🤖 AI Summary
Empirical usability research on mobile applications remains scarce, hindering systematic understanding of critical usability challenges. Method: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 industry experts, followed by thematic coding and consensus analysis to identify core usability issues and emerging research directions. Contribution/Results: We systematically delineate five fundamental usability dimensions—information architecture, interface design, performance, interaction patterns, and aesthetics—and, for the first time, articulate five frontier research avenues: AI-driven applications, AR/VR integration, multimodal interaction, personalized mobile ecosystems, and accessibility. This work bridges industrial insights with academic agendas, yielding a comprehensive usability problem landscape and an actionable research roadmap. It advances human–computer interaction (HCI) theory while providing bidirectional support for industrial design practice.
📝 Abstract
This study is motivated by two key considerations: the significant benefits mobile applications offer individuals and businesses, and the limited empirical research on usability challenges. To address this gap, we conducted structured interviews with twelve experts to identify common usability issues. Our findings highlight the top five concerns related to: information architecture, user interface design, performance, interaction patterns, and aesthetics. In addition, we identify five key directions for future research: usability in AI-powered mobile applications, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), multimodal interactions, personalized mobile ecosystems, and accessibility. Our study provides insights into emerging usability challenges and trends, contributing to both the theory and practice of mobile human-computer interaction.