Supporting the Process of Learning
Mobile Application User Interfaces
References
Lucia Tokárová, Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
The objective of this research project is to investigate how people learn to
use mobile applications, and how can this process be supported in different
phases so that they quickly perceive the value of the application, accomplish
basic tasks, and gradually learn new features in a natural way.
•	 focus on understanding the activity and
attaining momentary goals
•	 frequent, perceptually salient errors with
immediate consequences
•	 help of parent or teacher
The process of learning
•	 gaining experience
•	 less frequent and serious mistakes
•	 level of concentration is reduced
•	 attaining an acceptable level of
performance
•	 performance is not actively controlled
•	 most people do not perceive an urge for
further improvements
•	 the same level of performance is
maintained for months/years
•	 continuous learning
•	 individuals are not satisfied with
acceptable level of performance
•	 deliberate practice: seeking challenges to
achieve ever higher level of performance
•	 first contact with application
•	 focus on understanding purpose of the
application, accomplishing basic tasks
•	 ad-hoc feature exploration
•	 asking for help (experienced user/forum)
•	 practice and familiarization
•	 short sessions with the application,
predictable usage patterns [2]
•	 ad-hoc problem solving
•	 fewer mistakes, faster task completion
•	 performance becomes autonomous,
users focus on task instead of UI
•	 most users stop learning new strategies
and start actively avoiding frustrating and
unfamiliar situations
•	 finding more efficient ways
•	 learning shortcuts
•	 exploration of advanced features
•	 personalization of user interface
•	 systematic approach to problem-solving
•	 with practice, users become quicker but
not more efficient
•	 problem-solving strategies differ
among user groups [2]
•	 users do not perceive an urge for
further improvements, they tend to
stick to familiar strategies
•	 as individuals improve their
performance, their needs evolve and
the user interface should reflect these
changes
The process of learning mobile applications
Gestural UIs are engaging and
intuitive for simple tasks but not
for advanced operations [4].
Sessions with mobile applications
are short [1, 6] and variable in the
context of use [6], which affect
users’attention.
Solely visual user interfaces
without haptic feedback prevent
activation of the muscle memory.
Small screens provide space for
displaying high-priority functions
and reduce discoverability of
advanced features [4].
With the recent expansion of the mobile industry, applications for mobile devices are becoming more complex,
empowering people to perform more advanced tasks. However, modern mobile user interfaces introduce several
challenges, which affect learnability of mobile applications. For example:
Objective Methodology & expected results
•	 most users leave mobile applications in
the initial phase [3] due to insufficient
onboarding strategies
Research question: How to continuously support the process of learning mobile application user interfaces?
Learning is a long-term process. Individual’s needs are changing over time. To achieve the highest levels of expertise,
learners should be engaged in deliberate practice to continuously improve their performance. (via [5])
Thisstudywillconsistofobservationofusers’behaviorintheprocessoflearning
mobile UIs. Patterns in users’ behavior will be investigated, in order to create
learning profiles of representative user groups. Further profile examination
should lead to the design of support mechanisms that will encourage various
types of learners in the process of continuous learning of mobile applications.
[1] Böhmer, M. et al. 2011. Falling asleep with angry birds, facebook and kindle: a large scale study on mobile application usage. Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Human Computer
Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services (MobileHCI 2011). Sweden, Stockholm, 30 August – 2 September 2011:47–56.
[2] Burnett, M.M. et al. 2011. Gender pluralism in problem-solving software. Interacting with Computers, 23(5):450–460.
[3] Min, A. 2011. 26% of Mobile Application Users are Fickle — or Loyal. http://www.localytics.com/blog/2011/26percent-of-mobile-app-users-are-either-fickle-or-loyal/ [05 December 2012].
[4] Norman, D. 2010. Natural user interfaces are not natural. interactions, 17(3):6–10.
[5] Oulasvirta, A. et al. 2011. What does it mean to be good at using a mobile device? An investigation of three levels of experience and skill. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 69(3):155–169.
[6] Oulasvirta, A. et al. 2005. Interaction in 4-Second Bursts : The Fragmented Nature of Attentional Resources in Mobile HCI. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
(CHI 2005). USA, Oregon, Portland, 2 – 7 April 2005:910–928.
The initial phase
Problem 1 Problem 2 Problem 3 Problem 4
The expert approach
The last phaseThe middle phase
The initial phase