Come Friday I usually try and close up my PC and laptop and I tend to use my iPhone and iPad instead of lugging a laptop around with me.
Often while watching TV during weekend nights I am ,video flicking idly through web pages, social media and online news sites. With a typical laptop experience I enjoy rich graphics and colour but when using a mobile device my demands different. I have a smaller screen but I still want an enjoyable experience. As the device is at my fingertips I also want a light yet rewarding experience online.
Speed of Delivery
Speed of delivery for me is critical. At night time my kids are often using the Internet as well and more often than not streaming video and games so I want my content quickly and light. I don’t really want that big image or the flash slide show. Give me clean typography and crisp text. I actually want that from my desktop browser as well but I get more finicky when on a smaller screen. If I am on the move and restricted to 3G or even worse Edge the limited number of HTTP requests can really drag my transfer speed down.
Mobile Theme
Give me the mobile theme. I really appreciate getting presented the mobile theme and not the full up theme. I want clearer navigation and crisper menus when on the move. Get me the message quickly.
If there is an image that contributes to the message then by all means deliver it but deliver it fast!. People that are using mobile devices are content junkies. If you can get us good graphics and video at the same speed please do so but not at the expense of speed.
Are You Losing Customers?
Don’t lose valuable customers. Look around you on the streets and bars and the Smartphone is dominating the market now. People really don’t use these for calls, they use them for a host of things and getting online is top of that list. If you want a ‘lite’ experience and want these people to read your information then think of this mobile user. We are an impatient lot. Much more than the desktop user who can Alt-Tab to another window while your site is loading.
WordPress Mobile Theming
As I thought about this article I realised that I didn’t even have a mobile theme for this blog. So how long di it take me to remedy the situation? 30 seconds. I downloaded the WPTouch mobile plugin and installed it in a few seconds and then went to my iPhone to see what it looked like. And it did exactly what I wanted. Nice crisp presentation of the blog posts and the date that they were written. Exactly what a mobile user who was blog hunting would want. You can do similar work with one of the many free themes that are available for WordPress users.
Detecting Mobile Devices
There are many ways of detecting mobile devices so that when they do come to a static HTML site they get directed to the mobile device. The above plugin has the code inbuilt to the php and does it transparently which is nice. However your site may not always be WordPress and need a different design approach and in some cases even a separate site. However if you don’t have the budget or time for this then the best thing to do is focus on a number of devices and create specific code to recognise the incoming device.
You can then adjust to accommodate the screen size to reflect the device. Use the right CSS can make the mobile browsing experience that bit easier. Your visitors will thank you
Other Options
Of course you can also get more imaginative and take more time by having a mobile sub domain and a separate site to reflect this or serve different templates (which the plugin above does) or as we are seeing more and more adpopt a more fluid layout. Fluid is possibly going be what is going to domiante the market as mobile becomes the first device of choice.
Planning Your Site - Flexible Design and Responsive Layout
If you are thinking mobile from day one in your design then your first stop checklist should think of items like CSS choice, and Scaleable Vector Graphics (SVG). SVG is the new kid on the block and is now a W3C standard that when used well can help you deliver graphics without compromising speed and proportions of images. It takes a bigger investment in design but if your user community is a mobile one then the payback will be worth it.
Both flexible layout and responsive design deliver the experience irrespective of the design or the actual screen being displayed. It takes a thoughtful approach and is just not changing fonts but deciding on what the delivery experience is.
Sadly Interent Explorer seems the least responsive on many counts here so again there is the added challenge for the designer to be conscious of the myriad of browser versions that are out there and the risk (or more correctly fact) that depending on the end use, browser and display size your client base will be seeing different content in different orientations and screen sizes.
So Confusing – Where to Begin
Realistically without a significant investment of time (read money) it is difficult to deliver the perfect experience to everybody but some market research of your customer base can help decide where to focus and deliver the best experience there. Ultimately the mobile market will haea larger and larger piece of the pie so you need to be conscious of this and keep apace with the hcanges.
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