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iPhone Users Frustrated With Mobile Portals of Popular News Sites, Keynote(R) Study Reveals

Posted on: Thursday, 9 October 2008, 09:00 CDT

Keynote Systems (Nasdaq:KEYN), the global leader in on-demand mobile and Internet test & measurement solutions for continuously improving the online experience, today announced the results of its first ever Keynote WebEffective(R) for iPhone study of actual user satisfaction of mobile Web sites. Keynote WebEffective for iPhone is a brand new way of conducting online usability studies of iPhone customers interacting with mobile Web sites.

"The iPhone is a breakthrough mobile smart phone," said Dan Richards, senior product manager at Keynote, "but our Keynote WebEffective study shows that the user experience of surfing Web sites is not." Richards went on to say, "There are some areas of usability that need to be perfected for end users to be fully satisfied. Mobile Web designers are having to learn and adapt to a brand new world."

Study Results

In the Keynote WebEffective for iPhone study, more than 75 participants were tasked with finding an entertainment news story, reading a news article, and searching for a story on a specific topic then sending it to a friend. Highlights of the study include:

-- Satisfaction rates were low for both Yahoo! (51 percent) and Fox News (64 percent) mobile Web sites and less than half of users found the sites to be appealing.

-- Only four percent of users tapped into advertising; nearly a quarter noticed advertising but did not click through.

-- While Fox News users were more likely to find the mobile experience to be better than a computer experience, Yahoo! users were more likely to find the mobile experience to be much worse than a computer experience.

-- Significantly more Yahoo! users (60 percent) reported frustration with the site than Fox News users (33 percent).

-- Expected user frustrations included site errors, cluttered pages, poor site speed as well as excessive scrolling. Path analysis reveals how users encountered and attempted to work around these issues.

-- Unexpected findings included a lack of visual appeal and difficulties around the search feature.

About the Tool

Keynote WebEffective is the only mobile online research tool providing marketers, researchers and advertisers a customer experience and usability lab without walls. Unlike simple survey products, WebEffective tracks user behavior as the participant completes assigned tasks. Providing insights into a mobile Web site's effectiveness and online business performance through in-depth customer experience research, WebEffective combines the behavioral aspects of clickstream analysis, the quantitative data of surveys and the qualitative feedback of usability labs to not only understand what customers are doing on the mobile Web, but also why. Keynote WebEffective is a commercially available SaaS (software-as-a-service) product.

About the Methodology

The Keynote mobile Web usability study for iPhone was run using Keynote WebEffective. The study examined the satisfaction and usability levels of more than 75 consumers who accomplished three separate Keynote-assigned tasks on the Fox and Yahoo! News mobile portals using their iPhone. Participants were questioned on why they took the actions they did, their overall satisfaction and what could be done to improve the experience. During the test, the users' activities were tracked by the application and compiled for clickstream analysis to identify how users accomplished the tasks, their navigational choices and the time involved between navigation activities.

Availability

To receive the complete Keynote WebEffecitve for iPhone study, please visit:

www.keynote.com/Key_Ads/ceux_iphone_study_2008.html

For more information about Keynote's WebEffective user experience testing product, please visit:

www.keynote.com/products/customer_experience/ web_ux_research_tools/webeffective.html. (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)

About Keynote

Keynote Systems (Nasdaq "KEYN") is the global leader in on-demand test & measurement solutions for continuously improving the online experience. As an independent and trusted third-party, Keynote provides IT and marketing executives with an unbiased view into their Internet services from around the world. For over a decade, Keynote has been providing measurement data and testing capabilities that allow companies to understand and improve their customers' online and mobile experience. Keynote has four test and measurement businesses: Web performance, mobile quality, streaming & VoIP, and customer experience/UX. In addition, Keynote's industry analysis group called Keynote Competitive Research publishes proprietary studies measuring customer experience and service levels across a wide range of industries.

Known as The Mobile and Internet Performance Authority(TM), Keynote has a market-leading infrastructure of 2,500 measurement computers and mobile devices in over 240 locations around the world. Keynote also maintains one of the most representative panels of online users consisting of 160,000 consumers. Keynote's on-demand, hassle-free infrastructure allows businesses to access services they need, when they need them to pinpoint and fix mobile quality and Internet problems before they impact customers.

Keynote helps over 2,800 corporate customers become "the best of the best" by helping them improve online business performance and mobile communications quality. Keynote's customers represent top Internet and mobile companies including American Express, BP, Caterpillar, Dell, Disney, eBay, E*TRADE, Expedia, Microsoft, SonyEricsson, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and Vodafone.

Keynote Systems, Inc. is headquartered in San Mateo, California and can be reached at www.keynote.com or by phone in the U.S. at (650) 403-2400.

Keynote, The Internet Performance Authority, Perspective and WebEffective are registered trademarks and The Mobile and Internet Performance Authority and True Experience are trademarks of Keynote Systems, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. (C) 2008 Keynote Systems, Inc.

Source: Business Wire

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