Making Connections : A talk on mobile engagement for UNICEF Japan

Notes de l'éditeur

1. My role today is to give you a general overview of the world of mobile technology. I will show you examples collected from various studies that myself or my colleagues did. They won’t provide you any direct solutions, but hopefully they will inspire you to come up with solutions that are suitable for Unicef. Photo: Children playing football in Favela Jacarezinho. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Younghee Jung, 2007 // This is a presentation and note for UNICEF Japan, to inform and discuss how to use mobile technology for UNICEF’s operation to get donations and promote awareness. // The talk makes various references to projects done by Nokia Design while I was leading its Tokyo studio team called ‘Insight & Innovation’. // Due to the nature of the presentation, several photos in this presentation are copied from the Internet source and some of them are no longer available to find its source. // Contact: jung@younghee.com / jabbaby@gmail.com // http://younghee.com
2. What is mobile technology for people? Photo: Mobile phone users in China. Chongqing, China. Nokia, 2007
3. Primarily, its about connectivity. In a few years, about the half of the whole global population will be connected through mobile phones. The significance of mobile phone penetration compared to that of landline telephones – it is mostly personal and individual technology. Compared to landline telephones, mobile telephones shifts the importance to the owner, rather than the place with an address or the family. And while it is not always the case – this individuality often acts as a kind of empowerment for the owner who is skilled enough to take advantage of it. Photo: Mobile phone users in Brazil. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Nokia, 2007
4. The other aspect of mobile technology that is advancing rapidly is the digital extension of human ability. Freeing people from places – that can mean a lot. Think of what Walkman, the first portable music player did for how we perceive and consume music. Mobile technology started with connecting people, which was the most prominent needs, but now it is about making technology compact and available with us all the time. Photo: Families interviewed for research in Favela Jacarezinho. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Nokia, 2007
5. Available all the time – it is the key element that essentially makes this domain quite different from other industry. The fact that people carry mobile devices most of the time with them shifts their attitudes towards it. People personalize and personalize more their devices’ appearance, usage pattern, and many want to associate their identity with it. It has become an object that you can show off – whether it is about your affordable income, creativity, knowledge of technology. Photo: Mobile phone users in China. Chongqing, China. Nokia, 2007
6. Today I would like to support you in thinking about using mobile phones, mobile technology as touch points in establishing connections with your current and future supporters.
7. Connection happens in stages – as we all know instinctively and by experience. We get to know each other, establish/define our relationship, and if it is positive – we nurture and maintain to keep the relationship alive.
8. I was flying from Copenhagen yesterday. At the check-in counter of Scandinavian airline, I found this card. Photo: A postcard created by Scandinavian Airline, Stockholm, Sweden. Younghee Jung, 2007
9. Of course I took the card with me as I didn’t have much time at the check-in counter. The backside had a number to send SMS. I am a great fan of using SMS in promotional events. In Europe, it is a very common practice to have SMS server setup to run the event. Of course, the value of the event can be great as you may accumulate the phone number database for future promotions and activities. Simply you can also send the link for further information back to the participant. The greatest aspect of using SMS is that it is the proven technology – everyone can use it, without having to rely on the new and upcoming. Photo: A postcard created by Scandinavian Airline, Stockholm, Sweden. Younghee Jung, 2007
10. What’s the possibility that we gather new information while we are out and about? How often would I actually pick up things to bring with me, AND remember to do something about it? I personally often take photos with my phone to remember things – even the web addresses at the moment. But since they are not actually visible in the context of internet browsing (and of course I forget about it), chances of me actually going to browse the site is quite minimal. So a bit more sophisticated technology use is really about putting the contact point right in the context when and where people are likely to pull the information. In Japan, we already see QR code – or 2D bar code as some may call it – used quite often to get the web address. This works with camera taking a picture of it, and an application on the phone translating the code in it as text information. This code allows a very flexible print format and size, and sometimes you see a huge printout of the code so that you can take pictures of it from a distance. Photo: Applications of 2-dimensional bar codes. Tokyo, Japan. Younghee Jung, 2006-2007
