Too Many Clicks: Analysis of the Mobile Content Downloading Process

mPortico, the mobile media company, recently examined the current mobile downloading process from 8 leading off-deck and on-deck portals.

mPortico's study focused on finding, purchasing and downloading mobile content.[1] The process from five major off-deck portals and game publishers’ sites require an average of almost 12 clicks and 4 minutes to find, purchase, and download a piece of content. The four leading carrier portals performed better, however the process still required an average of 10 clicks and 2.5 minutes to complete. The study’s results show that the purchase process still has serious navigational and time issues. The portals' numbers are considerably higher than a 2006 study by Sweden's Mobile Matrix and U.S

. content platform provider Qpass, which concluded that mobile portals must bring content to users within 6 clicks.[2] On average the carriers and the third parties' portals required almost twice the number of the 6 click maximum reported in the Mobile Matrix and Qpass study. Commenting on the mobile download process, Greg Clayman, senior VP of MTV Networks' Mobile Media Group echoing these problems stated, ``It's still confusing, it's still difficult to find what you want.''[3]

The two biggest issues facing off-deck portals are login requirements (such as creating usernames, passwords, identifying device phone number, IMEI, and make and model type) and credit card payment information. Handango, GameLoft, Hands on Mobile, and Jamster all require users to register before accessing mobile content. Only Handango and Gameloft use credit card billing. These two steps combined can add up to 22 clicks and 6 minutes to the already cumbersome process.

The finest performing off-deck portals were those that billed through the carrier and did not require any credit card information. Jamster did the best, requiring 10 clicks and 2.5 minutes to complete a transaction, followed by Thumbplay and Hands on Mobile. Handango and Gameloft required 15 clicks and over 3 minutes.

The process to browse, buy, and download from the carriers' on-deck portals was for the most part simpler and faster than the off-deck portals. This was the case as the carriers already had a billing channel and identity of the customer, removing two of the lengthiest aspects of the entire process. Even with the time and click reducing factors eliminated, the process was still drawn out and required too many clicks.

The process through the four largest carriers’ stores requires an average of 10 clicks and almost 3 minutes. AT&T performed the best needing only 8 clicks to complete the process, followed by T-Mobile and Verizon. Sprint placed last with 15 clicks. T-Mobile's process was the fastest, taking only 2 minutes. Verizon followed with 2 minutes and 15 seconds with AT&T and Sprint 3 minutes each.
The biggest challenge to the carriers' portals is browsing. While this study chose the first available content item without any excess clicking, searching content is one of the most time-consuming and often frustrating parts of the process. The same 2006 studies by Sweden's Mobile Matrix and qpass reveals that a whopping 65% of content is positioned too far from the homepage, making it invisible to users.[4]
Other secondary challenges facing carrier portals include the hefty data fees accrued during the browsing, purchasing, and downloading process and the absence of demos prior to buying. Ready availability of free trial and demo versions of content give off-deck portals an advantage over carriers' portals in user experience.

While the current process is improving, the average amount of time and clicks to search, purchase, and download mobile content from both on-deck and off-deck portals is on average, 11 clicks and over 3 minutes, profoundly exceeding the 6 click minimum. While carriers have improved their portals the target of 6 clicks is still far off providing serious barriers to entice the mass market to invest their time and energy to download content. If mobile devices are to become a viable channel to distribute content, the mobile industry must create a more user friendly and simpler browsing, purchasing, and downloading experience.
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[1] The data gathered represents the amount of clicks and minutes starting from the main page of the portal until the point of download. The survey used, the Nokia 73, the Samsung Blackjack, the Motorola Razr, the Palm Treo 755, and the LG Chocolate
[2,3,4 ] Peggy Anne Salz. 'Mobile portals: Join the search' TT magazine July 25, 2006 Tuesday