A Comparative Study of Spreadsheet Applications on Mobile Devices

Abstract

Advancements with mobile-screen sizes and enhancements to current-day features for mobile applications have increased the number of users accessing spreadsheets on mobile devices while away from desktop computers. In recent years, these behaviors have led to increased development of mobile spreadsheet applications. For this study, open-source mobile spreadsheet applications, such as OfficeSuite Viewer 6, Documents To Go, ThinkFree Online and Google Drive, were selected for comparison. To analyze and evaluate these spreadsheet applications, we selected various usability principles. These principles were categorized into three criteria: visibility; navigation, scrolling, and feedback; and interaction, satisfaction, simplicity, and convenience. Measures for each criterion were derived in the survey. To address the approach, existing research was studied, and the survey was divided into two phases and then compared by using the selected criteria and derived measures. Questionnaires were designed to address the measures based on the comparative criteria provided in the analysis.