6 Mobile UX Research Challenges and How to Solve Them

As a relative newcomer in the marketing research world, mobile UX qualitative research can be tricky to perfect. The challenges researchers have are many, and the solutions to them are not easily found – until now.

Listed below are some of qualitative researchers’ most common complaints about conducting mobile UX research, along with good news about how Discuss.io’s new mobile screen sharing solution alleviates them.

Challenge 1. “Learning to use new research tools is a major pain.”

Discuss.io’s mobile screen-sharing application is designed to integrate with our purpose-built video market research platform, making it easy to add to your qualitative research program. The interface is simple and intuitive, and we provide research training and tech support services if necessary.

Challenge 2. “Managing the initial interview and later analyses is a ton of work, and it requires multiple tools and processes.”

Not anymore. Each stage of the mobile UX qualitative research process can be performed within the Discuss.io platform. Unique features like “bookmarking” key interview moments with our Save the Moment feature, automatically translating foreign languages, and transcribing interviews are all available through Discuss.io, streamlining your experience and making it easier to bring out key insights and share with the greater group of stakeholders.

Challenge 3. “It’s hard to manage all the tools needed for mobile research together efficiently.”

Mobile UX research is complex, and made more so when researchers are forced to stitch together multiple tools, some of which do not work well with others, to complete their research.  Capturing a person’s body language while also capturing what they are doing on their mobile screen is no easy task when you are using different tools to capture each type of action.

Discuss.io’s mobile screen sharing app conquers that challenge handily, according to Courtney Johnson of Netgear, who noted:

“The new mobile screen sharing app has allowed us to take a complicated process that involved stitching together 5-6 separate video and research products into a single, easy-to-use flow. It’s easy to set up for both the respondent and our team and allows us to have backroom observers,  chat rooms and video recording all while watching the user’s mobile screen plus face, body language, and voice.”

Unilever interviewing a shopper while watching her mobile screen – together.

Challenge 4. “Getting respondents into my facility is a big challenge – not to mention making them feel comfortable.”

With mobile screen-sharing research, there’s no need for physical facilities. Enabled to participate from their own homes, respondents are encouraged to share frank and useful observations in the comfort of a familiar environment.

This also improves access to consumers you may have difficulty reaching normally, such as rural consumers, those with limited time to participate like moms who can’t get to a research facility for in-person research, or users in hard-to-reach countries.

Challenge 5. “Organizing multiple interviews is difficult and time-consuming, and it takes so long to set up a mobile UX interview.”

Discuss.io helps researchers to become masters of organization. We do all the heavy lifting for you by keeping all the discussion guides, demographics of respondents, recordings, saved moments, translations, and all other related project assets in a single project within your client account.

We’ve taken the friction out of the interview scheduling process by combining panel recruiting, screening, and setup with a mobile app download for iOS and Android devices that adds user screens right into the meeting room.

Furthermore, Discuss.io has instituted a new Instant Project Estimator that provides quote estimates on the spot. The IPE questionnaire takes no longer than five minutes to complete and categorizes your desired research audience according to gender, language, location, behavior and more. This information is saved in the system; you won’t have to fill it out again, which saves time and energy on your part.

Challenge 6. “It’s hard to capture mobile users’ feelings and emotions, particularly if they are elated or frustrated.”

Being able to capture both the respondent’s screen and facial expressions is a real game-changer in this regard. It’s never been easier to share specific moments and insights.

Better, there’s no need to guess users’ emotions; just ask them. Discuss.io’s mobile screen-sharing technology facilitates conversation in real time so you can follow the pre-built discussion guide or go off script and probe further on specific comments or actions.

Hit a snag in your own qualitative research efforts? Let us handle the headache while you focus on results. Request a demo to see how it all works.