Comparing Low and High-Fidelity Prototypes in Mobile Phone Evaluation

This study compared usability testing results found with low- and high-fidelity prototypes for mobile phones. The main objective is to obtain deep understanding of usability problems found with different prototyping methods. Three mobile phones from different manufactures were selected in the experiment. The usability level of the mobile phones was evaluated by participants who completed a questionnaire consisting of 13 usability factors. Incorporating the task-based complexity of the three mobile phones, significant differences in the usability evaluation for each individual factor were found. Suggestions on usability testing with prototyping technique for mobile phones were proposed. This study tries to provide new evidence to the field of mobile phone usability research and develop a feasible way to quantitatively evaluate the prototype usability with novices. The comparisons of paper-based and fully functional prototypes led us to realize how significantly the unique characteristics of different prototypes affect the usability evaluation. The experiment took product complexity into account and made suggestions on choosing proper prototyping technique for testing particular aspects of mobile phone usability.