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Usability evaluation of multi-platform mobile applications: A systematic mapping study

Abstract:

Background: In recent years, the use of mobile devices has increased significantly so as to, among other things, afford people the ability to communicate and access to their data and services with ease from anywhere. Seen from this perspective, the usability of mobile apps plays a leading role on reaching this objective. Nevertheless, mobile apps still appear to have problems in that regard. Aim: to identify the mechanisms used for assess the usability on multi-platform mobile apps (MPMA), in order to establish better practices in this context. Method: We conduct a systematic mapping study (SMS). Results: From the information available on 42 primary studies, we find that there are very few mechanisms specifically designed to evaluate usability in MPMA; consequently, the existing attributes and metrics correspond to adaptations used to evaluate traditional web or desktop applications. Conclusions: The mechanisms used to evaluate the usability of traditional applications need to be reviewed, adapted or combined to cover aspects related to MPMA from the early stages of its development cycle, without neglecting the design of platform-independent interaction.