Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Wi-Fi. The Web browser in N93 is superb, Web
pages look same as on desktop and that's very
important. [Web survey respondent].
perception of cost and lack of control affect user
behavior and interaction with a system. Users often
perceive that the mobile data traffic cost is high, but
it is also hard for the users to understand, follow,
and control how the cost is generated! Users try
to maximize the benefit while they minimize the
cost; perception of the billing model—whether
right or wrong—influences their usage. To facili-
tate mobile Internet adoption to other than early
adopters, flat fee data should be more commonly
available for users and cost generation should be
transparent. This is not a new concept, nor is it
related only to the mobile Internet. Gourville and
Soman (2002) pointed out that cost awareness and
transparency are the main elements influencing
consumption behavior in general. People are more
likely to use a product or service when they are
aware of the cost and they know how it is gener-
ated. Today, users are very often not aware of the
actual cost of their typical browsing—never mind
situations when they are traveling and roaming
in foreign networks. When downloading a game
to a mobile phone, users may be informed about
the cost of the game, but not the cost of the data
transfer. For global stores, it may actually be
impossible to provide this information because
there are so many different billing models. In
some cases, users are informed about the size
of the game, but it may be difficult for a user to
calculate how much it will cost to download 3MB
of data to his/her phone. The cost issue needs to
be handled as more 'always connected' devices
come to market—otherwise users may get very
unpleasant surprises when they receive their phone
bills. Since they cannot predict and control the
cost, many users today solve the problem simply
by not using services any more.
Another barrier for mobile Internet use is
battery life. Users keep their mobile phones with
them for communication purposes; they want to
make sure they can make or receive calls or text
messages in critical situations. If there is a risk of
running out of battery, users start controlling their
service use. The situation with respect to battery
Work and office usage typically happened ei-
ther during breaks (e.g., lunch and coffee breaks)
or as a secondary task when a user's desktop
computer was occupied for work-related activities.
Even though the mobile Internet could be used
in any social context, users were often alone when
browsing on a mobile device; this included when
they were at home, moving around, and in work
situations. When reporting on their most recent
usage situations, people in both the online survey
and in the interviews said that, when approached
by a person, they stopped browsing and started
interacting with the person. There were two rea-
sons for this: the mobile device was regarded
as a personal device, and mobile phone use was
not seen as polite in most social situations. Inter-
viewees did not consider the situations when they
were surrounded by strangers in public places as
'social situations'.
Social usage happened at school, in cafés
and pubs, and even outside. In these situations,
the mobile Internet was typically used to verify
something that came up during discussion:
Browser is pretty important for me. I use it a lot.
Like when I went out to eat with my friends, I
used it to view reviews of the restaurant before
we made decision where to go [Interviewee from
New York].
WHAT ISSUES WILL THERE
BE IN MOBILE BROWSING
IN THE FUTURE?
Cost has been known to be an issue from the early
days of WAP; “Wait and Pay” was, in fact, one
popular interpretation of the acronym. Roto et
al. (2006) demonstrated the extent to which cost
influences mobile browsing user experiences:
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