Softpedia >News >Mobile World
Softpedia Homepage   

Phone Interfaces Seem Difficult to 85% of Users

Smartphones are stated to come with too complex interfaces

Jan 21, 2009 13:24 GMT  ·  By
85% of users consider smartphone interfaces too complex and dificult
   85% of users consider smartphone interfaces too complex and dificult

A recent study has showed that mobile phone users do not always appreciate the fact that their handsets come with rather too many features they would have to browse through. Although mobile phone manufacturers continue to include more complex feature-sets into their handsets, especially into smartphones, sometimes users find it hard to explore the entire range of capabilities of the device.

According to a survey conducted by Mformation in the US and UK, around 85 percent of 4,000 people interrogated stated that they found the setting up of their phones as being complex and rather frustrating. Around 61 percent of the individuals pointed towards the fact that they found this procedure as difficult as moving bank accounts. At the same time, 95 percent of the subjects stated that they would try a new service if it was easy to set up.

“There is an enormous range of things modern phones are capable of doing but the paradox is that many people are not using these capabilities,” said Mformation spokesman Matthew Bancroft.

The study points towards the need of more user-orientated interfaces on mobile phones, which would enhance intuitive controls. At the same time, the survey does not say anything about people using handsets for some of the high-end features they offer, including GPS, email or photo sharing, which come on devices that include menu-obsessed interfaces.

The problem might be the fact that many users come across mobile phones that sport intuitive interfaces. At the same time, more and more incredibly intuitive and slick mobile platforms have lately entered the smartphone space. Unfortunately, developers started to ignore the less-featured phone area, focusing more on the rapidly-increasing smartphone market.

Some of the currently-available devices have managed to revolutionize the smartphone segment, including the iPhone and T-Mobile G1. They are proof of the fact that the features of such a handset don't need to be complex or difficult to navigate. Users with a G1 only need to log in with their Gmail credentials and they have a full-populated Contacts list and email client. The iPhone allows for an easy sync between a desktop and the handset.