Was It Good For You?
Consumers who lose their ringtones, incompatible data plans and content that hasn’t been optimized: The real damage a poor user experience has on the growing mobile content industry.
 Unlike most other technology platforms, mobile experiences don’t scale. Fact.
Think about the many other entertainment and communications platforms that you interact with every day; television, home stereo equipment, even your PC. Yes there may be variations in quality, but the user experience remains predictably consistent. As a broadcaster I can be sure that my programming can be viewed on virtually any television, regardless of age, manufacturer or screen dimension.
As a record label I can be confident that one of my artist’s CDs will deliver a consistent user experience regardless of whether its played on a home stereo, portable player or an in-car unit. The same cannot be said for the mobile, whose rapid success has led to often-fragmented value-chains, overlapping standards and different operating platforms. Ultimately, what works on one device may not work, or be optimized, for another. Even otherwise identical devices might handle content differently due to carriervariants.
Arguably, despite enormous developments in form and functionality, the mobile user experience has not evolved much in the last five years; a problem that has had an enormous impact on the growth of the mobile content market. For those looking to meet the US consumer’s growing appetite for mobile content the rewards may be high but the challenges can be immense.
Today’s wireless services and device innovations are being unveiled at an exponential and unprecedented rate. While this certainly serves to quench consumer appetites for the latest technology, the downside of this trend can be observed in less than adequate user experiences and the wake of customer service issues that inevitably follow the launch of any new product or service. As devices become inherently more complex, so too does the user-experience, leaving many users struggling to scale the technological learning curve.
It is these challenges that present some of the most damaging longterm barriers to the mobile content market. Indeed, in the context of the mobile content ‘debate’, it is surprising that so little attention has been given to the importance of the user experience. Yes, discussions around pricing infrastructures, digital rights management and marketing should be keenly fought, but analyze some of the more common consumer complaints and support requests and a picture emerges of a less than satisfactory user experience.
For the emerging mobile content industry, an understanding that longterm profitability can be sustained through a commitment to the user experience is vitally important. This is especially true for existing brand and media owners who, venturing into the mobile content arena, risk brand damage if services don’t meet with consumers’ expectations for service and quality.
What can go wrong?
Regardless of whether a service is made available on deck or off, common challenges present themselves. From its work with content providers, WDSGlobal has been able to compile a list of the common support issues and user experience failures that plague consumers. Interestingly, what the results demonstrate is that often it’s not just a questionof technical barriers, but industry best practice to educate and guide the user to the most appropriate piece of content for their needs, device, tariff and carrier.
Of course, problems such as those presented above can only be addressed if the consumer actually chooses to look for support. The sad truth is that the majority of users will simply abandon the service, write it off as a bad experience and choose not to return again. We live in a plug and play society where consumers expect immediate gratification. The user experience is simply too fragile to risk not getting it right first time around.
To mitigate the most common user experience hurdles facing today’s consumer, WDSGlobal offers the following guidelines.
1) The importance of... Testing
Fact: Handset diversity will only get worse. The handset market is no longer dominated by a select group of manufacturers; increasing numbers of Asian manufacturers are grabbing market share, adding to the many hundreds of device and operating system variants currently available to the consumer. To compound the problem, carrier specific builds (which may lock certain features and functions, or reallocate device memory away from selected services eg: ringtones ) and network restrictions cause variations between otherwise identical devices.
For off-deck content providers, testing against both device and carrier parameters offers an immediate insight into problematic services. Now is the time to identify issues and overcome them, prior to a service or piece of content being made commercially available. This helps to mitigate support inquiries and enables content providers to offer consumers alternative download methods or more suitable pieces of content.
2) The importance of... User Education
In the US, the number one mobile content support issue is consumers not having the correct data plan to access off-deck content.
Unfortunately, this is often only evident after a failed download or billing attempt. By this point, the damage has been done and the consumer will approach content with added caution in the future. For off-deck providers who use web-based portals and stores to market their proposition, enabling accurate download processes to identify device type and network will serve to flag issues before the user experience has been damaged. Where issues are identified, the consumer can be guided to more appropriate content or redirected to their carrier for the provisioning of a more suitable data plan.
Another common call driver is a consumer unsure where a piece of downloaded content has been stored on their device. This is a common issue for both on- and off-deck content and again relates to the diversity of device types and how they each handle content.
Having undergone adequate device testing, and identifying the device type prior to download, content providers will be able to provide media–rich user guides, walking consumers through the download process and pinpointing the exact location of the content and how it is used.
3) The importance of... Optimization
What’s the screen resolution? Does the device have a maximum ringtone file size limit? Are there DRM restrictions in place? These are just some of the factors that must be taken into consideration when delivering content to one of the many thousands of device variants currently in consumers’ hands. By integrating accurate device profiling schemas into content optimization and delivery platforms, content providers can be assured that the correct piece of content for the connecting device is delivered, and through the most appropriate channel.
4) The importance of... Configuration and Support
In the US, carriers have (so far) retained control of the retail channel. This means that more often than not, devices are shipped with the necessary data connectivity settings or are able to retrieve the necessary settings from carrier support centers. However, in many parts of the world consumers have a wider choice of device retailers. This includes the ability to purchase devices free from any carrier connection; the consumer is simply able to insert a SIM card of choice and access the chosen network. However, such devices are usually devoid of any carrier-specific settings for data. Consumers must be offered selfcare mechanisms through which to specify device type and connected network and retrieve the necessary settings over-the-air.
Such services can be integrated into content providers’ online portals or customer care departments. By ensuring adequate testing to identify problem areas, optimizing content delivery and guiding consumers through the download process many of the support issues will have been removed. However, there must be adequate provision made for after-sale care. This can take the form of web-based self-care portals, email or IM support all the way to dedicated call centers to assure the user experience and drive repeat business.
Looking ahead
The relative immaturity of the mobile content market means it is difficult to predict the likely winners and losers. There’s an almost gold rush mentality to the mobile content industry as each part of the value chain, from the handset manufacturers to content developers, tries to predict consumer trends. This is a market expected to generate more than $150 billion in revenue by 2011 and with established brand and media owners recognizing the potential of the mobile channel, the stakes are getting higher by the day.
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