Every day more and more website join the mobile revolution. Sometimes you will be having a quick search on your phone for the closest kebab shop only to find they have a website, which when opened has a mobile optimised interface (this has never happened to me but should.) Or maybe you where booking tickets and couldn't get to a computer.
It is the same story everywhere, you get a sudden surprise when yet another website creates a special mobile experience. Which don't get me wrong is a nice thing, just so many people get it so very wrong. So here are my top five sins of mobile websites.
5. Look At Our Special Mobile Website
Now when I do a search on Google for the latest stock information on peanut butter and click on the first link, I expect to see what I was looking for. This has long been the accepted convention and is the correct way if you ask me.
So why has it suddenly been ok for websites to detect you are on a mobile device, take to you the special mobile skin and then redirect you to the home page. This just pisses me off to no end. Normally problems I talk about can be pretty complex to solve, however this is just pure laziness.
You designed the mobile skin and for some strange unbeknown reason said to yourself that they had to see the home page so they understand what is going on. Even better if you have a little sign that says You are now using our mobile layout." Thanks Mr Website for a second there I thought you had a really strange resolution and button layout.
It may be hard for you to understand but even on a mobile device I want to get stuff done, quickly. If anything I want to get it done quicker on a mobile device than a desktop. I will see you have a special mobile skin and appreciate the work you put in as I read / look / buy the said thing I came to you for. If you take me to your home page I will leave.
4. This Layout Is So Special You Get Nothing Else And Like It
So I have your tasty nice mobile layout. I am enjoying using your service and browsing your site. Let's say I want to buy the product I am looking for, or maybe I want to email this product to a friend. Not everyone has but I have, accepted that sometimes stuff doesn't work on the mobile platform and is normal website only feature. I am ok with that, really I am.
I am not ok with you not giving me an option to go to your normal website. If you are going to have a mobile website here is the top feature you should have no matter what. A button that says go to our desktop website and a button on your normal website to go to the mobile one.
Granted this is a technical issue and is only achievable if you program your website to make use of a mobile session or cookie and track the state. Basically you are always ready to show a page as mobile or desktop at all times, if the mobile is not available it will show a friendly error telling you to try the desktop version if you need to. Also don't just show the option to change at errors. At all times I should be able to change in between the two formats with minimal fuss.
3. Look At My Featureless Limp Mobile Website
Let's say you run a burger van and you have a website to tell local businesses what the specials are that day. One day someone says Why don't you have a mobile version because I am slightly unhappy with your current service and I am related to a horse." Ok maybe not the horse bit. Either way you go off and get a mobile website designed to run next to your normal website.
Your website looks great apart from one thing. You cannot view the daily specials, which was the whole point of the website originally. Sure you can sign up to the newsletter but do you honestly believe I just wanted to get your bi-monthly emails so badly I would load your site up on my phone and be happy that is all I can do?
This sin comes hand in hand with no being able to switch back to the desktop website. If your mobile platform removes what can easily be considered core functionality with no way to get that functionality on a mobile device then you may want to reconsider even getting or having a mobile website.
2. The Slow Loading I Have No Clue Mobile Website
Every now and again someone will commit a crime against humanity, creating a highly specialised website without thinking about why it is specialised is one of them crimes. I have stubbed my toes, I have been kicked in the balls, I have even had staples in my head, yet every time I see a slow loading graphic intensive mobile website I shudder and die a little on the inside.
Mobile websites, believe it or not, are designed for mobile devices. Let says for arguments sake that if you are on a mobile device you are more likely to be running 2G/3G/4G and not broadband speeds. Let's say that you are billed based on your data usage and bandwidth used. This may come as a shock but that is in fact not a hypothetic situation but real life.
There are two reasons for creating a mobile website, one to optimise your website to look it's best on a mobile device so no wasted white space, forms are nice and big, easy to use navigation for someone's finger. Secondly so you can cut out any large slowly loading images that could hold someone up if they are not on an ADSL/broadband connection. If the website loads quickly even on a 2G connection you have a major advantage over your competition. Even a very basic display with core information and then the page they were looking for with a button to go to the desktop version would be perfect. You straight away give them what they are looking for, contact details if they need help urgently, some basic functionality if they need to browse the site and most important of all a way back to the desktop version if they need full functionality and accept it will be a tad strange on a mobile device.
1. The Mobile Website That Is A Completely Different Website
This is easily the top sin and has happened to me not that long ago. The major issue here is when your mobile website and normal website are running completely different and unrelated databases. What I mean is two websites that are basically the same (one mobile, one normal) however if you register on one your login details do not work on the other because they are running different databases and your details only exist on the first instance.
My personal experience with this was attempting to buy some movie tickets online, due to us being slow on agreeing a time it came down to me in a bar at lunch to book them. So out comes my phone and I load up the website. Much to my surprise they have a very good nice mobile website with full functionality. I am able to sign up and get everything sorted bar the payment due to a redirect error that would be fine on a desktop but not a mobile device, so poor testing on their part but basically everything was done so I was happy to wait till I got home.
I got home loaded up the laptop and accessed the website, their normal website is just as nice and all the colours and styles are in line with the mobile website. I go to login only to find it did not work. So I opened my emails where I had an email with my email and even my password and a link to the login page, still nothing. I tried forgotten password only to find my email did not exist on their system, despite having an email from them.
I called up and found out I would have to register again as their data servers only sync every week. EVERY WEEK. So in about three days time I will be on their system twice with identical records. All because they did not believe someone would go from one device to another within a weeks time. Also this is not my account did not get created correctly the first time around as my account was valid and functional. I could not enter a billing address without completing their labyrinth questionnaire first.
Maybe next time they will run their mobile and desktop website off the same database and save everyone a whole heap of trouble.
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