Worth-centred mobile phone design for older users

The twenty-first century society fights against an inherent tendency to over-classify and label people. In the case of the aged, despite all efforts, the perception of the helpless, feeble older person still prevails. The truth of the matter is that people over sixty often do not fit this profile. The aged are a heterogeneous group with varying different skills and abilities in many different areas. This paper challenges prevalent mobile phone design decisions that appear to have been made based on the erroneous pre-conception of the incapable elder. Designers currently produce “senior” mobile phones that are, at best, inadequate and, at worst, insulting to a sector of society that deserves respect and consideration. Age does indeed influence mobile phone usage, and people over sixty often have specific and special needs, quite apart from age-related limitations, that predict their use of mobile phones. Most mobile phones designed for older users simply reduce the number of features: the so-called simplification approach. Apart from reducing the effectiveness of the phone, this approach often incorporates the fatal design flaw of using numbers or letters, on speed-dial buttons, which requires the user to remember the button–person mappings. In fact, this design rationale reduces the value of the phone to the user. This paper argues that mobile phone design for older users should be worth-centred (Cockton G in Designing worth is worth designing. In: Proceedings of the 4th Nordic conference on human–computer interaction: changing roles. Oslo, Norway, pp 165–174, 2006) rather than simplification-driven. The worth-centred approach maximises worth to the user of the phone. This is achieved by maximising effectiveness while accommodating reduced capabilities. To maximise ease of use, and consequent accessibility, features may have to be reduced in an informed way. To facilitate this, a mapping process is proposed whereby user needs are linked to uses of the phone, and then to the features that facilitate these uses. Needs fall into a number of categories, and each category is characterised by a number of different uses, which form a usage space. Features can be linked to one or more usage spaces, and thus be used to support needs. The first step in the conducted research entailed the identification of the needs of the older mobile phone user. Then, it was determined whether these needs were indeed being met by the uses afforded in existing phones. Having concluded that most users’ needs were not being met, the next step was to capture data on the needs, limitations and expectations of people over the age of sixty. This was achieved by conducting a series of one-to-one interviews with a number of older mobile phone users and also supervising a participatory design experiment. Using the findings of the analysis, a usage space model is proposed, which serves to align feature inclusion with user needs. Based on this usage space model (the theoretical contribution), a prototype mobile phone design is presented as the practical contribution of the paper.     

Testing Aesthetic and Function Design Preference for Touch Screen and Non–Touch Screen Mobile Phones Using Interactive Genetic Algorithms

Rapid mobile phone market growth has drastically shortened design cycle times forcing designers to identify user preferences quickly. Two studies test a novel method to quickly determine design preferences for touch screen and non–touch screen mobile phones. Interactive Genetic Algorithms (IGAs) are tested as an option for preference identification. IGAs efficiently explore design spaces, finding user preferences via an iterative system mimicking evolution. Each study tested six independent variables: horizontal and vertical button spacing; horizontal and vertical screen dimensions; corner radius; and user’s goal between aesthetically pleasing, functional, and both aesthetic and functional (first experiment), and aesthetic preference differences between touch screen and non–touch screen mobile phones for dialing phone numbers only (second experiment). Results showed IGAs to be a viable method; participant preference varied by goal (horizontal button spacing and screen width were most effected). Designers can employ IGAs to quickly determine aesthetic and other user preferences.     

Integration of Adaptable and Adaptive Approaches for Interface Personalization Through Collaborative Menu

This article examines different user-system collaboration models in the adaptation of a menu interface. Four collaboration models were implemented on a prototype of mobile phone menu: (a) basic collaboration with no system support (for user adaptation) and no user control (over system adaptation), (b) system support only, (c) user control only, and (d) system support plus user control. The prototype mobile phone menu includes a hotlist (a quickly accessible collection of menu items) as well as a hierarchical menu. The hotlist is collaborative, because it combines adaptable and adaptive approaches by allowing both the user and the system to manage the items in it. A controlled experiment compared different types of collaborative menus in order to investigate the effects of system support and user control. Twenty participants performed menu selection tasks in the experiment, and both performance and subjective measures were taken. The results showed that, in a certain condition, the system support and the user control improved the user performance when applied independently, but their effects were not additive. Although the effects disappeared when the selection frequency distribution changed, the system support was preferred by most of the users. The advantages and disadvantages of the collaborative menus and implications for the adaptation of menus are discussed.     

