Mobile Usability – Designing for baby faces Ekta Rohra Jafri & Sunandini Basu, ACL Wireless Limited Aug 2006

Real users, real problems Varsha, 24, web designer Uses a Nokia 3220 Uses the inbuilt browser Wants to use the Opera Mini browser Opera Mini is installed but cannot connect to the network

Varsha, 24, web designer

Uses a Nokia 3220

Uses the inbuilt browser

Wants to use the Opera Mini browser

Opera Mini is installed but cannot connect to the network

Real users, real problems Dr.Ian, 45, surgeon Uses a pager and a mobile phone Owns a K500i Messages instructions to his secretary while travelling between clinic and hospitals Found T9 dictionary very easy to use But cannot find out how to turn it on

Dr.Ian, 45, surgeon

Uses a pager and a mobile phone

Owns a K500i

Messages instructions to his secretary while travelling between clinic and hospitals

Found T9 dictionary very easy to use

But cannot find out how to turn it on

Introduction to Usability Users should be able to -  Understand  Learn  Remember easily  Complete tasks efficiently  Feel satisfied Jakob Nielsen describes usability as “ ..a combination of Learnability, Errors, Satisfaction and Memorability..”.

Users should be able to -

 Understand

 Learn

 Remember easily

 Complete tasks efficiently

 Feel satisfied

Jakob Nielsen describes usability as

“ ..a combination of Learnability, Errors, Satisfaction and Memorability..”.

Importance of usability Ease of use doesn't come from wishful thinking… Jakob Neilson

Return on Investment Sales / conversion rate 100 % User performance / productivity 161 % Traffic / visitor count 150 % Use of specific (target) features 202 % Improvements seen on the web Based on data from 863 design projects

Sales / conversion rate 100 %

User performance / productivity 161 %

Traffic / visitor count 150 %

Use of specific (target) features 202 %

Improvements seen on the web

Based on data from 863 design projects

Usability on the mobile – What is it? Nothing is more fun than seeing your Web page (or application) nestled nicely into a teeny tiny handheld screen; and nothing is more excruciatingly horrendous than trying to figure out how to get it there. Heidi Pollok (WebMonkey)

The mobile context  Contextual content  Personalization – always on  Compact  Easy navigation  Security The challenge is how to respond to the user who wants to pull a device out of his pocket, perform a task, and put it away again.

 Contextual content

 Personalization – always on

 Compact

 Easy navigation

 Security

The challenge is how to respond to the user who wants to pull a device out of

his pocket, perform a task, and put it away again.

A tough job!

Myth: Mobile = Desktop  Lower resources  Limited spatial ability  Huge variety of Mobiles  Multi-tasking not possible  Deeper penetration

 Lower resources

 Limited spatial ability

 Huge variety of Mobiles

 Multi-tasking not possible

 Deeper penetration

Myth: mobile internet = Internet on mobile Optimize content for the web Developing for mobile = pain! Wall garden vs. open garden

Optimize content for the web

Developing for mobile = pain!

Wall garden vs. open garden

Facts to consider "It's easy to make things difficult, but difficult to make things easy"

"It's easy to make things difficult, but difficult to make things easy"

User interaction Always available Highly personalized Small attention spans Economic factors Secondary function Small screens, big advantages, bigger obstacles!

Always available

Highly personalized

Small attention spans

Economic factors

Secondary function

Directions for Design "Know thy user, and you are not thy user."

"Know thy user, and you are not thy user."

Questions to ask yourself What is the application’s focus? Do we know WHAT the user wants to do here? How can we provide the user with localized services? Can we make the application so that it is as personalized or customizable for the user? Is there a way to get the user to his goal even faster? Or simpler?

What is the application’s focus? Do we know WHAT the user wants to do here?

How can we provide the user with localized services?

Can we make the application so that it is as personalized or customizable for the user?

Is there a way to get the user to his goal even faster? Or simpler?

Thank you 17 Community Centre East of Kailash New Delhi 110065 India Phone: +91.11.26438813-16 Fax: +91.11.26438825 Email: info@acl-wireless.com Web: www.acl-wireless.com