Mobile websites: usability evaluation and design

Mobile websites are increasingly gaining popularity and studying their usability has become an intriguing endeavour considering the ergonomic constraints posed by the mobile devices. Mobile application usability studies are mainly focused on the effects of the mobile device employed, the application's design and the user, but less on the conditions of use. The study presented in this paper proposes a model hypothesising on the effects of environmental context on the usability of mobile websites under the lens of multidisciplinary theories. We consider environmental cues as distractions and suggest both direct and moderated effects on the usability of mobile websites. The model is empirically validated through a laboratory experiment that was based on the results of a preliminary study and tested for its predictive capacity against the usability factors: efficiency, effectiveness and perceived satisfaction. Results suggest that environmental distractions have a significant effect on user performance, but not on user satisfaction.