Mobile Usability STC Capgemini India Private Limited September Prepared by: Arun Jutur

Transcription

1 Mobile Usability STC 2013 Capgemini India Private Limited September 2013 Prepared by: Arun Jutur

2 1 Table of Contents 1. Abstract Introduction Definition of Usability: Challenges in Mobile Usability Testing: Guidelines for Usability test with mobile applications: Methods of Usability Testing for Mobiles: Mobile Usability testing Tools: Guidelines for Developers and Designers to avoid Mobile usability issues: Conclusion References Author s Biography... 11

3 2 1. Abstract Mobile devices have changed our world. Since the fourth quarter of 2010, smartphone and tablet sales have outpaced PCs and by end of 2012 there were over 1 billion smartphone subscribers worldwide 1. According to Canalys, app downloads from the top four stores Apple s App Store, Google Play, the Windows Market Place, and Blackberry World totalled more than 13.4 billion and revenue reached $2.2 billion in Q This paper discusses about Mobile Usability, and what are the challenges faced while designing, development and testing mobile applications in terms of usability. Usability provides developers, designers and Testers with the means to understand user needs, improve overall product utility, and increase user satisfaction. 2. Introduction Mobile ecosystem is dynamic, is growing and the world is following it like crazy constantly changing to keep pace with the evolution of technology and as these changes happen Innovative thinkers,developers and Testers are under immense pressure to keep up and produce applications that are great to use and popular and make money. In Traditional Testing users test the program to find out if S/W correctly performs business functions, or does not malfunction under certain conditions, However Usability testing test the interaction of software and people. Purpose: Mobile Usability testing helps in finding, if the product meets the user expectations and needs. Mobile Usability testing helps in identifying the problems users have while interacting with various mobile devices. Mobile usability testing should be carried out as an effective method of identifying design errors at an early stage of mobile application development. Usability testing for mobile applications plays an important role for launching a quality mobile application. Usability testing is typically done to make sure the smooth running of application on Mobile device from usability perspective KPCB Internet Trends Year End Update, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, 2 Dec 2012 CNet: "App market soars with 13.4 billion downloads in Q1 2013," Dara Kerr, 8 April

4 3 3. Definition of Usability: International Organization for Standardization defines usability as "The extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use." Some important components for usability defined by Jakob Nielsen are, Learnability: easy to learn and use, user can rapidly start getting work done with it; Efficiency: accuracy and completeness with which users achieve goals; Memorability: Application should be easy to remember so that the casual user is able to return to the application after some period of not having used it without having to learn everything all over again; Errors: Application should have a low error rate, so that users make few errors during the use of the system and that if they do make errors they can easily recover from them; Satisfaction: Freedom from discomfort, and positive attitudes towards the use of the product 4. Challenges in Mobile Usability Testing: Small Screen size: Continuous proliferation of mobile devices with different screen sizes results in physical constraints. Small screen size significantly affects the usability of mobile applications. 1. Relevant functionality only should be captured. 2. Priority to information. 3. Little amount of scrolling acceptable. Different display resolutions: A low screen resolution hampers the multimedia content shown on the screen of mobile devices, different devices and resolution results in different usability results. Limited processing capabilities and power: Mobile devices still lack computational power and memory storage in comparison to desktops. Games /3D Map applications developed these days require a large amount of memory to support graphics for fast processing, which may not be practical for mobile devices. In order to make such applications compatible across different mobile devices, developers may have to disable some functions or display a user friendly message saying features not supported. Connectivity /Speed:

