If you are planning on creating a quality layout design for mobile devices, the general rule of thumb for it to work is that focus shouldn’t only be placed in creativity, but also on usability. To make this combination means identifying what information is necessary, and then presenting that information in the clearest, most concise manner which users will find easy to navigate.
To get maximum results, there are three main things that every designer should know and follow in designing pages for handheld and mobile devices. First, the design should avoid clutter and maximize screen use. Second, it should minimize page length. Third, the designer should resist incorporating graphics that reduce the readability of the content.
In particular, it is much easier for the designer for mobile devices and PDAs if he can reference to an existing website. With regards to this consideration, there are following reminders that you could use to determine if the interface design for the PDA version of your website is creative and effective.
The first rule is to reduce the necessity for the user to scroll down in order to view the page completely. A lot of mobile devices have small screens, and are therefore limited when it comes to presenting information at one time. If there are large amount of information that needs to be viewed, it would require the user some amount of scrolling which may reduce his concentration. The designer therefore has to make sure that the entire page length would fit the screen.
Unlike desktop computers, navigation in PDAs or mobile phones is a much difficult feat. Therefore, the PDA version must only have three or four levels of navigation as the maximum level although the desktop version might have more. Having navigation levels more than these might only confuse the user.
However, even though the navigation level is kept at a minimum, it should still reflect the structure of the existing website so that the PDA version can easily create its identity in the user’s mind. Users shouldn’t feel alienated whether they are browsing a site from their PDAs or their desktops. In the same way, the design and the layout of the content should also adopt that of the existing website.
In a mobile environment, users also have to deal with a lot of distractions compared to when they are using their desktop computers. Given the very limited short-term memory of the PDA compared to a desktop PC or a laptop, the design should require very few memorizations from the PDA to perform a task. Otherwise, the PDA’s performance would be slowed down and the attention of the user will be lost.
As devices are becoming smaller, using only text as inputs or outputs might limit the capabilities of the hand-held device. Therefore, considering the possibility of having speech and sounds as inputs or outputs for the PDA version of a website as substitutes for texts or even graphics can also be an effective solution to address the need for creativity and usability.
