Interface Design Issues for Mobile Commerce

Abstract

Effective interface design for mobile handheld devices facilitates user adoption of mobile commerce (m-commerce). Current wireless technology poses many constraints for effective interface design. These constraints include limited connectivity and bandwidth, diverse yet simplistic devices, the dominance of proprietary tools and languages, and the absence of common standards for application development. The convergence of mobile Internet and wireless communications has not yet resulted in major growth in mobile commerce. Consumer adoption of m-commerce has been slow even in countries such as Finland, which have broadly adopted wireless technology (Anckar & D’Incau, 2002). An international study of mobile handheld devices and services suggests that mobile commerce is at a crossroads (Jarvenpaa, Lang, Takeda & Tuunainen, 2003). The enterprise and business use of wireless technology holds greater promise, but it demands the transformation of business processes and infrastructure. Poor usability of mobile Internet sites and wireless applications for commerce activities stands out as a major obstacle for the adoption of mobile solutions. For example, even with the latest 3G phones in Japan, consumers still find the small screen display and small buttons on these devices difficult to use (Belson, 2002).