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Mobile handheld devices, such as smartphones and tablets equipped with mobile applications or services, are more and more used as tools for carrying out work related tasks in a mobile context. The ultimate strengths of smartphones are their small size, light weight, portability, communication capabilities, in-built sensors, diversity of mobile applications and service clients available as well as the connectivity through cellular and wireless networks. From an organizational perspective, mobile technology provides opportunities for increased operational performance and employee productivity (Nah, Siau, & Sheng, 2005; Vuolle, 2011a; York & Pendharkar, 2004). For mobile workers, the possibilities and opportunities provided by mobile technology and the potential increase in mobile work efficiency is often a benefit. However, in addition to the benefits of using mobile technology in carrying out mobile work, individuals may experience costs and sacrifices that cannot be measured with traditional usability metrics or performance measures.
Research reports benefits of using mobile technology for a wide range of mobile workers (Bergstrand & Lindblad, 2011; Pascoe, Ryan, & Morse, 2000; Sheng, Nah, & Siau, 2005; Sørensen & Gibson, 2004; Streefkerk, Van Ench-Bussemakers, & Neerincx, 2008), often concentrating on dedicated mobile applications or services aimed for specific work functions. Benefits for mobile workers are, for example, time savings on travel time or better utilization of downtime (Koponen & Väätäjä, 2009; Perry, O’Hara, Sellen, Brown, & Harper, 2001; Verburg, Testa, Hyrkkänen, & Johansson, 2006; Vuolle, 2010), access to data while on the move (Perry et al., 2001; Verburg et al., 2006), support for situation and activity awareness (Pascoe et al., 2000; Perry et al., 2001; Streefkerk et al., 2008; Vuolle, 2010), improvements in knowledge sharing (Fagrell, 2002; Sheng et al., 2005), and support for communication (Perry et al., 2001; Sheng et al., 2005). In addition, the reality with existing challenges, such as the interoperability of mobile devices and connectivity issues that mobile workers face in their everyday work, has been addressed in some studies (Oulasvirta & Sumari, 2007; Sørensen et al., 2004).