A Systematic Literature Review on Usability Heuristics for Mobile Phones

For the last decade, mobile phones have been the fastest growing segment of the technology market increasing the importance of interface design for this type of device. Yet, many of the assumptions about user interactions that the authors know from “traditional” computer usage do not hold true for mobile devices and more specifically for touch-screen phones. A key question is, if usability heuristics tailored to this type of device exist. To answer this question, they conducted a systematic literature review. The authors analyzed the encountered sets of heuristics by mapping them to Nielsen’s ten heuristics and identified additional ones specifically proposed for this kind of device. Their review indicates that research findings with respect to usability heuristics for mobile phones are still extreme sparse. Most of these heuristics are strongly based on “traditional” ones, not considering comprehensively mobile phone characteristics concerning physical limitations, technology, usage goals, features as well as user characteristics and usage environment. Nevertheless, this article provides a general overview on the state of the art of usability heuristics for mobile phones. This can guide the design and evaluation interfaces for mobile phones as well as provide a starting point for the evolution of such heuristics taking into consideration more extensively the specific features of mobile phones.