After some observation and discussion with pinners of all ages, we credit its growth to a few specific things:

We’re witnessing constant media coverage about the rising gas prices as we move into the warmer months.  Therefore, now is an excellent time for automobile retailers to leverage their websites to highlight their fuel economy as they present their products to prospective consumers.

KLI compared and contrasted the websites of two compact vehicles that were reported to be top of mind when considering a fuel efficient choice.  By observing and analyzing user interaction with the Toyota.com (Prius) and Chevrolet.com (Volt), researchers were able to identify ways that these auto retailers, and others, can improve their layout, messaging and calls to action to increase conversion.

Participants were asked: “Do today’s shoppers find it easy to compare a fuel efficient vehicle to the competitors in the same class?”, “Which variables are critical for a quick comparison of various vehicle options? “, “Do we have a list of recommendations from the mouths of our consumers to enhance these websites?”

Eye tracking scan paths were recorded using TechSmith’s Morae with an Eye Tracking Plug-In by Visual Interaction.  Morae’s Observer component allowed these paths to be observed remotely, allowing researchers to evaluate gaze patterns, providing additional insight not otherwise revealed with traditional self-report.

Ultimately, KLI developed and reported a clear understanding of success and pain-points on the given websites and provided a list of elements that retailers should consider when creating or improving their eCommerce properties.

In summary, the Toyota website effectively provides users with quick ways to discover the fuel efficiency and overall advantages for the Prius line, whereas most participants were unsuccessful on the Chevrolet site and experienced a high level of frustration and dissatisfaction.

Users Want access to tools that help move them move closer to making a purchase.

Specifically, researcher found the mega drop down on Toyota.com to be effective in quickly providing MPG information for vehicles while the Chevrolet website lacks clarity around MPG for the Volt. Chevrolet’s website requires too many active steps to find answers to common questions and the reported satisfaction level is low.

Finally, only 20% of the participants discovered and utilized the “compare vehicles” on the Chevy website, others resorted to searching through the text rather than using the side-by-side comparison chart hidden in the website.  This lead to some strong recommendations by the researchers for improvement including the integration of comparison charts/tabular format, etc. as these are proven easy to consume visually and from an information processing perspective.   However, they must be placed in obvious locations with clear messaging to direct attention to their availability.

KLI noted this and 5 other suggestions for optimization in a detailed list of findings that can be found in this case study or by contacting sales@keylimeinteractive.com

In 2009 Allstate made it clear that they were working to ensure effective communication and business practices with both the English and Spanish speaking US communities in which they offered their services.  They integrated a Spanish-language national marketing campaign, complete with targeted tv spots and a Spanish website version that continued through 2010 and beyond.   Today, those business goals remain unchanged and separate Allstate from their competitors.   In a recent study by the marketing research and usability company Key Lime Interactive, it was reported that of the top 8 US auto insurance providers, Allstate was the only provider who offered their mobile solutions in Spanish.

The report included Allstate Mobile, GEICO, Liberty Mutual Mobile, Nationwide Mobile, Progressive, State Farm Pocket Agent, Travelers and USAA and was largely focused on combining a set of consumer determined desired features and capabilities and ranking how well each carrier met those stated needs.   Although Allstate did not rank first in overall mobile experience for their app or their msite, the availability of their properties to be accessible to the Spanish speaking community was one area in which they stood alone.

Last week, BIGresearch reported that more Hispanic adults reported mobile device usage than all US adults.  For example, the survey indicated that iphone usage is 6.6% higher for Hispanics.   Allstate is taking note and staying ahead.

“Given the size and growth of the US Hispanic segment, this is certainly a wise decision to align business goals to target this consumer with the consumer experiences in an effort to retain consumers” reports Ania Rodriguez, founder of KLI.   “Our research has indicated that the Hispanic population is brand loyal and community oriented.   Companies who localize their mobile properties to Spanish properly present a competitive edge nowadays.”

KLI’s next iteration of this mobile auto insurance report is due out in June.  “It will be interesting to see if any of the other players recognize the importance of Spanish localization to appeal to this market and follow suit.”

