Training and Deployment as a Basis for Usability Engineering of Mobile Systems

Usability engineering of mobile systems challenges existing methods and raises new concerns. Usability evaluations are frequently described as a separate discipline and in many cases usability evaluations are separate activities within the design and development of systems. This paper presents a development project where training in and the deployment of a mobile system were used to identify usability problems. The project aimed to develop a mobile system to supporting information processes for workers on building sites. An iterative usability evaluation process was conducted the process was refined and validated using two action research projects. The approach of the research was user-centered system design (UCSD). When evaluating the mobile system during training and deployment vital usability problems of a rich variety and complexity were identified. These usability problems related to mobility, location, culture and weather were identified. This research reveals strong similarities between usability evaluations and action research that were an advantage for the usability process. The users participated actively and were inspired by experiencing the improvements. This iterative usability process contributed to improvements of the mobile system.