The Mobile Web Industry Takes Center Stage

Tag : mobile phone tool
Wait. Scroll. Scroll. Tap-tap. Wait. Wait. For many years, thatwas the typical experience of someone surfing the Web using a mobile phone or PDA, at least in the U.S. Although some content providersoffered stripped-down versions of their sites specially designedfor mobile users, most did not, and reading a page designed to beviewed on a PC on the small screen was about as much fun as sittingin a dark room reading a newspaper by flashlight.
Today, the mobile Web environment is in a period of rapid change,thanks in no small part to Apple's iPhone. From the phone'sintroduction in June, 2007, through March, 2008, 5.4 millioniPhones have sold, and to date developers have created more than17,000 sites or "Web applications" optimized for the device.
But this isn't a story about the iPhone, per se; it's a story aboutdesigning for the mobile Web. The iPhone was just a catalyst ofsorts, bringing buzz, investors, and new technology to the sector.As a result, the mobile Web design and customer experience bar hasbeen raised.
Changing the Game
"Mobile Web used to be WAP," says Matt Murphy, a partner at KleinerPerkins Caufield Byers, the venture capital firm that has started a$100 million "iFund" to develop applications for the iPhone. "Nowyou have a real browser and a real device. The iPhone is agame-changer."
"From a design experience perspective, it's changing the way peopleview the Web and the value of the mobile Web," says Kelly Goto, thefounder and CEO of San Francisco-based GotoDesign.
Pre-iPhone, says Cameron Moll, principal interaction designer atLDS Church and author of the influential e-book Mobile Web Design,companies typically took one of four approaches to the mobile Web:1] do nothing and let mobile users scroll their way around sitesdesigned for PC viewing; 2] streamline sites by removing images andstyling, making them more manageable for mobile devices; 3] usestylesheets, a tool that allows developers to create differentversions of a Web site for different devices; or 4] create anentirely different second site, optimized for mobile users.
Less Maddening Than a Regular Site
Consider the first approach: The iPhone has greatly improved theflashlight-like experience of Web users created by the do-nothingstrategy. Its two-touch, zoomable interface makes it, if notenjoyable, then less than maddening to read a regular site.