Industry overview
What is shaping internet services
Broadband providers, platforms and digital businesses depend on adoption, experience and trust. Usage patterns differ widely by city tier, age and language.
- New users are coming online in smaller towns and local languages
- Experience and reliability drive loyalty
- Trust and safety concerns shape usage
Client background
A digital payments and services platform, working in Malaysia & Indonesia. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A digital payments and services platform
- Sector
- Internet services
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Consumer panel, Quantitative research, UI/UX design
Client challenge
Users downloaded the app but used only one or two services, limiting growth. The platform offered payments, bill payments, food delivery and transport, but most users stuck to one service.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: understanding super-app users in South-East Asia.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of users.
- Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 8 weeks.
Target audience
The work focused on 2,500 users.
- users2,500
Audiences we typically reach in internet services
Broadband and app usersNew internet usersSmall businesses onlineContent creatorsParents and educators
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Malaysia & Indonesia. Markets: Malaysia and Indonesia.
- Malaysia
- Indonesia
Research methodology
A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.
- 1Brief
- 2Online survey
- 3Usability testing
- 4Insight
We surveyed users about service awareness and usage, and tested navigation with users in Malay, Bahasa Indonesia and English. Usability sessions asked users to complete tasks such as paying a bill or booking a ride, and we recorded where they hesitated. The survey measured which services users knew about and which they had tried.
Consumer panelQuantitative researchUI/UX design
Sampling strategy
- users
- 2,500
- Online respondents were drawn from verified panel members who matched the screening criteria, with quotas on key profile attributes.
- Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.
Data collection
- usability sessions
- 24
- The online survey was mobile-friendly and offered in respondents' languages.
- Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.
Data quality & validation
- Digital fingerprinting and duplicate checks
- Attention, speed and straight-lining checks
- Review of open-ended answers
- Recordings and transcripts for every session
- Re-screening of qualitative recruits
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
- Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
- Journey and decision mapping
Key findings
- Users did not discover services hidden in menus.
Discoverability limited growth more than demand.
Recommendations
- The platform redesigned its home screen around personalised suggestions.
- The platform repeated usability testing after each major release.
What we recommended, and the client put into practice
Business impact
- Use of additional services increased after the home screen redesign, and the company used the research approach for new markets.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: what drives adoption in new markets?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.