Developing and Evaluating a Mobile App for an Online Course: A Usability Study

Abstract

The Pew Research Center reports that 10% of Americans rely heavily on smartphones for high-speed internet access at home. This trend is particularly strong among low-income households (Smith, 2015). A digital divide manifested by varying broadband access may exist among online students. For this reason, online course materials should be easily accessible on mobile devices. The author developed a mobile app for her online management information systems (MIS) course, BUSA 345. This study looked into four factors in the usability of the “BUSA 345 app”: design, navigation, ease of use, and perceived usefulness.

Two rounds of the study were conducted. Seven students with an average age of 26.7 years participated. The participants used their smartphones to perform tasks based on the app. A pre-test survey revealed that participants had 66 apps on average installed on their smartphones, and they scored high in tech efficacy. However, they had only three apps for school on average. The post-test results indicated that the students rated the ease of use and usefulness of the “BUSA 345 app” highly on both iOS and Android platforms. All participants strongly agreed that the app was useful for learning and they would use the app if it were available. This usability study shows that the “BUSA 345 app” was embraced by the student participants, who looked forward to being able to access course materials on the go.