MRMW in Kuala Lumpur

I, as a guest blogger attended the MRMW in Kuala Lumpur Jan. 29-30 which was the first time held in Asia. The sessions were quite helpful and comprehensive to understand what’s happening in the mobile research industry.

Definition of mobile research:
What do you think of mobile? One would say it is a device such as smart phone, the other may say portability. According to Kantar Mobile, mobile research is divided into three ways in terms of user experience. 1) SMS (text message), 2) WPA (mobile web) and APP (application based). Each way contains different advantages. GPS and camera are available on APP and SMS is easier to send push notification for real time request to users. Definition is sometimes important for a team to plan new projects. How would you define mobile research?

Substitution? :

Internet research through PC has been still emerging in some counties. We sometimes see longer surveys such as LOI (Length of Survey) of 40 minutes on PC. But, would you want to respond to a survey of 40 minutes long, that includes complicated matrix with more than 10 options with long descriptions through mobile? My answer would be NO. Mobile research is not a substitution ofPC. “Small is beautiful” by one of the speakers is understandable. We need to adjust if it is too big to handle for users through mobile phone.

Experience, this word is one of the most frequent words I heard in the conference that is becoming a buzz word in the Internet industry like UX (User Experience) after UI (User Interface). It’s probably the most important factor to successfully design mobile research and provide well developed UX optimized to each mobile device. It is obvious that LOI of 40 minutes is not good experience for mobile users. You may embed buttons that are easier for users to touch instead of radio buttons we usually adopt for PC research.

Device:

In some Asian countries, the number of users using mobile is higher than that of PC to connect to the Internet. The fact is that we need to approach users connecting the Internet with different types of device such as tablets, PCs and smartphones. How can we avoid the bias coming from each device? This is a big problem. PC is not the only way to access a right target. We need to compile up data for each country and each segment to get useful and non biased results.

Network accessibility:

We need to take into account the network accessibility. Is free Wifi available everywhere in the country? No limitation for data communication amount? Communication environment totally depends on each country and it needs to be considered because this is directly related on how to develop a product. For example in some countries, applying off-line mode would be required for its app working on iPhone. Do you totally understand the mobile circumstance which is a prerequisite which we can’t miss in each country?

Next Wave:

Mobile has a wide range of meanings. What do you imagine the next wave after tablets or smartphones would be like? The IT giants are trying to invent new mobile devices that works on eye glasses. This is a great example. New technology and new devices completely replace our existing ways. “It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change."



The presentation decks can be viewed or downloaded using this link: https://www.box.com/s/mm5tdlnon5102lvsc9fa


Photos of MRMW Asia can be viewed or downloaded here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38419325@N02/sets/72157632753567554/

The next MRMW conference will be held in Minneapolis, USA at July16-18, 2013

Top 4 Market Research Conferences of 2012

RPA Attended Many Great MR Events Last Year

Written by: Diane Wagner

Every year, there are lots of conferences for MR folks to choose from.  Recently, I saw the “Worldwide Market Research Conference Calendar” put out by Inside Research for 2013 which listed approximately 60 events from the likes of ESOMAR, MRA, IIR, Merlien, ARF, AMA, CASRO – and many more.  2012’s schedule was comparable. 

At our 2012 TMRE Booth with Rie Nagai

And we were there for many of those held in the US last year.  In case you missed these posts, we thought we’d share links from our 4 favorite conferences: 

Conference Report: MRA Annual (San Diego)

MRMW Makes Impact with Tech Focus – and Cake

Highlights from the 37^th Annual CASRO Conference

Highlights from the 2012 TMRE Conference

We’re looking forward to another sure-to-be memorable year in MR and hope to see YOU at an industry event sometime soon! 

Tweet

HBR Blog Highlights Power of Focusing on One Thing

Understanding How Technology Can Help ... or Hurt

Written by: Diane Wagner

I recently read “The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time” by Tony Schwartz on the HBR blog and noticed that it was their most read post of the year in 2012.  No wonder.  Isn’t it the norm that so many of us are tired from doing more than one thing at a time – and feeling that we’re not really mastering anything? 

Photo: Chris' Ultra Blog

So what’s to blame?  Technology – and its role in removing stopping points and boundaries.  Tony points out that the biggest cost of multitasking is loss of productivity.  That, in fact, when we take focus from our primary task to work on something else, we increase the time it takes to complete that task by 25%.  TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT? That adds up.

He’s not alone.  Jeff Weiner, CEO at Linkedin, recently highlighted the similarities between Jerry Seinfeld and master sushi chef Jiro Ono (of “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” fame) in regard to how they approach their respective crafts. One key element they share? Focusing by “working clean” …

Jiro prepares each dish and then cleans his workspace the instant it's completed. In the film, a classical score accompanies his motions -- it's hard to draw a clear distinction between where the food preparation ends and the cleaning begins.

Similarly, Seinfeld has his own specific approach to writing a joke: "Seinfeld...grabs a legal pad and a Bic pen and sits at his desk. No street noise penetrates. The pages of the pad are destined for either a wastebasket or a master file containing Seinfeld’s entire act, handwritten." – “Jerry Seinfeld Intends to Die Standing Up”

So how can the rest of us get more focus and “work clean”?  Tony gives several tips.

