An Empirical Assessment of Environmental Factors that Influence the Usability of a Mobile Website

The quality of interaction with a mobile website is arguably influenced by the prevailing conditions of use. The characteristics of the latter have not been sufficiently addressed in HCI literature yet, partly because they cannot be easily controlled in a usability study. Drawing on multidisciplinary theories, we propose a model hypothesizing on the effects of environmental context on the usability of mobile websites. We consider environmental cues as distractions and suggest both direct and moderated effects on efficiency, effectiveness, and perceived satisfaction. A laboratory experiment that was based on the results of a preliminary study was conducted to investigate our research hypotheses. The results confirmed that environmental distractions have a significant effect on mobile website usability and hence they need to be taken into account when evaluating usability.