5 4 Carrying out day-to-day activities using mobile devices still, unreliable wireless network and low bandwidth hinders the smooth functioning of mobile applications. This can be because the cellular network is too crowded, or because network coverage is poor in a given location. Speed is so important on mobile devices, usability issues are amplified. This largely affects data downloading time and quality of media streaming media. Signal strength and data transfer speed in a wireless network may wary at different time and locations, added by user s mobility. Data Entry Methods / Typing: Mobile devices with a small screen cause data input challenges. On many mobile devices (feature mobile phones that have reduced keypads, but also some touch screen devices) typing is hard. Small labels and buttons limits user efficiency and effectiveness while entering the data. Data entry by the user in different positions (while walking, sitting or holding a device) may further worsen the problem of data entry. These are some of the visible challenges of mobile usability testing. However, the emerging mobile applications with multi-modality combining voice and touch are also a challenge. Blending multiple access challenges provides new avenues for user interaction, but it poses dramatic challenges to usability testing. Mobile Web browsers: With hundreds of mobile browsers, verifying the content on each and every browser is not a possibility. Native browsers most of the time cannot display the full content from the desktop sites. Mobile carriers end up mutilating these sites to make them accessible on mobile devices. 5. Guidelines for Usability test with mobile applications: With the years of experience in the field on mobile application development and testing, Capgemini recommends following guidelines for usability test with mobile applications. Key focus in the initial stages of usability testing should be Page Layout Navigation Shortcuts compatibility Color Schemes Findability User Interface guidelines compatibility Stylus Usability Testing Native Feature Usability Mobile Phones to be considered: Mobile usability testing sessions should be carried across 3 main categories of phones Touch Screen mobile phones

6 5 Non Touch screen phones Tablets Enhance Usability of Controls and Input Mechanism: Design applications so they can be used in either hand. Use appropriate size and spacing for touch control elements, to be sure users can tap them with their fingers. Place touch controls so that users can easily use their thumb to press the most common controls.

7 6 Location of Mobile usability testing session: Mobile applications like compass, maps navigations should be carried out in the field; some of the circumstances that could influence the user experience are as follows Background Noise Lighting Distractions Concurrent tasks and physical moment. Analyzing the usability testing results: After usability testing on mobile devices is completed, gathering of information is compulsory. This helps us in evaluating if application expectations are met and do necessary modifications to the application to make it more usable. 6. Methods of Usability Testing for Mobiles: Paper Prototyping: Commonly used method for testing and evaluating ideas in very early stage of development, Known for prototyping user interfaces, can also be used to make customer journeys, visualize ideas and there goes the famous saying picture is worth a thousand words if that s true a prototype is worth a thousand pictures. As mobile interfaces are simplistic, Paper prototyping is easiest way to prototype your mobile application interfaces. Images courtesy: Working Prototype: Providing a working prototype of the application and receiving feedback from testers/users.

8 7 This consists of five primary phases: Planning Write down usability test plans for mobiles, to define goals, users, tasks, procedures and reporting techniques. Produce task scenarios and input data. Select important tasks /functionality and user groups to be tested. Pilot Resolving technical or logistical problems with test plan and setup required. Conduct pilot test with internal users to debug written instructions and tasks. Test Session Work through the task assigned; note the time taken to complete the task. Access the results of task for accuracy and completeness. Debrief or Post Test Post testing- testers should analyze the results that were observed. Analyze, interpret and results to be captured and shared Summative usability testing is used to obtain measures to establish a Usability benchmark or to compare results with usability requirements. 7. Mobile Usability testing Tools: SolidifyApp: Solidify lets us build a working test of our design and give it to users to see if it makes sense to them. It also gives you analytics on how your testers performed. With only screenshots, Solidify lets you link together images to construct an interface for testing early in the product development life-cycle. This way, you can see how your design will actually work before lots of time and effort has gone into implementing it. This application was developed by ZURB, a product design company located in Campbell, California. URL: UXRecorder: UX Recorder is an ios app that records on-screen activity and gestures along with video from the front facing camera (and audio). It is intended to replace a document camera for recording user testing sessions of mobile Web sites. Features of UXRecorder are as follows: Records user interactions with a Web site on the iphone, ipad, or ipod touch. Records both user actions (swipes, taps, scrolling) AND video of the user via the device s camera. Exports recorded sessions to your computer s desktop via Dropbox, itunes, or Camera Roll. Allows easy pause and resume of session recording. Supports multiple projects to organize testing sessions.

