Sideways Takes The Measure Of iPad UsersBy Eliza Wing
Less than half a year into the launch of the iPad, publishers and developers are looking for insight on the usage of the device. Yes, we know that the device is selling like veritable hotcakes, but who is doing the buying? And once customers get their coveted iPad, what exactly are they doing with it?Nielsen released its recent survey in early August which indicated some good but maybe not so surprising news…. iPad users are high-earners (more than 35% earn more than $100k a year) and if you target your content to people between the ages of between 25-55 you will hit more than 60% of all iPad users.At Sideways, we are into the fourth issue of our digital magazine, aptly called…Sideways. We use the magazine to explore the form, the thinking being that the monthly release schedule pushes innovation and lets us experiment with our own content as opposed to a client’s product.In the June issue, we decided to run a survey on users who had downloaded the app. A key learning emerged from the very act of running the survey as an in-app download. People will download and respond to an update. In fact, it seems easier to get people to respond in-app than to get them to download something entirely new. We previously reported on those results. In that first survey we were looking for some initial demographic information – age, male, female and content interests. The results came back with a relatively early adopter profile, mostly male and more interested in technology, music and gaming than sports, fashion and relationships.In the next survey – the results of which were just released last week – we used a similar approach. We updated our July issue with a survey that asked our readers where they are finding apps and how they use their iPad.93.3% of people use their iPad while relaxing; 70.5% of people use their iPad while watching television; 60.2% of people use their iPad while traveling. The percentages drop off from there and respondents could pick more than one activity. Still, we were a little non-plussed when two of the users actually admitted to using their iPads while driving.We were especially curious to see how people actually find apps. This is a key question for producers of apps since there is simply no way to game the App Store search and the search itself is, to put it mildly, not a particularly satisfying experience. Certainly, we hoped that folks would say they use Google when searching. That would mean that all the content producers who have spent time and resources getting familiar with SEO would be able to implement that same understanding in the release of their apps. But no – 78.7% of people search for apps on the device and that means, dear readers, that you have to use as many other avenues to get your app as high as possible in the App Store as swiftly as possible so that it will get noticed.Sideways will continue to ask readers pertinent questions about their habits as we all work toward producing meaningful, high-quality apps that resonate with an audience that keeps on growing and growing and growing . . .