An exploratory analysis and usability evaluation of fashion mobile applications : Focus on Korea and U.S. App stores

Abstract

The aim of this study was to find typology of fashion-related mobile applications through exploratory investigation and to investigate differences in Korea and U.S. App stores. And then, through the qualitative evaluation about fashion mobile applications, this study proposes fashion mobile application’s design and contents which can be preferred by users. By conducting keyword search in each store, 122 Korean applications and 150 US applications were analyzed. Empirical findings revealed that there were seven major types of fashion mobile applications: brand, magazine, information, SNS, game, shopping and coordination. Information type applications took up the largest portion, and SNS and game type applications showed higher ranking among customers. There were more game Apps in US and more shopping Apps in Korean stores. More free Apps were found in Korean App stores, whereas relatively more paid Apps were found in US App stores especially in game, magazine and information type applications. And as a result of usability evaluation of fashion mobile application, users prefer SNS and information category application to shopping and brand category. Also users want continuous improvement and new contents for fashion mobile application.