Apple iPhone Users Unsatisfied with Popular Mobile Web Sites

Keynote Systems performed a study of actual user satisfaction of mobile Web sites and found that most iPhone users are not pleased with web browsing experience of popular mobile destinations. The study was conducted with the help of Keynote WebEffective for iPhone, which is a method of conducting online usability studies of iPhone customers interacting with mobile Web sites.

The study examined the satisfaction and usability levels of more than 75 consumers who accomplished three separate Keynote-assigned tasks on the Fox and Yahoo! News mobile portals using their iPhone.

Satisfaction rates were low for both Yahoo! (51 percent) and Fox News (64 percent) mobile Web sites and less than half of users found the sites to be appealing. Only four percent of users tapped into advertising; nearly a quarter noticed advertising but did not click through. While Fox News users were more likely to find the mobile experience to be better than a computer experience, Yahoo! users were more likely to find the mobile experience to be much worse than a computer experience. Significantly more Yahoo! users (60 percent) reported frustration with the site than Fox News users (33 percent).

Expected user frustrations included site errors, cluttered pages, poor site speed as well as excessive scrolling. Path analysis reveals how users encountered and attempted to work around these issues. Unexpected findings included a lack of visual appeal and difficulties around the search feature.