It's Not Easy Being Mobile Web...Says Nielsen Norman Group

By Reporter Wireless and Mobile News on July 20, 2009 12:47 PM

In studies conducted by the Nielsen Norman Group, researchers found that the average success rate for users completing tasks on the mobile Internet was 59 percent compared to an average success rate of 80 percent for websites accessed on a regular PC. They conclude that it is not easy or pleasant to use the mobile web.

Researchers identified four main obstacles that mobile users face to getting a good user experience (not counting poor cellular service.)

Small screens: When users see fewer options at any given time, all interactions become harder to do.
Awkward input: Text entry is particularly slow and error prone, even on phones with mini-keyboards, and it is difficult to operate GUI widgets without a mouse.
Download delays: Getting to the next screen takes forever, often longer than it would on a dial-up connection.
Mis-designed websites: Sites optimized for usability under desktop conditions, meaning they don't follow guidelines for mobile access, create all kinds of additional obstacles for mobile users.

When test participants used sites designed specifically for mobile devices, their success rates averaged 64 percent compared to the 53 percent success rate they experienced when using "full" sites on their mobile phones, in other words, the same sites offered to PC users. User performance could be improved by 20 percent by creating mobile-optimized sites.

"The phrase 'mobile usability' is pretty much an oxymoron," said usability expert Jakob Nielsen, principal of Nielsen Norman Group. "Observing users suffer during our user sessions reminded us of the very first usability studies we did with traditional websites in 1994. It was that bad."

"The first two problems are inherent to mobile devices, and as for connectivity, it's going to take many years before mobile connections are as fast as even a modest cable modem. The key opportunity for improving the mobile user experience lies in websites being designed specifically for better mobile usability," said NN/g user experience specialist Raluca Budiu, lead researcher for the study and co-author of the study, Usability of Mobile

Nielsen Norman Group's research combined three usability methods for the study of the mobile Web: user testing, diary study and a cross-platform review that looked at 20 sites and six different phones. The firm's research findings and recommendations for improving the mobile user-experience are detailed in a 130-page report, Usability of Mobile Websites: 84 Design Guidelines for Improving Access to Web-Based Content and Services Through Mobile Devices, co-authored by Raluca Budiu and Jakob Nielsen. The report is available to download for $198 from the Nielsen Norman Group website at http://www.nngroup.com/reports/mobile.