By the middle of next year Nielsen reports that there will be 150 million smart phones in use. Many analysts predict that mobile web browsing will supersede desktop browsing around the same time. So what does this mean for users and user experience designers?

Form & Function

Some web sites are gorgeous- not easy to use but pretty nonetheless. But a pretty site on a mobile device is painful. It likely takes awhile to download, employs Flash or complex JavaScript that is supposed to enhance “the pretty” but throws a ton of errors on the mobile browser. That type of site just doesn’t work on mobile.

Functional sites may employ list views of their blog posts or articles, reveal a big search box and button, but look like an elementary school student designed it. Worse yet, it is functional but users hesitate to proceed because the design doesn’t look credible.

The mobile web is making designers and developers jobs more challenging. It’s absolutely a requirement to understand the web site, its content, and the vision of users interacting with the site in order to create a successful web site. You really have to think about context- browsing a site while viewing the television, rescheduling reservations while stuck in traffic (passenger browsing of course), and checking prices while walking through the mall.

A successful mobile web site is one that employs good looks, ease of use, and context appropriate content and functionality.

Patience Can’t Wait

Users are buying smart phones faster than web designers and developers can create and deploy mobile optimized sites. It’s quite simple, the user community will drive the investment in mobile. Just look at Apple’s App Store- more than 100,000 apps! Granted many are games but even the games focus on creating good looking, easy to use, and appropriate challenges for the mobile user. Air hockey may be boring on an XBox platform but is really fun on the iPhone.

As a designer I say bring on the challenge. We design good looking, easy to use sites and apps now so moving to the mobile platform will be a natural progression. We plan to write a blog post about our entry into this space by documenting some of our thinking and deliverables as we build out these mobile optimized sites in 2010- oh and stay tuned for our iPhone apps; we’re building those too this year.

Remember, mobile is here to stay and it’s only gaining in popularity and use. As a user, try to be patient, as a user experience designer dust off those running shoes and get ready for a sprint to the finish line!

POST A NEW COMMENT

Your Message

Name

Email

Website (optional)

Subscribe to replies