The influence of user expertise and prototype fidelity in usability tests

An empirical study examined the impact of user expertise and prototype fidelity on the outcomes of a usability test. User expertise (expert vs. novice) and prototype fidelity (paper prototype, 3D mock-up, and fully operational appliance) were manipulated as independent variables in a 2 × 3 between-subjects design. Employing a floor scrubber as a model product, 48 users carried out several cleaning tasks. Usability problems identified by participants were recorded. Furthermore, performance, system management strategies and perceived usability were measured. The results showed that experts reported more usability problems than novices but these were considered to be less severe than those reported by novices. Reduced fidelity prototypes were generally suitable to predict product usability of the real appliance. The implications for the running of usability tests are specific to the fidelity of the prototype.     

The influence of product aesthetics and user state in usability testing

An empirical study examined the effects of two influencing factors in usability tests on user performance and usability ratings. Product aesthetics (high vs. low) as the main independent factor and prior usage event (positive vs. negative) as a subsidiary independent factor were varied in a between-participants design. 60 participants took part in the experiment, completing a number of typical tasks of mobile phone users. The results showed that increased product aesthetics had a positive effect on perceived usability and led to longer task completion times. After a negative usage event had been experimentally induced, usability ratings dropped as expected but user performance on subsequent tasks remained unaffected. An important implication of the study is that the aesthetic properties of a product may have multiple effects that go beyond perceived product attractiveness.     

Usability risk level evaluation for physical user interface of mobile phone

The mobile phone has become an indispensable device in everyday life. However, many usability problems were generated by the multi-functionality of mobile phones. There was an important increase on the user interface (UI) design and usability. With the introduction of a variety of forms and keypads in mobile phones, the user's need of controllability, grip-stability, and usability were raised in the UI aspect. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the physical user interface (PUI) elements of mobile phones, and defined the degree of usability risk such as key level value, function level value, and grip level value. Also, this study proposed an evaluation framework to quantitatively measure the usability risk in the mobile phone PUI elements. For this, the mobile phone PUI elements were analyzed and classified by key type, function, and form-factor. Hence, in the case study was investigated and evaluated 133 mobile phones in the market by the proposed framework. As a result, the proposed evaluation framework enabled the measurement of the mobile phone usability risk level in the early stages of the concept design. This made possible the prediction of design problems related with the mobile phone PUI.     

Adapting the mobile phone for task efficiency: the case of predicting outgoing calls using frequency and regularity of historical calls

The set of functionalities provided by advanced mobile phones is significantly increasing. However, the small size of mobile phone user interfaces makes it difficult for the user to deal with this large number of functionalities, which could reflect negatively on user performance and the efficiency of mobile phone functionalities. In this paper, we designed and developed an adaptive task-based functionality called ATF on mobile phones, where the task we focused on was to predict the next contact that the user is most likely to call. Furthermore, we conducted comprehensive evaluation of our approach. We show that our approach can successfully predict contacts that a user will most likely call next. Our results uncover the frequency and pattern of regularity in making mobile phone calls and suggest promising avenues for future work for optimising tasks (beyond phone calls) performed with the mobile phone.     

幻灯片播放无线控制系统模型

为了使 PPT 演示文稿使用者能够在工作或学习中更加方便高效的控制演讲稿的播放,提升工作或学习效率、增强效果,该文提出基于Socket数据传输技术的PPT播放无线控制系统设计模型,并采用多种流行的计算机技术实现了该模型。该系统模型的工作原理是用户使用手机作为控制终端,通过Socket数据传输技术实现手机终端向PC机上的服务端发送控制信号,进而实现跨硬件平台下用户对台式机上PPT播放的无线控制。同时文中提出的设计模型可广泛的用于各类移动终端控制台式机的设计开发中。     

无线远程终端系统的设计与实现

为使手机用户通过手机轻松地控制计算机,研究开发了＂无线远程终端＂系统。利用手机登录WAP网站发送指令至＂信息中转站＂,再由＂信息中转站＂把指令转发给受控计算机,指令经过计算机处理后,受控计算机再通过＂信息中转站＂将运行结果返回给手机,从而实现了一个手机无线远程控制计算机的过程。此设计方法极大地提高了程序的耦合度,方便了用户操作,能够满足用户生活中的信息化需求。     

Complementary menus: Combining adaptable and adaptive approaches for menu interface

