Mobile and wireless devices

Discussion articles

  • Advanced handsets need advanced UIs
    "As mobile phones become more capable, people are using them to store an increasingly wider variety and greater quantity of data. This raises a new problem for designers of handset user interfaces: how do you let owners find what they're looking for in a coherent and friendly manner?"
    (Tom Hume)

  • Deconstructing the mobile web
    "The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that the mobile Web is largely overplayed hype--the clumsy extrapolation of the behavior and use of a basic set of interfaces from one environment to another incompatible one. As a result of this broken mental model of mobile computing, we are not taking advantage of the real potential this technology offers."
    (Dirk Knemeyer - UX Matters)

  • Designing for small screens
    "This is an extract from "Designing for Small Screens: Mobile Phones, Smart Phones, PDAs, Pocket PCs, Navigation Systems, MP3 Players, Game Consoles", by Carola Zwick, Burkhard Schmitz and Kerstin Kuhl."
    (Ann Light - Usability News)

  • Designing mobile applications with customer data
    The ongoing transformation of the role of mobile devices is leading to more and more discussion about the best way to include the customer in the design process. Do the traditional methods work, or do they need to be transformed as the technology transforms? What is the best way to include the customer in the design process? What is the appropriate environment for gathering data, given that unlike most software applications or hardware, the device and a given application can be used in a multitude of locations? When does the form factor type change the data collection and testing process?

  • Effects of interface design on mobile, group behaviour
    Groups are increasingly using mobile devices to coordinate larger group activities. These groups are often mobile and the devices they use enable new patterns of movement and cooperative action. The structure of these groups can be ad-hoc and heterarchical presenting new possibilities for rapid, democratic interaction. The interface of these technologies greatly impacts what types of communications are possible and has the potential to encourage certain types of behaviour. Several case studies showing interfaces affecting behaviour are introduced and ethical considerations are brought up for discussion

  • Go mobile! Representative wireless usability tests
    The biggest challenge facing those attempting representative usability evaluations of wireless devices is the simple fact that wireless systems, untethered by copper wire, coaxial, or fiber optic cables, have been specifically designed to support spontaneous use. They are devices that, according to the marketing hype, go where you go. They're available for your use whenever and wherever you, in your own unique and personal way, need them to be.

  • Horrible wireless user experiences in 5 easy steps
    Follow the recommendations below, and we guarantee that you'll create an absolutely horrible user experience for your users.

  • Living la vida virtual: interfaces of the near future
    "Personal computing is in an awkward adolescence right now. On one hand, we are rapidly moving into ubiquitous computing environments that let people constantly interact with the omnipresent network; on the other, the devices and interfaces we are using to enter these new frontiers provide woefully inadequate user experiences. Let’s take a look at one of the key technologies that will take mobile user experiences to the next level: holography."
    (Dirk Knemeyer - UXmatters)

  • Maximising user experience of the mobile Internet
    The user experience of the Mobile Internet changed dramatically when larger, color displays were introduced in mobile phones. And with a GPRS (General Packet Radio System) connection, browsing is quicker and more suitable for mobile use. Now a user can always stay connected without blocking incoming calls, and s/he normally does not pay for the waiting time but only for the received content.

  • Mobile devices: one generation from useful
    New mobile devices show a huge improvement over previous generations, but they're still not good enough to score a real win. To get there, we need both PC-integrated applications and specialised mobile services rather than repurposed website content.

  • Mobile research methods
    A comparison of methods for understanding mobile behaviour to inform technology design.

  • Mobile: the state of the art
    The world of mobile phones is a jungle of technologies with few established standards that, in some ways, resembles the early days of personal computing. Here the author presents an impressionistic landscape of this world, a glimpse of the near future, and thoughts on what it might mean for information architects.

  • Mobile UI design patterns
    A collection of patterns from Martijn van Welie.

  • Mobile user interfaces rant: simplicity, hierarchy and cruft prevention
    Here's the thing about mobile GUIs - they have to be simple. The best example of this is the iPod. There's not a lot of people who have problems or get lost using the iPod's hierarchical user interface. Instead of navigating buttons, menus, tabs, and sections, you simply move from screen to screen in a clean, easy to remember way. It's genius.

