Mobile user interaction behaviors

The user’s position and context greatly influences their interaction with their mobile device.

Walking users almost exclusively use their mobile one handed. Walking mobile users are commonly finishing an activity they started before walking, and putting their phones away afterwards, or walking on with the phone in their hand, but without interacting with it. Walking mobile users usually do so while walking more slowly than usual, and pick up speed as soon as they are finished with their interaction. Walking users can also be found on the phone in conversation or looking at maps for orientation, as a help for their primary activity : reaching their destination point “B”.

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Insights on interaction patterns using mobile devices

After having a look at how users hold their mobile devices, how they interact with their mobile devices, which hand they use to interact with their smartphones, and what their attention span might be…. let’s have a look at how this all plays out through time.

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How does multi-tasking influence the player experience ?

multitasking behaviorHow do task interuptions and multitasking affect the player experience ? There are several reasons why a player can interupt his task. In game elements can distract him from his current goal and replace it by a new, secundary one. Real life can also interfere with the gaming experience and involve task interuptions in play.

In order to gather a better understanding of the inpact of task interuptions on the gaming experience, we have conducted a short study on task interuption. We asked players to tell us what else they did (in real life) while playing, and how it affected their experience.

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How do users really interact with their mobile devices : an activity analysis

In a previous part of the metro studies, we had a close look at how users interact with their mobile devices, by observing a large panel of users and taking snapshots of their activity.

To go further in the analysis, this article will dissect the way users interact with their mobile devices by analyzing timed interaction sequences on 110 users, in real life situations.

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Do users interact with their mobile devices with their dominant hand ?

A key to success, when designing anything that will be used by a human being, is understanding how it will be used. Since I believe understanding behavior implies taking in account the natural contexts in a holistic approach, while cutting up the problem in digest chunks, I decided to conduct a series of humble studies, which hopefully will provide interesting and unexpected insights into mobile user behavior.

Part 3 : Left or right hand ?

Left vs. Right Hand mobile interaction

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How does the location affect user interactions with their mobile devices

A key to success, when designing anything that will be used by a human being, is understanding how it will be used. We’ve seen that the task and condition in which the user impacts their behavior. Their location where they use their phone also has an impact on how they interact with their mobile devices. The “metro studies” is a project of multiple humble studies, which hopefully will provide interesting and unexpected insights into mobile user behavior.

Part 2 : The effect of location on mobile interactions

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How do users really hold and interact with their mobile devices ?

A key to success, when designing anything that will be used by a human being, is understanding how it will be used. A designer can rely on psychology, physiology, logic, imagination and experience to predict how a user will. Conducting user tests of a service or product provides valuable data to make a concept user friendly. However, initial decisions are often based on assumptions and long debates with clients, in particular when mobile design is involved.

Since I believe understanding behavior implies taking in account the natural contexts in a holistic approach, while cutting up the problem in digest chunks, I decided to conduct a series of humble studies, which hopefully will provide interesting and unexpected insights into mobile user behavior. This article presents the first of those, inspired from Seven Hoober’s study on How people naturally hold  their mobile devices, published on UXmatters.

Part 1 : How do users hold and interact with their mobile devices ?

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