Wait a second to watch a video on your smartphone? Impossible... I get stressed!

Según un estudio neurocientífico impulsado por Ericsson y Vodafone entre usuarios alemanes 7 de cada 10 encuestados dejan de ver vídeos si tardan más de 4 segundos en descargarse.

Hasta los mínimos retrasos e interferencias pueden elevar el nivel de tensión y estrés del usuario, repecutir negativamente en su fidelidad e incluso en la imagen de marca del operador. Estas son algunas de las conclusiones de un proyecto de investigación desarrollado por Ericsson y Vodafone Alemania, que han utilizado la neurociencia para estudiar la opinión real de los usuarios de banda ancha sobre el bajo rendimiento de la red.

The project used electroencephalography (EEG) to monitor the brain activity of 150 users who volunteered in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Users who participated in the study were asked to complete 13 specific tasks in 10 minutes using a smartphone, while simulating a deterioration in service quality. The tasks included common actions, such as browsing web pages, watching streaming videos, and uploading selfies. In addition to the EEG, eye-tracking equipment and heart rate monitors were used to measure the users' attention span and heart rate.

Según el estudio, los consumidores tienen altas expectativas sobre el tiempo que tardan en disponer del contenido, de modo que incluso un segundo de retraso a la hora de descargar un vídeo puede provocar estrés.

Un 72% de los usuarios ”millenials” (nativos digitales) de smartphones en Alemania pierden interés en ver vídeos en dispositivos móviles si los retrasos superan los 4 segundos. Es más: un retraso de solo dos segundos al subir un selfie a Facebook basta para provocar estrés.

Nativos digitales

Younger digital natives were found to be less tolerant of delays in downloading videos on YouTube; On average, users between 18 and 24 years old are 38% more stressed than those over 35.

Guido Weißbrich, Director of Network Performance at Vodafone Germany, says: "The study shows how quickly smartphone users become frustrated when a broadband network is not working optimally. A delay of just one second when downloading or uploading content has a significant negative impact on the user experience, so streaming services have to do everything to prevent content from slowing down or stopping."

In order to analyze how it affected user loyalty and brand image, the study was complemented with a questionnaire that respondents filled out before and after carrying out the tasks.

Bradley Mead, Director of Managed Services and Network Design and Optimization at Ericsson's Network Services unit, says: "It is essential for operators to understand how people really feel about the service they provide and how it impacts their day-to-day lives. We now have valuable data that can be used to optimize and organize networks to improve the experience when using popular applications."