  • Move it or lose it: WAP and WML
    Creating wireless pages is like reverting to childhood--it's creative and simple because in many cases, the design process is very similar to what I was doing in the web's early days. Paradoxically, a few of the technical issues that designers and developers must anticipate in wireless design relate to more logical and complex methods and languages.

  • No wires attached: usability challenges in the connected mobile world (PDF)
    Since mobility imposes significant cognitive and ergonomic constraints affecting device and application usability, ease of use is central to devices in the fully mobile wirelessly connected (FMWC) world. In this paper, we consider mobility as an attribute both of the computer and the user. We explain the differences between transportable and fully mobile devices, and we contrast applications that are essentially FMWC applications, those that can be adapted to the FMWC context, and those that are unsuitable for it. We discuss the unique challenges to usability for mobile users and devices and their interaction, and we point out the increasingly critical role of usability in the mobile environment.

  • Pocket-sized design: taking your website to the small screen
    Among the many websites that are out there, few are standards-compliant. Among those few, only a handful sport style sheets adjusted to the needs of handheld devices. Of those which do offer styling for handhelds, not all will fit the smallest, lowest-resolution screens without presenting the user with the ultimate handheld horror: namely, horizontal scrolling. This article presents a set of general suggestions for creating a handheld-friendly style sheet that works well even on handheld screens no wider than 120

  • Reflections on the user centered design perspective in research on wireless applications
    In order to play an influential role in research and practice, UCD communities should implement new methods and tools into current practices and advance the boundaries of the field.

  • Small screens, big lessons
    This website is the companion to the "Small Screens, Big Lessons" seminar series, which examines the various beneficial design elements that can be found in well-designed small screen interfaces. Many of the approaches and ideas found in the user interfaces for small screens can also serve as the basis for designing more effective desktop applications and websites.

  • Solving mobile challenges with psychology-driven IA
    As the field of information architecture matures, we are beginning to understand the new challenges it raises for wireless media. This article suggests that some of these challenges can be best addressed through an approach called "psychology-driven information architecture", which bases design decisions and solutions on the psychological profile of the end user.

  • The end-all guide to small-screen web-dev
    Heidi Pollock provides some guidelines on designing for handheld and small screen devices.

  • Turning less into more: how redesigning for a smaller display led to increased usability and sales
    Our product supports repair people who service heating, air conditioning, ventilation, and refrigeration. It allows them to use mobile devices to do tasks such as receiving a work order, tracking work, getting recommended repairs for a problem, updating parts inventory, and capturing the customer signature in the field so invoicing can immediately start. The solution has been in commercial use for over four years, running on handheld PCs (HPCs). Our task was to redesign the application to move from the handheld PC's 1/2 VGA display to the Pocket PC's 320x240 display.

  • Usability testing of mobile applications: a comparison between laboratory and field testing
    "Usability testing a mobile application in the laboratory seems to be sufficient when studying user interface and navigation issues. The usability of a consumer application was tested in two environments: in a laboratory and in a field with a total of 40 test users. The same problems were found in both environments, differences occurred in the frequency of findings between the contexts. Results indicate that conducting a time-consuming field test may not be worthwhile when searching user interface flaws to improve user interaction. In spite of this, it is possible that field testing is worthwhile when combining usability tests with a field pilot or contextual study where user behavior is investigated in a natural context."
    (Anne Kaikkonen, Aki Kekäläinen, Mikael Cankar, Titti Kallio, Anu Kankainen - Journal of Usability Studies)

  • W3C Mobile Web Initiative
    "The Mobile Web Initiative's goal is to make browsing the Web from mobile devices a reality", explains Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the Web. "W3C and mobile industry leaders are working together to improve Web content production and access for mobile users and the greater Web."

  • ZoneZoom
    Research from the Adaptive Systems and Interaction Group on user interfaces for small devices. The work here is presented in images, videos, Flash prototypes, and academic papers.

