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Beyond the handset: designing for wireless communications usability

Published: 01 June 2002 Publication History

Abstract

Service-based wireless devices like wireless telephones require users to interact with aspects of the technology beyond the hardware and software of the handset. By entering into contractual relationships with service-providers, and by using network-based services, users interact with a larger system---one that has social and technological components. The operation of the wireless telephone requires the assimilation of heterogeneous sources of information from the device manufacturer, sales people, customer service representatives, marketing people, and members of the popular media, among others, which can easily confound users' understanding of this new class of technology. Opportunities for usability problems therefore scale beyond the handset, as do opportunities for better design. We report the results of a study of 19 novice wireless phone users who were closely tracked for the first 6 weeks after service acquisition. Taking a technology-as-system analytical approach, we describe the wireless telephony system as four socio-technical components: hardware, software, "netware," and "bizware." This particular organization of the system is intended for the practical application of designing for usability.

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Published In

cover image ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction
ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction  Volume 9, Issue 2
June 2002
101 pages
ISSN:1073-0516
EISSN:1557-7325
DOI:10.1145/513665
  • Editor:
  • Jonathan Grudin
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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 June 2002
Published in TOCHI Volume 9, Issue 2

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Author Tags

  1. cell
  2. field study
  3. mobile
  4. qualitative study
  5. social construction of technology
  6. socio-technical systems
  7. usability
  8. wireless telephones

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