#mobilesites

Source: http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2011/03/10-ways-mobile-sites-are-different-from-desktop-web-sites.php

Short summary of the most important points:

- Content Prioritization: “Mobile site designs should give priority to the features and content users are most likely to need when viewing a site using a mobile device."

- Vertical Instead of Horizontal Navigation: “However, vertical navigation has replaced horizontal navigation on more than 90% of the mobile sites I analyzed”

- Bars, Tabs, and Hypertext: “Bigger objects such as bars, tabs, or buttons allow users to tap with more precision”.

- Text and Graphics: “Other reasons include the small screen sizes of mobile devices and the limited available screen real estate in which to display content, as well as the slow download speeds on mobile devices.”

- Contextual and Global Navigation: “The main reason for the reduction of global and contextual navigation on mobile sites is the limited screen real estate on mobile devices."

- Footers: “Mobile sites employ footers that provide access to content users often look for on a home page, keeping its links to a minimum"

- Breadcrumbs: “But the main factor is that the design of mobile sites prevents users from having to go too deep into a hierarchy to find what they are looking for. Again, users should be able to achieve what they want to accomplish on a site before they start feeling lost."

- Progress Indicator: “For example, instead of using buttons with implicit actions such as Next or Continue, use buttons with explicit labels that inform users exactly what the next step is—for example, Proceed to Checkout or Specify Shipping & Payment."

- Integration with Phone Functions: “While mobile platforms place many limitations on design and content, they also open up new opportunities that traditional Web sites cannot provide."

My opinion:

“Bad Mobile Creative Not Just a Missed Opportunity, It Damages Brands” is a recent post by Greg Sterling on his (much appreciated) industry blog “Screenwerk”. The post refers to the missed opportunity that many advertisers are missing on mobile, mainly due to lack of prioritization. Greg gives some nice examples of automated conversion of web-based ads into a mobile format that not only does not work. He started out with an example of how an inappropriate ad was placed by a machine on a prestigious brand's page.  His point - "bad mobile" can really affect a brand’s credibility.

I was of course quick to make the direct connection to mobile websites and the missed opportunity that occurs when the need for a mobile site is filled by using an application to convert your site in an automated manner.  

It’s not something we aren't aware of; marketers can often overlook the connection between media and the message. But when it comes to micro and small businesses that are working with limited to no marketing resources and habitually targeting local audiences - the importance of the mobile site reaches a whole new level of urgency.

Mobile sites need to be functional and this functionality needs to be inherent in the site builder because small businesses need to focus on their core activities, not become marketers. They need to provide the information that will be most important to a mobile reader who might be looking for directions to the business while sifting through your desktop site.