Talk to different people, and they will offer you different viewpoints about what they think are the important design considerations for a mobile website.  These points of view might differ on various grounds, but there is a common thread that runs through all of them, which is that it is definitely the time of the ‘Mobile Web’. Online promotional battles will now be fought and won on the mobile web. A mobile website is the need of the hour and businesses that don’t have one will miss the bus.

But, having a mobile website is not enough. This website must be expertly designed in order to be successful. An important fact to be noted is that the factors that determine the design of a traditional website do not hold true for a mobile website. The considerations are different and the recipe for a successful mobile website design is founded on taking note of these considerations.

Before we list out the top three considerations, it’s important to understand that when a mobile user is accessing your mobile website, the conditions in which it is being accessed have a big role to play in determining the mobile website’s design. What this means is that the general environment, usage, motion, lighting conditions, internet connectivity, etc. all have a big role to play in the design of mobile website.

Now, let’s have a contextual look at some of the top considerations that determine the look and feel of the mobile website.

A smaller screen size

Quite obvious isn’t it? When accessing a particular website using a desktop or a laptop, you have the advantage of a larger screen size. But, when it comes to a mobile device, the size of the screen goes down appreciably. The mobile website must be designed for a smaller screen size. Also, there is a range of screen sizes on offer when it comes to such devices. Your mobile website design must cater to all these sizes. There are some designers who take the easy way out and miniaturize desktop websites to suit the smaller screen size of mobile phones.  But, more often than not, this solution breaks the user experience. This is why it’s important to create a specialized design that can adapt to this difference in screen size.

Simplification of Navigation

Another facet of a mobile website design that is very obvious. A mobile website does not have the luxury of a complex navigation process. A mobile user has to make do with trackballs, touch functionality or tiny keypads in order to navigate a website. So, the design of the mobile website must focus on navigation clarity and make it more intuitive. Most mobile websites have a list of links on the homepages that take visitors to the main features of the website. A vertical representation of these links is the norm, as is the reduction in the number of categories and levels of navigation. One of the better ways of simplifying the navigation process in mobile websites is by ensuring that users gets an immediate visual feedback, when they choose a particular link.

Keep the user input at a bare minimum

Your design should be such that it minimizes user input. Touch screen functionally and tiny numeric keypads have ensured that mobile devices pack a punch and offer a range of functionalities, but entering the requisite input data is not a cakewalk. Many users find it a real chore to enter data on the miniscule screen and end up making errors. So, in the interest of your users, the design must be extremely user friendly. Keep the URL short, and ensure that the necessity for data input is limited. Offering users the benefit of smarter default values, and minimizing the essential data fields is just one of the many ways that user input can be minimized.

Each site has a different level of user input required. But, the design of the website must ensure that users have no problems in entering the required data.

This is just an overview of the 3 important aspects that need to be considered for the purposes of designing a successful mobile website. But, these are not the only ones. A successful mobile website design is a coming together of various diverse factors all of which have just one aim – improve website usability.