Appropriating Heuristic Evaluation for Mobile Computing - Human-Computer Interaction and Innovation in Handheld, Mobile and Wearable Technologies - page 28

individually, but based on comparing the work
done by two researchers. The aim was to speed
up the improvement of the set of heuristics pro-
posed, in terms of their clarity and relevance to
the mobile application field.

device, system or application should make
it easy to recover it.
• Heuristic 2: Match between system and
the real world: Enable the mobile user to
interpret the information provided cor-
rectly, by making it appear in a natural and
logical order; whenever possible, the sys-
tem should have the capability to sense its
environment and adapt the presentation of
information accordingly.
• Heuristic 3: Consistency and mapping:
The user's conceptual model of the pos-
sible function/interaction with the mobile
device or system should be consistent with
the context. It is especially crucial that
there be a consistent mapping between user
actions/interactions (on the device buttons
and controls) and the corresponding real
tasks (e.g. navigation in the real world).
• Heuristic 4: Good ergonomics and mini-
malist design: Mobile devices should be
easy and comfortable to hold/carry along
as well as robust to damage (from envi-
ronmental agents). Also, since screen real
estate is a scarce resource, use it with parsi-
mony. Dialogues should not contain infor-
mation that is irrelevant or rarely needed.
• Heuristic 5: Ease of input, screen read-
ability and glancability: Mobile systems
should provide easy ways to input data,
possibly reducing or avoiding the need for
the user to use both hands. Screen content
should be easy to read and navigate through
notwithstanding different light conditions.
Ideally, the mobile user should be able to
quickly get the crucial information from
the system by glancing at it.

Phase 3
A new refinement process was started on the set of
heuristics included in the three consolidated tables
produced in phase 2. It involved: first, a discus-
sion meeting among the usability researchers to
arrive at a shared table consolidated from the three
developed in phase 2; then, submitting this set of
heuristics (with their definitions) to a number of
targeted HCI researchers and professionals in the
mobile computing and usability community, to
elicit feedback on the adequacy of the heuristics
proposed. We contacted 19 experts, in person,
by email or by phone, and we received feedback
from 8 of them. The 3 researchers then met to
discuss and compare the experts' comments with
the researchers' consolidated table, and arrived at
the final set of mobile usability heuristics sum-
marized in Table 1 and described below:

• Heuristic 1: Visibility of system status and
losability/findability of the mobile device:
Through the mobile device, the system
should always keep users informed about
what is going on. Moreover, the system
should prioritize messages regarding criti-
cal and contextual information such as bat-
tery status, network status, environmental
conditions, etc. Since mobile devices often
get lost, adequate measures such as en-
cryption of data should be taken to mini-
mize loss. If the device is misplaced, the

Table 1. Number of usability problems identified

Appl. 1 Appl. 2 Total Mean (SD)

NHE 22 28 50 12.5 (10.40)

MHE 26 38 64 16 (3.74)