We have at last arrived at the final installment of The Ugly, The Bad, and The Good of mobile website design. We left off last time reviewing some technical hurdles and background of basic Mobile UI concepts. In this article we’ll be discussing all the good things that make a mobile website perform well while providing a professional presence for your business to mobile users.
Last week we started our series on mobile website interface design with The Ugly. We’re working our way up to The Good, but we have to address The Bad first. Hopefully this will help to provide a basic roadmap for ensuring your mobile website falls into The Good category.
If your answer to the question, "Is your website ready for mobile?" is "No," you've joined us at the perfect time. Over the next several weeks we'll be digging deeper to expose some mobile website design best practices that will serve as a guide for your venture into the world of mobile website and Graphical User Interface (GUI) design. We'll get to the Good soon enough, but first we need to start with the Ugly.
You are a veteran of the website design and development process. You’re a warrior. You’ve conquered web designer giants, slayed a den full of forked-tongue programmers, and outwitted the caffeine-fueled marketing dragons — you have risen victoriously to the challenge! You successfully launched your company’s website (only slightly over budget).
There are as many methods for website design and development as there are website designers and developers.
Six months ago I wrote a blog post called Cooking up a Homemade Drupal Theme. A visitor recently submitted a comment to my article that's left me contemplating the target audience for that particular post. "Wait," you think—"shouldn't every writer know for whom they are writing before they publish content to a website?" Technically, I agree with this sentiment, but considering the varied interpretations of the skill sets required of a Drupal themer, defining an appropriate Drupal audience can be a real challenge.
I used to be among the the group of Internet users who didn't understand the importance of selecting a web browser. At the time, I was entirely dedicated to Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer ... 6. My transition in 2007 to Mac and Safari came from necessity. I was enrolled in a Digital Art class, and every machine in the lab ran OS X. I wasn't particularly concerned I had to use Safari, but I noticed IE's absence.
Drupal themers are like cooks. We use common components (contributed modules) as a starting point for successful websites. Cooks also use common components—tried and true ingredients (salt, pepper, garlic, onions, etc.)—as the base for delicious recipes. The fruits of our labors are robust and flavorful. But somewhere in this busy world, saving time has taken priority.
Boerne Wild West Day is hands-down my new favorite website. The thing that really set this project apart for all of us was the high amount of creative freedom we were granted and the strong level of enthusiasm that followed. For "creatives," hearing the words "do whatever you want" is like unwrapping that amazing gift you really wanted but didn't think you'd get on Christmas morning. I imagine it's how a hair stylist must feel when a client goes in and tells them they have no idea what kind of hair cut they want, but that they trust them, and to "go to town" on their hair. Sometimes you just need to trust your stylist.
When you work in the internet business, it's critical to stay on top of current design trends and development best practices.
In the same way writers improve their writing abilities by reading other great authors, graphic designers and programmers can seriously expand their repertoire by surfing the web for inspiration, reading design blogs, and keeping a watchful eye out for methods that might help get the job done better and faster.
With so many tools available online, you might think "those internet people have it easy." Sure, there's plenty of resources online to help us get better and keep our sites looking fresh and hip, but there's really nothing more vital to a web professional than people skills (a.k.a., the ability to relate to a client in such a way that their needs are fully understood and fulfilled).
