Deconstructing the Apple iPhone's "Wow" Factor: A Series of Usability Studies

By Gavin Lew, Managing Director

Abstract 

The well-publicized launch of Apple's iPhone with its multi-touch user interface was the subject of a program of research conducted by User Centric. Many articles were written on the "wow" factor of the iPhone, but almost all reviews were based on opinion or anecdotal references. User Centric's objective was to assess the iPhone's usability from a more rigorous user experience research perspective. In short, the goal was to assess performance, satisfaction and usage employing quantitative and qualitative measures with actual users who were naïve to the testing objectives.

The results from this series of studies will be discussed in this session. With each study, key objectives were defined with specific measures, methodologies and participant groups to target device features and interactions. Each study will be described in detail with time for questions from the audience. The session will emphasize the text entry portion of the research and will include:

• Findings from studies with iPhone owners one week after the iPhone's U.S. product launch
• Findings from studies with iPhone owners after a month of experience
• Comparisons of performance with naïve / "walk-up-and-use" users
• Text input differences comparing the iPhone's touch keyboard, standard 12-button mobile phone keypad, and advanced mobile devices with a full QWERTY keyboard
• User preferences and attitudes toward the iPhone itself
• User performance with iPhone features