Objectives: Usability - Intuitive Mobile Interfaces

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The scientific objectives with regard to usability for mass-market mobile services concentrates on two major challenges: poor interaction functionality and the heterogeneity of user needs, constraints and profiles.

Poor interaction functionality

Typical mobile services feature a small screen and limited, potentially error-prone input devices. Research goals consist of identifying appropriate alert mechanisms, new navigation functionality and input modes, and adaptive information presentation. Alert mechanisms, when they are not self-sufficient (i.e., the alert indicates the availability of a longer message), allow for a two-step process to access the target information. The user can thus freely choose whether to access it.

Heterogeneity of users needs, constraints and technological profiles

Dealing with heterogeneity means that active (user-initiated) and passive (system-initiated) adaptation mechanisms should be considered for filtering and presenting relevant information to users. However, intelligent systems raise specific usability issues related to the need for users to control their system. Research must explore acceptable guidance strategies that will help users decide how they to set their preferences. It is also important to identify the procedures by which an intelligent system could maintain user¹s awareness of its current setting, allowing them to easily understand how and why it behaves differently in different circumstances.