Evaluating the Effects of the Environmental Context-of-Use on Mobile Website Usability

Environmental conditions arguably influence mobile website usability, especially as users on the move may be exposed to fluctuating contextual conditions. Since the aspects of context cannot be readily simulated in a mobile usability study, the development of theories and models explaining how the context of use may affect usability has yet to be sufficiently addressed. In this paper we propose a model hypothesizing on the effects of environmental distractions on the usability of mobile sites. Environmental distractions are categorized into auditory, visual and social and we suggest both direct and moderated effects of these distractions on efficiency, effectiveness, and perceived satisfaction. The paper contributes to the mobile HCI literature by developing a concrete set of empirically testable hypotheses and a method for their subsequent assessment. A preliminary test (N=30) was conducted to investigate our main hypotheses. Results confirmed that environmental distractions have a direct effect on mobile website usability.