Harvard study says iPhone, WP7 have best interface

Harvard's lab for Human Factors in Design has posted a new usability study (below) that gave Apple and Microsoft the edge in mobile OS design. The small experiment by Professor Dennis Gallatta had newcomers to smartphones try to make a phone call, add a contact, and send a text message without help. iPhone and Windows Phone users had the easiest time and typically scored well, while Android and BlackBerry trailed well behind.

Adding a contact was often the most difficult task and proved especially bad on both Android and BlackBerry devices, both of which got one star out of five. In the cases of both the contact and messaging tests, the company had to fast forward the video footage because of how long they took relative to the iPhone and Windows Phone users.

Both Apple and Microsoft might have been helped by their experiences developing desktop operating systems. Google and RIM started off developing mobile operating systems that weren't their primary businesses. It's not clear how much of the Android complication was affected by the Sense interface used on the HTC Thunderbolt used in the test. A Nexus S phone with stock Android would have removed HTC from the equation.

The study doesn't provide a complete picture of ease of use and also doesn't touch on the power of the interface once an owner is comfortable. Harvard's study may nonetheless show how discoverable features are and how well users can adapt out of instinct instead of having to train themselves. [via WMPowerUser]

By Electronista Staff