The fair revolution
– posted October 29th, 2008 by Belen Barros No comments
I’ve spent the last couple of weeks trying to figure out what matters to people when faced with the tough task of buying a new mobile phone.
In my quest for answers, I came across The Global Mobile Mindset Audit, a survey on worldwide mobile usage conducted by the CMO Council’s Forum to Advance the Mobile Experience (FAME) in 2007.
These are some of the things they found out.
When buying a mobile phone, people get really annoyed by the lack of demos. That’s probably why we keep on buying our mobiles in stores, instead of doing it online. We expect to find informed and professional sales reps there. And phones have become so complicated that we really need the help.
In fact, when using a mobile phone, the number one annoyance are all those features we never, ever use. The second most irritating thing is the short battery life, and we are also very concerned about losing our contacts.
When asked about their ideal mobile phone, people explained it would be smaller and trendier. It would also be really simple and easy to use, ring louder and have more memory.
My favourite finding was about how users in developing countries are embracing their handsets to overcome infrastructure limitations. In places with no phone lines and no computers, the mobile phone provides access to services and information:
The Sydney Morning Herald reported in January 2007 that more than four million people in the Philippines use their mobile phones as virtual wallets. And between 20 and 25 percent of respondents in developing regions reported using their mobile device for banking compared to only 7 percent in the U.S. and 10 percent in Europe.
The mobile phone is indeed a fair revolution: one for those who need it most.
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