Evaluating WAP Usability: "What Usability?"

Some educational communities and organizations have recognized the possibilities of mLearning. mLearning may provide tools to respond to the demands of working life and information society. One way to enhance mLearning is to raise the usability of mobile terminals as good usability is the basis for the meaningful and effective learning. Poor usability disturbs the learning processes because the energy of users is directed to the use of the system instead of learning. In this paper the usability of Nokia 7110 mobile phone is evaluated. Researchers located the problem points of the user interface and navigation system. In fact, there were several obstacles in the user interface of the tested mobile phone that need improvement. First of all, the Navi Roller confuses users and they prefer to use it even in the tasks that could be done more easily with the other buttons. Secondly, the inconsistency of the Navi Roller and the shortcut button caused some problems. WAP services need improvement as well. The navigating structures were hard to understand and feedback of actions was insufficient. As a conclusion, there is a lot usability work to be done before mobile terminals can be effectively adapted as a part of education.