Make the Most of Your Mobile Web Design Project
Millions of Americans are using the internet from their mobile devices each year. It is expected that these millions of users will grow and by the year 2013 there would be more than a billion and a half mobile internet users throughout the world. If you are a web designer or developer you will do well to learn more about mobile web design tips and best practices.
The good news is that you will not have to learn any new technology to make the most of your mobile web design project. All that you have to do is look at website design in an identical different way. This will help you come up with designs that are more user-friendly as well as useful. Even though mobile web design is still in at a very nascent stage there are certain tips and best practices that you should learn about. In other words, it pays to learn a bit more about some useful hard and fast rules. Here is a look at how you can make the most of your mobile web design project.
First of all, you will have to pare your content so that it is customized to suit your mobile website. Mobile users have to make do with smaller screens and the navigation is also trickier. If you prune back your site's content you can make it well-attuned for your mobile website. Smaller text is required in order to make the pages load faster.
Before engaging in mobile web design you also need to understand the limitations of the mobile device. There are several issues that need to be addressed including:
- Smaller keyboards
- Punctuation restrictions
- Awkward mouse navigation
So when designing a mobile website you have to discuss these limits. A good design is one that cuts down on lengthy forms. Instead of asking for tons of information, the form should ask for basic information such as your cell phone number and your name. It should not ask you for your email and address and other pieces of information.
The best way of improving your mobile website is by making site navigation simple. Since there is no mouse or pointing device available on a cellphone, you have to improve by placing basic navigation at the top of the web page. You should also avoid layouts which use tables. The simple truth is that small screen sizes are not conducive to working with tables. So, it makes sense to avoid tables.
Other than these tips and best practices you should also make sure of providing information related to where, what, who, why and when in the first two lines of your web page. Finally, you should also think about using text-only modes.
