Mobile Phones in China: A Main Gateway to the Internet

In a recent post I wrote about the immense variety of mobile phones available in China and shared some examples of the selection that can be found in stores in Zhaotong, Yunnan.

Here are some mobiles phones actually being used by one college couple in Zhaotong:

Nokia and Sunlight Mobile Phones

One had a Nokia and the other had a Sunlight, one of the many Chinese brands of mobile phones.

What most caught my attention about this couple wasn't their choice of mobile phones but how they used them.  Despite neither of them having advanced phones by today's standards, they primarily accessed the Internet through their phones.

College Dormitory Room

Going to an internet cafe was seen as an unnecessary expense and inconvenience.  Purchasing a computer was definitely out of the question, neither of their families could afford one.  Even if there had been money available they would have faced the problems that there was no wired Internet access in their college dormitory rooms and that electricity wasn't available at all times.

Instead, both students took advantage of what they considered to be a cheap plan that enabled them to regularly access the Internet from their phones.

If you want to guess the one piece of technology owned by any college student in China, a mobile phone is a safe choice.  It was clear the couple used their phones to access the Internet not mainly because they were mobile phones but instead because the phones were a relatively cheap piece of technology which fulfilled a variety of other needs as well (such as phone calls and text messaging).

Especially in China, "mobile" isn't always about mobility.

It was also fascinating to see how they used their mobile phones for a variety of purposes, whether it was browsing news sites or interacting on social networking sites.  They were not inhibited to complete what could be considered complex tasks due to using relatively basic mobile devices.

These two students certainly aren't alone in China in how they use their phones.  I've observed that for many Chinese a mobile phone is their primary gateway to the Internet.  Surveys conducted by The Nielsen Company during the past year have found similar results:

"For many people in China, the mobile Web is the only one they need. When they think of the World Wide Web, they don’t think of tethering themselves to a desktop PC and the accessories of mice, keyboards, mouse pads, printers and monitors.  Not only don’t many homes in China have (or need) landlines for voice communications, they also don’t require hardwired Internet access for their fix of the Web.  And with mobile phones, everything they needs is in the palm of their hands.

In a short amount of time, mobile consumers in China have surpassed their American counterparts when it comes to using the devices to access the Internet (38% of Chinese mobile subscribers compared to 27% of American mobile subscribers), despite less advanced networks."

Furthermore, Nielsen'a research shows that mobile internet use in China is particularly pronounced in youth:

"Youth in China and the US lead the way among young mobile subscribers who use advanced data. Eighty-four percent of Chinese youth use their phones beyond voice and text compared to 47 percent of Chinese adults. Eighty-three percent of US youth use advanced data, 32 percent higher than US adults.

At 70 percent, young Chinese advanced data users have a significantly higher mobile internet usage rate than the rest of the world."

The ramifications of all the above for companies with online services is readily apparent.  If they desire to reach a broad range of Chinese youth it could be critical for the design of the services to take into account that for many youth a mobile phone will be the typical device used to access the Internet, even when mobility is not a primary concern and the phone is relatively limited.

From a research perspective, this is why at times I don't want to be always using the latest and greatest mobile phone, even though I work in the technology industry.  It helps me better appreciate the experiences of many of the consumers I'm trying to understand and reach.

The Usability of Futility

I want one of these on my desk:

H/T Electronics Lab Blog

Google's Sergey Brin is on Facebook: Of course

An article by Ryan Tate asks, "why is Google co-founder Sergey Brin so secretive about having a Facebook account?"  After all, aren't Facebook and Google currently fierce competitors?  (HT to Bill Bishop's tweet, article originally posted on Gawker here)

My initial reaction: Of course Sergey Brin has a Facebook account.  Of course he wants to do it "secretly".

Several years ago, there was a point when I realized I would likely be joining Microsoft China. It was also time for me to buy a new laptop. What did I buy? A MacBook Pro.

I felt that especially in my role as a user experience researcher at Microsoft it would be important to be deeply familiar not just with Microsoft products but their competitors as well.  Having a Mac at home would give me critical insights that wouldn't be readily apparent without extended use of a product. Also, I was also able to still have Microsoft Windows on it (dual-boot) and Microsoft develops products for a variety of Apple products.

As a user experience researcher I am very aware that my own experience with a particular product may not match the experiences of the target customers for a product.  However, having familiarity with a competing product can help one raise the right questions to ask to gain a better understanding of the users you're targeting and what you need to do to compete. 

