A visual programming tool for mobile web augmentation

Abstract

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.