April 2013

Social media websites and apps are going through a period of upheaval as they face the twin challenges of growing (or maintaining) usage, and monetizing their service. Traditionally, success stories like Facebook and Twitter have focused on consumer needs in terms of user experience and …

TVs are ubiquitous in developed-country households. We stare at our TV screens to unwind, escape, be informed, and learn. Since 2004, our data shows that 60 million flat-panel TV sets have been sold in the UK, bringing the total market value in 2012 to £2.6 billion (approximately €3 billion). …

Although we saw Electric Vehicle (EV) sales grow by 15% between 2011 and 2012, the numbers of EVs sold in 2012 was little over 1000 in a market of over 2 million sales. So we have growth but the growth hasn’t lived up to expectations. Why? Despite most people understanding the …

Testing in-car infotainment systems forces us to rethink the way we evaluate new features. Not only should new features be easy to learn and use, they also need to be safe to use while driving. But how can we test a feature for its impact on safety? When considering the user experience (UX) …

Roper Reports® Worldwide has been following with interest the trend that consumers around the globe are becoming more and more curious about the world around them and are increasingly eager to explore these new things. The personal value of curiosity has increased by +10 ranks globally since …

The gaming industry is bigger today than the movie and music industries by yearly revenue. With constant innovation it’s possible that a golden age of gaming is on the horizon. Triple A titles have budgets equivalent to Hollywood movies, along with the best writers, voice actors and …

Americans continue to take small steps when it comes to environmental protection, but in the past five years there haven’t been many major breakthroughs to really super-charge “green” behaviors on a mass scale.  Insights from GfK’s Green Gauge ® survey point to growth in many green behaviors …

“Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution.” – Ansel Adams, Photographer Smart photography We have been carrying around camera-phones for many years, but the poor image quality seen in early …

When it comes to improving the user experience, sometimes we needn’t look any further than our own backyards. Through an ethnographic lens, we can see features that promote a positive user experience by deconstructing our attraction to a piece of artwork. For example, take Cloud Gate – the …

The mobile revolution is happening astoundingly quickly. Smartphone penetration is now well over 50%* and 30%* of Americans now own a tablet – which is pretty amazing, considering that the iPad was only introduced three years ago. Given the impressive growth and penetration of smartphones …

With over 25 million smartphones sold over the last 5 years and the increased share of ultra-mobile laptops and media tablets, mobility is a hot topic. Working from home, remote access, reduced cost of wireless data plans and improved security have all lead to functional design changes in …

Last month, we spoke about some key trends and challenges for mobile advertising at this year’s Media Playground event in London. Here’s some of what we covered. Technology has dictated the pace of change and we've done our best to keep up - but there's a strong argument that mobile …