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of users and usage contexts, by developing mobile services that better serve the needs of mobile users,
easing service discovery and by developing the infrastructure needed for the mobile Internet. This paper
discusses all these aspects and gives development recommendations. Multidisciplinary and multicultural
cooperation between the various actors in the field is needed to improve user experience.
INTRODUCTION
experiences from different cultures and stakehold-
ers. Together with the participants we identified
four aspects where mobile Internet user experience
can be improved: 1) understanding the users and
usages of the mobile Internet better; 2) improv-
ing services and service discovery; 3) improving
device hardware and software, and 4) improving
infrastructures such as connectivity, network
proxies, pricing policies, guidelines and standards.
This paper analyzes issues that affect user ex-
perience of the mobile Internet. First, in the next
section we define what is meant by user experi-
ence. Then we discuss who are potential mobile
Internet users, why they are potential users and
where the usage may take place. Next we discuss
individual mobile Internet services and suggest
services that would be valued by mobile users.
The following section discusses how people can
be helped in discovering relevant services. Finally,
infrastructure-level enablers for successful user
experience are discussed in the last section.
Internet access on mobile devices not only changes
the way the Internet is used but also some of its
characteristics. In addition to enabling personal
mobile devices to access existing Internet content,
mobilizing the Internet enables totally new kinds of
Internet content and services. Mobile Internet ser-
vices can be made topical and personal by utilizing
location and other contextual data. Mobile users
may play an important role in uploading topical
content to web services. We have already seen the
first steps in this direction. User experience of the
mobile Internet is affected by device hardware and
software, connection, gateway, services, and the
seamless flow between these (Roto, 2006). All of
these should work smoothly together to facilitate
positive user experiences. There is still a lot to
do to improve mobile Internet user experience
as recent user acceptance studies from different
parts of the world show that consumers are aware
of mobile Internet services but not yet so ready
to use them (Chu & Pan, 2008; Lopez-Nicolas et
al., 2008; Lu et al., 2008).
A major change in Internet usage is predicted
for developing countries, where mobile phones
may provide the primary way to access the In-
ternet (Ipsos Insight, 2006). The entire Internet
infrastructure will be different there, and the
infrastructure should be built to provide the best
possible user experience with the given resources.
Internet access may affect the development of the
whole society.
This paper is based on two Mobile Internet
User Experience (MIUX) workshops held in
conjunction with Mobile HCI 2007 and 2008
conferences (Roto & Kaasinen, 2007; 2008). The
international workshops gathered viewpoints and
USER EXPERIENCE
User experience is a term that describes a user's
feelings towards a specific technology, system, or
object during and after interacting with it. Various
aspects influence the feelings, such as the user's
expectations, the conditions in which the interac-
tion takes place, and the system's ability to serve
the user's current needs.
Taking the mobile Internet into use proceeds
via the intention to use to the actual adoption.
The Technology Acceptance Model for Mobile
Services, TAMM (Kaasinen, 2005), states that
the perceived value, perceived ease of use, and
trust towards the mobile Internet all trigger the
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