• Shorten meetings (to 45 minutes or 20 minutes – versus 1 hour or 30 minutes, respectively).  Encourage people to turn off electronic devices.  And, we’d add: have attendees stand up during meetings (we’ve been doing this at our parent company, Voyage Group, in Tokyo for almost ten years now and it definitely helps everyone to stay focused and have shorter meetings).
• Let employees take time off … from email.
• Do the most important thing in the morning, uninterrupted, for 60-90 minutes.  No email.  In private if possible.
• Schedule time regularly for strategic thinking (“if you don’t, you’ll constantly succumb to the tyranny of the urgent”).
• And, finally, take real and regular vacations ("real" vacations, by the way, mean that when you're off, you're truly disconnected from work).

This got us thinking: How good are we at these things? Are we letting technology manage us (rather than our managing it)? And, most importantly, how can we do better?

Photo: Mexico! (Courtesy: evillasvallarta.com)

One of my colleagues, John, mentioned a time a few years ago when he took a hard-earned vacation to Mexico.  While sitting at the hotel viewing the ocean, he made time to complete an “important” task for a client – including chatting with him while at the resort.  While he thought he was being effective (at being responsive to the client while still enjoying the scenery), he realized that, deep down, he felt resentful, cheated out of his vacation time.  Of course, he knows that he was the person managing that situation.  Had he to do it over, he says, any client tasks would be handled before – or after – a vacation so that he could truly renew and take a "real" vacation, as Tony suggests.

Meantime, I’m continually frustrated by cell phones and their ever-present etiquette challenges.  One such example: people who answer their cell phone when it’s not convenient – for them.  For example, has this happened to you?

• You call someone: “Hi Joe.  How are you?  Is this an OK time to talk?”
• JOE (in a hushed tone): “Uh, Hi.  No.  I’m in the middle of a meeting.”
• YOU: “Oh. OK. I’ll try to later.”

Awkward.  So, why then did Joe even answer his phone?  While technology could help (“Do Not Disturb” anyone?), instead, it's getting in the way of Joe's productivity (and, worse, causing him to become grumpy at you for calling!).

Or how about conferences?  Ever notice how many people in the audience are noses-down into their phone or other mobile devices?  I wonder how it makes the speakers feel?  Are they frustrated - or just relieved that people may be focusing on other stuff?  Sure, some of those attendees (like me) are perhaps live-Tweeting.  Still, full confession, if the speaker is less than riveting, I’m likely to sneak in a Facebook or email check as well … so, the question becomes: How much of that presentation are we really getting? And, if we are doing email or other tasks, how efficiently – and effectively – are we doing those?

Personally, I think we’re really at the beginning stages of truly understanding how technology is helping and hurting us.  Many thanks to Mr. Schwartz for so eloquently highlighting the importance of these issues. 

Tweet

South Korea Year-End Celebrations

Ringing In 2013 South Korea Style

Written by: Geunjin Kim (from RPA's Seoul, South Korea Office)

How do you spend the last month of 2012? While December is always very busy with appointments, meeting friends and having parties (as we shared in our last RPA blog post about Bonenkai in Japan), in South Korea, we have our own diverse year-end party celebrations.

Enjoying concerts, theatre and musical events is very popular – especially among the women in their 20s here, with many restaurants satisfying both EYE and MOUTH with performances and wonderful meals. Great with me – killing two birds with one stone!

Apart from crowded downtown Seoul, more and more people are leaving the big city to venture countryside. Renting guest houses or cottages (also known as “pensions”) is popular among people who prefer staying with family or friends very quietly, often without alcohol!

And finally, as in many parts of the world now, Apps are often helpful to check what kinds of foods are served – and at what price – before booking a restaurant reservation during this busy celebration period. Below are typical meals for year-end party celebrations in South Korea. If you get the chance to try any, I’m sure you’d love them!

*Kimchi Sam-kyup-sal (Pork Belly with Kimchi) 

Sam-kyup-sal (pork belly) has been rated as the most delicious Korean food among foreigners … followed closely by Kimchi. So, with this dish, the best foods meet each other! Can you imagine how it tastes?

Pork Belly (with Kimchi to support it!)

Korean Pancake and Makgeolli

Makgeolli, known as “Korean rice wine”, is a milky-colored alcoholic beverage with a touch of sweetness. Rainy days this time of year make Korean people recall Makgeolli with Korean pancakes. Easy to prepare, you can cook Korean pancakes yourself (personally, I recommend adding ingredients like seafood, oysters or Kimchi). This dish is really healthy and a good late-night meal option.

Korean Pancake

Jokbal

Jokbal, tender and chewy, is a dish made of pigs’ feet. It tastes very good with soy or spicy sauce – as well as chilled vegetables. Jokbal is a perfect food to share as it tastes different, depending on which part people try. For added convenience, Jokbal is also available by delivery.  

Jokbal

So, while you may not be able to get to the South Korean countryside or take in some theatre in Seoul, you may want to consider some Korean food as options for celebrating your own year-end!

Tweet