Mobile Web Design ~ The Series
~ 26 July 2005 ~
Think the mobile web finally has some legs to it? Or think it’s a folly not ready for prime time? Feel free to take sides, but don’t take issue with a topic most of us will inevitably face now or in the not-so-distant future.
Introducing “Mobile Web Design,” a four three-part series of how-to’s and savvy conversation,
arriving at your newsreader, browser, or possibly even your mobile device over the next few weeks.
Here’s the schedule, replete with mobile colloquy:
- Part One: State of the Mobile Web
The Mobile Web – folly or fellow? I summoned the assistance of Jason Fried, Josh Williams, Patrick McGalliard (Sprint) and others to get an inside look at where we’re at and where it’s all headed. - Part Two: Methods to the Madness
Not sure how best to mobilize an existing or planned website? Stick around for part two and discover four ways to add a little sanity to the madness. - Part Three: Tips & Techniques
How do we designers and code slingers cope with the current state? What slings and what doesn’t? Tune in for tips and techniques, including screen grabs from a variety of devices.
We’ll recap much of the information presented at WebVisions 2005, but we’ll also introduce plenty of unmentioned resources.
So fire up your microbrowser and hang on for the ride.
17 Comments
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I think the most important thing to remember is that people don’t just “surf” when using a mobile web client. They want a specific piece of information and they want it fast. If you are planning onf delivering more of an “experience” for people to view while on a bus or somewhere else that they have more time, I think we’re going to need to come up with some sort of podcasting-ish method of doing so. Content would then be updated as neccessary whenever your mobile devices comes within bluetooth range of your main computer.
Chris - Probably one part per week.
Wow, seeing that logo I don’t even care if the information is good - though I’m sure it will be - that logo is just too nice :)
I smell a book deal and new-car scent. Authentic Boredom just became Authentic Brilliance.
… and thank you for yet another reason I can give my wife for me needing a Treo 650. :)
I think you might need to qualify this series as Mobile Web Design *in the States*.
The state of mobile devices in the USA is quite a bit different to Europe (which is very different again from Japan).
Here in the UK, there’s some pretty exciting stuff going on… or so I’m told: I don’t have any hands-on experience myself.
Glad to hear more and more people are starting to think about mobile. It is defiantly going to play a large part in web design as we move forward. Looking forward to this series.
Jeremy is right, I think mobiles in the US seem to be, in general, around a year behind Europe, and we in turn are around a year (plus!) behind the East. Korea is the place with stupid hi-tech handsets… eg. 8 mega pixel camera phones!!!
If you think developing for IE and Firefox is a chore then developing on a countless number of different platforms without being able to test is a whole new bundle of frustration. It will be interesting!
Also I hope this series is going to mention the Sony PSP and it’s spangly new web browser? There’s already been 2 million of these devices sold and it’s not even been released in Europe yet - that’s a big market to ignore?
Jeremy, Anthony - Point taken. Though about half of what we’ll cover will be conceptual thoughts regarding how the mobile web is *supposed* to function, regardless of device, country, etc (think device independence.
That said, given mobile web dev is still relatively new to most of us, this will be an open discussion. I look forward to readers’ corrections, rebuttal, and the like. We’re all in this together, after all.
I have been looking forward to this since you mentioned it in your conferance recap. I actually don’t like the idea of developing for mobile, but it’s the future, so learning all we can now should really help things along.
It’s very good to see and read series of well written articles about Mobile Web design. Hopefully, the articles will have lots if useful links, examples and how to. Look forward to reading all related articles and comments.
It’s great! Maybe with your permission, I can translate this article to portuguese for brazillian people. What you think? My site still have problems in server side, but you can take a litle in www.revolucao.etc.br/sobre.php
I’m wainting for a answear…
really excellent idea :)
Interesting reading. However, I suspect how far the mobile web can go as business. I use my BlackBerry to check email, but I don’t see myself using a handheld to surf internet.
Are there any decent mobile web browsers out there? (i’m not thinking pda software…)
The issues you address are right on target for W3C’s Mobile Web Initiative, and in particular in the Mobile Web Best Practices” document under development - feedback on this document is very much appreciated! (please send feedback to public-bpwg@w3.org).
Part 2 (Methods to the madness):
I’m a developer for one of the larger mobile content providers. VS.NET displays a mobile page depending on the browserCaps which are evaluated against an XML file. This file essentially holds the display capabilites of the device. We update this file daily, scouring the web for new device specs and information. So far, this is the best method for the madness.
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1 Chris K ~ 26 July 2005 at 11:00 AM
Looking forward to it. Its great to see you guys willing to put so much time into publishing this kind of information. As designers, especially for the web, we really need to be on top of the game as much as possible. Thanks. Do you have an idea when you’re going to each one (weekly or specific dates)?