportion of those who completed the questionnaire on their mobile device said they are more likely to complete questionnaires if they are provided with the opportunity to complete the questionnaire on their mobile device. Of course there are some caveats to these findings, (which I’m not going to get into here – you’ll have to read the paper), but these results suggest that mobile data collection is a viable data collection technique which needs to be addressed by market researchers now, rather than later.

On April 23, 2009 Apple announced that the one-billionth application (commonly referred to as “apps”) had been downloaded from the App Store. This was a significant achievement, as it took only nine months for Apple to hit one-billion app downloads. As a point of comparison, it took three years for Apple to reach one-billion song downloads. This is not a true apples-to-apples comparison (pun unintended) as most song downloads would have been purchased while a significant proportion of app downloads would have been free. Regardless, it certainly makes it very clear that there was a high level of pent-up demand for a more engaging mobile Internet experience.

Those of us who have been tracking technology trends for an extended period of time can remember the promise of the mobile web over a decade ago. However, execution on basic mobile phones in those days was clumsy at best, and the user experience was quite poor – to put it mildly.

But the combination of increased incidence of smartphones, faster wireless networks, and consumers who are becoming increasingly tech savvy – perhaps without even realizing it – is causing a fundamental shift in North American Internet behavior. We are increasingly relying on our mobile devices to engage in activities that were previously limited to the traditional desktop or laptop Internet experience.

As a heavy Internet user who likes to beta test every site out there, the most common request I’ve seen of websites and Internet applications released over the last couple of years is “when will the iPhone/Blackberry/Android be released?” And when the developers of the site don’t have a definitive answer to this question, it reflects poorly on their level of preparedness.

The trend for where this is going is pretty obvious. As per usual all we need to do is cast an eye towards teenagers and how they are engaged with the latest technology. In this case, a recent Pew Internet study found that in early 2008, almost three-in-four American teens (12 to 17) had a mobile phone, compared to 45% in 2004. The net result of the increased usage of mobile phones among teens is a generation of users who have little use (or time) for sitting down at a desktop to send an email when they can simply update their Facebook status on their mobile phone. Download a music file and save it to a hard drive? Why bother? They can simply stream their favorite songs on their smartphone thanks to Pandora and other music streaming apps.

This is not to suggest that the traditional desktop Internet experience is going to disappear anytime soon. Quite frankly, there is still much to be desired about from a mobile Internet experience. And certain categories of Internet user are always going to want the desktop experience (creatives, music downloaders, and gamers come to mind). Plus there is the work aspect to consider – word processing, multitasking, saving/editing and the physiology of a keyboard and mouse will ensure that desktops and laptops maintain a prominent role in the workplace. Consequently, so too will the traditional Internet experience. But don’t be too surprised if a generation from now those who are using the Internet at home on a desktop are looked at the same way as those who refused to upgrade from vinyl to CD. Sure, they have their reasons – but they aren’t relevant for most of us anymore.