Usability Considerations for a Cellular-based Text Translator

This paper describes a cellular-telephone- based text-to-text translation system developed at Transclick, Inc. The application translates messages bi- directionally in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. This paper describes design features uniquely suited to hand-held-device based translation systems. In particular, we discuss some of the usability conditions unique to this type of application and present strategies for overcoming usability obstacles encountered in the design phase of the product.