Sugar Rush Creative graphic designers, website designers and logo design Belfast, Northern Ireland. Creative design portfolio, graphic, website, logo and branding.
Posted by
Clark
Caughey
Web Developer
A graduate of Interactive Multimedia Design at the University of Ulster, Clark joined the Sugar Rush Creative team in October 2009. With an ever persistent goal to break the mould and a belief that standards compliant websites do not have to be boring, Clark creates visually attractive websites with a strong emphasis on providing a pleasant user experience.
Going Mobile in 2010
Posted on Tue February 16th, 2010 at 4:32 PM
One of the reasons I was attracted to a career in website development is that the web is an ever changing platform which constantly evolves providing new challenges each day. In 2010 one of the biggest evolutions that we will see on the web is the increase of mobile optimized websites.
Thanks to the emergence and popularity of devices such as the iPhone / iPod Touch, Blackberry, Nexus One and Palm Pre developers must now take mobile browsing into consideration when creating a design.
Long gone are the days of snail speed mobile connections and text only websites, the inclusion of 3G and wireless connectivity on mobile devices mean that the web can be used on the move like never before. Couple this with advancements in mobile browser technology and it means that most websites can now be rendered on the majority of handheld devices.
Designing For The Small Screen
Despite this new technology it is advantageous to deliver a “Mobile-only” version of your website as the web is optimised for larger computer monitors rather than a small screened device such as an iPhone. Take Web Designer Depot, a blog I frequently visit, for example…
As you can see above their design renders correctly on a mobile device however as it is optimised for a larger screen the content is hard to read. Providing a mobile version of their website gives the user the same information however it is laid out in a more readable fashion.
This approach is not only more pleasant on the eye but is also more user friendly. For instance, while browsing the web on a computer your means of navigation is a mouse, allowing intricate movements across the screen. In the touch screen environment many mobile devices use today, navigation is controlled by a finger, a much more clumsy and inaccurate tool.
I’m sure like me you have been browsing the web on your phone but no matter how many times you try, clicking the link you desire proves troublesome and in the end, you get fed up and close the site. Providing a mobile version of your site can compensate for this by creating an interface with mobile users in mind. Small, awkward links can be replaced with easy to use, functional buttons allowing for better usability making it quicker and more simple for the user to find what they are looking for.
Why Do I Need A Mobile Site?
The common argument that I am hearing against mobile optimized websites is; “I don’t need a mobile website, most of our clients/customers don’t have flashy phones like yours and rarely browse the internet on them!”
Really? Are you sure?? In December 2009 O2, Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile and 3UK reported a monthly usage of 15.9 million mobile internet users in the United Kingdom. These users totaled 4792 million minutes online in December alone and figures show that this is set to grow in 2010, making mobile browsing more relevant today than ever before.
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Sugar Rush Creative - A web design, website development, graphic branding and logo design studio in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
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