Recently, Intel user interface specialist Dr. Dariya Loi and her team conducted a study to determine how users in different countries of the world relate to their computer devices. The study, dubbed “Device Usage: A Global Perspective,” found out which devices are preferred by users, which devices people use most often, which devices are used for certain tasks (and why) and what could be improved on devices . In the course of the study, 1,200 people were surveyed from 6 countries of the world. The age of the respondents differed within a few decades.
The study showed that although devices such as smartphones, laptops, desktops and tablets give users the ability to perform many important tasks both at work and in their personal lives, and most users have a favorite or preferred device (see figure). there are still a lot of areas where improvements are needed. This article discusses in detail the facts obtained in the course of the study, and discusses the possibilities of creating software that could enhance the user experience.

There is no one universal device.

The results of the study used devices: a global study showed that the majority of respondents (39%) preferred device is a smartphone. The smartphones are followed by laptops (30%) and desktop PCs (21%). But none of these devices has an interface that helps users perform all activities related to work, personal tasks and entertainment. For example, smartphones are very convenient for taking photos, listening to music, participating in social networks and communicating with others, but because of the small screen size and low (actually or sensationally) security, they are not so useful for shopping, managing bank accounts, image editing and email.

“A smartphone is a portable device, which is why people most often use these devices,” says Dr. Loi. - Since this is a preferred device, I would like it to be perfect, but at the present time there is no perfect device, so people own several different devices. Nevertheless, not all existing and new users, especially young or in developing countries, can afford to buy several devices, and they don’t want to carry not one device, but several. Therefore, before us, technology developers, the question arises: how to create a future in which people can comfortably do whatever they want without burdening themselves with several devices? How to help users solve all tasks on one device? ”

When trying to formulate a report on this question, it makes sense for developers to draw on those characteristics that are already important for device users. Answering the question about which characteristic of devices is the most important, respondents most often called the operating system, then - performance, screen size, usability and brand - in this order (see. Fig. 1). Loi notes that developers should pay particular attention to usability: this is a key feature; if it is inconvenient to use the device, they simply will not buy it.
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Figure 1. Answers to the research question about the most important characteristics (in order of decreasing importance, level 1 is the most important)

Variety of devices

According to the results of the research, people prefer to use different devices for different functions. Among these functions are reading locally stored books, magazines and text; viewing photos stored both locally and online; interactive chat; interactive text platforms; video chat and video conferencing; casual games. For a certain range of tasks, certain devices are used depending on their capabilities.

In addition, the choice of device depends on where the user is. While at home, people prefer to perform tasks that require a laptop or desktop PC: shopping in online stores, banking services, training, and resource-intensive games. PCs and laptops are also used at work and in educational institutions: for preparing and displaying reports, creating and editing documents, e-mail, reading news and texts on the Internet. Smartphones are also used: for example, to find out the weather forecast or use the calendar. Another place where the preferred device is a desktop PC is an internet cafe and similar allocated spaces, where the typical tasks include voice communication via the Internet, video conferencing, updating blogs and websites.
On the go, smartphones are the preferred device for finding the right places, navigating, taking photos and videos, listening to music. “People’s expectations depend on where they are,” explains Loi. - Depending on the location, people may take some reduction in the speed of the devices. User expectations change as context changes. The goal of developers is to create applications that work well in any context or that can be modified in such a way as to provide users with the necessary capabilities at all times, regardless of the situation. ”

Smartphones are getting smarter

Some tasks can be performed on different devices, but there are tasks that are most often performed on one specific device. Among those surveyed, 43% named smartphones as their preferred device for everyday tasks, such as viewing the weather forecast, maintaining contacts, and using the calendar; 47% of respondents said that smartphones are best suited for finding the right places and navigation; According to 62% of users, smartphones are the best device for taking photos and videos (see Fig. 2).


