Nielsen Norman Group conducted a field study of WAP users in London. Users were given a WAP telephone that provided mobile access to the Internet. They were given tasks to perform in laboratory usability studies before and after being allowed to use the phones on their own. They were also interviewed about their experience using WAP in the field.

This report describes our findings regarding the usability of WAP itself, WAP content, and WAP services. The report also contains a substantial number of quotes from users reporting on their subjective experience with the services and their preferences for WAP design.

When users were asked whether they were likely to use a WAP phone within one year, a resounding 70% answered no. WAP is not ready for prime time yet, nor do users expect it to be usable any time soon. This finding came after respondents had used WAP services for a full week, so their conclusions are significantly more valid than answers from focus group participants who are simply asked to speculate about whether they would like WAP. We surveyed people who had suffered through the painful experience of using WAP, and they definitely didn’t like it.

The report details the many usability problems that caused users to come to this negative conclusion. Unless the usability of mobile Internet services and devices improves considerably, people will simply not use them and billions of dollars will be wasted. [ Expert Advice / Download ]