Additional Report Information:  The report titled Mobile Competitive Review:  Auto Insurance is a quarterly syndicated study published by Key Lime Interactive.  The report combines a consumer response survey (n=300) where the most desirable mobile features were identified and prioritized.  This priority list was compared to the available feature sets of each of the relevant carriers and ultimately the carriers were ranked on their ability to meet consumer needs in a usable way.   For more information on this report or to purchase a subscription, please reach out to Key Lime Interactive directly.

In today’s consumer landscape we see retailers expanding and spending time to enhance their mobile offering in an effort to increase conversion on their mCommerce sites and apps.  Often times, as they aim to keep up with the rapid pace of mobile growth, retailers fail to align their business objectives with their target end-user’s mindset, behaviors and preferences.   To mitigate this problem Key Lime Interactive (KLI), a leader in mobile consumer experience testing and design, conducts frequent surveys to understand usage, trends, expectations, needs and preferences of retail consumers so that they may offer their clients current and relevant actionable recommendations for innovative, consumer-driven interfaces.

Mobile Retail Study
Last month, in KLI’s most recent mobile study, three hundred mobile retail consumers were surveyed.  The results revealed a prioritized list of consumer preferences and validated the assumptions that many of us would make:  the most important features for a successful mobile shopping experience included the ability to seek out pricing information, quality product images and specifications and to arrive at such information via a streamlined search tool.  Additionally, users reported that they can’t live without an easy way to “find deals” offered by a given retailer – this serves as food for thought as said retailers consider the importance of a clearance section or discount offer placement on their mobile interface.

Surprising to some retailers, though, was the discovery that the ability to purchase a product ranked as a second tier need in the survey.  “This validates a trend we’ve observed, particularly among consumers shopping the mobile optimized site offered by a brick and mortar retailer” says Eugene Santiago, Director of Research at KLI “77% of consumers report that they are likely to browse products on a mobile site to purchase in-store at a later time.  Further, 79% of consumers use the m-site to compare rival store’s prices while they’re in store executing a purchasing decision.”

The report also stated that “many mobile sites still leave customers with unanswered questions” and product comparison tools are among the three things consumers would change if they were responsible for the m-site design.

“Information, such as usage information and preferences helps us shape our expert recommendations as we assist with mobile site strategic development.  For example, knowing that most consumers are using their mobile tools to learn as much as they can about products, and less to purchase them, helps us validate prioritizing focus on building strong product interfaces ahead of refining a checkout process for a given client.” says Ania Rodriguez, CEO of KLI  “Similarly, if we find that product comparison tools are the missing piece to the puzzle, we can encourage this feature and resurvey to demonstrate the increase in consumer sentiment – combine that with sales statistics through the mobile channel and we identify the source of an increase in conversion .”

Additional Report Information
These results, along with additional details, were presented in a webinar by KLI on January 25^th.  Participants learned answers to questions such as Do we know which features are a catalyst for the transition from mobile browsing to mobile shopping?  Do we have a list of recommendations from the mouths of our consumers to enhance our mobile offering?  and more.  The entire webinar/results are available free of charge.

Slide Deck from Webinar
Full Webinar with Audio

For additional information, or to conduct a similar study or evaluation on your website, contact sales@keylimeinteractive.com

On December 6^th, 2011, the leading user and consumer research agency Key Lime Interactive (KLI) will share the findings of their Mobile Retail Banking Competitive Review.  In this webinar, and associated detailed report, KLI profiles the competitive mobile landscape of the four largest US retail banks: Bank of America, Chase (JP Morgan Chase), Citibank (Citigroup), and Wells Fargo & Company and ultimately reveals which bank offers their consumers the best mobile solution.

The webinar will include a general discussion about what these banks are doing to provide for their retail banking customers via mobile optimized sites, apps (iOS and Android) and tablets (iPad). Additionally, KLI will share the methods employed to rank the banks based on consumers’ self-reported preferences and insights; provide a best-in-class feature list, as well as a comparative list the available features of the four; and identify trends and opportunities that bridge the gap between consumer expectations and the banking solutions.