Figure 2. Answers to the research question about your preferred device for navigating, searching, and receiving news

However, people are not too eager to shop online from their smartphones, because they feel it is less secure. Some survey participants specifically mentioned that they do not always manage to see the entire screen on a smartphone, and for this reason they are concerned that they may not see a button or some other element that they would like to know not to doubt. that the purchase is fully consistent with their wishes. “And yet, people would like to perform these tasks on any devices,” notes Loi, “and here developers have the opportunity to create software and infrastructure that allows them to do so with complete reliability and security. This aspect will become particularly important given the fact that Google and Apple corporations are striving to promote their solutions for using smartphones as a means of payment, like bank cards. ”

Another area for improvement on smartphones is related to features that help reduce user dependence on other devices when traveling or when these devices are not available. For example, how can you give a smartphone more opportunities to work? If you consider that people are increasingly using phones as the main camera, how can you improve the capabilities of the built-in cameras? And since people often listen to music on the phone, how to implement more convenient functions and user interfaces for this on smartphones?

Another direction for the possible development of smartphones: to make them more useful for learning. “Teenagers and young people cannot imagine life without their favorite phones, but these devices are extremely rarely integrated into the curriculum. Often, students are encouraged to leave their devices at home or turn them off before starting classes, but for them a smartphone is an interesting, familiar, fun everyday tool that can help in learning. In this context, our task is to work together with training specialists to develop solutions that provide a convenient, correct, in-depth and effective study of materials. ”

PC performance is a winning factor

Many people are seriously in love with their phones, but despite this, laptops or all-in-one computers are preferred devices for certain tasks (see Figure 3). In particular, 38% of users use laptops for editing multimedia, 47% for creating and editing documents, 36% for publishing on blogs and websites, 41% for using banking services and paying bills; 44% - for viewing goods for the purpose of possible purchase, and 41% of users - for purchasing goods in online stores. Loi notes that screen size plays a crucial role for all of these preferences. “It's much more convenient to work with information on the big screen,” she says. - In addition, many software products are either not available for smartphones, or are unacceptably expensive. A powerful software ecosystem, as well as the advantages of laptops for practicality, physical size and performance, are the factors that make laptops the preferred device for these tasks. ”


Figure 3. Answers to the research question about the preferred device for shopping in online stores

Survey participants also named laptops the preferred device for communication and entertainment, in particular: for watching videos on the Internet (36%); to view videos stored locally (37%); for sending, downloading or transmitting multimedia (38%); to work with e-mail (42%); for voice communication over the Internet (VoIP) and other voice platforms (35%, see Fig. 4). “These are applications requiring high performance, which smartphones do not yet possess. In the future, the possibility of a PC may appear in more compact devices. Again, this opportunity requires a suitable ecosystem, software, intermediate tools, interfaces, and infrastructure — in addition to convenient media transfer capabilities. ”


Figure 4. Answers to the research question about the preferred device for text input and conversation

Other areas in which respondents preferred the power and large screens of their laptops: demonstration of presentations and reports (59%), resource-intensive games (24% - laptops, 25% - desktop PCs), viewing and studying information on the Internet 38%), training ( 47%), reading news and text on the Internet (39%, see Fig. 5). “Some of these functions would seem to be available on smartphones, but smartphones are usually much more difficult to connect to other devices (such as projectors) than computers,” notes Loi, “the performance of smartphones does not allow them to run at least some complicated games ; the limited screen size makes smartphones unsuitable for long-term, focused multi-tasking work, typical for learning information or learning. ”


Figure 5. Answers to the research question about the preferred device for reading and learning

Opinions about technology

In order to better understand what sensations the device evokes in survey participants, Loi and her team talked with several respondents in order to obtain qualitative information that could supplement the quantitative data of the global survey. One of the most important facts revealed is that people are increasingly loving and hating new technologies at the same time. “People understand that they cannot live without their devices, but at the same time they feel like slaves of their devices,” Loi says. - Very often, the sensations are described in the following way: “I want to be able to constantly use devices to perform important things for me, but at the same time I want the devices not to loom before our eyes when they are not needed.” For example, if a user is in a meeting, his smartphone should take this into account and disable incoming calls. There is considerable potential in creating machines capable of learning user behavior and turning off so as not to interfere at the wrong time. ”

"I regret that those times when we were not in touch around the clock, on the network, are in the past." - Aaron, age group over 20 years

On the positive side of the “love-hate” range, participants described the advantages of their devices, including the following: the devices make it easier to perform different tasks in life, communicate with others, and interact in real time. But, as Loi notes, even these positive aspects of devices can be improved even further. “How can we expand the ways of communicating with other people, what new opportunities can we invent in addition to the existing ones? - asks Loy. “What technical solutions can we come up with so that we feel more closely connected with other people regardless of physical distance?”