This study proposes a method of coupling adaptable and adaptive approaches to the design of menus. The proposed complementary menu types incorporate both adaptability and adaptivity by dividing and allocating menu adaptation roles to the user and the system. Four different types of interface adaptation (i.e., adaptable with/without system support and adaptive with/without user control) were defined. They were implemented in a hypothetical prototype mobile phone via a hotlist (an additional collection of quickly accessible items). A controlled lab experiment was conducted to compare the menu types and investigate the effects of the system support in the adaptable menus and the user control in the adaptive menus. Twenty subjects participated in the experiment and performed menu selection tasks. Both performance and user satisfaction measures were collected. The results showed that adaptable and adaptive menus were superior to the traditional one in terms of both performance and user satisfaction. Providing system support to the adaptable menu not only increased the users’ perception of the efficiency of selection, but also reduced the menu adaptation time. Important implications for the design of menus are described and valuable insights into the menu interface adaptation were gained from the quantitative and qualitative analyses of the experimental results.

Relevance to industry

The evaluation experiment conducted in this study may provide valuable information to designers of adaptive or adaptable menus. Adding system support to adaptable menu would be an attractive option to consider. Also, the results of a user survey provide useful information to the practitioners in mobile phone industry on the features users accessed most frequently.     

Development of a cross-platform ubiquitous language learning service via mobile phone and interactive television*

Abstract This paper describes the development processes for a cross-platform ubiquitous language learning service via interactive television (iTV) and mobile phone. Adapting a learner-centred design methodology, a number of requirements were gathered from multiple sources that were subsequently used in TAMALLE (television and mobile phone assisted language learning environment) development. A number of issues that arise in the context of cross-platform user interface design and architecture for ubiquitous language learning were tackled. Finally, we discuss a multi-method evaluation regime to gauge usability, perceived usefulness and desirability of TAMALLE system. The result broadly revealed an overall positive response from language learners. Although, there were some reported difficulties in reading text and on-screen display mainly on the iTV side of the interface, TAMALLE was perceived to be a usable, useful and desirable tool to support informal language learning and also for gaining new contextual and cultural knowledge.     

Application of Evolutionary Neural Networks on Optimization Design of Mobile Phone Based on User's Emotional Needs

Taking users’ emotional needs into consideration, this research aims to propose a new method to present product design features exactly and completely. On the basis of genetic algorithm integrated with back‐propagation (BP) neural networks, taking the mobile phone as research object, an optimization design algorithm was finally designed. First, the continuous and discrete design variables that describe mobile phones were screened with methods of dimensions, coordinate label, and morphological analysis. Forty three‐dimensional (3D) mobile phone models were designed by using 3D design software PROE. Accordingly, 12 representative mobile phones were selected through multidimensional scaling analysis and cluster analysis. Fourteen pairwise Kansei image words were obtained by collecting, screening, surveys, and statistical analysis method. Second, a BP neural networks model between design variables and user preference along with Kansei image words was established and verified with questionnaire survey data. Finally, the optimization design model for mobile phones was established considering design requirements and users’ emotional needs. A genetic algorithm integrated with BP neural networks was used to optimize mobile phone design. The results show that the optimization scheme is superior to others, and this paper will provide design suggestion for mobile phone designers.     

PhoneSuite文件的一种实用批量编辑方法

本文研究分析了一种手机中常见文件-PhoneSuite格式文件的存储格式,探索了这种文件在Windows平台下进行编辑、存取的方法,提供了一种快速地大批量导入导出手机电话号码的途径,方便了用户使用EXCEL等软件对手机电话号码薄进行日常管理,电话号码薄原存储格式仅需windows支持即可。     

The influence of design aesthetics in usability testing: Effects on user performance and perceived usability

This article examined the effects of product aesthetics on several outcome variables in usability tests. Employing a computer simulation of a mobile phone, 60 adolescents (14-17 yrs) were asked to complete a number of typical tasks of mobile phone users. Two functionally identical mobile phones were manipulated with regard to their visual appearance (highly appealing vs not appealing) to determine the influence of appearance on perceived usability, performance measures and perceived attractiveness. The results showed that participants using the highly appealing phone rated their appliance as being more usable than participants operating the unappealing model. Furthermore, the visual appearance of the phone had a positive effect on performance, leading to reduced task completion times for the attractive model. The study discusses the implications for the use of adolescents in ergonomic research.     