“The key difference between this report and other published reports in the mobile banking space is that features, options and experiences are graded based on the consumers’ self-reported preferences.” says Alex D. Rodriguez, lead KLI researcher for this study.  “By incorporating a user survey in this competitive review we gain an intimate understanding of user needs and rank mobile elements accordingly.  This rich data set functions to help the key players shape their offering to appeal to their target audience versus simply providing a solution that matches their competition.”

Researchers, Designers, Executives, Journalists and Bloggers in the finance industry are encouraged to join the webinar on Tuesday December 6^th, 2011 at 2pm EST.  Webinar Registration

To inquire about purchase of the published report please reach out to sales@keylimeinteractive.com.

Real users reveal trends. KLI takes note.

As top retailers strive to increase their mobile presence KLI continues to launch studies of all shapes and sizes to explore mobile trends. In the process our researchers are gaining intimate knowledge about the general expectations of today’s consumer and the love/hate relationship they’re developing with their favorite retailers.

As they shop on their smartphone or tablet “consumers don’t want to pinch and drag screens around and accidentally click unintended links. They don’t want to be autocorrected or type in 16-digit credit card numbers” says Rebeca Lergier, Sr. User Research Director at KLI. “They’re seeking simplicity; automatic detection, visual cues, one-click checkouts… We’ve gotten to the point where we can see pain points a mile away.”

Considering that 79% of retailers have yet to optimize for mobile but a majority plan to in the next 24 months, we’ve identified the most common pain points and created a list to improve mobile properties from their inception.

Our clients are noticing this, too, because we’re seeing a drastic rise in the demand to put apps in front of prospective consumers before they launch.  Our retail clients want to exploit the interplay between store, online, and mobile channels in consumer outreach and they want to do it well.   With the holidays only being a short 5 months away and the holiday shopping season ramping up in a mere 2, retailers are expanding their mobile budgets and adjusting their second half of the year marketing plans to ensure they can meet the needs of users like me who would just rather not head to the store.

What kind of mobile testing is happening?
Feature priorities are broad and users’ expectations are demanding.  The trends in mobile are changing rapidly. Clients cannot simply take their traditional site and miniaturize it to fit on the screen of your smart phone or they’ll lag behind their competitors.

Let’s consider everything that a consumer can do from the palm of their hand these days:  text-to-list to add oneself to marketing lists, access location based deals, get feedback from their social networks about purchasing decisions, accurately compare pricing between e-retailers and local retail stores and this list goes on and on.  Consumers seek instant gratification and retailers have new avenues for branding opportunities to meet that instant search protocol that is becoming standard.

Our clients get it and they have expressed the need to get their offering right the first time.  (…before the app store makes them go through a lengthy resubmission process.)

Although there are the occasions where a template app can be used to showcase the clients’ offering, we’re finding that this is increasingly rare in the retail segment.   Clients are customizing and they’re considering their audience as a critical component to developing a successful solution.

What are we doing to help?
KLI specializes in primary research – we work to evaluate user behavior, blend our observations and user feedback with our expertise and deliver actionable recommendations to make things intuitive to the target audience.  So, as mobile expands, we need to continue to be forward-thinking as we gather data.

In an effort to help our clients evaluate user behavior across form factors and operating systems as they develop this critical mobile presence, we’ve found a few tools that help us move from the lab and into the wild.

• The Spy Cam. In a nutshell, this is a pair of glasses with a small video camera mounted in the center between the two eyes – they look and feel like a geeky pair of sunglasses.
  When we’re using it: Several clients have the need to understand the interplay between their mobile shopping app and the physical store shelf.  In scenarios where the app offers reviews, or additional product information or helps comparative shop, users aren’t neglecting this tool.  So, we’ve used “the spy cam” to monitor this behavior without having to stand two feet away from them as they navigate a store aisle.  They’re more comfortable and we get more information to make informed generalizations about their behavior.

