Common Mistakes In Web Design For Mobile Devices (Part 1)

With the use of the internet on mobile devices on the rise, simply thinking that your users will not visit your website using their smart phone and tablet is a huge mistake – the odds suggest that almost every website will be visited with a mobile device in the near future. When it comes to web design for mobile devices, however, a lot of mistakes are made that affect how functional and useful the move to mobile really is.

• Device Width
  This is one of the most obvious factors that needs to be taken into account when working on web design for a mobile device, but it is something that is most often neglected, resulting in websites that cannot be read on a smart phone. You should be able to format an entire HTML document so that it will adjust itself to fit various screen sizes (from a smart phone to a tablet to an iPad).
• Long Forms
  One of the biggest pet peeves of internet users is being forced to fill out forms in order to access any information – imagine how much more annoying this would be on a mobile device. If your web design must include a form, ensure that it is short, to the point and doesn’t ask for too much information. Changing settings so that it automatically changes the user’s keyboard from letters to numbers in the relevant fields (for example) also goes a long way.
• Content
  When it comes to putting content into your mobile device web design, it is often recommended to design for a mobile device first these days. This will prevent you from using content to simply fill in space on a page, as only the important and relevant points will remain. It will also mean that you do not have to generate 2 lots of content (one for your normal web design and another for your mobile one). It is important to remember, however, to not simply delete content for no apparent reason.
• Finger Limitations
  It is easy for many web designers to forget that our fingers don’t offer anywhere near the same precision that a mouse does. Our fingers are generally not all that thin, so it is important to ensure that clickable icons (and the space between them) is adequate so that users are able to easily click on the icon that they want.

When it comes to web design for the range of mobile devices that now grace our store shelves, pockets, handbags and homes, it is important to ensure that you avoid making the above mistakes. They can have a serious affect on the functionality and overall readability of your website, which is not a mix that breeds happy users.