Top 50 Women in Mobile Content

Last week I had the pleasure to be invited by ?What If!, an innovation company, to join a good number of the Top 50 Women in Mobile Content. Jessica Sandin, who heads up mobile at ?What If! was named as one of the top 50 women in mobile content and to celebrate their success ?What If! invited them to the ‘Old Laundry’, one of their offices.

Offices sounds way too stuffy for ?What If!. It feels more like a mix between a living room and a playground. I wrote a case study about ?What If! a while ago and was impressed with how they generate innovation. Much of how they work resonated a lot with how I work with ethnographic methods in an academic context. The difference is that we do not bring products and services to market but write academic articles.

The evening started with drinks and we then gathered around in a circle of sofas. We were not allowed to rest a long time because we had to complete a task: learn as much as possible about two women in the room. This was great fun. We then heard more about what ?What If! does and Jessica started a discussion on what it means to be a woman in mobile content.

The discussion resembled many of those 'women in a male dominated environment' discussions I witnessed before. At first there was some hesitation as to whether it is different for men and women in mobile content followed by a string of interesting stories which showed that being a woman does matter.

After an insightful discussion, we continued the evening with delicious canapés and fascinating conversations. All in all a fantastic evening to celebrate great achievements!

The Tribalism of Technology

A recent report from the University of Texas suggested that men will choose music as a way of indicating their "tribal affiliation". Women on the other hand, choose music that reflects their current mood and are less concerned by what people will think if they are known to like a particular artist.

What might these researchers have found if they had looked at technology rather than music? Are women “moody” and less brand conscious when it comes to buying technology? Are men more likely to want to make a statement? Might the technology we allow ourselves to be seen with play a similar role to a football-strip or a bumper-sticker?

Last week I was in the Kings Cross Eurostar business-lounge. Most of my fellow loungees were men. I observed the knowing glances between Mac users as they silently acknowledge each other as part of a fraternity of subversive creative types. Meanwhile the sharp-suited alpha-males wielded the Thinkpad.  It's the sign of a serious player whose work is important enough to require the industry-standard laptop. Even when out of uniform, the choice of technology says which side they belong to.

I asked my Lady Geeks friends about their relationship with technology:

When it comes to laptops, it seemed that choice was driven by practicality. However, when they spoke about their ipod, speakers, phone, HD TV, Internet Radio and almost any other category of home electronics they became a great deal more enthusiastic: Any kind of technology that existed along the same terms as household furniture provoked the same kind of tribalism.

“Oh god," remarked one lady-geek, "I think the TV you have, absolutely says who you are and how you are different from others,”. She went on to explain how Sony Bravias should only ever be bought by over-40s, Philips was for over-50s and everybody her age HAS to have Panasonic.

If tribalism is defined as“the possession of a strong cultural or ethnic identity that separates oneself as a member of one group from the members of another", then for both genders technology is a badge. It seems that the design of the badge is somewhat arbitrary since there's almost no practical difference between TVs made by Sony, Panasonic or Philips. It means as much as "the Reds" versus "the Blues".

The technology we choose to display in our homes and on our bodies say as much about who we think we are as our shoes and our clothes, however technology is rarely marketed as a cultural, social construct. Marketers wrongly assume that we select their technology rationally. The reality is that both genders select technology in tribalistic way: its emotional, instinctive and helps position the buyer in their social clade.

Wireless

I love taking my iPod to the gym because it gives me the freedom to listen to music that reflects my exercise mood. However when using the iPod on the cross trainer, one of my favourite cardiovascular machines, I often manage to almost strangle myself. I wear my iPod with an armband around my upper arm (the earphone cables are dangling around and can get caught easily in the cross trainer).

The armband looks a bit like an oversized sticking plaster but is overall quite stylish and does the job – as long as I don’t do anything where I need the biceps. The cable issue remains annoying and I developed a rather complicated system of keeping the cable out of my way. However I then came across a much nicer solution: the Arriva headphones. You basically wear the MP3 player at the back of your head and have small cables leading into your ears.

This does solve the cable problem. The downside: it is only available for the iPod shuffle and not for other iPods. Other iPods might be too big to wear them at the back of the head. It might also be difficult to change tracks. But it is a nice idea. Apart from using these headphones for sports it might also come in handy when you don’t want other people to know that you are listening to music. Particularly if you have long hair.

