A Qualitative Review of Empirical Mobile Usability Studies

The turn of this century marked an increased focus on mobile usability studies for research in the field of Human Computer Interaction. Such studies offer practitioners the needed insight to deliver usable mobile products and services adopted by consumers at increasing rates contributing to a $20 billion industry. Scholars also benefit by identifying new questions that need to be addressed, thereby enriching our understanding of this dynamic domain within HCI. A challenge for both of these groups exists in that many scholars define and operationalize usability differently. This paper presents a roadmap for future usability research that consists of two parts. First, a framework is adapted for the taxonomy of empirical mobile usability studies. Second, results of the qualitative review of 45 empirical mobile usability studies include: i) the contextual factors studied; ii) the core and peripheral usability dimensions measured; and iii) key findings. Expected contributions of the completed research are also outlined.