Multidimensional modelling of quality of experience for mobile Web browsing

Abstract

The increasing use of mobile devices for Web browsing has driven a rising interest amongst actors involved in the service provisioning chain in understanding the factors influencing user experience. Research activities stemming from both the fields of human–computer interaction (focusing on user experience, UX) and networking and telecommunications (focusing on Quality of Experience, QoE) have addressed different factors, both aiming for a similar goal – understanding and enhancing the user experience when accessing mobile Web sites. We draw these diverged studies under a common umbrella with the aim of studying multiple factors that impact QoE while browsing the mobile Web, focusing on design, information quality, and loading time. We present a multidimensional analysis of the quality of user experience in the context of browsing information, thematic, and e-mail portals on smartphones and tablet devices. Experiments were conducted in field settings with 77 participants during a two-month period. Based on factor manipulations, participants rated sixteen versions of an information portal and a thematic portal, and eight versions of an e-mail portal by using a smartphone or a tablet. For the purpose of data analysis and hypotheses testing, analysis of variance, Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis have been reported. Results show the existence of significant effects of examined factors on QoE. Mutual relations between QoE and multiple perceivable characteristics of the experience that contribute to its quality, referred to as QoE features, are found to be highly and positively correlated, and are further quantified using multiple linear regression models.