"When you are going through hell, keep going"

Ok, it wasn't hell. But it certainly wasn't heaven; it was something in between. I was shopping for a new digital 'point and shoot' camera. Like many women, I didn't have much time to research different options online (Lady Geek research found than men research technology purchases more than women) so, like most female shoppers I came to my "retail experience" with no preconceptions. Since it was the only shop likely to be open on a Sunday morning, I went for Curry's.

I wanted a camera indulge in my fantasy of being an undercover researcher. I told Vinesh, the shop assistant, I needed something small within the £100-150 price range, light and easy to use. Vinesh was quite informed and didn't make me feel dumb or 'female', explaining that the type of lens was more important than the pixels. He showed me the Panasonic Lumix and the Sony CyberShot - The obvious choices - the most reputable brands.

Vinesh failed to ask me a fundamental question: whether I wanted to use the camera mainly indoors or in sunlight which I think is pivotal to anyone's choice when buying a camera. I told him I'd heard about Fujifilm's cameras being particuarly suitable for the kind of indoor photography that interests me.

He agreed; I ended up buying the Fuji.

I received my camera in a drab box.

I rummaged inside the box for the soft-case so I could at least protect my exciting new purchase. I was dismayed to find out that having paid two hundred quid for a camera it did not come with the most essential of accessories. I felt let down. It was as if I had just had a trip to the dentist. I was relieved it was all over. It wasn't exciting. It certainly was not fun.

Compare this to the buzz I got when I bought a new dress the week before. I could hardly contain my excitement in the shop. I felt like a small child in a candy store. I got a posh bag. My dress was wrapped in tissue paper and smelt expensive. I even got a free magazine for 'valued' customers. It felt luxurious.

I love my camera. I love what I can do with it. Its seems pretty intuitive to use. My excitement comes from using the product. But what could have been an 'experience' to be enjoyed and savoured post-purchase was one easily forgotten.

If tech brands are asking women to divert their spend to technology, they need to provide a sensual, tactile and intimate experience with marketing that appeals to their senses as well as their purses.

Part of this is the whole experience, which includes not only the retail environment but the unveiling and ritualistic opening of the product when you get it home and peripherals are a big part of "making something my own" for women (The Japanese are particularly good at recognising this market.) So whilst I won't rush to go technology shopping for a while, I am keen to get taking some good pictures for this blog.

The Jungle of Facebook

I feel old.  Ancient.  Positively archaic.  I am doing some ethnography research for a client in the area of technology.  I am spending the day with Amy.  Amy is 18, turning 19 and just received her A level results.  Amy is confident and incredibly articulate for an 18 year old.  I am asking Amy questions which she dutifully answers in a very text book way.  She then mentions facebook and her whole face lights up.  Amy comes alive at this point.  She runs over to her Dell laptop and logs on to  Facebook.   She shows me she her 353 'friends' on Facebook.  She tells me that Facebook is as important to her as chocolate.  Its an addiction.  Its a craving.   She wakes up in the middle of the night and thinks about what happened that day in Facebook.    She asks me if I want to speak to any of her friends on Facebook.

This got me wondering, are social networks a much more effective and authentic way to research young people?  Are online omnibus studies and traditional ways of researching teenagers less effective in an age where the currency of the 'yoof' is through the lens of Facebook?

Amy shows me today's events.  Jo has split up from Anthony (I am shocked that people put when their relationship ends on Facebook.  Do people dump people by Facebook as well?).  Emma has tagged her in her holiday photos.  The guy she met in malia has written on her wall.  Amy is organising a 'results' party for 200 people (she has just done her A-levels).  She couldn't organise a party without Facebook.  I ask her if Facebook is a fad.  She tells me undeniably its not.  MySpace was a fad but now everyone has moved to Facebook.    Facebook has the 'durability' factor.   The 'talkability' factor.  She has 33 friends online at this moment.  I feed her questions to her friends.  I get answers from her friends immediately.   I then ask more questions.  Its rich information.  Its visceral. It is not pre-determined. Its authentic.  Amazingly, its free.

I recently completed an online research study for the Future Foundation.  Not only was it incredibly boring to complete (and I am a researcher by trade so god knows how boring it was for everyone else), if I am totally honest I felt compelled to write the 'right thing.'  To write the 'intelligent thing.'  Most importantly, to write 'the expected thing.'  When I received the final report, many of the things I had said I actually disagreed with.   To really go 'one floor down' as a pyschotherapist would say, surely we need to get that visceral instantaneous reaction which is not going to come from a online omnibus or a focus group?  If you want to see how the tiger hunts, don't go to the zoo.  You need to go to the jungle.  Or in this case, the jungle called Facebook.