11. Another great technology that is going to spread more widely is touch-based interaction. In Japan, this technology is very successfully adopted as micro-micropayment system branded as Suica, or Felica and so on. SUICA also introduced the mobile advertising option for metro cars, where people can touch the ad poster in the crowded metro car with the phone to get the link. In the near future, we expect this to be a defacto interaction mechanism for making the use of mobile phone easy and intuitive – like touch each other’s phone and exchanging contact details. Photo: Mixed sources
12. And the good old way would be the physical take-away. Better if it is intelligent & work as a mobile phone accessory or decoration at the same time. With the near field technology enabled phones, it is possible to embed digital that can be read in the same way SUICA/FELICA enabled phones work with vending machines. The price of these RFID chips are getting lower and lower, so in the future it may not be just a simple web address, but the whole news article, or even images or mobile applications that people can get from these smart charms. Photo: Mobile phone users in China and Japan. Jan Chipchase, 2005
13. Once we made the initial connection, we start to really define the relationship. There are many aspects mobile can play in this process, but to begin with I would like to briefly mention…
14. Mobile payment. Increasingly mobile phones are used to handle monetary transactions. In Korea, it is possible to get full banking access and credit card use by getting the special IC chip issued by the financial institution for added security. Combined with NFC, this greatly improves the convenience in using mobile phone for payment. An easier approach is the micro-cash wallet concept, like SUICA in Japan. People can top it up any time at any station, without having to worry about registration or consequences of losing it. However there are greater limitations how this will be more accessible to a wider user group. All these payment options require special mobile phones, and it is only possible when the country’s infrastructure supports it – like participating banks and vendors. Photo: Mobile payment systems in South Korea and Japan. Younghee Jung, 2006-2007
15. I would like to also introduce a phenomena that is observed in many developing countries where mobile phones are used as micro financial institution where people do not have access to, or ability to use proper banking services. Photo: Mobile users in Kampala, Uganda. Jan Chipchase, 2005
16. Even though the relationship is established once, it takes time and effort to nurture and maintain the relationship to keep it alive.
17. People are forgetful. And people love to use the mobile phone for reminding them things that they love and get reminded of them. First picture – ganesh devotee, second – teenage girl loving her friends, third – mother of a lovely daughter, fourth – a indian guy’s hero, a bollywood star, fifth – a guy in rio, picture with his girlfriend. Photo: Personalized mobile phones – wall screens and stickers. Various locations. Nokia, 2007
18. So far, I talked about connections and the current and near future mobile technology that will take part in those connections. Now I would like to shift my focus to more direct human behaviors and motivations that I consider relevant for you today.
19. I thought of four areas that mobile technology is quite good at supporting, or enhancing the current motivations and behaviors people have.
20. Everybody expresses his or her identity in one way or another. It’s one of the topics that our team is exploring at the moment – we do observe that people increasingly associate their identity with the mobile phone. From the model and the design that they choose, to the functions that they use. I showed you how people put stickers and personalize their wallpaper on the phone. That is part of identity expression as well. A few years ago, we explored how we can further support the identity expression beyond what’s shown physically on the cover.
21. We have seen numerous social networking sites that allow people to talk about themselves, their interests and friends they have. This is a picture of Orkut, by Google. Depending on where you come from, you probably have heard about Frienster, Facebook, Linked in, MySpace, Cyworld, Mixi, and so on. Most of the successful social networking sites really allow elaborate ways for people to express their identity. If this was to be ported to mobile systems, what can it be, beyond just checking the same website through the mobile phone? Photo: Orkut site used by a research participant during an in-depth ethnographic interview. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Younghee Jung, 2007
22. Show the flash animation We thought that the digital identity carried in mobile phone would create a parallel world in context of where people gather, rather than in separation. We launched a mobile application called Nokia Sensor, incorporating some of our initial ideas in 2005.
