Considering cost in usability evaluation of mobile applications: Who, where and when

Abstract

As computing moves from desktop to outdoor everyday life activities, usability evaluation must take into account new aspects, related with mobility and space. In this paper the effectiveness of established usability evaluation methods is examined through an extensive case study. The usability of an educational mobile museum application was tested using three different methods: inspection by experts, use in lab setting and use in the field. Results indicate that each method uncovers different types of problems at different cost. We believe that a combination of these methods may be worthwhile since their produced results seem to be complementary. © 2009 Springer.