Fulfilling mobile information needs: a study on the use of mobile phones

Reviewer: Cecilia G. Manrique

We cannot deny that mobile phone technology has invaded traditional communication lines to such an extent that experts predict that landlines will reach obsolescence within a few decades. Part of this takeover of voice communication stems from the ability of today's mobile phone to be more than just a phone; it is also a way to obtain data and information. Thus, the attempt to study the ability of mobile phone technology to fulfill user needs is quite important. This paper tries to do just that by undertaking a study through the use of participant diaries and follow-up interviews to learn how users make use of their mobile devices, and what needs mobile phones fulfill (and do not fulfill) for users. Mobile information is defined as that which is necessary for the user to manage varied goals, risks, problems, and objectives while on the go. The main objectives of the study are to determine: what factors influence the use of mobile phones, and to what extent mobile phones fulfill such intentions; what physical and technical shortcomings of mobile devices facilitate and/or hinder needs fulfillment; and the contextual factors that lead to formation of needs and fulfillment of such needs through mobile technology, beyond the fact that "it is there" or that "it exists, therefore it is used." Based on the results of the study, the ability to make use of the technology to fulfill needs stems from how easy or difficult the use of such technology is perceived to be, regardless of the user's proficiency. Of course, the more proficient users can make maximum use of mobile services to fulfill their needs. Sometimes, because mobile service is not available in all places at all times, the user can resort to asking a live person or going to a location itself for information, instead of relying on the ability of the mobile device to provide the information. Two technical aspects of mobile phone devices may hinder the user's adoption of such technology: the size of the screen, and the ability to type in information or input queries using either a keyboard, the finger sliding system, or voice recognition. Thus, portability must be measured against reduced visual ease because of the size of the screen. In terms of contextual factors, one needs to take into consideration the location, time, activity, and social surroundings that influence the need for information, and the ability to obtain it through mobile technology. The study does a good job of deconstructing what those factors are in concise but informative tables. Though the study has few problems, the authors themselves acknowledge some. One issue has to do with the choice of a research method that uses only 20 subjects, whose use of mobile phones was recorded through diary entries. A questionnaire method could have reached a larger sample. Such a method may also be better for soliciting the wide variety of responses that could accurately and reliably get at the current state of use and the factors that influence the use of mobile phones for obtaining information on the go. As the ubiquity of mobile phones and applications proliferates, one question will be foremost in the minds of researchers: "To what extent will the computer's functions be incorporated within the functions of a phone, and vice versa, to create a mobile device of the future that may be much different than what we currently have__?__" In an age when the phone has become a computing device, and the computer has become a communications device, the jury is still out on that question. Online Computing Reviews Service