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Internet Use by U.S. Smartphone Owners

35% of Americans owned a smartphone in April, 43% by December (Nielsen)
69% typically go online daily using their smartphone: 81% of 18–29 yo, 71% of 30–49 yo, 44% of 50+ yo
25% go online mostly using their smartphone, particularly: 42% of 18–29 yo, 38% of African-Americans and Latinos, 40% of < $30,000 annual income, 33% of high school graduates with no college

Pew Internet & American Life Project, April–May 2011

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The Smartphone Landscape

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U.S. Smartphone Market Share, 2010–11

Sales per quarter

Source: NPD Group Mobile Phone Tracker

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U.S. Smartphone Ownership, Q4 2011

Installed base

Source: Nielsen Mobile Insight

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Android OS Version Market Share

January 2012

Source: developer.android.com

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Mobile Internet Access Market Share

February–December 2011

Source: NetApplications.com

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Trends

Android’s future
Monopoly, duopoly or triopoly?
The future of feature phones
The effect of tablets

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Field Testing vs. Laboratory Testing

Field testing: difficult to have reliable method for reporting back user experience; high level of participant cooperation required
Laboratory testing: important usability problems with mobile website can be easily missed

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Our Version of Hybrid Usability Testing

Recruit participants to test site with their own phones
Controlled environment with recording capability
Predetermined tasks
Time for user to explore site independently
Post-test survey

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Recruiting Participants

Facebook post on library account
Announcement in library news blog, appearing on library homepage
Flyers in the library and campus bulletin boards

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Document Camera as Recording Device

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Results

Participants slow to connect the task of searching for a book with label “Search PSU-only Catalog”
Multiple problems with chat reference
Lack of mobile-friendly proxy authentication, error messages and linked forms
Slow page loading
Problems unique to different devices

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Website Display Comparison

Smartphone vs. Feature Phone

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Connectivity & Authentication

Internet Connection	Library Mobile Website	Chat Reference	EBSCOhost
PSU unsecure wi-fi	No authentication	Authentication required	Authentication required
PSU secure�wi-fi	No authentication	No authentication	No authentication
Cell network	No authentication	No authentication	Authentication required
Off campus	No authentication	No authentication	Authentication required

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Notable Post-Test Survey Results

High ratings for appearance and ease of use
Search for articles on mobile website

9 of 12 participants selected weekly or more than weekly

Use “Find A Computer”

8 of 12 participants selected weekly or more than weekly
“Everyday” and “Very important”

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Usability Tips for Mobile Sites

Essential, user oriented content
Consider the user’s mobile context
Navigation as simple as possible
Design for screen rotation

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Learn From Our Mistakes

Consider the variety of ways users connect to your mobile site and how that might impact their use of site features
Don’t make your usability tasks so simple that you waste the opportunity to get more in-depth information
Expect the unexpected

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Portland State Smartphone Share

Usability study (May) & mobile website analytics (Sept.–Jan.)

	Study Volunteers	Website Usage
Android	31%	23%
iOS	52%	70%
BlackBerry	4%	0.6%
Windows Phone	4%	0.5%
webOS	4%	0%

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Possible Futures of Mobile Web Design

Progressive enhancement
Responsive design
Mobile first

XKCD (n.d.) University Website. http://xkcd.com/773/

Text

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Questions?

Pendell, Kimberly D., and Michael S. Bowman. (In press). “Usability Study of a Library’s Mobile Website: An Example from Portland State University.” Information Technology and Libraries.