Participants on smartphones see a forum view optimized for mobile.
The mobile view has almost all the functionality available in desktop view. Participants can post, reply, vote, star posts, and upload images from their smartphones, just as they can from their computers. However, the mobile view is optimized for the smaller screens on smartphones. Bigger buttons and controls allow participants to make selections on touch screens more easily.
You can edit or remove posts in mobile view. However, most moderation functionality is available in desktop view only.
Mobile-optimized forums can broaden the horizons of your qualitative research. For example, you can encourage participants to contribute to your forum while roaming, or take advantage of smartphone capabilities to run ethnographic studies.
Example: Mobile forums and ethnographic studies
You want to learn more about the beauty products women carry around
and use daily. For your forum, you ask participants to answer the question
Which beauty products do you have in your purse right now?
by
uploading a photo from their smartphones. When you review the photos, you can
see the types of products participants have. You can also encourage
participants to explain why they like the products in the photos, thereby
encouraging further discussion.