Study: Touchpad phones more demanding in mobile use

Using phones with touchpads is more demanding than using traditional mobile phones. Even small external interferences complicate writing SMSes on a touchpad, according to results achieved by implementing a new research method developed by Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT.

- If you can write using your phone without anything disturbing you, it is fastest to type them with a Physical-Qwerty keyboard, the small keyboard similar to one in a normal computer. If you have to concentrate on something else while typing or if you, for instance, cannot see the phone while typing, the ITU-12 keypad, the most traditional mobile phone keypad with 12 buttons is fastest for typing SMSes, says Antti Oulasvirta, Senior Researcher at Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT.

Oulasvirta’s research group’s study will be published in April at CHI 2010 (ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems).

- When you are buying a new mobile phone, it is worth thinking about what you will mostly use your new phone for. If you write lots of SMSes when on the move, a phone with a physical keypad may be most suitable for you, recommends Oulasvirta.

Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT is a joint research institute of Aalto University and the University of Helsinki for basic and applied research on information technology. The research work was funded by Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation – and by the Emil Aaltonen Foundation.

Watch a video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj7Y_TcVJ14

Website including the link to the paper to be published at CHI 2010:
www.hiit.fi/mfi

For more information:
Dr Antti Oulasvirta, Senior Researcher
Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT
antti.oulasvirta *** hiit.fi
Tel. +358 9 470 28158