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Mobile Caller ID:
Lessons in Simplicity, Utility, and Convenience
Sponsored by
Cequint, Inc.
http://www.chetansharma.com/mobilecallerid.htm
This is a very
exciting and promising time for the mobile industry - next generation
networks are finally being launched, new handsets are being introduced,
and mobile data services are creating significant opportunities for
revenue growth.
In spite of the buzz and hype, the
mobile industry is still faced with the old problems of providing more
value to customers to reduce churn and increase subscriber loyalty and
ARPU (Average Revenue Per User). Mobile carriers are increasingly
called upon to offer personalized services that recognize the unique
needs of their users.
While it is tempting to focus on new and
glitzy mobile applications, the best ROI often comes from enhancements
of existing mass-market features. For instance, by providing “push”
capability, RIM revolutionized mobile email, by providing predictive
text Tegic’s T9 made tapping keypads less painful, and by making good
old voicemail visual and browsing simpler, Apple’s iPhone scored a home
run.
Service providers who implement a
user-centric vision will deliver sustainable competitive advantage –
both now and in the future. While operators should continue to focus on
long-term roadmaps and new applications and services, they shouldn’t
just wait for a new market to take shape for such applications (e.g.
Mobile TV) and ignore the opportunity that exists in enhancing the most
commonly used mobile device features such as address book, user
interface, text input, dialing and receiving calls.
Such enhancements require lower
marketing budgets and less user training since these service
improvements complement existing user behavior. Operators would do well
to be asking themselves not just “what will my subscribers want next?” –
but “what are my subscribers doing NOW and how can I improve their
current experience.”.
We need to remember that the principal
motivation to buy is not the technology, but the service that the
customer is willing to accept and pay for. As such, all in the value
chain need to focus on the single most important aspect of any service -
simplicity, utility, and convenience. Meaningful revenue doesn’t
come from revolutionary applications that only a few subscribers use,
but from ideas that touch the most consumers, and add value to the most
user transactions.
In this paper we present the results of
a user survey conducted by Chetan Sharma Consulting of a simple but
compelling mobile feature called City ID, developed by Cequint, and
discuss the lessons drawn from user opinions.
Table of Contents
| Introduction |
3 |
| City ID |
4 |
| Survey Methodology |
4 |
| Utility, Simplicity, and
Convenience - hallmarks of successful applications |
5 |
| Usage and decision criterion |
7 |
| User satisfaction |
9 |
| Conclusions |
10 |
Download the full
whitepaper here.
Your feedback
is always welcome.
Chetan Sharma
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