Clearly the carriers and phone vendors need some help designing user interfaces on cellphones. Here are some results from a recent Strategy Analytics study on portal experiences:

- Among the major carriers, the number of clicks required to buy music from your phone is anywhere from 18 to 39.

- To download a mobile game, it requires a minimum of 17 clicks, and that's on the carrier with the least number.

FierceMobileContent correctly called these results a disaster. "Users considered Cingular/AT&T's portal poorly organized and difficult to navigate. No participant, for example, could locate MobiTV on the Cingular portal without assistance," said David Kerr, Strategy Analytics' global wireless VP, in the article. "By contrast, Verizon Wireless is the Strategy Analytics U.S. Portal Click Index leader, with users completing the specified tasks (access portal, buy a game, buy a music track, access mobile TV/video) with fewest clicks."

Report: Mobile content discovery a disaster [FierceMobileContent]