Press Release
Pfeiffer Consulting announces first-of-its-kind benchmark report on tablet user experience
User Experience Benchmarking shows in a verifiable way which tablets are the most pleasant to use; iPad mini has by far the best user experience score of 7-inch tablets
Paris, May 5, 2013
Pfeiffer Consulting today announced the availability of a detailed benchmark report measuring and comparing and key elements of user experience of 4 popular 7-inch tablets. It covers four representative small-scale tablet devices: the Amazon Kindle Fire HD (7-inch), the Google Nexus 7, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7-inch) and the iPad Mini produced by Apple.
Unlike common benchmark reports that revolve around hardware specifications and subjective considerations of the reviewer, the research measured key elements of the user experience and the overall usability of tablets in an objective, verifiable way. The methodology used for the benchmarking is explained in detail in the report, and detailed descriptions of the research results provide new insights into tablet user experience.
The user experience benchmarks are the fruit of many months of in-depth usability analysis, and provide fully documented research data. “This is an important step in technology analysis: For the first time, there are research-based data that clearly show the user experience differences between popular devices and provide customers with new methods of differentiating between different brands and models” says Andreas Pfeiffer, founder and president of Pfeiffer Consulting, and chief researcher overseeing the user experience benchmarks.
Key Points of the Research
The 7-inch tablet user experience benchmarks are the first step in an ongoing research project focusing of the complex issues of the user experience of connected digital devices. Future reports will cover the latest generation of smartphones, as well as other tablet devices on the market.
The research isolated several key areas that allow quantification of user experience: hardware user experience, cognitive load and user experience friction, and app store sophistication. Detailed description of the benchmark methodology and granular results are included in the benchmark report.
Key Results
The research shows that the iPad clearly provides the best user experience of the 7-inch tablets benchmarked in this project:
Hardware User Experience
There are significant differences between tablets in hardware user experience. The benchmark results show that the iPad mini offers the best hardware user experience, followed by the Nexus 7.
Cognitive Load Analysis
The iPad mini has a significant lower cognitive load than other 7-inch tablets in the survey, contributing to greater ease of use and better user experience.
User Experience Friction
The User Experience Friction Index calculated from this research ranges from 25 for the iPad mini to 122.50 for the Kindle Fire HD. (Lower numbers indicate a better score.)
App Store Sophistication
App store sophistication has been quantified in several ways, and shows significant differences between the three major app store providers.
About Pfeiffer Consulting
Pfeiffer Consulting is a research and consulting operation that focuses on emerging technologies and media, providing strategic consulting and highly targeted research to technology providers. The Pfeiffer Report, which has been published by Pfeiffer Consulting since 1998, focuses on the deep trends and evolutions of our technology-driven society.