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...