THE ONTECA CHALLENGE - PART II

Researching Freemium and Premium business models and considering cultural probes for participatory research

This is just a very quick blog of some pointers I'm using to base my research on for the AMR group module.

I intend to share this with the rest of the research team and I am looking to design and print a number of A5 sized notebooks similar to that of an iPad 2 GUI, or iPhone depending on the preferred device of the target demographic.  The results of this will be incorporated into a prezi -style presentation towards the end of the module.

At the moment, this blog entry exists as a Q and A list for the team's reference:

Designing a cultural probe

Q How many users will be included in the cultural probe research excercise?  10

Q What are we trying to find out?  App usage habits and how people respond to Freemium games and apps

Q How long will the study last? We will expect users to participate for 7-10 days for the cultural probe research element

Q Do they think they are value for money?  If not, how much is it worth.

If it is free, is this considered value for money?

Q Do the adverts and prompts to in-app purchase stuff affect gameplay? Does this alter whether they think ‘free’ is actually value for money.

Q Would they rather pay for a premium app which unlocks everything?

Q What attracted them to the app in the first place?

Q What apps have they downloaded for free?

Q How will they record the information?  Notebook printed to look like an iPad

Q How long did they keep the app for?

Q How much was the app used?

Q Was the app deleted again after download if they became dis-satisfied?

Q If they became dis-satisfied, was it due to Boredom?  Difficulty? Poor Gameplay?  Poor graphics?  Sound?

Q When they chose to download the item, what attracted them to it? Was it the app badge icon? Was it the price?

Q What type of apps are downloaded? Games, utilities, fun stuff?

Q How often are they used?

Q Where are they used? On the train, At home, Whilst out socializing, visiting friends and family?

Q How did they find out about the app?

Q Are they more likely to download if it is recommended by their friends?

Q Within a social context, if others in the group already have the app (eg mates in a pub) Are they more inclined to pay to download, compared to if they are using the app on their own?

to be continued...

TV STUDIO 3

The Dark side of the Noon

Interview and demo shooting

Title Screen and Cue Card Graphic

 

Presenters Josie and Michael interviewing our guest psychic reader - Note the inclusion of purple lighting tones and set design for aesthetic purposes to match the font and general dark side feel to the show.

Shot from my perspective as the production team's TV studio floor manager and camera operator (CAM 2)

On set with Camera Operator Emma and presenter Josie

 

BRITAIN IN AN OPEN DAY

Britain In An Open Day

 

As a thank you for my involvement with the BBC's Britain In A Day project, I was invited to attend an open day comprising of workshops and seminars relating to both the project and working for the BBC.

Keen readers of this blog will hopefully have read my other blog entries relating to this project which date back to November 2011.  Feel free to use the search engine on the right for more info... 

BBC Quay House, Media City, Salford, Manchester...my future employer!

Historical day for more than one reason.  My visit co-incided with the initial aftermath of the George Entwistle resignation coverage.  Their own headline on News 24 shown on this monitor reads: BBC IN CRISIS

This was a most amazing experience and I am looking forward to returning here again in the near Future (Future Media and Digital...fingers crossed) Watch this space (whether that be in your living room, on your wall, on your notebook, your netbook, your tablet or your smartphone!)

DARK SIDE TITLE COMPOSITION ELEMENTS

Dark Side Photoshop elements

This piece utilised some further examples of my own photography.  The Liver building image was reproduced, cropped and masked to help create a looming atmospheric foreground element.  I wanted the title screen to express an iconic Liverpool landmark which would be immediately identifiable to the audience (read more)  

I felt it was appropriate to use the Liver building depicting an appropriate time on the clock's face (around noon).  If you look closely, the time is about 13:18.

The lunar eclipse was and idea I had in mind from the beginning.  I wanted to show this as a visual represntation of the dark side of the noon.  What I imagined a true alternative liverpool lunchtime may look like.

The purple tone of the font would be incorporated into the material used in our set design. (read more)

THE ONTECA CHALLENGE

The Onteca Challenge (not to be confused with Mosteca Corral)

So, after much deliberation I decided to move away from concentrating initially on the Digital Fiction Factory question as it was proving to be the most popular of the three and I decided to choose question two as my preference for the researching and presentation assignment for the Applied Media Research module.

When Onteca provided their powerpoint presentation, I felt I could relate to everything straight away and I really felt engaged.  It all made complete sense and I found it very interesting.  Being born in the late 1970s, I myself have visited many an arcade, owned many a computer, played many a console and like most other people nowadays, have naturally progressed onto many a mobile device.

Fittingly, my iphone cover, (which at the time of the Onteca visit was laid out on the desk in front of me) is in the style of an 80's NES gamepad. 

