Design your User Interface for Mobile

Limitations always inspire creativity.

When it comes to websites, some say that a big problem a lot of designs have, from a usability point of view, is the amount of options and space that’s available. Because large computer monitors and resolutions provide such large canvases, designs can be so vast or spread across the screen, that they become user friendly and confusing to use.

Now imagine the basic designs of websites and applications created specifically for smart phones. With a much smaller screen (limitation) designers have had to find clever ways to condense a lot of information and make it easy to navigate. As a result, you have very simple user interfaces that get the job done very well. Simple is better.

What space limitation does is force a website to eliminate all the elements of a page that are unnecessary or not directly related to the conversion goal. This is Conversion Optimization 101. Mobile sites can’t afford to have their pages cluttered with mission statements, unnecessary pictures, and redundant text. Instead, you include a straightforward path that leads the visitor to perform your desired action.

Take a look at your website, and decide how mobile friendly is it in terms of content and ease of use. Can someone understand what you do, how to go to the ‘next step’ within a few seconds of visiting your site? If the answer is no, then see what needs to be taken out, of added, to make it easier.

A good method of seeing how well your website works for conversions is to load it in a mobile browser. Look to see how cluttered it can be and begin removing content from there. You don’t necessarily have to format your site to work on mobile devices (though it is highly recommended), you simply have to ‘pretend’ it’s made for small screens.