Usability evaluation of handheld devices: A case study for a museum application

In this paper, we describe a usability evaluation study of a system involving PDAs, designed to be used in a traditional historical/ cultural mu- seum. The system permits collaboration of small groups of museum visitors through mobile handheld devices. The key characteristics of the system are de- scribed first, which include a server and a client component and a tool that permits authoring of new activities. The usability evaluation study that in- volved typical users revealed some of the limitations of the design. The re- ported findings can be of use to practitioners interested in following similar ap- proaches relating to evaluation of mobile technology.

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