• Mirrored Screen.  Depending on the smart phone, there is an HDMI out cable that can be used to mirror the screen on a PC.   We use this, combined with screen recording software to capture the navigation path of the user.
  When we’re using it: Sometimes the setting is such that we don’t want to observe first hand what’s going on because we may interfere with the users’ most natural behavior.  In this scenario we send the mirrored screen to a more comfortable viewing location so that we can see the navigation path as the user executes a task, explores freely, etc.   In many cases, we stream this mirrored screen to the client in tandem with our notes so that they can check-in freely as they wish to observe the data collection process.  Bringing our clients on board during data collection makes them feel like they’re more involved and increases the integrity of our reporting.

• Diary Studies. We’ve setup easy to access blogs like tumblr, etc. for users to send screenshots, audio clips, quotes, thoughts, and more as they log their usage behavior.
  When we’re using it: In some scenarios we need data testing over time.  Take the airline industry study we did for example… from booking, to checking in, to changing seats, to boarding, the app is accessed at various time points.  It’s an effective delivery method for us to encourage users to log their experience at various time points so the entire service can be properly evaluated.

We’re also using mobile eyetracking solutions, split screen monitors to synchronize concurrent activities, in-lab mobile sleds and camera systems, on-screen simulators, and more depending on the research questions on hand.

To learn more about the presentation from the Big (D)esign 2011 conference in Dallas reach out to us at sales@keylimeinteractive.com

You may be asking yourself, how do Hispanics behave differently, specifically in the digital world, than me? Hispanics are family and community oriented consumers, they often will make a purchase with input from several key family members, especially for larger dollar purchases. Family opinions often influence brand perceptions.

We agree with researchers who contend that most Hispanics are fully acculturated by the time they have spent 2/3 of their lives in the US. But to us this simply implies that it’s it’s necessary to test all relevant segments to help our customers target their content/product to Spanish-speaking users with family and cultural influencers.

When conducting research with Hispanic users we always take into consideration how acculturated the users are, which typically consists of a list of questions that will help to segment the users based on factors such as language, years in the US, degree to which they retain elements of their home culture, etc. Our Hispanic Acculturation Spectrum Model places Hispanics that speak little to no English on one end and those that speak little to no Spanish on the other end. This method has been valuable for us as we look at the differences between these two audiences. It helps us to inform appropriate design; features that meet the needs of the middle spectrum are included in both language versions of digital properties, while studies with users who reside at the ends of the spectrum may help us identify target specific needs. Otherwise a large portion of their potential clientele is being ignored. Companies who are just now considering the mobile Spanish market are behind and those who simply translate versus consider the behavioral differences of these users will find themselves even farther behind.

The time is now to create your Spanish presence:
We find that most of our current research in the Latino market is on the Spanish version of a website or is related to a physical product, which begs the question: why aren’t large companies investing in ensuring that Hispanics have full access, access that specifically addresses their needs, especially in their mobile market presence? A partner of the The Neilsen Company reported a few months back that 45% of Hispanic mobile users have smartphones, the highest among all ethnic groups, including Whites. Additionally: 12% of US Hispanic mobile users use social networks on their mobile vs. 10% of general market, supporting the priority on social influencers that we’ve discovered.

Last month in the KLI webinar series we established a mobile scorecard for the auto insurance industry and of the 4 major brands we reviewed, only Allstate supposedly had a Spanish version (Although, the iTunes store states they do, when we changed the language to Spanish the language did not change like other apps typically do; if there is was a way to change the language within the app itself, it is not easy to find.) This is troublesome to us. Secondary research indicates that the Hispanic market accounts for the highest growth in auto insurance – why is Allstate the only player paying attention? Even more, as I was putting together this article, I quickly took a look at all the apps I have downloaded on my iPhone and of the 61 apps, I discovered that only five have made an effort to engage the Spanish-speaking world. Facebook, LinkedIn, Groupon, Skype, and TripAdvisor all have a Spanish version of their applications – Way to Go!

When will the others catch up? Will a translated version of their mobile presence be enough? We think this opportunity is huge for companies to get their Spanish mobile presence right the first time by considering the users behaviors and is an opportunity that shouldn’t be overlooked. What do you think?