23. You get the basic idea – using the local radio connectivity, such as Bluetooth or WiFi, you can actually go beyond your physical self and potentially physical barriers to show who you are and what you believe in. The benefit of having the digital world parallel to your real being is that there is a possibility to spot the real person around you. As the third image indicates – there is also a possibility to identity people who belong to a same group as you – whichever it is. Photo: Screenshots of Nokia Sensor application. Younghee Jung, 2004
24. Having the digital parallel world in your context now means it will enable social play and transactions. We also built another software that allows people to compare phonebook content. In our trial, people wanted to compare music collection and bookmarks, so that they can swap interesting ones that they do not have. We do think that this discovery through comparison is a great way to encourage social learning – or simply learning from other people. If I met an UNICEF supporter who has a great personal page created on her mobile phone, I may save her Sensor pages and through her I will be reminded of UNICEF. It’s about remembering people, not the information itself. And we often learn new information most from people. Photo: A screenshot of a prototype application ‘Scent’. Younghee Jung, 2002
25. Identity expression is the motivation behind many of our actions, often the coherent ones – as we want to build persistent and harmonious image of ourselves. Bringing your digital message around can be a greatly rewarding for the owner and thus encourages the behavior because it can bring the attention directly to the owner, instead of virtual interaction. Mobile phones are also often used as part of authoring tool for the internet presence. People upload images and video clips from their mobile phones. And the benefit of doing that is – you can be the first to spread the news. The question for you here is really how to make your supporters to feel proud. How can their support be a rewarding act for their own identity?
26. Gift giving – digital gift giving specifically is what I would like to talk about next. I believe that people are extremely generous by nature – given the right circumstances. We like to give and share what we have – if others need it and that the impact of giving is not too negative for me.
27. I received the oxfam gift in Christmas last year from my colleague. The idea of sending a gift as ‘donation on behalf of you’ may not be new to some of you, but it made a lot of sense to me – that was probably the best present I received. Giving requires something to give – a thing, or a vehicle to be delivered to the recipient. And I show you this example as it made giving the intangible gift possible.
28. Digital objects can duplicate endlessly without degrading in quality. Exceptions are copyright protected material like music or movies – of which sharing is illegal. When Bluetooth came out first (or even before that – Infrared), people loved the idea of being able to send something from phone to phone without having to pay. Before that, anything that went through the phone meant some sort of cost involved. Photo: An interview participant demonstrating the image transfer from a mobile phone to another. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Younghee Jung, 2007
29. The picture was taken in a Favela in Rio. She was giving a song from her mobile phone over bluetooth to her friend. I was also surprised that sharing of digital files on mobile phones was more witnessed in the developing world. In India, I also received a video file from a stranger who barely spoke English – he did not even know how to do it properly, but he was so eager to send the video file to me, partly to show off, partly to do the same for others as he was given. Later I found out that the video file I received was the talk of the town. Photo: An interview participant demonstrating the image transfer from a mobile phone to another. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Younghee Jung, 2007
30. If you ever tried to send anything over bluetooth, you may have experienced difficulties, or thought it was quite tedious to look for your recipient’s phone. So another question is how to improve this process, making it instant and easy to give. The touch interaction as shown earlier may be the solution. Photo: An interview participant demonstrating the image transfer from a mobile phone to another. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Younghee Jung, 2007
31. Mobile phones are often used in the social scene. People already share music, images, and funny stories (through text) despite less-than-ideal difficulties in doing so. In the future, most digital services will offer ways to give and share. The best part of it is that it will be often traceable, who’s sending what and to whom. Giving does not have to be expensive for the givers. Better not. But giving something to others can be rewarding by itself, especially when you believe in what you are giving and trying to influence others for. So the question here is what can be the digital artifact or the ‘thing’ that can be given or shared for UNICEF? And how can you reward the most active givers spreading the messages and encouraging others to join? One idea that came to my mind is that you can work with existing services and allow members to make donations on behalf of others.
32. Involvement – is probably a very important word for marketing now. People do not want to be passive consumers – they want to voice their opinions, use their wits and wisdom in making things happen. This is where mobile phone has probably the most distinct advantage than any other digital tools we have.
33. Working in the big corporation – we always say “if you want to make your stakeholders believe in your idea, make them believe that it was all their ideas.” Participation is the core of internet’s future. When you allow people to participate, they feel closer to the service, feeling part of the ownership.
