Mobile App & Web Site Developers San Diego

Which Best Defines My Mobile Project?

Mobile website design projects vary in their requirements depending upon your situation:

Define your Objectives

What are your business objectives in relation specifically to  the mobile instance of the site?  We suggest breaking the site down to its components and determining which are absolutely essential to the mobile site.

Use Web Statistics as a Guide

If you're redesigning an existing site, then take a look at your statistics to determine which pages are being already accessed by mobile devices. As you move forward with the application development, you will need to ensure the mobile website is built with support for the smartphones and mobile devices that are already accessing it.

Mobile Device Compatibility

With the changes and frequent introductions of new mobile devices launched annually, your mobile website will have to be compatible with a vast array of mobile browsers and screen resolutions.   

Utilizing emerging web technologies like HTML5, CSS3, and web fonts, we can design your site to scale to any mobile device it’s viewed on.  

Consider Mobile Device Load Speeds

In most situations most mobile devices won't have the connection speeds that the averag PC has, so keeping content light weight is critical.   

Display limitations on the mobile web calls for a minimalist approach to design, layout, and navigation. With less screen area available, layout and navigation elements must be reduced to the bare minimum. In other words: Less is more.

Having said that there's no reason why we can't make your mobile site look elegant.  New web technologies allow us to incorporate lightweight elements that enhance the look of the site without incurring lots of overhead.

Structuring Content For Mobile Devices

Unlike traditional websites, your mobile site won't have the room for multi-column layouts.  Instead a single-column structure tends to work best. Not only does this help with smaller screen real estate, it also helps with scaling across the different device resolutions and switching between portrait and landscape mode.

Mobile Device Interface Design Tips

On the mobile web, interaction is done via finger taps rather than mouse clicks.  The effect is the same - but keep in mind there are no mouse-over or hover states as there is with a mouse.  At least not yet...

Also fingers don't have the level of accuracy that a mouse does.  Couple that with your downscaled buttons and links and you can end up with frustrated users.

All clickable elements have to be reviewed and made much larger in relation to overall site dimensions so that they can easily and accurately be targeted with a finger or a thumb.

Usually, when something is set up to happen on hover (for example a drop down navigation menu), it actually occurs on the first tap when handled by a mobile device. The second tap does what the first click does on a regular desktop site does. This may be confusing for mobile users, which means you'll need to revisit critical hover states for the mobile website.

Interface Communication

Providing good visual feedback during user interaction is also an important element of a mobile site.

For instance when a user taps a button having the button change color would be good visual feedback to the user that the interaction was successful. This visual feedback is  something users are accustomed to and will expect from your mobile site.

 Because of the lag time on the web it's important to let users know when something is loading since most mobile browsers don't provide load progress indicators.

Testing Mobile Websites

We test your new mobile website on as many devices as feasible while reviewing performance, readability, navigation and calls to action.  Please contact us for a free initial consultation on how we can assist you in creating your latest mobile project.