Mobile User Experience in Augmented Reality vs. Maps Interfaces: A Case Study in Public Transportation

This article comprises a study on user experience when interacting with different modes of mobile interfaces. Our emphasis is on application instances commonly found in mobile app stores, which utilize sensor-based augmented reality or two-dimensional zoomable maps to visualize points of interest (POIs) in the vicinity of the user. As a case study, we developed two variants of an Android application addressed to public transportation users. The application displays nearby transit stops along with timetable information of transit services passing-by those stops. We report findings drawn from an empirical field study in real outdoors conditions. The evaluation findings have been cross-checked with logged (usage) data. We aim at eliciting knowledge about user requirements related to mobile application interfaces in this context and evaluating user experience from pragmatic and affective viewpoints.