Mobile Design
Addressed in Tidwell, ch. 10 and Responsive Design Workflow by Stephen Hay
Note that the Tidwell book predates Responsive Web Design.
Characteristics of Mobile Use
- Small screen
- Alternate pointing devices (e.g. touch screen)
- Diverse environments
- Intermittant use
- Personal use (e.g. less likely to be shared)
- Context aware (e.g. location)
Major principles
- Browsers provide flexible rendering of structured content
- Vertical scrolling is easy
- Key operations can be as expensive as point operations
Design Guidelines
Adapted from Tidwell's list
- Identify actual needs
- Reduce to core functions
- Use device hardware
- Linearize content
- Optimize common interactions
Example Patterns
- Vertical stack
- Bottom navigation
- Richly connected apps
Discussion questions
- Choose any pattern. How mobile characteristics and design principles motivate the pattern?
- Provide examples where selected patterns are used.
- Outline a design process, one for separate mobile design and one based on responsive design. What are differences? Similarities?