Key Lime Interactive (KLI) conducted a competitive review of the four (4) existing mobile apps of the largest U.S. airlines in the industry:

· Continental Airlines

· Delta Airlines

· Southwest Airlines

· and American Airlines

Each mobile App (iPhone and Android versions) was compared against a list of standard airline passenger tasks to assess their capabilities and features. Each capability and feature scored was gathered by reviewing each current mobile app and each of their respective websites (desktop) to determine what the most appropriate list of capabilities would be based on what users would expect to complete within a mobile app.

After evaluating each mobile app’s capabilities, we compared and ranked each feature to determine which airline was providing the best experience to its customers. User feedback was incorporated to understand the importance and preference of each feature, while current user ratings, from the Android Market and iStore, were included to weigh the real world perceptions of each mobile app. All of these elements were combined to determine an overall score and ranking.

Join us at 2pm EST on Tuesday, July 28th to hear the detailed report about how each company ranks and who produces the best mobile app experience to date.

With Nielsen reporting that 60 percent of people surf the web while watching TV, we certainly can’t blame them.  Consumers are hungry for a complete “infotainment” experience and are consuming media on multiple screens that target specific content, device or individual demographics.  Most importantly, though, these people still indicate a refusal to abandon traditional broadcasting altogether.  This leaves a lot for our clients to learn by observing and collecting data as users toggle their attention between the technology (e.g. iPad, laptop, or mobile phone) in their hand and that big HD flat screen on their wall.

TV is one, but what are the other screens?

This concept has evolved rapidly.  In a short time, we went from simply gaining a bit more information by using the digital menus that our cable providers deliver to being able to chit chat about what the stars have on at the Oscars in chat forums and via twitter feeds on the traditional web.  Now, we have specially designed applications, synched by sound, that are designed to simultaneously augment the viewing experience by promoting social and engaging experiences!  The second and third screen is alive and well and the delivery system is our laptop, tablet and/or smartphone.

Who is taking advantage? (…and who SHOULD be.)

As our investigative research continues, we can’t help but think there is still a lot of room for improvement as companies endeavor to blend screen one with the others.  Some have given it a shot but still haven’t found that sweet spot of allowing a passive and active experience to live in harmony, and some have yet to consider this opportunity.  Take Jeopardy for example.  I can only imagine that the viewing experience on Jeopardy would be enhanced with the ability to play along with the audience and compare myself to the contestants as they play live!  Sure, I can download their HD iPad app, but it wouldn’t be easy to respond to both the questions on the app AND participate on TV.  I don’t know about you, but they’d lose me on one of these interfaces and there’s always a chance that they’d lose me for good.   Others, like Disney, have pushed this to the next level.  With the release of their TRON and Bambi second screen app your iPad or laptop interacts with you along the same timeline as your movie.  The design promotes the synchronized companion experience that they’re seeking and they hang on to the viewership and therefore the ability to advertise to you on both channels.

But it’s not over.  The race is on to create a solution that executes this perfectly.

What is KLI doing to enhance these experiences?

One of our clients said it best:  “I want to create a unified and seamless user experience for my audience, regardless of how tech-savvy (or not) they may be”.  And it was born.  Appropriately, we’ve called this experimental design “Unified User Experience Research”.  We dig in and learn what users love and what frustrates them about splitting their attention between these screens.  We listen to and observe them, and we take their feedback and ultimately arrive at qualitative and quantitative data points to inform design – and put bigger smiles on the faces of the users AND the clients.  In this process, we’re helping our clients understand how to blend the channels, how to hook their audience and encourage use of the second channel even when after the credit screen has rolled on the primary broadcast.

The results of this work have been enlightening.  We’ve seen dramatic increases in retention and engagement!  Above all, we’re thrilled to be part of the process as this concept is optimized and evolves to become standard.

Take a look at these other second screen experiences:

Prime Time Audience:
ABC: Greys Anatomy Synchronized Experience

FOX Broadcasting for Bones & Glee

Sports:
NBA GameTime Courtside by NBADigital

News:
MSNBC’s Lean Forward Campaign

For Kids (or the kid-at-heart):
Disney: TRON and Bambi Second Screen

& Vanessa, a two-year old little munchkin loved by all of us at KLI, has a favorite interactive experience that keeps Dora the Explorer on her mind.  What’s better than watching Dora WHILE playing along with the Explorer on the iPad?