With evolving bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trends and the prevalence of consumer mobility captured by the Mobile Mind Shift Index, the lines between personal and work mobility have blurred. I see this every day that I take the train to work, watching information workers seamlessly shift from Candy Crush Saga to their work email on their mobile devices.

For years, Forrester has measured consumers’ use of technology in their personal lives and their work through its Consumer and Business Technographics® surveys. This year, we began to address the intersection of these spheres, comparing a worker’s relative mobility at home with their mobility at work. Specifically, we analyzed the extent to which information workers across 10 countries use mobile devices at work and at home, leading to four segments based on their relative mobility in each sphere:

This analysis found that nearly one-third of global information workers fall into two segments: the Mobile-Compelled – high mobility at work but not in their personal life; and the Mobile-Ready – high mobility in their personal life but not at home. This highlights how mobility at home does not automatically translate to mobility at work.

This mobility mismatch has big implications in the age of the customer. For example:

  • Mobile-Ready workers have the right attitude but not the tools. These workers embrace mobility but lack mobile tools at work. Consider a salesperson who doesn’t have a tablet on the floor: She can’t help customers with in-depth product information, reviews, and comparison tools, losing the opportunity to meaningfully engage with the potential buyer.
  • Mobile-Compelled workers have the tools but won’t adequately express mobile’s value. In this case, the worker is empowered with mobile tools at work, but his lack of personal mobility can quickly translate into a lack of passion or knowledge about the mobile capabilities your brand has designed to help customers.

In both of these examples, a company’s opportunity to create mobile moments with customers is lost. In a business environment where Customer Experience Index scores have become stronger and increasingly competitive, businesses can’t afford to lose customers due to missed mobile moments.

Whether you’re focusing on enabling consumers or information workers for mobile moments, understanding the intersection of personal and work mobility can illuminate the strategy that will make mobile a powerful extension of value for your organization.