Website Design for Interactive Environment - Coursework Example

Mobile design focuses less about the device and more about the user. The workstation ‘desktop’ which is relatively compact is not actually mobile. The notebook computer retains the same typical physical requirements as the workstation: keyboard and screen space, horizontal surface and using two hands, etc. A mobile device represents uniqueness in the growth and evolution of easily movable personal computing devices. In mobile web access, the user is no longer limited to specific positions and movements – and the use of both hands – interacting with the web access device (Fling 2009). In its purest form, the 100% mobile device is an extension of the user not the other way round, extension of the device. Globally, mobile devices outnumber desktop computers 20-1. Given that, not every mobile device- especially phones- has the functionality to access the internet, however the turnover frequency for mobile devices is higher than that of the desktop devices. Mobile devices have brought a revolutionary omnipresence and it is vital to understand the meaning of the term “mobile web”. There are cases that call for the inclusion of protocols and standards such as SMTP, SMS, and IM in the definition of this term but this report adapts Colborne’s definition as the subset of HTTP content that has been optimized for and is accessible with a mobile device. Mobile web content is therefore less detailed, making it lighter than desktop web, due to the technical limitations posed by the technology. When using a desktop workstation to access the web, we connect using Ethernet over a leased line that has a rich infrastructure. If we opted to use Wi-Fi in place of the Ethernet, even on the same workstation at home, it comes with new complications into the equation. A close examination of the underlying technology that supports mobile web reveals the technical hurdles that a mobile device overcomes while connecting to the exact same data reservoir as the workstation or notebook PC. The mobile device connects over a less robust network whether it’s the faster and newer EDGE or G3 connection or slower and older GPRS. Once the connection has been made, it must be held through a call transfer from multiple cell-towers as the user traverses the coverage connection matrix of a given carrier. This makes the mobile devices extremely limited in terms of available bandwidth. Changes in design: Screen size is the most obvious difference a computer and mobile device. For years, the minimum screen resolution designed has been increasing. Similarly, the mobile phone screen size has been increasing too, but even the most advanced iPhone 4 screen is still small compared to the standard 1024 by 768 workstation designs. Mobile design gets more complex when the ranges of available screen sizes are factored in. Even the most advance screen sizes, of the iPhone, unknowingly break the user satisfaction by making them zoom in and out when accessing the desktop websites on mobile screen devices (Gail 2010). This aspect of usability error brings the technician back to the typical approach of creating a mobile device website separately. As addressed by Firtman, the issue of designing a mobile website will factor in the range of screen sizes available in a 4 stage process: Defining device grouping by screen with same size range together to result in a manageable number of groups. Creating a default reference/ home page that will adapt to larger and smaller screen sizes. Defining rules for content and design adaptation to ensure smart display Choosing a flexible layout and web standards. The aforementioned approach achieves a desired design for the mobile web which is tailored to give the user a comfortable experience. In addition, there are other options in mobile designing, one could start with a mobile design and later progressively enhance the same for desktop websites, and also one could design a single website that accommodates all devices. A simplified navigation is also another feature that can change. Normally, in desktop computers, users use the mouse to click and point, in contrast, mobile users rely on the trackballs, touch and tiny keypads to navigate the created mobile web. Adding in the small sized screens with the intention to complete tasks efficiently and quickly, intuitive and clear navigation is crucial. To simplify the navigation, the designer needs the following effected. Reduced number of categories and levels of navigation, presenting the most important. Clear, consistent and concise labels for the navigation across the website. Making links obvious, by proving immediate and clear visual feedback. Maintaining an integrated and consistent user experience over a multi-channel territory is a requirement in mobile design. It calls for the designer to balance function and form, where a designer adopt the minimalistic approach. This user experience should support continuity where users can manage their account profiles just as they would on the full website (Colborne2010). The cross platform idea supports an extension of the user experience while giving the user the desired functionality and text. Prototyping is an essential part in the iterative design process centered on user experience. It allows the mobile designer to visualize functionality and part of the website with support of user reviews to refine the design. Prototyping is done early in the design life cycle and it starts with low fidelity paper sketch drawings. The refinement of the raw sketches to medium fidelity web plan diagrams follows in the process and finally high fidelity designs are achieved (Warner and Lafontaine 2011). Security in mobile computing has gained increased interest from the users and designers. This has stemmed from the development of mobile computing, a new frontier in the online world that has seen the creation of mobile-enabled application that explore the frontier in exciting and new ways. The percentage of the entire internet browsing occurring on mobile devices is rising as people are putting in more faith in the mobile devices. With the increased interest in this technology, the severity of a security breach can be more catastrophic. Securing mobile users can be approached in a similar manner. It is incumbent of the web application or mobile website to ensure that users of the application are protected from abuses. First, is the physical security breach prevention, as opposed to workstation PCs protected inside the house or locked server rooms , mobile devices only have our pockets and pouches as the protection. Whilst there is not much a developer can do to curb or prevent stolen or lost mobile devices, they can design their applications to limit the impact of these events. One such action is, the principle of least privilege, which states that nothing should have additional privilege than those specified in the design. Creating an audit trail is also a security measure to consider when creating web applications. It is important to track activity on the mobile web devices. It is important to track “significant events” such as message postings or transactions. Another security measure that can well support the use of mobile devices is not storing personal data on the end user’s mobile device. The designer should take caution not to store any sensitive data as the way cookies are stored in desktop browsing. In many cases, mobile networks have a measurably high latency. This is because they are slower than the fixed data connections of desktop PCs. The latency and slow connectivity may lead to long retrieval times, mostly for detailed content and content that requires traversing pages. Data transfer in mobile costs money and the fact that these mobile devices frequently support limited content, a web user may select a link and access information that is practically unusable to their device. In mobile design, extra material results to poor user experience and may increase the cost of retrieval drastically. Brand identity is critical and is a good start point for a new mobile site design. The layout options are driven by the content needs of the web and for a small screen a one-column layout it the most optimal solution. With a one-column layout, graphical buttons, text and other features can be enlarged and as such easy to use. Another trend of the extensive mobile users is speed. Whether its playing games, searching the web or chatting with friends, mobile users require good speeds in the connectivity. This phenomenon calls for open, simple and low bandwidth interfaces that consider whitespace as an asset. The designs are intended to keep graphics to a minimum and support CSS to manage display style. In conclusion, mobile design differs from ‘desktop web’ and may be involving. However, the design process that is followed is similar. Designing a perfect mobile web is a difficult task even for seasoned website designers, but using repetitive design processes that squarely focus on users may assist in creating the best experience for the target audience References Fling, B. (2009). Mobile Design and Development: Practical concepts and techniques for creating mobile sites and web apps. New York: OReilly Media. Warner, J & Lafontaine , D. (2011). Mobile web design for dummies. New Jersey: For Dummies. Firtman, M. (2011). Programming the mobile web. New York: OReilly Media. Gail, F. (2010). Beginning Smartphone web development. New York: Apress. Colborne, G. (2010). Simple and usable web, mobile, and interaction design. California: New Riders Press. Read More