Keywords

5.1 Introduction

The traditional usability guidelines used in desktop applications are not very much applicable to the apps [1]. App usability attributes are different; therefore, we need to specify usability attributes that are essential and important for apps [2]. The important usability attributes expected in any app are effectiveness, satisfaction, efficiency, learnability, errors and memorability as well as the quality characteristics outlined in ISO 9126 [3,4,5,6]. Some of the usability attributes may overlap in meaning but have been used with different names by different researchers.

Most of the guidelines are for usability testing, but most of them are not applicable to apps because mobile apps have unique features and changing context [1]. Furthermore, the work available does not have any consensus on the factors of usability. A recent study identified user, task and context as the main factors of usability [3]. However, the study was lacking due to certain limitations. The researchers found it hard to find the relevant papers, and it affected the results. The papers included were from 2008 to 2010 because smartphone apps had become popular during this period and there had not been much research done on mobile apps usability till that time. A review was conducted on usability characteristics of apps, but the work also lacked some of the recent developments in apps’ usability [7].

This article seeks to contribute to important research concerning the usability attributes of apps. The purpose of this research is to conduct a systematic review that reveals the most prominent and recent usability attributes that have been discussed and have emerged in the research. This study will be useful in building future guidelines for developing apps that have all the essential usability attributes. This work stands out because it discusses some of the most contemporary research.

5.2 The Systematic Review

We undertook a systematic review to search for published, peer-reviewed articles that investigated usability attributes in mobile apps. We utilised the terminology outlined in the table below (Table 5.1) to look for research papers covering usability attributes in mobile devices and applications. We sought to incorporate all the related terms that could provide us with articles relevant to this topic.

Table 5.1 Keywords used in the systematic review relating to usability attributes of mobile applications
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We referred to ACM Digital Library, EBSCO, IEEE Xplore, PsycINFO, Communication and Mass Media Complete, Computers and Applied Sciences Complete, ProQuest Computer Science Collection, Computer Source and Web of Science.

We tried to include the most recent articles starting from 2010, which were based on app usability. We have followed the methodology from [8], and the flow chart below shows how the systematic review was undertaken (Fig. 5.1).

Fig. 5.1
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Methodology for the systematic review

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5.3 Results

We conducted a systematic review of usability attributes in mobile apps. We looked for articles that discussed usability attributes in mobile devices and applications. We also conducted a comprehensive survey on usability of apps and tried to figure out the important attributes discussed in these papers. Eighteen relevant articles were included which have been published and peer reviewed (Table 5.2).

Table 5.2 Usability attributes in apps
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5.4 Results Evaluation

Figure 5.2 shows the mobile apps’ usability attributes. Satisfaction is the most highly mentioned amongst studies at ten times and then both effectiveness and efficiency at six times. Next, learnability was cited three times. Afterwards, simplicity, usefulness, errors, understandable and attractiveness were named two times. All the other attributes, such as memorability and cognitive load, were only cited once.

Fig. 5.2
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Usability attributes in mobile apps

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5.5 Conclusion

This review shows that usability in apps has been discussed from various points of view by many authors. Some studies provide guidelines for improving usability, whilst others compare usability attributes amongst different apps. Usability has been discussed from numerous angles between 2010 and 2016. Most of the work discussed in the beginning of the study involved research in lab settings; however more recent research usually took place in field settings. Earlier research was aimed at testing usability attributes in apps or emphasising the importance of certain attributes. Next, most researchers were interested in comparing different applications to test usability. Then, usability attributes have been evaluated for some practical apps, and there has been a focus on adding something new to these. Recent work has also included users’ acceptance and expert reviews as evaluating procedures for determining the usability of applications. Some of the recent work focuses specifically on improving usability in apps related to various fields ranging from health to social networking. Usability criteria are always evolving, and the needs of people are changing rapidly so new dimensions of usability have been discussed in some of the recent research. The attributes that are emerging in the new research are related to the ease of use of the application when performing multiple tasks, intuitiveness, security and power consumption. These attributes can be debated as being part of those defined in the traditional literature, but in apps, there is a need to mention them separately to emphasise their importance.

The evaluation of the results shows that satisfaction is the most highly mentioned amongst studies at ten times followed by both effectiveness and efficiency at six times.

This research shows that there are numerous usability attributes and it is difficult for designers to include them all into one app. The best they can do is improve the usability of the app by keeping its nature in mind. This research will be used to outline usability guidelines for developing applications with enhanced usability. This is only possible when the developer is aware of the attributes that enhance usability.