Mobile Design is About Simplicity

by Syrup | Mar 6, 2018

Mobile design has replaced the standards of usability for websites. What works for desktop can easily be considered cumbersome for mobile. Mobile design strips away unnecessary ornamentation and has more direct routes that guide users through content. Instead of sitting in a quiet place, we experience the web on small screens in line at the grocery store, in the waiting room at the doctor’s office — anywhere and everywhere we have a small window of time.

What some call constraints, we can view as opportunities to improve how people experience the web.

Here are 3 tips for designers to engage and convert users on today’s smaller screens.

1. Design for mobile 

Before you create wireframes for a mobile design, make sure you do the following:

• Compile the necessary content and define how it will be organized
• Create headers for each section
• Determine calls to action and their placement
• Plan the type of interactive elements you’ll be using
• Plan how all these elements will flow in a single-column design

2. Craft your content with mobile in mind

Mobile devices have transformed how we experience the web. Content needs to be broken into small chunks that are easily digested during short spurts of engagement. Just as the visual design elements need to be refined to only what’s necessary, so too does content. This means crafting sentences and paragraphs that are short, direct, and crystal-clear.

3. Keep it simple

When designing for mobile, strip everything down to its basic components. However, it’s not about boring, nondescript text, it’s about refining the elements so that only what’s important remains.

This means taking away unnecessary items like graphics and busy animations that don’t add to the user experience. Extreme drop shadows and other graphics simulating three-dimensionality are cast aside for a more practical design. Instead, use attention-grabbing colors and ample negative space. Combined with simple typography, this can make for a design approach that’s easy to navigate and quick to load.

How does your mobile site stack up? Are you making it easier on your audience or are you losing them? I’d love to chat about designing your mobile site experience. Reach out to us here!