Exploring potential usability gaps when switching mobile phones: an empirical study

  • Authors:

  • Aiko Fallas Yamashita;Wolmet Barendregt;Morten Fjeld

  • Affiliations:

  • IT University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg;University College of Borås, Borås and Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg;Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg

  • Venue:
  • BCS-HCI '07 Proceedings of the 21st British HCI Group Annual Conference on People and Computers: HCI...but not as we know it - Volume 1
  • Year:
  • 2007

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Abstract

The present study explores potential usability gaps when users switch from a familiar to an unfamiliar mobile phone interface. A within-subject experiment was performed in which nine users familiar with Sony-Ericsson T630 and nine familiar with Nokia 7250 performed tasks on both phones. On average, test subjects spent more time on finishing tasks with an unfamiliar phone than with a familiar one. For two of the four tasks, there was a significant difference in completion time between the first-time Nokia users and the first-time Sony-Ericsson users. The tasks of adding a contact to the address book and sending an SMS to a contact in the address book were performed more quickly by new Nokia users than by new Sony-Ericsson users. The subjective difficulty ranking also showed that first-time Nokia users found the new phone easier to use than first-time Sony-Ericsson users did. Hierarchical Task Analysis is used as a potential explanation, and three other theories that relate to these findings are presented: mental models, habit errors, and emotional attachment.