Menu and Context Based Interfaces Evaluation for Mobile TV

The dissemination of smartphones and their ability to decode video streams enables users to watch TV possible while on the move. While operators are starting to provide this content type, it is not clear yet how will users adopt these new services. This paper presents a mobile phone application that allows users to watch TV on their mobile phones and a preliminary user interface evaluation for two possible designs: a menu based and a context based interaction. The qualitative results suggest that there is no clear advantage for any of the implemented design alternatives because users not familiar with the application may have a better experience with an interface that presents all options and, as users become more familiar with the application, context menus are not only faster but also reduce the number of errors.