The challenge
Wikimedia Foundation approached Hureo with the following brief: their data had revealed that there were users in India accessing Wikipedia through the KaiOS mobile operating system. Wikipedia was eager to learn more about these users and explore how they could serve them better.
Our first task was to zero in on a phone that uses KaiOS. We decided to talk to people reading content on the Jio smart feature phones, JioPhone 1 and JioPhone 2.
We then identified our broad research goals:
- Who are these users?
- What is their motivation to use a JioPhone?
- What for, and how, are they using their JioPhone (internet, apps, features, tools)?
- What is their Wikipedia awareness and usage?
Our approach
Observations: during the study, we interviewed the users and observed their JioPhone usage. We also assigned reading-based tasks to the users, in order to understand how they consume information on Wikipedia, and how they browse online.
Conducting studies in different locations allowed us to observe and identify common patterns between users who spoke different languages and came from different cultures and environments. This also helped shed light on existing language barriers in their phone and online experience.
Location and method: to ensure a representative sample, we conducted the study in multiple cities in India across Delhi, Mumbai and Pune, in the form of in-person lab interviews and observation at our mobile labs in each of these cities.
Users: all the users were JioPhone users with different levels of awareness about Wikipedia. Some were Wikipedia readers, some had a basic awareness of it, while some were completely unaware.
The outcome
Our in-depth sessions enabled the client to rethink the Wikipedia experience on KaiOS phones.
Identified KaiOS users and created personas
The research identified personas based on demographics, JioPhone usage, motivation and usage pattern. These personas include a parent who uses their phone to help children with their homework, a student who uses their phone to look for information, a user looking for content in regional languages, and a casual browser.
Uncovered detailed insights on users' online and phone behaviour
The study revealed how a JioPhone user uses the various features of the phone, apps and browsing.
- Usage of apps: almost all users were using the internet to access social media apps (Facebook and WhatsApp), entertainment apps (YouTube, JioTV, JioSaavn, Hotstar etc.) and to search for news and information online via Google Assistant and the browser.
- Preferred internet: JioPhone users, even those who have smartphones, primarily preferred using the internet on a JioPhone because it consumes less data and has good internet speed.
- Reading and searching behaviour: users' reading behaviour on the JioPhone varied according to their needs, interest and situation.
- Voice-based search over typing: while browsing for information, KaiOS users largely rely on voice-based search as opposed to text search, since they find the phone keypad cumbersome to use.
Provided user feedback to improve the experience of Wikipedia on JioPhones
The study identified challenges that were deterring users from consuming Wikipedia on their phones. The relatively small screen of the JioPhone discourages users from reading large chunks of text and longer articles, and long-form text happens to be an important component of Wikipedia. Users also faced other challenges related to readability, including font size, inability to scroll through text quickly, and poor image quality.
Provided recommendations for a KaiOS-specific solution
All insights and recommendations derived from this study were collated into a comprehensive report and presented to the Wikimedia team, to help them formulate a better strategy to improve user experience. Using this report as a framework, the client is now developing a solution meant exclusively for the KaiOS platform, addressing the outlined challenges and needs of the users.
