During software development of mobile or wireless interactive systems, it is critical to accommodate the user with useful feedback regarding the system state and connectivity status. The authors use two practical situations to illustrate some problems caused by mobility, and argue the case for “design guidelines.” The first is a globally unique identifier (GUID) system, where the user is either a field or maintenance engineer, focused on a shared, multi-developer perspective. Engineers requested better feedback regarding both system state and system connectivity. The second is a MOST system, where users do not necessarily have a technical background; this focuses on providing system connectivity status to the user. It was shown in a survey that the majority of users found the additional system connectivity information useful. The authors have implicitly acknowledged the importance of including user feedback in the software development cycle.

The paper emphasizes the importance of considering and accommodating the user during software development. This is especially vital in industrial applications. The paper fulfils its basic purpose, is of appropriate length, and has an appropriate list of references.

The argument regarding the user awareness, supported by two experiments, is the best feature of the paper. However, the flow, language, and some of the grammar could be revised. For example, some terminology was used before it was defined. The paper’s audience could be user interface software engineers in general, or distributed computing developers. The paper could also be good general reading for project leaders or managers.