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Qualitative user research, imperative to develop digital solutions for Asia

By Sushmita Munshi, 10th February 2011

User research is a qualitative non opinion based study to understand the ecosystem in which people use a product or solution. The last few years have seen a significant increase in the number of global and regional companies opting for User Research as a starting point for solution development in Asia. Asian users display a gamut of contradictory behavior, youthful, fickle and price sensitive. They reside on the no man’s land between traditional habits and pressures of globalization. This makes them an exciting muse to work with.

We are often asked why conducting user research is so important in Asia. The answer lies is three points.

1. Changing concepts of diversity make it impossible to solely depend on traditional heuristics for decision making. Diversity is traditionally defined on parameters of age, geography and culture. Recently diversity of behavior has become the key driver of segmentation.
2. Asians love all things tech. However the way they use technology is varied.
3. The economic boom and coming of age generation has opened up untapped terrain making Asia a must destination for any digital solution. Asia is probably one of the few regions in the world where first time users or new to technology consumers comprise of a significant chunk of the target audience. This is primarily due to a young population that is attaining adolescence in large numbers coupled with users from lower income bracket who are gaining access to technology due to dipping costs of devices and services.

Diversity redefined:

Asia as a region has been home to a diverse set of languages and cultures across countries. In the past research in Asia was primarily driven by the fact that various countries were at different levels of maturity. In more recent years a number of Asian societies have become very diverse, individuals display different attitudes towards adoption, behavior and consumption of digital solutions depending on the age, income level, language proficiency and available connectivity. Thus it is not adequate to design a solution by only applying traditional heuristic, this makes primary research imperative. Recently some companies are reviewing ways of localizing their global solutions. Some are moving away from a country specific localization strategy; instead they are opting to use an individual user’s behavior pattern as a primary driver to provide customized solution. Thus a specific country might have multiple versions of the same solution co exist to service the various target demographics.

Love for all things tech.

Asia’s love for all things tech is rooted in Asia’s ‘collective’ cultural more. Adhering to a group was critical in gaining social acceptance. The youth today are keen to display their individuality yet at the same time gain acceptance to a virtual group by owning or using a specific technology product. Digital solutions have also been one of the strongest catalysts of egalitarianism in a region traditionally known for its strong social hierarchies. It has been instrumental in breaking down impediments of geography, social and information access. Yet, it has provided people the choice to adopt technology in ways and means that suit and fit their wider cultural context. Mobile money transfers have been the mode of sustenance for numerous families in the Philippines. In India the internet dating engines have been modified to be used for arranged marriages. In gender segregated societies texting has become the medium of choice to court as it lacks any visual or physical contact. Japanese users are known to be tech savvy, however they prefer face to face communication over using sms or email in certain contexts, the reason being that language can be very connotative (words can mean different things depending of usage and intonation), and the Japanese are careful to ensure their words communicate the correct message. As a digital solutions provider one needs to apply appropriate user research techniques to carefully understand the target user group to wean possible opportunity spaces which are not evident on casual observation or through broad stroked market trend reports.

Economic boom:

The potency of the Asian economy has garnered significant interest in the last few years. The economic boom and coming of age generation has opened up untapped terrain of target users. Asia is one of the most thickly populated regions in the world and is the home to the largest coming of age population. The youth bulge (as described by sociologists is a sudden increase in the proportion of young people in a population) is currently at about 18% of total population, it is predicted to come down to 14% of the population only by 2040***. This generation is the engine that is driving consumerism. 16.9% of China comprises of young people between the ages of 16 and 30*. One fifth of the population in South Asia is between the ages of 15 and 24. India alone has 459 million young people representing 30% of the population**. Rising incomes, growing urbanization and a booming economy fuels billions of dollars in spending power. All these numbers build up a strong business case to conduct user research in Asia.

As the Asian market grows, the users also show symptoms of becoming increasingly selective. Going forward solutions that will find success is Asia are the ones that address how users use solutions, are adaptive and provide real value. Post development opinion based studies like surveys will not be adequate to address these drivers. Companies will need to invest in user research during solution ideation to maximize their ROI. To put it succinctly, borrowing from anthropology, companies need to ‘Go Native’ with their research techniques.

To hear practitioners from the region share their experiences attend UX Hong Kong 2011.