I would think it would be beneficial for Sergey Brin to have at least a basic understanding of Facebook  -- whether he likes it or not -- from personal standpoint.  Especially for something like social networking, it is hard to grasp many of the ins and outs without some personal use.  And given his prominence and his role at Google, it seems understandable that he would want to keep a low profile there -- both for his personal privacy and not appearing to endorse Facebook publicly due to competition reasons as cited in Ryan Tate's article.

In fact, because of his personal account Sergey Brin may now be particularly appreciating a key aspect of the Facebook user experience:  "privacy" can tricky to say the least.  Despite the fact that he apparently hid his friends list from public view, "people in his greater social circle are able to see friends in common" and they were able to report what they saw.

To sum up...

Why do I think Sergey Brin has a Facebook account: to better appreciate the user experience and how it works so he can better help Google compete and innovate.

Why do I think Sergey Brin is being "so secretive about having a Facebook account": he doesn't want attention there nor to raise the profile of a competitor.

Finally, the article doesn't say if there are indications he uses it regularly so I am not sure it is fair when Ryan Tate writes that Sergey Brin (emphasis added):

"might not want prospective users to know how deeply enmeshed he is in a rival social network."

In fact, I think I have some exclusive evidence that he hasn't even logged on recently.

Sergey Brin still hasn't accepted my friend request.

Mobile Phones in China: Local Rates, Fashion, and Fakes

I've done a significant amount of research into mobile phone use in China -- to improve existing mobile products & services, to innovate new ones, and to find ways to better market them to potential users.  In this post, I'll introduce at a general level some of the key themes in what I've discovered during my independent explorations across China by highlighting several illustrative examples.  What I'll share in this post is just the tip of the iceberg for a host of interesting topics to delve into, is focused on Chinese youth, and is not intended to be all encompassing.  I'll share more themes, examples, and thoughts on this topic in later posts as well.

To begin, what I learned about a female student in Jilin, Jilin Province (see here for some scenes from Jilin) highlighted at least two key aspects of how mobiles phones are used and chosen by some in China.

If you look closely at the photo of the student above, you'll notice she has two mobile phones -- one in her hand that she is using at the moment and another hanging from her neck.

Why two mobile phones?  One reason is that she grew up in Hunan Province, far away from where she was going to school in Jilin.  She considered the roaming fees for using her Hunan phone number in Jilin to be too high but but she still wanted to keep her Hunan number since she didn't want to lose contact with people and would be returning there regularly.  Therefore, she needed two different phones numbers, meaning two different SIM cards, so she could get local rates whether she was at home or at school.  One of her phones had a Hunan phone number, the other a Jilin phone number.  Using multiple SIM cards to get local rates is common in China and it is not unusual to find locally designed phones with the capability to hold multiple SIM cards (note: getting local rates is not the only reason some in China desire multiple SIM cards).  However, in this case the girl's older mobile phone didn't have that capability and neither did her newer phone.

Did the savings of not having to pay roaming fees more than offset the cost of an additional phone?  Well, that calculation may not have been entirely critical since there was also another important reason she had two phones.

Her older phone's paint and camera were chipped prior to her departing Hunan for college:

It was still functional in most ways, but to her it was unacceptable in large part due to a key concern.

As seen on her "Fashion Chic" shoes, fashion was very important to her.  Her scratched up phone was simply unacceptable from this standpoint.  So, while she was still in Hunan she bought a shiny new phone made by the Chinese company Oppo:

In China, it is common for many youth (and others as well) to get prepaid SIM cards and purchasing them is a simple process -- no sign up or name registration required for regular usage.  So, when she arrived in Jilin she bought a new SIM card with a local number and put it in her old phone since the new phone already had the SIM card for her Hunan number in it.  Despite the fact that she uses the old phone far more often while at school, it is the new Oppo phone that she hangs from neck.  Hanging the phone from her neck is about fashion, not functionality.

While fashion can play an important role in many countries around the world, its impact in China is particularly striking in the mobile phone domain.  Many are willing to spend a large proportion of their income to purchase a mobile phone, sometimes saving up at least several months of their full salary, out of concerns related to fashion and image.  For many people in China, their mobile phone will be the most expensive and openly visible item that can be with them many places they go -- like a car for many people in the US.  While hanging a mobile phone around ones neck isn't as common in China as it used to be, there remain many opportunities for it to be visible.