Interactive faceted search and exploration of open social media data on a touchscreen mobile phone

A central challenge of semantic ambient media applications is designing smart user interfaces that are able to dynamically deal with an a-priori unknown number of data categories and data instances received live from different Linked Open Data sources while at the same time being intuitive and easy to use. In the mobile world, this challenge is even more difficult as the mobile devices have limited interaction possibilities and smaller display size. In this paper, we tackle this challenge and present the user-centered, iterative design of a mobile application for faceted search and exploration of a large, multi-dimensional data set of open social media on a touchscreen mobile phone. The application is called Mobile Facets and provides live retrieval and interactive search and exploration of resources like places, persons, organizations, and events originating from different, integrated social media sources like DBpedia, Eventful, Upcoming, Flickr, and GeoNames. In contrast to existing work, we do not know in advance the number and type of data categories and data instances that will be received as the data is queried live from the sources. While developing Mobile Facets, we have applied a participatory design with a small group of five users. For the final prototype we have conducted a task-based, formative evaluation with 12 additional subjects to investigate the applicability and usability of our Mobile Facets application.     

Android用户隐私保护系统

随着移动互联网的快速发展,手机作为移动互联的重要终端其所受的安全威胁已不亚于传统PC。文章针对目前手机用户的隐私信息(如通讯信息、短信息、通话记录、相册、文件等)泄露这一用户最为关心的问题,在目前主流的手机操作系统Android OS下设计并实现一个用户隐私保护系统。其主要研究和解决Android系统下的恶意进程识别和隐私数据加密两个问题,通过设计黑白名单授权访问隐私数据和实时监控每个进程以及用AES、MD5等算法加密隐私数据,从而达到保护用户隐私的目的。     

手机遥控计算机（MPCPC）系统的开发与研究

研究了基于蓝牙通俗技术的手机遥控计算机（Mobile Phone Control Personal Computer）系统软件编程技术。软件分为计算机端和手机端两部分,计算机端用JavaSE作为开发语言,手机端用J2me作为开发语言,通过JSR82标准里的核心蓝牙包javax.bluetooth实现无线通信功能。该软件系统可改变用户控制计算机的方式,使计算机控制更加多样化,用户使用更方便、舒适。     

基于网络编码的手机用户群文件共享和同步

为了快速、准确的实现一跳范围内手机用户群的文件共享,以达到手机用户之间进行协同工作的目的,在Android操作平台上设计、实施了本系统。在系统中提出了基于网络编码的可靠广播算法来保证文件传输的可靠性和快速性,并通过基于机会编码的全网同步算法来实现任一时刻手机群中各节点文件同步。通过真实实验验证了系统中文件共享的时延并不会随着手机群中节点数目的增加而增加,文件同步时网络中数据量大幅度下降,因此相比并发共享等其它方法,系统提供了一种快速、可靠的手机群文件共享和同步方法。     

移动多媒体上交流性汉字图标设计的基本路径

随着移动多媒体设备的性能,功能都在不断升级,伴随着移动通信的网络技术的不断进步,移动终端的功能以及传输限制都将被解决。在移动平台上,人们会以越来越多的方式进行交流,当前存在于以桌面电脑网络交流的问题,很可能延续到移动多媒体平台上。针对这些问题,文章根据中国人的网络交流特点提出以汉字为原型的动画图标设计的解决办法,力求达到使用者在文字交流的过程中,不影响辨认文字,又可以增加交流的娱乐性及生动性。     

Building ubiquitous QoC-aware applications through model-driven software engineering

As every-day mobile devices can easily be equipped with multiple sensing capabilities, ubiquitous applications are expected to exploit the richness of the context information that can be collected by these devices in order to provide the service that is the most appropriate to the situation of the user. However, the design and implementation of such context-aware ubiquitous appplications remain challenging as there exist very few models and tools to guide application designers and developers in mastering the complexity of context information. This becomes even more crucial as context is by nature imperfect. One way to address this issue is to associate to context information meta-data representing its quality. We propose a generic and extensible design process for context-aware applications taking into account the quality of context (QoC). We demonstrate its use on a prototype application for sending flash sale offers to mobile users. We present extensive performance results in terms of memory and processing time of both elementary context management operations and the whole context policy implementing the Flash sale application. The cost of adding QoC management is also measured and appears to be limited to a few milliseconds. We show that a context policy with 120 QoC-aware nodes can be processed in less than 100 ms on a mobile phone. Moreover, a policy of almost 3000 nodes can be instantiated before exhausting the resources of the phone. This enables very rich application scenarios enhancing the user experience and will favor the development of new ubiquitous applications.