Designing for mobile use: extracting content and mobility information when eliciting requirements

Developing systems for mobile use is complex due to the nature of mobile devices and the changing use environments. There are many more challenges to designing for mobile use than merely technical challenges. Elements of context and mobility are two core criteria that need to be considered when designing for mobile use. Studies conducted in the field of mobile systems design indicate that context and mobility, both, require equal attention and consideration when designing for mobile use. Nonetheless, to date, no design framework supports mobile systems design by considering both these concepts concurrently. This study explores the concept of context and mobility in design, by drawing parallels from Bunge's (1977) philosophy of viewing the world as a set of interconnected ‘things’ that interact with each other. The research then reviewed three popular user-centered design methodologies that are commonly used to elicit requirements for mobile use, to identify appropriate techniques to elicit requirements when designing for mobile use. These user-centered system design methodologies were Participatory Design, Contextual Design and Ethnomethodology. The final outcome of the research is a design approach that is structured and methodical to support mobile systems design through the use of a design artefact. The design artefact consists of context and mobility constructs, and techniques to elicit the requirements for mobile systems design. The artefact was further evaluated in three case study.