Improving the effectiveness of mobile application design: User-pairs testing by non-professionals

Abstract

The nature of mobile applications requires a fast and inexpensive design process. The development phase is short because the life cycle of an application is limited, mobile technology is developing rapidly, and the competition is heavy. Existing design methods are time-consuming and require expertise (e.g. Contextual Design). We suggest a design approach where focus groups are followed by usability tests in pairs carried out by non-professional moderators. With this approach CHI departments can benefit from market research resources, and improve collaboration with marketing people. We evaluated this approach with a case called News Client. The findings show that in paired-user tests near half of the usability problems were found compared to individual usability testing. The results are not too profound but enough for industry needs. Another interesting point is that our findings do not support the earlier reported results according to which the interaction between two participants can bring out more input than a single participant thinking aloud. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2004.