Usability testing of mobile devices: a comparison of three approaches

This paper describes a study that compares the results of usability testing of mobile interfaces based on three different evaluation approaches: (i) using a computer-based mobile phone emulator inside the laboratory (ii) using a mobile phone inside the laboratory (iii) using a mobile phone linked to a wireless camera in the field. The results regarding user performance and usability problem identification showed the existence of more similarities than significant differences between the results of the three evaluation contexts. Moreover, in the simplest evaluation context of the emulator it was possible to identify a large percentage of the overall set of usability problems found.