Enhancing usability using Near Field Communication for mobile application

¹ Pendidikan Teknik Informatika dan Komputer, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia
² D3 Teknik Informatika, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: endars@staff.uns.ac.id

Abstract

Near Field Communication (NFC) as relatively new wireless communication technology pushes new challenges to application developers to make their applications easier to use and simpler to operate. This point of view known as usability element. Usability is one of the elements for creating good quality applications. This study aims to analyse the usability of mobile-based application embeds with NFC. We also try to evaluate usability in applications used by children. We developed an application called Receptionist which has a primary function as a communication tool between students, teachers and parents at a middle school. To know the impact of the NFC, the Receptionist input system is designed with two methods, via conventional navigation (using buttons) and via NFC. To understand the usability of each method, we do user testing and questioners on students. The results show, using the NFC there is a significant increase in usability attributes: efficiency, effectiveness, and learnability. On the other hand, there is decreases of user satisfaction comparing to conventional method. In general, this study demonstrates the potential of new input device technologies that can improve the usability of mobile-based applications.