 

I felt my age again because I think I was the only person in the room conscious of it and perhaps much of the room had no experience of the original 'NES'.

Onteca compared the relatively new concept of app-purchasing/digital downloading (call it what you want) to 1970s arcades or coin-ops.  An odd comparison, you may ask? Well not really.  

The two are comparatively similar in so far as the user pays a small amount of money for a limited amount of gameplay, but there is an addictive element which just keeps bringing you back for more.  I understood this straight away.  The penny had dropped...(insert 10p to continue)

So, due to advances in technology and cultural trends, it seems we are in the midst of a massive digital revolution.  We knew this anyway, right?  P2P filesharing damaged the music industry, e-books are damaging the publishing industry and what next?  Free apps are destroying the gaming industry?  Maybe.

However, it is evident that although the way people are consuming media (small value purchases but on a mass scale) has changed dramatically since the mass production and distribution of 'physical' consumerism, people still want stuff.  This time around, they don't want to pay for it.  Or at least they don't want to feel as though they are paying for it.  I think this is an important factor to consider when analysing the future of app monetization.  How do you provide value for money when your product costs 59p?

So, lots of money is being generated by people downloading free apps and games onto their mobile devices.  But how?  Look at the freemium business model.  And look at it I have.

I am including within this blog entry, a list of links to sites, blogs, articles and even consumers' (in some cases) trolling comments which provide the pros and cons, or the utopian and dystopian arguments surrounding using the freemium business model as a successful means of monetization.

I am compiling this list for a few reasons. (i) for the benefit of anyone reading my blog, some of whom may be interested in further reading, but also (ii) for my own reference.  This way I can keep all my research in one place.  I will be adding to and editing this list over the following few months and no doubt be filling lots of blog space with other ways in which I intend to further research, analyse and present my findings.

 But for now, this should keep us all going...

http://www.ibtimes.com/something-nothing-how-videogame-industry-adapting-freemium-world-789466

http://www.appannie.com/users/

http://www.appannie.com/blog/freemium-apps-ios-google-play-japan-china-leaders/

http://www.appannie.com/blog/commercial-opportunities-on-apples-newsstand/

http://www.digitaltrends.com/features/how-the-freemium-app-model-will-pave-the-way-to-profits/

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Revenue-from-freemium-apps-shoots-up-paid-ones-stagnate-on-both-Android-and-iOS_id35982

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443713704577603782317318996.html

http://www.businessinsider.com/bii-report-how-in-app-commerce-drives-app-store-success-2012-8

http://www.placeplay.com/making-money-freemium-apps/

http://www.iosdeveloperguide.com/freemium-apps-can-independent-developers-survive/

http://www.techinasia.com/freemium-revenues-app-annie/

http://iphone.appstorm.net/general/opinion-general/in-app-purchases-and-the-freemium-business-model/

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flashplayer/articles/right-business-model.html#articlecontentAdobe_numberedheader_1

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cb8eca12-ef55-11e1-9580-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2BZlKG0bc

 

BRAND NEW LUNCHTIME PILOT FOR CHANNEL 4

Do not underestimate the power of the Dark Side

I thought it was high time I added some more of my own original content to my blog.

I created the image below using Adobe CS5.  It's a title screen/logo graphic for a pilot TV show I am involved in producing - which is to be pitched to Channel 4 in the new year.

Working as part of a very small production team, with an even smaller budget, I was provided with a brief set by commissioning editor Ed Pugh.  The task was to create a quirky new lunchtime magazine show to fill a slot for Channel 4, in order to compete with rival shows similar to the likes of Loose Women on ITV.

So, after not very long at all, I created an idea for a show...The Dark Side of The Noon.

The show is recorded live in a Liverpool studio, so to me it was important to use a bold, iconic image of Liverpool in the opening title sequence and title screen.  Think Richard and Judy and Albert Dock?  Well, now think Mike and Josie and Brownlow Hill.

I used my own original photography for the foreground image (it can be found on A Raring Move's facebook page), which I shot in 2011 and I also drew upon inspiration from the old 'Thames' television logo, which incidentally holds fond memories of me watching Rainbow as a kid after walking home from playschool with my mum.

I think there is an important lesson to be learned somewhere here from the power of broadcast media and just how much of this stuff (especially childhood memories) impacts on the choices you make throughout your life.

Pink Hippopotami aside, I have been a mass media consumer for most of my life.  But I suppose most of my generation have.

 

Well London, anything you can do, we can do better.  I (re)present...(Drum roll please)...The Dark Side of the Noon.

 

VIDEO THAT MAKES ME SMILE THIS WEEK

Disney's Wreck-it Ralph