Usability Heuristics for Touchscreen-based Mobile Devices

Usability Heuristics for Touchscreen-based Mobile Devices Advisor: Dr. Cristian Rusu. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso Facultad de Ingeniería Escuela de Ingeniería Informática

Isabel Brown Caces PUCV, Valparaíso, Chile

Contents Introduction Problem definition Research Goals Methodology Mobile devices Usability Usability in touchscreen-based mobile devices Usability heuristics proposal Conclusions References

INTRODUCTION

Introduction Smartphones Email PIM Internet Connection + Apps

Introduction *Morgan Stanley (2009)

Introduction Context of Use Energy Capabilities Conectivity Processing Capabilities New Usability? Data Input/Output Methods Screen Size Screen Resolution *Zhang & Adipat (2005)

Introduction» Problem Definition Usability: Main attribute IS Quality (ISO 9126) IS Success (Deloan & McLean, 2003) Touchscreen-based Mobile Devices Smartphones very popular Large amount of functionalities The user interacts with the PUI.

RESEARCH

Research» Goals General Goal To establish a set of usability evaluation heuristics for touchscreenbased mobile devices. Specific Goals To analyze the characteristics, taxonomy, and elements of touchscreen-based mobile devices. To analyze usability attributes, rules, principles and evaluation methods. To propose a set of usability evaluation heuristics for touchscreenbased mobile devices. To validate the proposed set of usability evaluation heuristics for touchscreen-based mobile devices, through the use of heuristic evaluations and usability tests.

Research» Methodology Methodology Proposal A methodology to establish usability heuristics, C. Rusu, S. Roncagliolo, V. Rusu and C. Collazos, ACHI, pages 59 62, 2011 Case study

MOBILE DEVICES

Mobile Devices» Classification According to Schiefer y Decker (2008), which considers the following criteria: 1. Size and weight 2. Input modes 3. Output modes 4. Performance 5. Kind of usage 6. Communication capabilities 7. Type of operating system 8. Expandability

Mobile Devices» Classification Mobile Standard PC Mobile Internet Devices Handhelds/PDA Smartphones Feature Phones Simple Phones Special Terminals

USABILITY

Usability» ISO 9241 ISO defines usability as "The extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use."

Usability» Nielsen s Usability Heuristics Visibility of system status Match between system and the real world User control and freedom Consistency and standards Error prevention Minimize the user's memory load Flexibility and efficiency of use Aesthetic and minimalist design Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors Help and documentation *Jakob Nielsen (2005)

USABILITY IN TOUCHSCREEN-BASED MOBILE DEVICES

Usability in Touchscreen-based Mobile Devices Jakob Nielsen (1994) «Usability Engineering» Ketola & Röykkee (2001) User Interface Division 7 áreas Ham et al. (2009) A framework for evaluating the usability of mobile phones based on multi-level, hierarchical model of usability factors. Zhang & Adipat (2005) Challenges, Methodologies, and Issues in the Usability Testing of Mobile Applications

USABILITY HEURISTICS PROPOSAL

Proposal» First Iteration Guided Inspection Nokia X6 Samsung Galaxy S

Proposal» First Iteration A set of 11 Heuristics was proposed Positive and negative aspects. Specialists consulting.

Proposal» First Iteration Validation 2 Experiments Ecuador: 4 evaluators - similar experience. 2 use Nielsen s heuristics 2 use Proposed heuristics Chile: 6 evaluators beginners with a more experienced leader. 3 use Nielsen s heuristics 3 use Proposed heuristics Blackberry Storm Nokia N97

Proposal» First Iteration Validation Issues - 1st Experiment 43% 57% Proposal (3,19) Nielsen's (2,33)

Proposal» First Iteration Validation Issues 2nd Experiment 47% 53% Proposal (2,35) Nielsen's (1,62)

Proposal» First Iteration Validation Id Category Total Issues Severity Average Experiment 1 2 1 2 P1 P2 Problems identified by both groups of evaluators Problems identified only by the group that used the set of heuristics defined at first iteration 18 10 3,14 2,90 21 27 3,00 2,93 P3 Problems identified only by the group that used Nielsen s heuristics 14 23 2,68 2,39 Total 53 60 Why?

