Usability of mobile phones

Abstract

The cellular telephone has become one of the most common consumer devices. Yet, there are very few published studies about their usability. We performed a small usability study involving nine people using their own telephones. While the study was too small to be statistically significant, we found no evidence that either of the tested brands, Nokia and Siemens, were easier to use. Our study did find that it was difficult to find and use uncommon functions. This suggests that interface design could be improved on newer cellular telephones. In particular, their large screens could be used to give a better overview of the menu structure, the structure itself could be improved, and the difference between SIMcard memory and telephone memory could be hidden. Key words: Mobile phone usability, keystroke model, usability test 1