Design - Getting It Right By Giles Colbourne

Usable Mobile Web

Giles Colbourne, managing director, cxpartners, talks about how businesses can benefit from mobile web sites.

As the Internet ages, the frequency and types of interaction we have with it continue to develop. One rapid growth area is mobile computing, driven by an increase in low-cost and high-powered mobile technologies. Developing a winning formula for mobile web sites requires a new approach. So how can businesses design usable and accessible mobile web sites?

The Environment

When people use the Internet on a computer or laptop, the outside world tends to disappear - as they get sucked into the large screen. But mobile web is a different story. People use their mobile phones in environments that are filled with distractions: walking down the street, or waiting for a bus, for example. In busy environments, complex web sites fail. People need to finish using the site before they walk into the next lamp post. Short, tightly focussed interactions win.

Do less, get more

Sometimes the answer is to focus on part of the task. Amazon’s first effort for the iPhone was a full-featured online store (with less information on each page). But getting users to find and

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