A visual programming tool for mobile web augmentation

The use of mobile devices for web browsing has increased extraordinarily in recent years, becoming the main source of information. Unfortunately, developers cannot meet the needs of all users. As a result, users have been forced to adapt web content to their needs. Additionally, users face more cost...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Knowledge and information systems Vol. 66; no. 9; pp. 5631 - 5668
Main Authors: Aldalur, Iñigo, Perez, Alain, Larrinaga, Felix, Illarramendi, Miren
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Springer London 01.09.2024
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Adaptation
Batteries
Cell phones
Cellular telephones
Computer Science
Computers
Customization
Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery
Database Management
Design
Designers
End users
Information Storage and Retrieval
Information Systems and Communication Service
Information Systems Applications (incl.Internet)
Internet resources
IT in Business
Navigation
Objectives
Personal computers
Power consumption
Regular Paper
Software
User satisfaction
Visual programming languages
Web browsers
Websites
Web augmentation
Customization
Mobile browser
End-user development
Human–computer interaction
ISSN:0219-1377, 0219-3116
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The use of mobile devices for web browsing has increased extraordinarily in recent years, becoming the main source of information. Unfortunately, developers cannot meet the needs of all users. As a result, users have been forced to adapt web content to their needs. Additionally, users face more costly interactions than on desktop computers due to the smaller screen size of cell phones. These interactions include URL typing, scrolling, taping, branching and tab-switching. If the number of web resources is large, the activity becomes unpleasant. Furthermore, should the quantity of interactions be extensive, the web experience also becomes unpleasant. Moreover, all these interactions lead to higher costs in terms of phone time and battery life, as well as more costly navigation. Web augmentation enhances the user web experience by adding content from different resources, modifying the original layout, or reducing interactions during web searches, among other benefits. To reduce user interactions and satisfy their information necessities, we propose MAWA, an extension for Firefox mobile that allows users to adapt any web page to their needs through web augmentation techniques. To validate our proposal, an evaluation of the tool has been carried out. The article presents the benefits introduced by MAWA as a response to the inconveniences experienced by users when performing their activities in the mobile browser. The results obtained show that MAWA is able to reduce the number of interactions significantly, as well as to reduce battery consumption and the time needed to obtain the desired information. In addition, users perceive that navigation is less cluttered.
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ISSN:0219-1377
0219-3116
DOI:10.1007/s10115-023-02039-6