Mobile Web Stress Understanding the neurological impact

of poor web performance

Tammy Everts

@tameverts

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1 Why care about mobile web performance?

2 Why neuroscientific mobile testing?

3 What is emotional engagement research?

4 How did we perform our study?

5 What kinds of insights did we gain?

It’s a mobile-first world.

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eMarketer, June 2014

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55% of all time spent on retail sites takes place on a mobile device.

comScore, October 2013

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Stuart McMillan, Schuh’s Journey to RWD (Conversion Conference 2013)

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By 2017, retail mcommerce is expected to hit $113 billion – 26% of total ecommerce sales.

eMarketer, September 2013

Keynote, 2012 Mobile User Survey

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Mobile shopping cart abandonment rate is 39% greater than desktop rate.

2013 Google I/O

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Case study: The impact of HTML delay on mobile business metrics

Skava/Harris Interactive, 2013

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Two things are slowing down your site for mobile

(and they’re completely beyond your control).

Latency – can range

from 35 milliseconds

to 350+ milliseconds

per resource (e.g. images,

CSS files)

Connection – 3G can be

up to 15 times slower

than broadband

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RWD is awesome, but it *can* come

with performance penalties.

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Why neuroscientific mobile testing?

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• 2010 EEG study of desktop

users

• Throttled connection from 5MB

to 2MB

• Found that participants had to

concentrate up to 50% harder

• Afterward, participants reported

negative brand associations

“95% of the consumer’s

decisions are made at the

subconscious level.”

Dr. Gerald Zaltman, Harvard UniversityExecutive Committee of Harvard University’s

Mind, Brain and Behavior Interfaculty Initiative

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The problem with surveys…

Traditional research relies on eliciting post-cognitive

responses.

But thinking and talking about emotions changes and

distorts them.

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Simplified cognitive timeline

Five benefits of neuroscientific testing

1 Evaluates think/feel (not say)

2 Quantified data

3 Moment-by-moment interaction

4 Cause-and-effect triggers

5 Fresh, deeper insights

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EEG Emotional Engagement Study:

How We Did It

Our research team

Seren – leaders in customer experience & service design

NeuroStrata – expert consultants in blending

neuromarketing applications

Neurosense – global leader in implicit methodologies

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The brands we tested

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Our test subjects

• 24 participants (12 male and 12 female)

• Pre-screened to ensure normal cognitive

functioning

• Experienced mobile device users

• Did not know they were part of a performance

study

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Methodology

• Standardized set of shopping tasks (browsing and

checkout)

• Testers served sites over one of two speeds:

– normal Wifi

– artificial 500ms delay

• Using EEG headset and eyetracker, measured moment-

by-moment responses

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Why test a 500ms delay?

Case study: The impact of HTML delay on mobile business metrics

500ms delay: Peak frustration results

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500ms delay: Average engagement results

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Impact of site speed on post-test brand association

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If pages aren’t fast, everything suffers.

Content “boring”

Visual design “tacky” and “confusing”

Navigation “frustrating” and “hard-to-navigate”

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Bonus Study: Implicit Response Test The effect of loading speed

on brand perception

We react faster to congruent stimuli

than incongruent stimuli.

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https://www.projectimplicit.net/index.html

Two-part methodology

1 Pre-test

2 Test

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Implicit pre-test

Two brands – Easyjet and

Ryanair – were measured

against 24 attributes.

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Implicit pre-test: Brand mapping

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Implicit pre-test: Purchase intent

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Implicit test

1 Participants then viewed one of two videos depicting a flight

selection/booking process:

• Normal

• Slow (500ms delay per page)

2 Each brand is measured again against the same 24

attributes.

3 Difference between normal and slow indicates effect of speed

on brand perception.

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EasyJet: Impact of 500ms slowdown on each dimension

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EasyJet: Impact of 500ms slowdown on each attribute

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Ryanair: Impact of 500ms slowdown on each dimension

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Ryanair: Impact of 500ms slowdown on each attribute

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Brand perception summary

• 500ms delay triggered downward shift in perception for both

companies.

• Overall, EasyJet enjoyed a more positive brand perception.

Therefore the impact on EasyJet was greater than on Ryanair.

• Impact varied across attributes for each brand:

– EasyJet site suffered more in Purchase Intent and Functional attributes.

– Ryanair suffered more in Warmth/Friendliness dimensions.

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Takeaways

1 Slower web performance has a clear, measurable impact on

people at a neurological level.

2 People feel “web stress” even when shopping under ideal

conditions.

3 Slow sites can seriously undermine overall brand health.

4 The nature and scale of impact varies, depending on a

number of factors (e.g. inherent strength/weakness of brand).

5 Greatest risk is to purchase intent.

6 Excellent opportunities to strengthen overall brand by

investing in performance optimization.

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http://www.radware.com/mobile-eeg2013/

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Sources

Web Stress: A Wake-Up Call for European Business (Foviance, 2010)

http://www.ca.com/us/~/media/files/supportingpieces/final_webstress_survey_report_229296.aspx

2013 Social & Mobile Commerce Consumer Report (Shop.org / comScore)

http://shop.org/research/original/2013-social-mobile-commerce-consumer-report

2012 Mobile User Survey (Keynote)

http://www.keynote.com/docs/reports/Keynote-2012-Mobile-User-Survey.pdf

2013 State of the Union: Mobile Ecommerce Performance (Radware)

http://www.radware.com/mobile-sotu2013/

The Danger of a Poor Mobile Shopping Experience [INFOGRAPHIC]

http://www.getelastic.com/the-danger-of-a-poor-mobile-shopping-experience-infographic/

Case study: The impact of HTML delay on mobile business metrics (Web Performance Today, November 2011)

http://www.webperformancetoday.com/2011/11/23/case-study-slow-page-load-mobile-business-metrics/

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Questions?

Tammy Everts

@tameverts

tammye@radware.com

webperformancetoday.com