Consumers want mobile television but are being put off by poor design and user experience according to research released today by user centred design and research consultancy Amberlight and reported in Picturephoning.com.

Weaknesses include:

• Poor quality reception – patchy 3G coverage with interruptions
• Slow start up speed – The time taken to access the service through menu structures and connection time was between two and five minutes
• Cost – flat rate vs pay-as-you-go issues were raised in the study
• Usability -Many aspects of the service were simply considered unnecessarily complicated to use
• On screen displays – such as details of current show and channel were considered important
• Programme guides – not easily available

This research proves that there is a demand for mobile TV but that it’s currently being stifled by poor design and implementation. If operators could make their services easy to use and competitively priced then there is a real opportunity to become a valuable tool for people with time to kill.

For more information or to receive a full version of the report: contact Patrick Herridge Parys Communications. pherridge@parys.com.