From server to PDA: an HCI perspective on porting wireless roaming business applications

Advances in processor design, display technology, and lithium polymer batteries have led to a new generation of powerful, compact, and highly mobile devices. There is a range of different physical interfaces available, from the original Palm Pilots and Psion Organisers to the new generation of pocket PCs and personal digital assistants (PDA´s). We focus on the stylus/touch-screen-based Compaq iPaq PDA. Combining a PDA with wireless communication technology has the potential for extending the application of computing in business. Many businesses already use handheld data recording devices. A drawback is the need to return the device to a computer to upload the information into the system, where it can be processed and made available to other applications. Using wireless devices this delay can be removed, providing a more accurate and up-to-date data repository. In order to see how a desktop to PDA migration might be carried out, a prototype interface to a mainstream accounting and stock control system was built to run on a Compaq iPaq 3850. Some of the problem areas of migrating server/desktop functionality to handheld devices, including wireless communication, device limitations, and security were demonstrated and explored with this interface. The informal feedback from the users will be fed into a redeveloped version of the system which will then be evaluated using a formal experiment The main lesson learnt was that providing desktop/server functionality on a mobile device requires more than copying a system´s existing functionality and shrinking the interface to fit on a smaller screen. User feedback from a prototype system supported the idea that applications benefit from a redesign process when being ported to a mobile environment.