SECOND (FINAL) ITERATION

Proposal» Second Iteration Id TMD1 TMD2 TMD3 TMD4 TMD5 TMD6 TMD7 TMD8 TMD9 TMD10 TMD11 TMD12 Touchscreen-based mobile devices heuristics Definition Visibility of system status Match between system and the real world User control and freedom Consistency and standards Error prevention Minimize the user's memory load Customization and shortcuts Efficiency of use and performance Aesthetic and minimalist design Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors Help and documentation Physical interaction and ergonomics

Proposal» Presentation TMD 3 User control and freedom Allow undo & redo "emergency exits" Options should be easy to find No long dialog sequences

Proposal» Presentation TMD 4 Consistency and standards Follow established conventions The same in the same way Standard and consistent

Proposal» Presentation TMD 7 Customization and shortcuts The system should provide basic and advanced configuration options. The system should allow customization and set shortcuts. The system should allow sorting and creation of groups of elements.

Proposal» Presentation TMD 12 Physical interaction and ergonomics The system should provide physical buttons or similar for main and/or recurrent functions. They should be placed in recognizable places, by the user. Device s dimensions, shape, weight and position of buttons or similar should fit the normal posture of the user s hand.

PROPOSAL VALIDATION

Proposal Validation 57% 32% 11% Nielsen (1,75) Both (0,47) Proposal (2,67)

CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK

Conclusions and Future Work A methodology for developing usability heuristics Success! Physical aspects affect usability! New techniques are required New set of heuristics (feedback new iteration?) New usability testing techniques How to design «usable» interfaces? Design patterns The development of a Checklist improved the Problem Detection.

Questions? Thank you. info@randomstudio.com

Really You can ask Questions Thank you. info@randomstudio.com

REFERENCES

References 1. Morgan Stanley. The Mobile Internet Report. Disponible en: http://www.ms.com/techresearch, 2009. 2. Dongsong Zhang y Boonlit Adipat. Challenges, methodologies, and issues in the usability testing of mobile applications. Int. J. Hum. Comput. Interaction, 18(3):293 308, 2005. 3. Jakob Nielsen. Usability Engineering. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, San Francisco, California, October 1994. 4. Pekka Ketola Mika and Mika Röykkee. The three facets of usability in mobile handsets. In Proceeding of CHI 2001, Workshop, Mobile Communications: Understanding Users, Adoption & Design Sunday and Monday. ACM, 2001. 5. Dong-Han Ham, Jeongyun Heo, Sanghyun Park, Chiwon Song, and Wan Chul Yoon. A framework for evaluating the usability of mobile phones based on multi-level, hierarchical model of usability factors. Interact. Comput., 21:263 275, August 2009.

References 6. A. Baz, I. Ferreira, M. Álvarez, and R. García. Dispositivos Móviles. Memoria de Título Profesional de Ingeniero de Telecomunicaciónes, Universidad de Oviedo., 2009. 7. Little Springs Design. A New Device Taxonomy. Disponible en: http://www.littlespringsdesign.com/blog/2006/may/a-new-devicetaxonomy/, 2006. 8. Gunther Schiefer and Michael Decker. Taxonomy for mobile terminals - a selective classification scheme. In Joaquim Filipe, David A. Marca, Boris Shishkov, and Marten van Sinderen, editors, ICE-B, pages 255 258. INSTICC Press, 2008. 9. Global Stats - Statcounter. Disponible en: http://gs.statcounter.com, revisado el 19/04/2011. 10. Jakob Nielsen. Ten Usability Heuristics. Disponible en: http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html, 2005.