Usability metrics for application on mobile phone

Abstract

This research is to investigate different usability issues of the software application in smartphone because the software development in smartphone platform will become a trend in our industry. Then we proposed some usability metrics for the software application in this environment. Firstly, we consolidated and standardized most of the currently available usability metrics. Although many usability metrics have been proposed, they often either lack of information or they are based on a variety of measurement scales and formats. Our usability metric list provides a useful reference for software developers who want to measure the usability of their products more consistently and transparently. It classifies the metrics according to characteristics such as usability attributes they measure, whether the measurement can be automated, and in which phase of product development the metric can be applied. Secondly, some usability problems in the smartphone platforms were identified which are quite different compared with the other platform such as desktop computer, laptop computer and even PDA. Based on the special situation of the smartphone with very small size screen and high mobility but limited interface for input and output, some constraints for software application developers have been identified which may affect the usability of the application. Some usability metrics specialized for the smartphone environment were proposed. Our research objective is to use metrics to evaluate the usability of the software application in smartphones. We designed a usability experiment for the software application in this platform in order to verify the proposed usability metrics. At the same time, we proposed some hypotheses which could show the focus of our research. Sixty subjects were invited to participate in the experiments in order to investigate which usability problems will substantially affect the usage of software applications in smartphones. The experiment had two parts: Usability Test and Questionnaire. Our research had applied both quantitative and qualitative methods in order to capture the result from different aspects. By using SPSS, the data from user behaviours and questionnaire were analyzed in order to validate the usability metrics and the hypotheses. As all experiments had been captured by digital video camera, the qualitative information, such as their comments and suggestions, could also be analyzed. Our findings can improve the usability of the software application not only in smartphones but also in other mobile devices which have similar operation environment.