世論 What Japan Thinks

To me most of the Japanese cellphones that I’ve owned have had various problems with usability, even experiencing later models by the same company actually going backwards in terms of functionality. My current phone has minor irritants here and there; for instance there is a fractional delay between key presses and a response in the UI, and settings menus always open with the first entry highlighted instead of the current option. To see how the Japanese live with their phones, MyVoice investigated cellphone ease of use.

Demographics

Over the first five days of January 2008 12,906 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private online questionnaire. 54% of the sample was female, 2% in their teens, 15% in their twenties, 38% in their thirties, 29% in their forties, and 16% in their fifties.

For me, the keypad itself is not too important, although some of the new designer phones have got pretty awful pads that I would certainly not buy. On the other hand, my wife, who can type on her mobile faster than on a PC keyboard, the tactile feel is the second most critical item after “Does it come in pink?”

Research results

Q1: Which mobile phone service provider do you currently use? (Sample size=12,906)

DoCoMo	42.6%
au	29.3%
SoftBank	20.3%
WILLCOM	2.3%
Other	0.3%
Don’t have a mobile phone (to end of survey)	5.2%

Q2: What are the basic requirements for cellphone ease of use? (Sample size=mobile phone users, multiple answer)

Simple functions that are easy to understand	67.0%
Easy to press keys	47.4%
Can quickly do what I want to do	42.0%
Screen is large	39.1%
Characters are easy to read	39.1%
Kanji conversion works as expected	36.8%
Fast start-up, can use effectively	31.5%
Easy to use one-handed	26.8%
Can customise settings to suit myself	21.8%
Easy to open clamshell, slider, etc	20.1%
Other	4.5%
No answer	0.1%

Q3: How familiar are you with your cellphone’s functions? (Sample size=mobile phone users)

Quite familiar	18.1%
Familiar to some degree	62.5%
Not very familiar	16.9%
Not familiar at all	1.3%
No answer	1.2%

Q4: How satisfied are you with your cellphone’s buttons’ ease of use? (Sample size=mobile phone users)

Very satisfied	7.6%
Satisfied	68.0%
Dissatisfied	21.8%
Very dissatisfied	2.1%
No answer	0.4%

Q5: Regarding your cellphone’s buttons’ ease of use, why are you satisfied/dissatisfied according to your answer in Q4? (Sample size=mobile phone users, multiple answer)

	Satisfied	Dissatisfied
Feel when pushed	38.6%	40.9%
Size of each key	25.2%	23.7%
Size of the layout of the keys	21.2%	19.2%
Speed of response to key press	15.9%	28.0%
Tactile feel	14.7%	17.5%
Key layout	16.5%	11.1%
Key shape	12.1%	11.3%
Other	6.9%	13.1%
No answer	11.9%	0.5%

Q6: When buying your current phone, how important was the cellphone’s buttons’ ease of use? (Sample size=mobile phone users)

Very important	3.6%
Important	23.8%
Can’t say either way	36.8%
Not important	25.8%
Not important at all	9.0%
No answer	1.0%

Q7: When buying your next phone, do you want to use a model with a similar keypad? (Sample size=mobile phone users)

Definitely similar	2.3%
If possible similar	34.4%
If possible different	14.6%
Definitely different	3.6%
Don’t know	28.0%
Not particularly bothered	16.8%
No answer	0.3%