Mobile/Research

From Strategic Planning

This is both an internal document and a work in progress


Background

The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) is the non-profit charitable organization that operates Wikipedia. We are dedicated to encouraging growth, development, and distribution of free, multilingual content, and to providing the full content of these wiki-based projects to the public free of charge. In 2010, the Wikimedia Foundation developed a five-year strategic plan, which includes development of our mobile applications and properties as well as a geographic focus on India, Brazil, Russia, Turkey, and Egypt/Arabic speaking countries.

The Wikimedia Foundation currently maintains a mobile gateway (m.wikipedia.org) that allows users to access Wikipedia in different languages through mobile devices. Additionally, WMF also has an official iPhone application (which one, link?) which is downloaded ~150,000 times per month. There are also a number of third-party iPhone, iPad, and Android apps, the most popular of which include Wikipanion/Wikipanion Plus, Articles, and Quickpedia. We estimate that X% of Wikipedia users worldwide currently accesss Wikipedia through these mobile pathways.

Objectives

  • To get a broad understanding of how Wikipedia readers access, read, search, consume, or otherwise use Wikipedia content on mobile devices.
  • To observe and understand Wikipedia editor's current editing practices, with an emphasis on mobile devices but to also including desktop and laptop computers and other devices used in their editing processes.
  • To get insights on cultural and technical ecology of Wikipedia in different geographies and environments, specifically the US, India and Brazil. Specifically to identify notable behaviors; preferences; barriers; mobile + data services, brands, and platforms; and content delivery that can develop our mobile growth.
  • To identify both needs + opportunities for mobile accessibility and development in US, Brazil, and India that can be extended to our entire community and users.
  • To present needs + opportunities and prioritize in collaboration with the mobile business + design + development team.

Getting Involved

Please leave your general feedback, questions, comments or concerns here. If you have feedback about a more specific aspect of our work, please leave it on the associated "Discussion" or "Talk" page. We look forward to it!

Other ways to get involved:

  • One way to get involved
  • Another way to get involved
  • Or just to say hi.

Works in Progress

| India | User experience research conducted in New Delhi and Bangalore

  • For detailed description of the research and analysis, see India research project.

| Brazil | User experience research conducted in Sao Paulo and Salvador

  • For detailed description of the research and analysis, see Brazil research project.

| United States |User experience research conducted in San Francisco, Chicago and Dallas

  • For detailed description of the research and analysis, see US research project.

|Mobile Survey |Quantitative survey conducted in key geographies in nine languages

  • For detailed description of the methodology, community involvement, research and analysis, see home page of mobile survey.



Notes from Meetings

March 23


Related Work + Resources