Trends on Tuesday: I Want It Now

Is mobile changing us?


The rapid adoption of cell phones and, especially, the spread of internet-connected smartphones are changing people’s communications with others and their relationships with information. Users’ ability to access data immediately through apps and web browsers and through contact with their social networks is creating a new culture of real-time information seekers and problem solvers. — Pew Report
Just-in-time Information through Mobile Connections




The Pew Study found that in the previous 30 days


• 41% of cell phone owners used their phone to coordinate a get-together.
• 35% used their phone to solve an unexpected problem.
• 30% used their phone to decide whether to visit a business, like a restaurant
• 27% used their phone to get information to help settle an argument.
• 23% used their phone to look up a sports scores.
• 20% used their phone to find the fastest way to get somewhere–including up-to-the-minute traffic.
• 19% used their phone to get help in an emergency situation.

In all, 70% of cell phone owners –62% of the entire adult population–used their phone in the previous month to do at least one of these real-time searches.

Use Case for Government

What does “A new culture of real-time information seekers and problem solvers” mean? It means that for government to meet it’s obligations to citizens, it’s not “business as usual” shoehorned into a mobile device, but providing information in real-time to help people solve their problems.

Government should approach all services use cases by asking, “What does the citizen want to do or know, and where are they when they are asking?” Successful service delivery will be based on getting these answers right and then solving for that problem.


**reposted from the
Mobile Gov Blog from the Office of Citizen Services & Innovative Technologies at GSA**