9 8 Allows multiple sessions within a project. Supports bookmarks to save Website URLs for easy access during testing sessions. Allows bookmark sharing via icloud. URL: POP (Prototyping on Paper): POP helps to make interactive prototype with ease. Workflow for POP app is as follows: Design on paper Take pictures Link and play. iphone screenshots for POP Application: URL: 8. Guidelines for Developers and Designers to avoid Mobile usability issues: Prioritize the important content or features Mobile space is short and time is valuable, important to show ideal amount of content. Mobile websites have load quickly and well focused. Mobile users are more likely want information to help them at that location or time, such as finding directions or finding out what's going on nearby. Providing options to view full websites All the functionalities and content cannot be replicated because of various mobile limitations; it is a good practice to keep a link on mobile versions.

10 9 Simple and user friendly layout Developers and designers should use Simple framework, avoid horizontal scrolling by adopting single column layout which performs well on mobiles with small and big screens. Design the page to present content in the right order and render well on mobile screens. Use mobile specific features Use the inbuilt functionalities available in Smartphone that allow users to automatically perform an action such as mapping, scanning QR codes or click to call functionality. Text links should be preferred over images Visuals are appealing; on mobile they can be annoying, heavy and annoying to the end user. If you need to use images, be sure they are designed to resize without breaking. Enhance Usability of Controls and Input Mechanism: Design applications so they can be used in either hand. Use appropriate size and spacing for touch control elements, to be sure users can tap them with their fingers. Place touch controls so that users can easily use their thumb to press the most common controls. Mobile friendly forms to be used Regardless the device, be sure that the forms on the mobile version of the site are easy to use because entering information is much more difficult on a mobile device than on a desktop site. Allowing data selection via a menu is a good. Optimize the navigation In mobiles, less is often more. Do not confuse users, guide them and allow them to move freely across the site. On mobile, only display the navigation on the home screen. Consider Platform differences There are various platforms and they differ widely. iphone applications typically include a Back button on the upper-left corner of the screen, whereas Android applications do not because Android devices have a printed Back control A dashboard with recognizable icons for the main tasks that can be performed in the application An action bar that shows users what they can do with each feature A row of tabs at the top of the screen (instead of at the bottom of the screen, as on the ios interface)

11 10 Test the Design on Mobile Devices Get onto the device as quickly as possible, to get a sense of not just how your pixels look but how your pixels feel in the hand. Other considerations for mobile devices are: Test software on actual devices instead of just emulators. Run tests on a variety of devices, third-party software, and browsers. Check error messages in all languages. Tests download speed. Use of Pop ups and /or Automatic refresh to be avoided Developers and designers should think about bandwidth constraints and get your message across in a different way. Translation for mobile devices Some of the translation issues that needs to be taken care are as follows, Language-specific special characters Text truncation and dialog box resizing Line- and word-wrapping Abbreviated translations 9. Conclusion The range and availability of mobile applications is expanding rapidly. With the increased processing power available on mobile devices, developers are increasing the range of services that they provide. Effective usability testing becomes increasingly important for the design, development, and deployment of successful mobile applications. Therefore, it is essential to develop and adopt appropriate research methodologies and tools to evaluate the usability of mobile applications.

12 References Mobile-Devi Dumas, J.R., Redish J.C (1993) A Practical Guide to Usability Testing. Ablex Publishing Corporation Norwood 11. Author s Biography Arun Jutur Arun Jutur is a member of the Mobile Testing Center of Excellence within Capgemini s global financial services business unit. Currently he is focused on mobile testing covering ios, Android, BlackBerry and Windows devices in the area of payments and cards and runs mobile testing training sessions as part of his Center of Excellence role. Arun has a Master of Science degree in Computer Science and also accomplished Higher Diploma in Animation and has focused on mobile testing including mobile application usability and accessibility testing since 2010.