Fashion and image aren't only important for many female youth in China but many males as well.  For example, this student at a university in Wenzhou, Zhejiang was also concerned about fashion and image:

And he was willing to spend a lot of money for his BlackBerry phone:

This isn't to say that fashion and image are the only factors that go into choosing a mobile phone for such people, just that they can be primary factors in the choice.

However, there are many more youth in China that can't afford genuine fashionable foreign brand phones, even if they want one.  While some of them choose a local brand, others choose another common option in China: fakes.

For example, at this store in Chongzuo, Guangxi which sold mobile phones that were (supposedly) genuine:

Mobile phone store in Chongzuo, Guangxi

Many of its employees had obvious fakes such as this one:

"Snoy Eriosscn" mobile phone

Some fakes aren't as obvious as the one above -- there are a range of "qualities".  Regardless, the usual motivation to buy a fake is the lower price.  But why not buy an equally priced Chinese brand phone?  For an example capturing one of the key reasons, here is a girl in Shuolong, Guangxi, a small village a few hours away from Chongzuo:

She too made a variety of fashion choices:

But fashion wasn't a concern in her previous choice of a mobile phone:

Nor was it for the new phone she soon planned to purchase.  Her dream phone was a Nokia.  Not because of any concerns regarding fashion but because she believed it would be very reliable and rugged.  However, a real Nokia phone was not a possibility given their relatively high price so she wanted to get a fake Nokia phone since it would be cheaper.

Unlike many other examples I've seen of purchasing fake products, her choice of a fake Nokia versus other relatively inexpensive options did not appear to be driven by how others around her would perceive the product.  It was about her own internal expectations for what the product could provide to her based on its name - even though it would be a fake.  This distinction is critical in gaining a deeper understanding about how brands and fake products are perceived by some in China.  I'll share more in later posts about this and other issues regarding fake products.

These are just some of the highlights of what I've found.  I'd be curious to hear any of your thoughts on the above examples -- they certainly provide more to discuss than I am able to cover in this single post.  Again, more on these and related topics later.

Opportunistic Research for Designing Technology in China: Teddy Bears and KFC

In my previous post, I shared what I learned from a discussion with a policemen while I was detained in China.  Though the events of that day gave me much to worry about at the time, it proved to be a fascinating opportunity to gain further insights about China.

I'd like to use that unusual example of opportunistic research to jump into sharing more about how I do research in China using wide range of methods to guide the design of technology that is useful, usable, and desirable.

For today, I'll describe another instance of opportunistic research that occurred while I was headed to a restaurant in a central shopping district in Kunming, Yunnan.  On the way I saw this Chinese girl:

Was she gazing longingly at KFC -- a very popular restaurant in China?  No.  In fact, she was looking at something else:

Above the KFC was a large video screen.  The above photo captures a moment when a Papa John's advertisement was being displayed.

The intersection of "East meets West" and advertising piqued my interest (as did the teddy bear she was carrying).  Food could wait and I approached the girl to hopefully speak with her:

Fortunately, the girl was open to speaking about a variety of issues.  Some of the details I learned were that she was:

• waiting for her sister to go to dinner
• not interested in KFC because she felt it was "unhealthy"
• holding a big bear because her friend had given it to her that day for her recent birthday
• using a piece of technology she really liked that had been given to her by her mother:

Girl's iPod shuffle

Most importantly, in a relatively short amount of time I gained insights into the girl's:

• perception of brands and fake products
• technology usage
• aspirations
• social relationships
• and more

Relevant knowledge in all of these areas can be key to the successful design and marketing of a variety of technologies.

Also, while what I learned could be a valuable research contribution for a new technological product or service, I didn't approach the girl because I saw her using technology nor were many of the questions specifically about technology.  Sometimes, ignoring technology can provide the biggest insights for designing and marketing technology.  I'll expand on this thought in later posts.

I will also later share other research experiences, the particular challenges I have faced conducting research in China, what some of the findings suggest for design, and more.

And no, I wasn't headed to KFC for lunch.

Google's Problems in China: Perceptions of a Chinese Internet User in Guiyang

In the latest chapter of Google's challenges in China, Google has accused the Chinese Government of interfering with its Gmail service (see here).  That an American company would face "special" problems in China is not surprising.  Recent reports indicate that a growing number of American companies are listing "bureaucracy" as their main concern and complaining that they are discriminated against (see here).  

