WAP Usability

How usable are WAP phones? In 2000, we traveled to London to find out. The initial conclusions were unimpressive, and a year later they remain unchanged. This report describes our findings regarding the WAP phone, the content, and the services.

This 90-page report details the many usability issues people faced and their attitudes towards using mobile phones. Discussions and user quotes supplement the findings.

We make this report available for several reasons:
Many of the usability issues uncovered in 2000 still occur today, especially for lower-end phones and small-screen devices. If you design for a broad range of phones this report is important for you. Recent research on mobile user interfaces validates guidelines derived from earlier studies. Many of the traditional guidelines still apply.

Topics covered

• Learn from history and avoid past mistakes: Understand user attitudes and limitations so you can create better designs today
• Déjà Vu: 1994 all over again
• Killing time is the killer app for mobile
• Handsets faired OK on usability
• General impressions of WAP
  • Overall usability
  • The phones
  • Connectivity and download time
  • Error messages
• Navigation
  • The portals
  • Labeling
  • Going backwards
  • Searching
  • Bookmarks
• Getting the information
  • Reading from the screens
  • News
  • Financial information
  • Weather forecasts
  • Sports
  • Travel
  • TV listings
  • Entertainment
  • Shopping
  • Lifestyle
  • Accredited recommendations
• WAP and the internet
• Final verdicts: Downside and upside
• Methodology