iPad Usability Testing Reveals Inconsistencies

A report on the Usability of iPad Apps and Websites has found that iPad apps are inconsistent and have low feature discoverability, with frequent user errors due to accidental gestures. An overly strong print metaphor and weird interaction styles cause further usability problems.

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"It looks like a giant iPhone," is the first thing users say when asked to test an iPad. (Their second comment? "Wow, it's heavy.")

But from an interaction design perspective, an iPad user interface shouldn't be a scaled-up iPhone UI.


Indeed, one finding from our study is that the tab bar at the bottom of the screen works much worse on iPad than on iPhone. On the small phone, users are likely to notice the muted icons at the bottom of the screen, even if their attention is on content in the middle of the screen. But the iPad's much bigger screen means that users are typically directing their gaze far from the tab bar and they ignore (and forget) those buttons.
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The 93 page Nielsen Norman Group Report on the Usability of iPad Apps and Websites is available as a free download.

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