Mobile
Testing for Usability with Problems and Solutions
Now
a days the market of software is quite concentrated. A definite task
can be resolved by dozen of competing program with almost identically
functionality. Finally, the selection for one or other applications
are increasingly based on nonfunctional feature. And users interface
which gives effective but easy work with product of software can play
one of the critical roles when selecting such choice.
BugHuntress
QA Labs Company was established in 2001. Our 6 year experiences in
the free software testing displays that high quality of users
interface generated in around 70% in desktop application. At the
exact time same numbers for mobiles application is merely around
40%. In another language, software developer can concentrate on valid
and correct executions of the functionality during the users
interfaces are elaborated last. So, the issues of usability is quite
chronic. This reports cover the given below items:
 |
Mobile
Testing for Usability
with Problems and Solutions
|
• Usability,
what it's mean and provide
• Standards
of Usability
• Typical
peculiarities of mobiles
• Usability
problems for Mobile
• Successful
solution
• Automation
for Usability testing
-
Independent usability testing and role of usability testing
.
What
usability is
So
what is usability?
ISO
standard specifies usability as "the ex-tent to which the
products can be used by particular user to get target goals with
efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction in use of specified
context". The keywords here are the last three – efficiency,
satisfaction and effectiveness while working with any programs. What
is usability combined of and what does it provide to a users? There
are multiple interpretation. You shall not go into details of
theoretical here. Let us stress the points which are too much crucial
for the success of product in the present markets. So an interfaces
are "usable" if those have.
•Aesthetic
appeals and provides the satisfaction when product get use. If the
products are not considered appealing aesthetically, up to date and
fancy (of course, it depend on the context of specified for use and
is not the same for office suite and games), the options that any
users will purchase it are poor. If a software products did not pass
such face control and was not purchased, all the rest containing
functionality simply lost all its means.
• Intuitive
and Simplicity intelligibility of the interfaces (quick learning
capability, respectively). Anybody would not like the plan of sitting
for multiple hours in order to memorize and learn one and only
operation. If there are another programs that provide the similar
results and can be done on the first attempt, one would definitely
prefer this more user friendly and simple systems.
• Forethought
and Ease of control the element, menu, order or dialog windows, hot
keys and so on which give high speeds of work with the programs. Due
to these the programs, it can be used with minimum effort and time
consumptions. For an object, in business application it mean to say
highest labor efficiency of users.
• Taking
into account scientific recommendation will give small users
fatigability when doing work with the program. Again, it means high
labors efficiency of the users with in the long time. Such advantages
of the system are fundamental for several customers of corporate. At
the last (but not least),
• Friendliness
and user support (and, minor user errors and consequently). This
point is binding related to the previous one. It is critical in such
cases as like medical systems, systems of transport control and
production, accounting and analytical business applications, as well
as several another, where the price of correcting a blunder can be
too much expensive.
General
problems of usability
Following
are few of bugs which causing the quality of usability in the
industry of mobile software:
• No
established the culture of mobile software usability;
• Lack
of expert specialists;
• Direct
utilization of PC approach;
• Direct
porting between embedded platforms and different mobiles;
• Fast
paced software environment of market.
1.
First, Several developers who presently work on development of the
programs of mobile were trained also to develop software of PC .
During last decades of practice for PC software development there
emerged program and interface libraries that became a standard de
facto. Even programmers who are not quite experienced in what
interests usability can borrow such standard interface,
"automatically" developing fairly usable program. In
industry of mobiles the situations are differs lot. Usability
cultures of such type doesn't exist here yet. Conventional program
and libraries are some so far. Moreover, for all platforms there is
its own standards, the bases are technologically different, and they
see as well as the differently operable.
2.
For such ground, approaches accepted for PC are applied to software
of mobile. Developer direct transfer an ideology of development of PC
to the programs of development for handhelds. As a output, these
emerge program for cell phone and PDA with interface rather adequate
if it execute on PC but never on a hand held. On a hand held these
are inconvenient, sophisticated and bulky.
3.
Deficiency of expert specialists. Such problems in Ukraine has its
specificity. A subject about the users interfaces development is
absent in the curriculum of several colleges of specialized and
universities. Some of them suggest a course "Ergonomics of
Web-site". But this is highly poor for development of desktop
for successful interfaces mobile or embedded applications.
4.
The further problems are "direct" porting between different
mobiles platform. In the struggle for share market,software
developer target at making their own programs supported different
mobile platform and diverse models of hand helds. However, since the
platform is technologically differ the program is to be redeveloped
for almost each of them. Accordingly, their interfaces must take into
accounts architectures and phones model, too. Thus, to be successful,
a programmers have has to get a wide range of cognition. Such type of
professionals are few, and very often program migrated among the
platforms without making change in the users interfaces which affect
the usability dramatically.
5.
Presently software development project is generally time restricted.
"To making it faster" is the target of our time. However,
"faster" and "thought-out" don't always trust in
single project. In the long execution one has to forfeiture
something. High quality interface design is often the very high thing
that is sacrificed to a tight scheduled.
Successful
solutions
The
problems we talked, Nevertheless
above
problems have solutions. Taptu.com search engine is a gleaming
example for such problems. These advanced systems are built on the
basis of mobile technologies and Web 2.0. It can be helpful for both
desktops and handhelds. At current a beta version of the systems are
released. However, it can take into the accounts of differences of
different handhelds and properly adapts the pages content displayed
the sizes and another peculiarities of cell phones and mobile
devices.
Testimonials
of working in our company, testers, also contributed to reaching
such nice output.
Automation
of usability testing
Independent
usability testing
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