About content, functionality and Mobile Web
When we look at mobiles and mobile web from a designing perspective, we see several crucial points emerging. The content and functionality comes in the essential factors.
Using Mobile Web is going back to the roots of World Wide Web, when everything was simpler. Do you remember the time, when there were just pure html-code with links, photos and texts? Sites were clean and practical in 1990s.
Thus, there are several limitations of Mobile Web devices that are forcing designers to “put functionality above aesthetics” as International Usability Partners (IUP) is arguing. On their well-written report, published recently, they are uncovering problems and solutions in Mobile Web and Transactions in very practical format.
In this article I want to mention the most important challenges, although there are a number of them.
Firstly, physical size of current mobile web devices limits. The mobile site can consists of less information than the “normal” one. Thus, smaller screens (usually 240 x 320 pixels) means that one page can be displayed at a time. Navigation is usually implemented Up & Down scrolling and it as simple as it can be.
If you don´t take tailoring for Mobile Web seriously, it causes serious problems. For example, pages could be too big to be downloaded, images could be located in wrong places etc.
Moreover, this screen issue challenges, of course, all those manufactures and software providers in the mobile industry. Mobile handhelds and operating systems should have been coded usability in mind.
I haven´t tested iPhone yet. However, I have understood that it is well-known and exceptional when it comes to user-experience in such a small size. I have also quite nice memories of when I used my Nokia E61 smartphone.
Secondly, very often slower Internet connections and uneffective (compared to PCs) processors in the phones simply mean that it takes time to load all content to be displayed on the screen. It´s typical for this kind of technology that sometimes there is no coverage.
Thirdly, there are problems with interoperability although there is common understading on standards like The W3C Mobile WEb Initiative.
To summarize, it´s more difficult for designers to create a compelling user experience.
Although technically mobile web brings several issues into play and designers have to deal with slower connection and smaller screen, many organizations have produced very usable user-experience.
To prove that it´s possible, I´ve collected several links on m.anttihaverinen.net, my mobile web experimental and promotional platform. Visit there and click on Links on navigation.
My favourite sites are m.nytimes.com and yle.mobi. They have done their homework. Surfing is pure pleasure on them. These sites enable us to enjoy the well-written content in a functionable package.
I am considering mobile web as huge paradigm changer for the communication industry. Of course it brings some challenges but some of them are positive. As a supporter of simplicity I wish to see more well-designed Mobile Services in the future.
According to Steven Snell “The simplicity of mobile websites can be refreshing.”
I agree.
More articles
In that case that you want to gain more understanding on these issues, I recommend you reading these articles and writings.
- Steven Snell´s article Mobile Web Design Trends For 2009 on Smashing Magazine.
- Mobile Web (according to Wikipedia)
- W3C’s Mobile Web Initiative