34. Video sharing site like YouTube and photo sharing service like Flickr probably grew fastest than most internet services we have seen before. And they are services offering mechanisms and tools for uploading your own content. BTW Unicef only has 64 friends in YouTube….
35. Second life. Many companies planted their presence in other social networking sites, and some saw it as invasion. However SecondLife is a world that has commerce inside it. There was a news article in the last two weeks that WWF (World Wildlife Fund, or World Wide Fund for Nature) created their booth in Secondlife where people can actually buy things and donate.
36. The players of Second Life is still dominantly English-speaking countries – US, UK, Canada and Australia. Did you know that? Communities like this – it does not have to be the 3D playful world - the real strength behind it is that people can create their own campaigns and groups. You can be an activist – in this own world. People build their own brand in the digital world, and those brands can be very powerful beyond your control – they may run their own campaigns to cope with disaster, express their opinions, collect supporters. How can you nurture, or intrigue those voluntary activists for you? I find statistics like this sometimes helps – showing information that you may not have access to, but you can find the relevance from it.
37. Another way of looking at the involvement is literally – by involving them directly. They are university or college students in their early 20’s. Many came from favelas – a name generally refers to squatter communities in Rio. We trained these students to run a local design competition in the community. It created excitement in the community – very positive vibes as mobile phones to many still means the future, a growing technology that can imply development, or even hope. I sensed that students and entrants to the competition were proud in taking part in this activity. Mobile phone can be a great tool to create this involvement. Not necessarily as a topic for competition – but a tool to facilitate their involvement. Imagine giving people or kids where your help is necessary – and ask them to report their ideas how things can be improved in their life or their community. Photo: A local team promoting the Nokia Open Studio, a community design competition in Favela Jacarezinho. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Nokia, 2007
38. This is one of the entries we got. He wanted to create a mobile phone that could show the conditions of the environment so that people are more aware of consequences of their actions. Photo: A participant to the Nokia Open Studio in Favela Jacarezinho. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Nokia, 2007
39. A few years ago, we
40. Last one is what I call habit. Many people live with mobile phones from waking up to going to bed. It’s a tool that can be really different from rest of technology products because of its intimacy with its user.
41. Another social networking application - Twitter works both on PC and on mobile phones. The concept is quite simple – people publish their status messages. Status message is ‘tradition’ or habit from instant messenger use. Now people use the status message beyond just showing whether they are busy or not. Many also use it for personal advertisement or spreading news.
42. A more advanced version of Twitter is probably the service called Jaiku. It combines status message with user’s context information collected on mobile phone. And linking from people’s phonebook, Jaiku naturally introduces mobile mini-blog easily accessed through the famliiar interface.
43. This is called Twitcher – it’s a very simple game to kill time. The rule of the game is simple – if you happen to see a bird passing by, you can press keys to capture the bird. Depending on how well you do – you can earn the lures to attract more birds. These feathers indicate how many birds you captured so far. The flying dots behind indicate how many bird spotting opportunities you missed. The concept and the prototype was created by BERG London. There is a theory called continuous partial attention. This may be a simple picture that you may not get any information out of if you are a total stranger to its meanings. But for the familiar eyes, it can convey information very effectively and efficiently. You will start wondering if one of the trees starts to die, or another tree pops up in this picture. We see a great potential using this type of information dissemination through mobile phones. It can be screen saver or wallpaper of the phone. The owner can link different types of information that is most relevant. Killing time aspect cannot be ignored here either – mobile phone accompanies people in many, many idle moments. People make calls, read through old messages, go through phone books. How can you make those idle moments a moment spent with UNICEF?
44. Photo: A home of an ethnographic research participant in Favela Jacarezinho. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Nokia, 2007 // This is a presentation and note for UNICEF Japan, to inform and discuss how to use mobile technology for UNICEF’s operation to get donations and promote awareness. // The talk makes various references to projects done by Nokia Design while I was leading its Tokyo studio team called ‘Insight & Innovation’. // Due to the nature of the presentation, several photos in this presentation are copied from the Internet source and some of them are no longer available to find its source. // Contact: jung@younghee.com / jabbaby@gmail.com // http://younghee.com