The rise of the mobile internet
Look up next time your on the train/bus and just see the number of people interacting with their mobile phones and hardly anyone reading the traditional print media.
As this trend continues to grow with the advance of mobile technology it will become the primary source for information and online shopping - In 2009, more than 63 million people in the US accessed the Internet from their mobiles. In Australia the figure shows that 70 per cent of people access mobile entertainment and information in 2009. People are not only using the mobiles for entertainment and information, they are accessing mobile online shops. According to eBay, "12 Dec 2010 was eBay's busiest mobile shopping day of the year, worldwide mobile sales nearly tripled from last year to $13 million, according to the company, which expects $1.5 billion in mobile sales this year". (NY Times, December 17, 2010)
The increase in mobile use within the community provides content providers and designers/developers new opportunities to expand into this area, for designer the challenge it to find new ways to engage the user, as mobile browser don't provide the same luxury as the desktop versions.
So how do you approach the design of the mobile site, well there are two ways. 1. Keep your existing site and optimise for mobile phones or 2. Design a targeted mobile friendly site. I prefer the second option.
1. Design with simplicity in mind.
2. Familiarise yourself with the hardware and software.
3. Consider the variety of mobile phones and the screen sizes, 240 x 320 is the standard mobile web design and development at the moment.
- * 128 x 160 pixels
- * 176 x 220 pixels
- * 240 x 320 pixels
- * 320 x 480 pixels
4. Use limited amount of content.
5. Test, test and test...
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