I certainly have my own thoughts on these topics, but first I'd like to share the thoughts of someone else -- a 26 year old female in Guiyang, Guizhou.  She recently completed a Masters degree and is working full time in the real estate domain.  I will refer to her as Rui Rui, not her real name.  I've selected her for a variety of reasons:  her comments were made recently, she lives in one of the numerous regions important to fully understanding China yet often ignored in research, she was completely comfortable with me sharing her thoughts in this manner, and what she said reflected much of the spirit I've heard from many other Chinese on a variety of subjects.

I asked Rui Rui if she was aware of any events this or last year involving Google in China.  She first commented that she was extremely concerned last year that Google would pull out of China.  Because she was concerned about censorship on the Internet?  No.  Because she wanted to see Google stand up to China?  No again.  The main reason for her concern was that she was writing a thesis for her Masters and needed to seek information sources outside of China.  Without Google she felt that her research efforts would be seriously hampered.

Rui Rui said she uses both Google and Baidu, Google's main competitor in China.  However, she does not use them similarly.  She uses Baidu to search for material within China and Google for material outside of China because she feels Baidu is very poor for searching non-China based information.  In the research I've done across China, I have found this pattern of usage is common for people who desire to access web sites based inside China and web sites based outside China.  For example, here is a photo of the computer screen of a college student in Harbin, Heilongjiang, Dalian, Liaoning, a very different part of China, who also uses Google and Baidu in a similar fashion:

The tool depicted above allows quick access to user-selected web sites.  Baidu is in the upper left rectangle and Google is next to it.

Rui Rui also said that she didn't care that Google "moved its search" to Hong Kong because it didn't impact her search needs and she noticed no obvious differences (technically speaking, Google directed its search services in China to its servers in Hong Kong).

Her thoughts about why Google was having its various problems with the Chinese Government were particularly intriguing.  Was it because Google refused to censor its search results?  No.  Instead, she believed the source of Google's problems was that "Google was taking others' profits".  In this case, "others" meant Chinese companies.  She accepted it as being obvious that the Chinese Government would get involved in business matters to help or hinder companies.  Especially in her new field of work, she often sees examples of how government officials, often influenced by who is most connected to them, can "unfairly" make or break crucial aspects of getting business done in China.

That Rui Rui's thoughts regarding many aspects of Google's situation in China appeared to be primarily influenced by her day to day needs, desires, and experiences is typical for what I've seen across China.  Rui Rui remains pragmatic on such matters even with exposure to non-Chinese media and some negative feelings toward the Chinese Government and some of its policies.  For example, she readily shared that during the Cultural Revolution some of her family fled from Shanghai to Guiyang to avoid expected persecution from Communist Party members.  Regardless, her primary concerns today revolve around her immediate desires to improve her quality of life and gain new experiences -- goals she seems to be effectively achieving in her own way.

For now, I'd like to close with one of Rui Rui's related thoughts on fairness and the legal system in China since it sheds further light on how she now views the predicament not only faced by American companies such as Google but also faced by Chinese who aren't well connected in China.

A colleague of Rui Rui recently introduced a saying to her that she has found to be true in her everyday work.

Rui Rui emphatically said, "In China, everyone is equal in front of the law."

She then looked at me in silence.  After a long pause she continued, "The differences are behind the law..."

Google's Reply to the Chinese Media's Accusation of "Meddling"

In my recent post "Google Accused in China of 'Meddling' in Egypt" I wrote that part of the goal of Google's detractors in China is to link Google with the US Government.

Recently, Bloomberg received this email reply from Google regarding the Chinese article:

“Contrary to assertions made by the Chinese media, every decision we have made regarding China has been made by Google alone.”

However, convincing the Chinese people that Google is independent of the US Government is not going to be solved by an email to Bloomberg News.  I'm pretty sure Google did not have such far reaching hopes for the email, but it raises an important issue to consider.

How do you convince the Chinese people you're not "against" them when the Chinese Government supported media is actively saying otherwise?  That's a million dollar (actually, much more than that) question.

Much of my research in user experience design in China has touched on this and similar issues.  After all, my work has been to help companies design technology that is not only useful and usable for consumers but that is also desirable.  Being viewed as a company aiding the causes of foreign governments doesn't likely aid in increasing the desirability of your products or services.  And just as understanding people's needs, desires, concerns, etc. are key to designing a successful product or service, they are also a key component for understanding how to best navigate situations such as the one Google faces.

Based on my research, I have thoughts about how companies such as Google could increase their chances of success in China with particular groups of consumers.  Some of these directly relate to Google's current predicament.  I will share some of these thoughts in future posts.