2. A Study on Future User Needs and
Innovative Smart Phone Features
A thesis Submitted to
Dalian Maritime University
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Engineering
By
Fan Wangbin
(Computer Applied Technology)
Thesis Supervisor: Professor Liu Zhengjie
February, 2007
5. 英 文 摘 要
A Study on Future User Needs and Innovative Smart Phone Features
Abstract
With the development of the ubiquitous computing, 3G, Web2.0 and the trend of
3C integration, smart phone will become a dominant form of the digital product in the
future. Nevertheless, unlike other digital products, the mobile context and its own
limited resources (such as screen and input device size) of the smartphone result in the
different interaction style and unique essential user needs. Commissioned by the
Lenovo Corporate Rearch & Development, we start user needs and interaction styles
research on smart phone and alike mobile terminal equipment for the next 3-5 years.
The research include literature review, target user definition, use context and
behavioral variable analysis, user needs analysis, validation scenarios design and
validation by the user. First, we investigate more than 100 related literatures for the
purpose of understanding the current status and trends in the field. Then, refering the
relevant market research reports, we identify the target user group. In the use context
analysis phase, we collect the subject user data by user diary/culture prob and
one-on-one interview in Dalian and Beijing, then conclude the set of behavior and
context variables. Based on different value of variables, we identify, outline and narrate
nine different Personas. Attached with different Personas, a total of 65 context scenarios
are constructed. Persona-based context scenarios figure personas in a series of
representative activities in a typical environment. According to personas and scenarios,
we analyse the user’s essential potential needs and propose the corresponding functions,
furthermore, followed with clustering, refining, assessing and prioritizing all user needs.
These smartphone user needs and the new functional design provide guidance for the
future development of mobile terminal equipment and a solid foundation for the
subsequent research work carried out.
In this thesis, the literature review, target user definition, use context and
behavioral variable analysis, user needs analysis had been completed, the design of
validation scenarios and validation by the user are ongoing. The first chapter is the
introduction of research background and the structure of the thesis; the second chapter is
the summary of related research in the field, including functions of mobile terminal,
6. 英 文 摘 要
researches on user needs/behavior patterns and UCD methodology; the third part of this
study is the definition of target user groups; in the fourth, it is about the data acquisition
in use context analysis phase, including subject selection and user recruitment by the
means of user diary/culture prob and one-on-one interview; Part five is about the data
processing and analysis of the context analysis phase, in this part, researchers analyse
the behavioral/contextual variables of target user groups; the sixth part is the analysis,
clustering and assessment of the user needs and corresponding new functional feature of
future mobile terminal based on the results of data analysis; the last section is the
conclusion of the research.
Key Words:Usability;Mobile Terminal;User Need;Innovative Feature;UCD