As part of its ongoing commitment to cutting-edge software development for the MXit platform, Maxxor recently conducted an indepth survey of its core users. The research exercise was funded by Microsoft South Africa and the results provided some valuable insight into the preferences of MXit users and what apps they want to see available on the social network.
Kethan Parbhoo, Equivalent Programme Lead at Microsoft South Africa said, “We funded the research to help Maxxor understand its customers even better. The results will help Maxxor prepare a roadmap for future product development.”
Maxxor, a software development company, has been developing games for the MXit platform for more than two years and they’ve entertained well in excess of one-million MXit users with at least one of their apps to date. As Adrian Frielinghaus, Head of Online Games at Maxxor, explains, “One of the things we‘re asking ourselves is, ‘What apps, besides games, do MXit users want?’ We ran a survey amongst our players and received an overwhelming response ““ almost 30,000 people completed a 30-question survey. That must be some kind of world record for mobile research, and the results offered us some unique insights.”
As it turns out, MXit users don‘t care too much for news headlines.What they do care about is hooking up, having fun, and finding out what their favourite celebrity got up to last night. Therefore in order to appeal to this unique market, MXit app developers need to continually create content that amuses, entertains and connects its users.
Perhaps the best news for mobile software developers is that MXit users don‘t mind paying for apps as long as you give them exactly what they want. As Frielinghaus says, “This is precisely because MXit has spent years carefully grooming its users to buy virtual goods with virtual currency. This is made even easier by allowing them to easily convert their airtime into virtual MXit currency.”
In terms of user devices, as might be expected, MXit users mostly use Nokia and Samsung handsets but it is interesting to note that 11% of Maxxor’s MXit users own BlackBerries. This challenges some speculation that rapid BBM growth in the teen and youth market has been detrimental to the MXit platform. This is encouraging news for developers considering the iPhone and BlackBerry platforms, because MXit provides an ideal way to get an app to the front of the mass market queue. The Maxxor research explains exactly what sort of apps will prove successful.
Almost 75% of Maxxor’s surveyed users are accessing the web at least once a day on their mobile phones. In other words, the traditional MXit user is no longer trapped in a “œwalled garden“. Software developers need to realise that MXit is now part of a greater Internet experience for mobile phone users.
Watch the BandwidthBlog interview with MXit CEO Alan Knott-Craig.
