Why I think surveys are better on mobile phones than on PC – a contemplation in three parts: Part I
posted by: Ole Andresen on 7/6/2011
A confession: it was only last year I got my first touch-phone, an iPhone 4. Yes, I know. I was a dinosaur. And within a few days after getting that, my online habits changed.
Now I almost exclusively use the PC for work related activities, and have switched to iPhone or iPad (which I got a bit later) for social media, news, blogs and RSS feeds. I use email on all three devices. On my previous phone (a smartphone but not a touch device) I didn’t do much more online than checking email.
The reason most of my reading and social media activity has moved to my mobile devices is partly that I’ve become addicted to these activities when I’m not in front of my PC, for example when commuting to the office, but primarily because I find the user experience of these devices far better.
Another thing that has changed since I got my iPhone is that I’m doing more surveys than I used to. And now I do them from my phone. At this point I should clarify that I’m probably in general a more willing respondent than average. However, before I got my iPhone I rarely found time to respond to surveys on my PC.
And what I have found from answering surveys from my iPhone is that a touch device offers a near-perfect interface for them.
That’s why I have begun to question the general consensus that surveys on mobiles have to be shorter than on PCs. Is that really right? I am not so sure.
I’ll take some time out before I ponder how to answer this question…check back here later this week as I continue my musings!
Click here to read Part II...