A Framework of Mobile Device Research in HCI

This paper presents a framework illustrates the various trends that point toward the increasing importance of mobile device research in Human Computer Interaction (HCI). These trends indicate a future in which the gap between the user and the mobile is even closer than today and computer use is more intermittent and in a greater variety of contexts than our current user models accommodate. The implications are that mobile devices must be made more accessible to an aging population, they must be designed for “situational impairments” incurred from on-the-go use, they must adopt flexible and rapid input mechanisms, and the models that describe them must be revamped to accommodate mobile use and behaviour. There are also opportunities for using mobile devices in various educational and industrial purposes in developing nations like India, where mobile devices became more common than desktop PCs.