Study: Operator portals earn high marks from users

Consumers prefer operators' mobile decks over rival portals from media giants like AOL and MSN, according to a new report issued by the Strategy Analytics Wireless Media Lab. The Sprint, Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile USA portals all achieved high overall consumer satisfaction ratings--according to respondents, the portals are easy to navigate and offer features that meet their needs, while rival portals lack the bells and whistles subscribers have come to expect.

"Strategy Analytics found that users want portal homepages that are compact, and that provide direct and intuitive pathways to features that are of most interest and relevance to them," said vice president of Strategy Analytics' user experience practice Kevin Nolan in a prepared statement. "Participants in this study considered the simple, clean look and feel of Sprint's ‘On Demand' interface appealing, but some were concerned that the layout was too basic and had sacrificed too much information for the sake of a simple look."

Strategy Analytics user experience analyst Christopher Dodge adds, "Verizon Wireless appears to have made little progress in improving the discoverability of its mobile portal or services since Strategy Analytics' previous U.S. mobile portal evaluation in 2007. However, once users have discovered the portal, they generally consider the layout and structure of Verizon Wireless offerings to be clear, consistent and engaging."

For more on the portal study:
- read this release