A new world without unnecessary travel for mobile app and mobile website usability testing was revealed to a room of accomplished UX Researchers at the recent UXPA Annual Conference in San Diego, California. UX researchers’ eyes were opened through an overview of the latest technology tools that have emerged for moderated UX research on mobile devices to be conducted online with test participants located anywhere. The session was led by BellaVia Research with Civicom® Marketing Research Services serving as technical partner and project facilitator. Both BellaVia Research and Civicom Marketing Research Services are at the forefront of mobile usability research.
Julie Francis, the Principal & Founder of BellaVia Research, led the presentation entitled “To Fly or Not to Fly? How to Use Remote Techniques for Moderated Research on Mobile Devices to Stay Off Airplanes and Save Clients Money,” providing the researcher perspective on remote multi-channel research and offering tips on effectively conducting research remotely on mobile devices.
UX research on how mobile apps are designed and how websites are successfully mobilized for hand-held devices has become critical to business processes. An accelerating trend line in mobile search has resulted in 2015 becoming the year that search on mobile devices has exceeded the number of searches conducted on computers. As a result, businesses and all other organizations are now dependent on mobile for reaching their audiences. Minimizing stress in mobile usability experiences is now critical. BellaVia Research emphasized the pros of conducting remote moderated research: hotels and airplanes are both expensive and time-consuming and can be avoided, and certain studies may require multiple interviews in different cities.
Remote UX research is mobility without physically going mobile – it enables insights to be collected from respondents in various locations while saving the UX researcher thousands of dollars from traveling. Moderated remote research is also necessary so that respondent interactions with their mobile devices can be observed and probed for the insights the client is seeking from engaging the researcher in a study.
Remote UX research enables insights to be collected from respondents in various locations while saving UX researchers thousands of dollars in travel.
The presentation also stressed the necessity of tech checks to ensure that both non-tech savvy as well as tech savvy populations have a successful experience in navigating their devices during the study. Conducting mobile research remotely using online tools requires understanding of an array of technical requirements that need to be met to assure a study is successful. This list includes an updated mobile device operating system, a certain level of bandwidth, a Wi-Fi network, an up-to-date computer, and typically a webcam, especially for the respondent.
Rebecca West, Civicom’s Global Vice President of Marketing Research Services, weighed in on these technical aspects. She explained how Civicom Marketing Research Services communicates the specifications to the researcher, and most importantly conducts tech checks with the respondents to assure that before they engage in a research interview, they can participate successfully. This helps make the researcher more efficient, and also assures a researchers that if clients are present, they have a good impression of the researcher’s capabilities.
About BellaVia Research
BellaVia Research is a boutique research consultancy based in coastal California. The firm specializes in strategic user experience research and utilizes cutting edge research methodologies to get insights their clients need to make informed business decisions.
Julie Francis, BellaVia’s Principal & Founder, is a noted specialist in UX research. Julie has specialized in user research since before the term “user experience” was coined. She has a solid track record of helping clients uncover the insights they need to make informed business decisions. With 20+ years of experience across a range of research methodologies and industries, she is uniquely positioned to design and execute research plans for nearly any client objective.
Julie is a skilled interviewer, utilizing a range of traditional and innovative methodologies. For usability and UX projects, Julie’s background in customer experience strategy and interface design uniquely qualifies her to uncover both strategic and tactical usability issues, always with an eye on the overall business goals.
About Civicom Marketing Research
Civicom Marketing Research Services is a global innovator in qualitative research tools using the latest technology solutions for marketing research. The company works hand in hand with research firms, facilitating research studies that enable projects to have extensive, global reach.
Civicom Marketing Research Services offers many options to enhance the research process for research professionals. Civicom is the global leader in facilitating telephone and web-enabled IDIs and Focus Groups using Civicom CyberFacility®. Civicom also offers Civicom Chatterbox®, an online community platform that operates globally, and Civicom InSitu® Mobile Research, a qualitative tool for audio diaries and patient journeys. The company’s latest tool is See Me Navigate™ for mobile app and mobile web usability research.
Civicom operates in over 96 countries and offers extensive translation services for UX and marketing researchers, as well as transcription services through TranscriptionWing™, and respondent recruiting through CiviSelect™. All of these services are available in multiple languages, as well as English.
About UXPA
The User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA) is an organization that supports people who research, design, and evaluate the user experience of products and services. UXPA holds yearly international conferences, publishes new findings through both the Journal of Usability Studies (JUS) and through User Experience Magazine, and has 50 chapters around the world. In 2004, UXPA established World Usability Day, which in 2011 was celebrated in 44 countries. The UXPA Annual Conference in San Diego was held June 22-25. Information on the conference can found at http://uxpa2015.org.
Source: PRWeb.com