Mobile contribution research

Problem statement:
In pursuit of the “New content” program in the Audiences department FY18/19 Annual plan, the desired outcome (Outcome 3: mobile contribution)is:


 * “It is easier for someone to contribute productively to Wikimedia projects on a mobile device, leading to more mobile edits and higher retention.”

In order to provide a clearer understanding of why people contribute to Wikipedia (or don’t) on mobile devices,  and what functionality and features “make the most sense” to provide for new and experienced contributors on mobile devices, this research is being implemented. Specifically, the outcomes of this work will answer the following questions for the Wikimedia Foundation mobile platform product teams (including apps and mobile web)


 * 1) Why do (and don’t) new and experienced Wikipedia contributors use mobile devices for contribution?
 * 2) Which types of contribution workflows and tasks make the most sense to provided on mobile devices?
 * 3) Which tasks should exist on mobile devices?
 * 4) How much of the ecosystem should exist on mobile?

Research Goals

 * Provide a summary of previous research informing: “Why do (and don’t) new and experienced Wikipedia contributors use mobile devices for contribution?”
 * List of all the workflows in the contribution taxonomy which score well on “mobileability” criteria - to inform which workflows and tasks “make sense” to have on mobile platforms
 * Provide answers to  “Why do (and don’t) new and experienced Wikipedia contributors use mobile devices for contribution?”
 * Set of findings and recommendations synthesized from primary research and secondary research


 * Provide a clear perspective, backed by data, on “How much of the ecosystem should exist on mobile?”

Research findings
To be updated when research is complete

September 2018

 * Project brief completed, and project begun.
 * Gathering a group of people from the Audiences team who are working on improving mobile contribution features and functionality to be on the steering committee.
 * Gathering previous research and beginning to read and summarize any relevant findings to inform this research.

October 2018

 * held the first steering committee meeting
 * reviewed prior research to inform survey design
 * drafted survey design (informed by prior research)
 * coordinated with product analysts to pull a selection of random mobile edits from En, Fr, Hi, Cz and Ko Wikipedias in order to categorize those edits and get an idea of what kind of contribution people do on mobile devices. (mobile edit categorization will definitely be done on time for the En:wiki to inform the survey, but might not find resources to tag mobile edits in other wikis. This content can be used if we do the survey for other language wikis)
 * Working with product analyst to pull a list of new and experienced contributors to invite to participate in survey.