Title: Interaction and usability considerations in the design of mobile phones

Authors: Tom Page

Addresses: Loughborough Design School, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leics., LE11 3TU, UK

Abstract: Interactive systems play a crucial role in modern life and such reliance on technology is demonstrated in the relationship between users and their mobile phones. As the complexity of services has increased over the last ten years the multimodal interactions of mainstream mobile phones have influenced the usability of the hardware and software interfaces. This research considers how current conventions of interaction design affect the usability among four different mobiles phones. An analysis of the test data identified that the barriers to learning experienced by users were largely due to a lack of convergence from entry-level mobile phones to personal digital assistants (PDA). The terminology used in the interface of the PDA was the main barrier to learning as the operating system was Windows Mobile. This system employs several elements present in desktop computing, which are discussed.

Keywords: interaction design; usability; mobile device design; mobile devices; mobile phones; phone design; cell phones; barriers to learning; personal digital assistants; PDAs.

DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2011.041394

Journal of Design Research, 2011 Vol.9 No.3, pp.281 - 300

Received: 23 Apr 2010
Accepted: 25 Nov 2010
Published online: 16 Oct 2014 *

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