Designing, Usability

Future of the Mobile Web

mclancy — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:13:12 +0000

Last week we hosted an event loftily entitled "The Future of the Mobile Web" at the Dublin Convention Centre.

Effective Design for Multiple Screen Sizes

bryanrieger — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:32:43 +0000

So you're a designer and have been tasked with the design of a mobile web site. Chances are, unless you're designing for only one device you're quickly going to be faced with a common problem experienced by designers who work with mobile devices; figuring out what screen size to actually design for.

For instance:

A Very Modern Mobile Switching Algorithm - Part II

James Pearce — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:20:03 +0000

This article follows on from last month's Part I, where we discussed some of the principles of handling mobile users and switching their experiences. If you haven't read it yet please do so before we dive into some of the technical ideas and implementation details.

The Best and Worst of the Mobile Web

ruadhan — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:32:25 +0000

Our sister-site mobiThinking.com has just published an eBook on "The Best and Worst of the Mobile Web".

In it there are examples of winners and sinners, those who do it right, and those not quite right, and why! So now might be a good time to fire up your mobile browser and let us know if you agree.

Mobile Device UI trends

atrasatti — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:07:16 +0000

I was reading on Techcrunch a rumor about the new UI design for Windows Mobile 6.5. See the article, Rumor: Windows Mobile 6.5 screenshot shenanigans.

I quickly followed up with a blog post on my personal blog, Windows Mobile 6.5 and Zumobi, but while that writing that quick post made me think about the new UIs and trends in mobile devices.

A Very Modern Mobile Switching Algorithm - Part I

James Pearce — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:39:32 +0000

An important question that most web developers ask when developing their first mobile web site is "how do I distinguish between mobile users and desktop users?". Although this seems like a simple enough question at first, of course there's more to it than meets the eye. In fact, what do we even mean by 'distinguish'? How we distinguish their requirements? Their desires? The services they expect? The browsers they happen to be using?

240x320, the new standard screen resolution

Cyril — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:04:54 +0000

I've had this theory for the last few months, and so I've decided to put it to the test. Today, most of the new phones you can buy have a screen resolution of at least 240x320 and are fully web xHTML (WAP 2.0) capable. When I see all the new models constantly coming to market, it's clear that the common screen width is definitely shifting to 240x320 pixels.

WebKit by any other name… or How I found a use for JavaScript

Ronan_Mandel — Wed, 21 May 2008 10:39:26 +0000

I’ve been doing a great deal of thinking lately about JavaScript/ECMAScript and the mobile web. What I’ve been struggling with is the need or value for it when it comes to sites which are organically created for mobile. Sure there’s a need to support JavaScript as fully as possible for providing a ‘full web’ experience and managing existing content, but when it comes to designing for the mobile context, is there really value for it?

Mobile Internet User Experience

roto — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:10:47 +0000

Having Internet access on mobile devices is about the freedom to utilize Internet anywhere, anytime. The more our daily lives are interlinked with the Internet, the more important it is to have Internet access whenever you need it. So far, the user experience has not been good enough to encourage the masses to start using the Internet on mobile devices.

Viewports on mobile browsers

ronan — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:43:22 +0000

Is it any wonder that users of low-end phones don't browse the web that much? Take a look at this photo of a Nokia 6131 in the default web browser. By my very crude calculations, the percentage of the overall screen area actually used by the browser to display useful content is a mere 65%. Why the gaping void between the bottom of the viewport and the menu? Why throw away so many pixels for the scrollbar? By the way, the browser was configured to use "Full" screen size.