Exploring hardware usability on mobile phones - A mobile phone concept for an expanded demographic, including users with high demands on usability
(2010) MMK920 20092Innovation
- Abstract
- The purpose of this thesis was to investigate hardware usability issues on modern mobile phones,
in order to form design guidelines and eventually a concept design proposal focusing on high
usability. The project had a Universal Design focus, and the goal was to design a concept that fits as
many users as possible.
Initially a market analysis was performed in order to find out what phones focusing on usability are
available on the marketplace. It was clear that most of these phones were cheap versions of highend
phones, or lacked important functionality like quality displays, camera or MMS and often
lacked appealing aesthetics and style. These phones are suitable for senior users with low demands
on functionality. There is a gap... (More) - The purpose of this thesis was to investigate hardware usability issues on modern mobile phones,
in order to form design guidelines and eventually a concept design proposal focusing on high
usability. The project had a Universal Design focus, and the goal was to design a concept that fits as
many users as possible.
Initially a market analysis was performed in order to find out what phones focusing on usability are
available on the marketplace. It was clear that most of these phones were cheap versions of highend
phones, or lacked important functionality like quality displays, camera or MMS and often
lacked appealing aesthetics and style. These phones are suitable for senior users with low demands
on functionality. There is a gap between these phones and high-end phones, and no phones were
available for users wanting a functional, aesthetically appealing, quality mobile phone with
modern features, however still easy to use.
A large number of phones, of different format, style and price were borrowed from Sony Ericsson.
These were reviewed in order to establish different problem areas like size, clarity, grip etc. Also,
expertise from industrial designers and cognition researchers was brought in to establish what
possible problems users can have with the phones.
The next step was to test the phones on users, and usability test sessions were held with users of
different age. These sessions confirmed or denied the issues found earlier, but also brought light
on new problems and issues.
In order to concretize the findings, a set of guidelines was established. These were based on the
initial reviews and the usability tests, and operated as a function analysis in the project.
Using the guidelines as a foundation, several design ideas were discussed in order to solve the
usability issues. Eventually, three design concepts were developed. These concepts were
evaluated both according to the guidelines, but also through a concept test, similar to the
usability tests.
At last, a final design concept was developed and presented through computer visualization (3D
renderings) and a physical design prototype. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1628080
- author
- Eliasson, Daniel LU and Kjellman, Peter LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MMK920 20092
- year
- 2010
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- functionality, universal design, concept development, mobile phones, Usability
- other publication id
- LUTMDN/TMAT – 5134 – SE
- language
- English
- id
- 1628080
- date added to LUP
- 2010-08-09 13:50:01
- date last changed
- 2012-03-21 11:32:36
@misc{1628080,
abstract = {{The purpose of this thesis was to investigate hardware usability issues on modern mobile phones,
in order to form design guidelines and eventually a concept design proposal focusing on high
usability. The project had a Universal Design focus, and the goal was to design a concept that fits as
many users as possible.
Initially a market analysis was performed in order to find out what phones focusing on usability are
available on the marketplace. It was clear that most of these phones were cheap versions of highend
phones, or lacked important functionality like quality displays, camera or MMS and often
lacked appealing aesthetics and style. These phones are suitable for senior users with low demands
on functionality. There is a gap between these phones and high-end phones, and no phones were
available for users wanting a functional, aesthetically appealing, quality mobile phone with
modern features, however still easy to use.
A large number of phones, of different format, style and price were borrowed from Sony Ericsson.
These were reviewed in order to establish different problem areas like size, clarity, grip etc. Also,
expertise from industrial designers and cognition researchers was brought in to establish what
possible problems users can have with the phones.
The next step was to test the phones on users, and usability test sessions were held with users of
different age. These sessions confirmed or denied the issues found earlier, but also brought light
on new problems and issues.
In order to concretize the findings, a set of guidelines was established. These were based on the
initial reviews and the usability tests, and operated as a function analysis in the project.
Using the guidelines as a foundation, several design ideas were discussed in order to solve the
usability issues. Eventually, three design concepts were developed. These concepts were
evaluated both according to the guidelines, but also through a concept test, similar to the
usability tests.
At last, a final design concept was developed and presented through computer visualization (3D
renderings) and a physical design prototype.}},
author = {{Eliasson, Daniel and Kjellman, Peter}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Exploring hardware usability on mobile phones - A mobile phone concept for an expanded demographic, including users with high demands on usability}},
year = {{2010}},
}