Customers as Designers

The change to customer-designed products is based on the ability to connect the user interface to the manufacturing backend through a computer. As the product is manufactured, the computer knows what customer it is intended for, what that customer specified, and how to track the product through the manufacturing process so that it can be shipped directly to the desired destination. No inventory (one of the business benefits of custom manufacturing).

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2000). Articles>Usability>Wireless Web

The Future of the "Mobile Internet"

In the near future the number of mobile Internet access devices will surpass the number of PCs in the world. This obviously has a number of implications for the future of the Internet and what form it will take in this changed environment. A recent article in the Economist compares the transition to that from the telegraph to the ‘speaking telegraph’, or what we now call the telephone. In both instances a technology which had been the preserve of specialist operators was passed into the hands of the public. And in both cases, this transition caused huge changes despite the underlying technology remaining largely unchanged. New usage models emerged as the user base changed.

Farrell, Tom. Frontend Infocentre (2001). Articles>Usability>Wireless Web

iPhone是否名符其实？

终于问世了，iPhone的可用性测试！毫无疑问，iPhone广告营销和推广已经超过了当代所有的消费设备，达到了登峰造极的程度。但是它真的名符其实吗？ inUse公司几位最好的可用性专家组织了一次比较性的可用性测试，测试了5个用户，比较了四款手机。众所周知，人们会很容易喜欢上那些外表华丽的产品，可是 如果这个产品很难使用，新鲜感就会烟消云散，沮丧和挫败感就会随之而来。 那么测试结果如何呢？难以置信！iPhone 给这个世界带来了全新的交互方式，再次证明在用户体验上“简洁才是王道”。

uiGarden (2008). (Chinese) Articles>Usability>Wireless Web

Is RSVP a Solution for Reading from Small Displays?

In the last five years, we have witnessed a virtual explosion in the number and variety of hand-held devices that use small-screen interfaces (SSIs). These devices, which may include everything from personal digital assistants (PDAs) to cellular telephones, offer the convenience of portable, or even wearable interfaces. This convenience, however, comes at a price; the amount of information that can be displayed on the screen at one time is very small. Moreover, manual scrolling, tabbing, and paging are required to present successive displays of information. This, of course, limits the usefulness of these devices, especially if the information that is viewed is more than just a small amount. These limitations serve as a critical usability concern as more and more consumers use hand-held devices for such things as reading e-mail, browsing the web, and reading documents.

Bernard, Michael, Barbara S. Chaparro and Mark Russell. Usability News (2000). Articles>Usability>Wireless Web

So… Does the iPhone Live Up to its Hype?

At last. The usability test of the iPhone! Without doubt, the hype around the iPhone has managed to exceed most consumer devices in modern time. But… will it live up to the hype? We let some of our best usability experts run an inUse comparative usability test with four phones and five users. It is easy to fall in love with something so beautiful and sexy, but if the device is not easy to use the initial euphoria will quickly turn into despair and frustration. The results? Stunning. The iPhone has introduced a new interaction paradigm to the world, in an uncompromising way that proves that “less is more” when it comes to true user experience.

uiGarden (2008). Articles>Usability>Wireless Web

Stationary Mobility

One of the mobile Internet's greatest benefits may well come from devices that rarely move at all. Once cellular Internet connectivity becomes ubiquitous and cheap, many devices will connect to the net without wires. Take it out of the box and feed it power, and it is connected. Mobile Internet access will free us from having to connect appliances to telephone jacks and will make smart devices much easier to install. In fact, they may not need a user interface at all, as exemplified by the Japanese i-pot.

Nielsen, Jakob and Marie Tahir. Alertbox (2001). Articles>Usability>Wireless Web

The WAP Backlash

The WAP Backlash has started in Europe: Most speakers at last week's NetMedia 2000 conference in London proclaimed WAP a temporary aberration that delivers substandard services. British and continental newspapers are full of stories about WAP phones that don't work and services that are difficult to use. Many commentators point out the simple fact that since you have a phone in your hand, most tasks are faster to perform by simply placing a voice telephone call than by using WAP.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2000). Articles>Usability>Wireless Web>WAP

WAP Field Study Findings

Following a UK field study, 70% of users decided not to continue using WAP. Currently, its services are poorly designed, have insufficient task analysis, and abuse existing non-mobile design guidelines. WAP's killer app is killing time; m-commerce's prospects are dim for the next several years.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2000). Articles>Usability>Wireless Web>WAP

Next Generation Mobile Authoring

Technological convergence, increased connectivity and consumer expectations are merging to create a landscape of opportunity for the next generation of mobile content, services and applications. Success and adoption are dependent on creating usable and useful experiences — positive interactions that are integrated into an individual's actual lifestyle. Emerging technologies providing streaming music, video and entertainment raise the level of interaction and usage to a new level, increasing the complexity of interfaces and heightening challenges to interface designers and usability professionals.

Goto, Kelly. GotoMedia (2006). Articles>Web Design>Wireless Web>Usability

The Effect of Screen Size on Readability Using Three Different Portable Devices

As small portable computing devices become more prevalent in society, the readability of text available on such devices becomes of increasing concern. This paper describes two experiments that compare the readability of text presented on three portable devices, a laptop, a Rocket Book, and a Palm Pilot. The first experiment involved a visual search task on one page of text while the second experiment required scrolling (or paging) of text. We hoped to discover whether reading speed was affected by screen size when text was presented with and without the need for scrolling. We also hoped to determine whether error rates were correlated to screen size. Finally, we wished to investigate issues of user satisfaction as they related to the different devices.

Chung, I-Hsin, Erica Kolatch, Sofia Sculimbrene and Hui-Fang Wen. SHORE 2000 (2000). Articles>Typography>Wireless Web>Usability

Improving Mobile Internet Usability

Even in these relatively advanced times, there's a whole set of problems faced by mobile users when it comes to accessing the Internet. Read about the importance of mobile usability.

Webcredible (2009). Articles>Web Design>Wireless Web>Usability

Mobile Web 2009 = Desktop Web 1998

Mobile phone users struggle mightily to use websites, even on high-end devices. To solve the problems, websites should provide special mobile versions.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2009). Articles>Web Design>Wireless Web>Usability

Web Apps, Usability, and the Mobile User

Usability and compatibility testing is a must. If you’re developing a Web application, test it with not only the major desktop browsers but with the popular mobile browsers as well. If your application isn’t friendly to mobile devices, say so up front when someone visits that application using a mobile browser. It will prevent a lot of frustration on the part of users.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Web Design>Wireless Web>Usability