Mobile | Usability Evaluation

Introduction

Mobile devices are very different from PC's. People do not use wireless applications to access the same information or perform the same functions as they would with a PC. Due to certain limitations (constrained screen real estate, low bandwidth and difficulty inputting data) a user's ability to access and process available information easily is impeded. This means that usability assumes an even greater importance than it does for Internet and other applications.

Mobile applications must be designed to provide navigation that is easy to follow, consistent, and intuitive. Even the most powerful mobile application is likely to experience uptake problems if it has not been systematically tested with real users.

Our service enables application producers to distil the functionality that is likely to work very early in the project lifecycle. Identifying and resolving usability issues early in the life cycle can mean significant cost savings later in development.

Our specialised laboratory, hardware and software enable us to effectively evaluate the usability of applications on handheld PC's, PDA's and Wireless phones.

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The Process

We recruit a representative sample of the applications' target audience and ask them to perform a series of tasks that are typical of those a user would attempt in the real world (for example Using a banking application a task may be: Check your current account balance). While performing the tasks (at our state of the art usability facilities or at your location using our mobile testing lab) the users are observed and recorded. Afterwards participants are interviewed to gather further information about their experience.

We use specialised software to both collect and interpret participant behaviours. In addition to identifying usability problems our approach enables us to make recommendations to rectify them. These recommendations allow action to be taken the very same day.

We provide three key deliverables:

1. Usability Report - detailed document outlining our methodology, results and their interpretation plus actionable recommendations.
    
2. Video highlights - edited video clips of the most informative parts of the tests.
    
3. Presentation - an oral presentation communicating the most important findings and recommendations.

If you would like to discuss how a programme of usability research can be used to improve the performance of your wireless application please call or email us and a consultant will be happy to talk with you.

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© The Usability Company 2007