SMS Usage Satisfaction Influences of Hand Anthropometry and Gender.pdfVIP

VIMALA BALAKRISHNAN PAUL H.P. YEOW SMS Usage Satisfaction Influences of Hand Anthropometry and Gender Vimala Balakrishnan Paul H.P. Yeow, Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia Hand anthropometry and gender influences on Short Message Service (SMS) usage satisfaction were investigated using structured questionnaire interviews with 110 participants. The collected data were then filtered, resulting in a total of 73 participants. Hand-size, thumb length, circumference and mobile phone dimensions were recorded. Focus was on keypad design factors, which include: key size, shape, layout, texture, simplicity and space between keys. Females were found to be more satisfied with the key size and layout than males. Significant differences were noted among subjects with different hand- size with respect to key size and space between keys. One of the recommended improvements is to have larger keys with more space between them for those with large hand-size. The results obtained can be used by mobile phone designers to design customized mobile phones; for example, mobile phones that suit users with larger hands and thumbs, especially males. Keywords: hand anthropometry, gender, keypad design factors Short Message Service (SMS) is a service that allows users to communicate non-vocally, expressing themselves via combinations of alphanumerical characters with a maximum of 160 characters per single SMS message. The first text message is thought to have been sent to a mobile phone in 1992 (GSM 2000). Since then, mobile phone mes- saging has exploded. The Mobile Data Association (MDA) has reported Balakrishnan, Vimala Paul H.P. Yeow. “SMS Usage Satisfaction: Influences of Hand Anthropometry and Gender.” human it 9.2(2007): 52–75. © The