Are Mobile Spreadsheet Applications Usable?

Abstract

Many businesses are heavily reliant on data and many people working in business like to have almost constant access to this data. Mobile phones provide users with access to a wide range of office applications, including word processors, email applications, and spreadsheet applications. However the limitations of the mobile devices can cause a number of usability issues which may limit the productivity of users of these devices. This paper presents the authors’ investigation of the usability of mobile spreadsheet applications. Through a controlled study they examined the performance of users using a mobile spreadsheet application to perform a series of simple tasks, such as finding data and altering values in the spreadsheet. The authors found that although mobile spreadsheet applications can be effective, they are highly inefficient due to a large number of usability issues.