“I would like to communicate more with my relatives, and now we seem to be looking more at the screens of the phones than talking to each other.” - Carol, age group over 40

New technologies cause not only approval and recognition, but also disappointment and annoyance. Here are some of the major drawbacks of devices that users complain about: battery power consumption is too fast; devices are too slow or “hang”; devices prone to viruses and sensitive data leaks; they are too large to be really comfortable to carry; they are too small to store all the information on them; devices difficult to use. The main reason for the irritation of the respondents is the low mobility of devices, due to insufficient battery life. “The society we live in is becoming increasingly mobile,” says Loi. - This society is fully based on the use of mobile devices. But in order for these devices to become really useful tools, they need a long battery life. For the majority of respondents with whom I spoke, the need to search for a power outlet to charge the device turned into an obsession. This is a major obstacle preventing devices from being truly mobile and efficient. In this area, there are good prospects, among other things, for wireless charging, but to use it there must be an efficient, reliable and intuitive ecosystem. ” According to Loi, passwords are another problem that needs to be resolved. Other issues include too rapid change in technology; This problem can be solved by helping people migrate from old operating systems and applications to new ones.

“Technology is constantly changing, and following them is very difficult.” - Raul, age group over 20 years

How to cope with irritation? The study participants explained how technology could be more useful. In particular, technological solutions should allow for deeper individual adjustment, they should be more energy efficient, more accessible and ubiquitous, have more powerful speech functions and work well regardless of the operating system used. People want their devices to be less disturbed and less likely to get on their nerves, and could foresee the user's specific needs taking into account the context. “People need control of the device and the ability to choose,” notes Loi. - Another important factor is ease of use. Convenience of working with the application is the most important moment for developers. If the user cannot find any function in the application, then we can assume that this function is simply not there, and people will not buy such an application. ”

“I need to have a choice. I don’t want to be told what to do. ” - Francis, age group over 30

Despite the annoyance of the constant changes, people are looking forward to new opportunities with interest. Many research participants described the futuristic functions that their devices could have - as in the film “Iron Man”, according to some of the respondents. Among such possibilities is the input of messages not from the keyboard or voice, but through thought; interactive holographic images during the chat; super sensitive microphones capable of recognizing voice commands from anywhere in the home. “Ideas and expectations for future technical ideas are shaped by people mainly on social networks and Hollywood films,” says Loey. - Some people simply do not understand why these technologies, which are related to the field of scientific (and not very scientific) fiction, have not yet received widespread use. Despite the complexity of such technologies, many expect their imminent appearance on the market, in many cases, much earlier than is actually possible.

"The ability to show others exactly what I imagine, say, in the form of a three-dimensional hologram." - Shila, age group over 20 years old

Conclusion

In recent years, in the field of computer technology, several important stages have been completed, and modern devices deserve to be liked by their users. Nevertheless, there are still quite a few areas in which the convenience of devices can and should be improved. Dr. Loey, an Intel specialist, conducted a study entitled "Device Usage: A Global Perspective." The purpose of this study was to find out how people in different countries use their devices now, and how they would like to use them in the future. The study identified the following areas in which developers can improve their solutions:

• Streamlining functionality so that people can complete a full range of tasks, carrying with them (and acquiring) fewer devices.
• Continuous usability enhancement.
• Strengthen security, increase visibility on smartphones for online shopping.
• Improving the functions of smartphones (cameras, access to music) so that you can use smartphones instead of several specialized devices.
• Implementing the features that make smartphones more useful for learning.
• Improving the performance of smartphones required to run more demanding applications; Software packages designed for PCs should become more convenient and accessible for smartphones.
• Providing users with context-sensitive applications.
• Improving communication technology to make people feel closer to their interlocutors.
• Extending the battery life of devices, the invention of new ways to charge devices.
• Help users in the transition from old applications and systems to new ones.

The most important thing, according to Dr. Loi, is to form a more thoughtful concept of the future. “For this, it is necessary that all new developments rely on a clear understanding of what people are doing, what they want, what they need,” she said. “The work of our industry must be based on a clear, data-proven understanding of what is important for users.”