Research articles

  • A methodology using a microcamera for studying mobile IT usage and person mobility (PDF)
    While field studies based on participant observation are valuable for understanding technology use in a situated context, they become impractical if the technology is truly mobile. The goal of this research is to develop a method not to replace ethnomethodologically informed field studies, but to develop techniques for collecting and analysing data that are appropriate for mobile settings. Current methods fail to capture vital aspects of the technology use.

  • Comparing data input methods on handheld computers
    Three data entry methods (external keyboard, internal keyboard, or Graffiti2) were compared in terms of speed, accuracy and satisfaction. Results indicate that data entry was fastest on the external keyboard and slowest the Graffiti2 data entry method. Data entry was most accurate on the external keyboard for alpha-only and most accurate on the internal keyboard for numeric and alpha/numeric data. Participants generally reported greater satisfaction for the external keyboard than the other two methods.

  • Empirical evaluation of a popular cell phone's menu system: theory meets practice
    "A usability assessment entailing a paper prototype was conducted to examine menu selection theories on a small screen device by determining the effectiveness, efficiency, and user satisfaction of a popular cellular phone’s menu system. Outcomes of this study suggest that users prefer a less extensive menu structure on a small screen device. The investigation also covered factors of category classification and item labeling influencing user performance in menu selection. Research findings suggest that proper modifications in these areas could significantly enhance the system’s usability and demonstrate the validity of paper-prototyping which is capable of detecting significant differences in usability measures among various model designs."
    (Sheng-Cheng Huang, I-Fan Chou, Randolph G Bias - Journal of Usability Studies)

  • New techniques for evaluation of mobile systems (PDF)
    This paper presents and evaluates six techniques for evaluating the usability of mobile computer systems in laboratory settings. The purpose of these techniques is to facilitate systematic data collection in a controlled environment and support the identification of usability problems that are experienced in mobile use.
    (Jesper Kjeldskov, Jan Stage)

  • The effects of perceptual grouping on text entry performance
    One of the primary challenges confronting designers of mobile computing devices is the issue of efficient text entry. One potential solution is to group multiple letters onto single keys, similar to the T9 keyboard currently used on telephones. Two experiments examined the effects of perceptual grouping on soft keyboard transcription rates. Results from Experiment 1 showed significantly slower transcription rates for QWERTY keyboards with grouped keys. Results from Experiment 2 showed various levels of perceptual interference due to the different Gestalt grouping effects. These results indicate that perceptual grouping can negatively affect text entry performance, and placing multiple letters onto single keys reduces the speed at which users can transcribe words.

  • The impact of migration of data to small screens on navigation (PDF)
    The increased use and growing popularity of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) means users now have access to information on a variety of platforms. As people move or migrate between devices, from their desktops, to their laptops and to their PDAs, there is a need to maintain the integrity and context of information designed for the large screen when displayed on the small screen. Four common approaches to migration are outlined: direct migration, data modification, data suppression and data overview. For each approach, the potential impact on subsequent navigation of a web page is examined with different data types performing both simple tasks of browsing and reading and complex tasks of comparison using small screen devices. Based on this analysis, a chart compares navigation for different migration techniques and web tasks. The chart can be used to guide the migration of information from the large screen to the small screen and optimise navigation for specific tasks.

Case studies

  • Turning less into more: how redesigning for a smaller display led to increased usability and sales
    Our product supports repair people who service heating, air conditioning, ventilation, and refrigeration. It allows them to use mobile devices to do tasks such as receiving a work order, tracking work, getting recommended repairs for a problem, updating parts inventory, and capturing the customer signature in the field so invoicing can immediately start. The solution has been in commercial use for over four years, running on handheld PCs (HPCs). Our task was to redesign the application to move from the handheld PC's 1/2 VGA display to the Pocket PC's 320x240 display.

Weblogs

  • Mobile community design
    A frequently updated source of research and design information concerning mobile communities. Includes academic research papers, mobile design methods, conference announcements, announcements of technology that enables mobile communities, book references.

  • Small surfaces
    "Small Surfaces is a site about design for mobile technology. This site tracks articles about interaction design, user interface design, usability and social trends related to mobile devices."
    (Gabriel White)