Usability in mobile interface browsing

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Qiu, Meikang | Zhang, Kang | Huang, Maolin

Affiliations: Department of Computer Science, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, 75083-0688, USA | Department of Computer Systems, University of Technology, Sydney, PO Box 123 Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia

Note: [] Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: The advent of mobile devices imposes great challenges for user-friendly displays for effective browsing for Web contents. This paper reports some initial findings in an empirical study that explores the problem of finding a highly-efficient, user-friendly interface design method on small display devices. We compare three models using our PDA interface simulator: presentation optimization method, semantic conversion method, and zooming method. A controlled experiment has been carried out to identify the pros and cons of each method. The results show that of the three interface methods, the zooming method is slightly better than the semantic conversion method, while they both outperform the optimizing presentation method. The results provide a useful guidance for future design of small display devices.

Keywords: Mobile devices, web browsing, user interface, empirical study, usability, PDA

Journal: Web Intelligence and Agent Systems: An international journal, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 43-59, 2006