A recent report from Akamai indicates that users have little patience when it comes to making purchases on a mobile device. Here are just a few of the stats:
• While almost half of all consumers browse via their phones, only 1 in 5 completes transactions on mobile
• Optimal load times for peak conversions ranged from 1.8 to 2.7 seconds across device types
• Just a 100-millisecond delay in load time hurt conversion rates by up to 7%
• Bounce rates were highest among mobile shoppers and lowest among those using tablets.
Gord Hotchkiss, writing in MediaInsider (082917) suggested that there may be more behind this than just slow load times. He noted that we also have to consider what modes we’re in when we’re interacting with our mobile device.
In 2010, Microsoft did a fascinating research project that looked at how user behaviors varied from desktop to tablet to smart phone. The research was headed by Jacquelyn Krones, who was a search product manager at the time. Search was the primary activity examined, but there was a larger behavioral context that was explored. While the study is seven years old, I think the core findings are still relevant.
The researchers found that we tend to have three large buckets of behaviors:
• Missions,
• Explorations and
• Excavations.
Missions were focused tasks that were usually looking for a specific piece of information – i.e., looking for an address or phone number. Explorations where more open ended and less focused on a given destination – i.e., seeing if there was any thing you wanted to do this Friday night. Excavations typically involved multiple tasks within an overarching master task […]