Mobile MSN Messenger: Still a Complement?

• Main Authors: Marcus Nyberg, Didier Chincholle
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: International Association of Online Engineering (IAOE) 2008-10-01
• Series: International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies
• Subjects: user; experience; mobile; phones; chat; text; messaging; multi-device; services
• Online Access: http://online-journals.org/i-jim/article/view/670

In order to understand how mobile instant messaging services can fit into the users’ current communication behavior, Ericsson Research performed a qualitative user study in Sweden in May 2007. The results showed that the respondents were positive towards (free of charge) mobile MSN Messenger and perceived it as an ex¬tension of the computer-based version that could be used anywhere. However, although MSN Messenger on the com¬puter definitely was considered as a ‘must-have’ application, the mobile version was only perceived as a ‘nice-to-have’ application and a complement to text mes¬saging (SMS). Almost one year later, in April 2008, Ericsson Research performed a short qualita¬tive follow-up study with the same set of respondents to un¬derstand if and how the mobile MSN Messenger usage had changed. The results actually revealed that none of the re¬spondents used mobile MSN Messenger anymore as the application no longer was free of charge. On a general level, the study highlights important considera¬tions when intro¬ducing computer-based concepts and Internet services in a mo¬bile environment.