Mildly irritating: a WAP usability study

The Internet is poised to go mobile. Much has been said about the technology that will make this possible, but little about what potential users expect from WAP and mobile Internet. This article is based on the experiences of 20 test users who participated in a usability evaluation. The users were given WAP enabled phones to use for one week. The conclusion of the research was that WAP is not a user‐friendly servicde. Connection times are far too long and even when the user is able to get connected to a WAP site their connection is often timed out even before any data is downloaded. When the test users were asked whether they thought they would have a WAP enabled phone within one year, 70 per cent said no. However, when they were asked whether they would like one within three years the negative responses dropped to 20 per cent. So there is hope for the service. Indeed the research shows that there is a market for data services delivered through a mobile Internet and gives a strong indication as to what the users would want from such a service.