MOBILE WORKTOOL HABITSa peer surveyJörn Hendrik Ast

Hamburg, 25-01-2012

WHAT ARE OUR MOBILE WORKTOOL HABITS?

basic questions:

how do we organize our work with our smartphones?

are we embracing mobile work opportunities and is it suitable for daily use?

are there any differences between the different professions? Are Freelancer more „mobile savvy“ than employees?

http://blog.us.cision.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/rolodex.jpg

DEMOGRAPHY

I generated 114 participants from 18th to 21st January 2012

gender distribution: 71% men, 29% women

18-2415 %

25-3446 %

35-4427 %

45-5411 %

55+1 %

Disclaimer: I reached 110 persons in a couple of days via Twitter, Facebook, countless Retweets and Shares and via QR Codes and shortlinks I handed out in my Coworking Space. This is amazing but of course not representative on a scientific basis. Anyhow it was the best way of conducting this survey since I got 100% of the desired target group: heavy smartphone users.

WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSION?

there‘s a pretty balanced proportion of Freelancer, Entrepreneurs and employees

but with entrepreneurs and freelancer we have the largest target group (56%)

Employee33 %

Freelancer30 %

Entrepreneur27 %

Student11 %

WHICH MOBILE OPERATING SYSTEM ARE YOU USING?

Apple‘s iOS is dominating followed by Android

RIM, Windows Phone or other OS like Symbian are negligible

iOS62 %

Android29 %

RIM3 %

Windows1 %

other5 %

WHAT KIND OF PRODUCTIVITY APPS ARE YOU USING ON YOUR SMARTPHONE?

the top 3: messaging, social network and time management apps

there were even a lot of other apps:

travel management apps (public transfer, navigation)reading Apps (Instapaper, Kindle),finance management appsapps for presentationaudio recording apps

0 30 60 90

89

84

77

75

67

39

38

25

16

14

12

11

6

5

3

messaging appssocial network apps

other appstime management apps

blogging/ twittertext editing

bookmarking appscollaborative PM apps

data tracking appsapps for design

CRM, sales appsphotography appsshopmngmt. apps

coding apps

billing apps

WHICH OF THESE APPS ARE YOU USING DAILY OR HOURLY?

messaging, checking social network apps and tweeting are the most frequent activities!

people using time management and collaborative project management apps are always online too!

0 20 40 60 80

80

68

45

42

21

15

11

4

5

4

4

2

2

messaging apps

social network apps

blogging/ twitter

time management apps

collaborative PM apps

bookmarking apps

text editing

apps for design

CRM, sales apps

data tracking apps

photography apps

coding apps

billing apps

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE APPS AT THE MOMENT AND WHY?

„Evernote - helps me accumulate and organize

my thoughts and ideas, lets me work from everywhere“

„Podio, because you can create

your own apps“

„Flipboard, Evernote, Summify: help me to avoid

information overkill, archive information“

„CamCard for the easy scan of business cards“

„All Google's Mobile Apps, because of the seamless

integration in their overall service portfolio and effortless syncing.“

„Dropbox for easy access to my files

on the move“

„Whatsapp - does what it does and

does it right“

WHAT IS THE APP YOU CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT AT THE MOMENT?

whatsapp(7x)

Twitter (11x) Podio

(6x)

Evernote (5x)

Mail (6x)

Wunderlist (2x)

HOW MUCH DO YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS DEPEND ON MOBILE WORKING TOOLS?

the majority is used to work mobile but only 5% see it as a real alternative to a personal computer

nearly half of the participants see mobile worktools as an addition, not more!

low26 %

medium44 %

high25 %

crucial5 %

responses: crucial:“I could not run my business without my smartphone and my mobile working tools and I do not depend on my personal computer or laptop any more!“ high: „I enjoy doing more an more mobile and not being dependent on my personal computer or laptop that much!“ medium: „mobile apps are important but I still need to recheck everything on my personal computer or laptop!“ low: „mobile apps are nice but nothing more than an addition to my personal computer or laptop!“

WHY?„I'm on the road all the

time!“

„My worklife is so much easier and I love using apps on the go,

e.g. wherever I have to wait!“CRUCIAL

MEDIUM

LOW

HIGH„My Business involves travelling a lot

+ working mobile for me equals freedom!“

„It is fast and I get instant feedback even

when traveling!“

„It is handy and convenient, but does not replace a

MacBook!“

„I use lots of ppt, xls and SAP, just works better on

notebooks!“

„For my work I always need to recheck with my MacBook e.g. Facebook doesn't allow hiding

comments as a page admin in the mobile version!“

„Why should I need a mobile work environment? I'm at the PC for 8 hours a day, that's enough!“

BUT WHERE DOES THIS LEAD TO?

HYPOTHESIS 1: IT DEPENDS ON PROFESSION

comparing the dependance on mobile worktools and profession:

40% of the freelancer are depending highly on the usage of mobile worktools!

more than half of the entrepreneur can‘t work without their smartphone!

but also 33% of the employees are used to work on the run!

29 %

34 %

44 %

31 %

50 %

41 %

28 %

31 %

18 %

19 %

19 %

38 %

employees

freelancer

entrepreneur

students

crucial high medium low

4%

6%

9%

HYPOTHESIS 2: IT DEPENDS ON AGE

comparing the dependance on mobile worktools and age:

nearly 50% of the 35-44 old participants are depending highly on the usage of mobile worktools!

41% of the youngest and 39% of the oldest participants are saying so too!

35 %

32 %

39 %

31 %

18 %

43 %

41 %

39 %

41 %

23 %

10 %

22 %

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

crucial high medium low

6%

2%

10%

8%

HYPOTHESES APPROVED?

NO! IT‘S ABOUT HOW INTERESTED YOU ARE IN WORKING MOBILE

NOT ABOUT YOUR AGE NOR YOUR PROFESSION!

CONCLUSIONthe digital nomads in this study are of no specific age!

it‘s not about digital natives for sure!

talking about a digital nomads must include employees too!

developing mobile worktool habits seems to be a matter of need and affinity!

FOLLOW ME!JÖRN HENDRIK AST, FOUNDER OF FFLUID

jh@ffluid.de@jormasonfb.me/jormasonflavors.me/jormason