As a creative who persists with Nokia Symbian mobile phones, because they have the best mobile cameras on the planet, I spend a lot of time on the mobile web. And I am very thankful for all the designers and developers and others who have put the time, effort, and thought into creating great mobile web experiences.
The good news is that I have a great camera phone with me at all times, the not so great news is that daily I as I surf the web on my mobile I discover that a lot of web designers and developers need to make their web sites and apps more mobile friendly.
So, I am going to be future grateful and thankful that all the folks creating on the web are going to be making great web sites and apps that are not only mobile friendly, but kick bootay on a wide range of mobile devices and connections.
If you are a creative or a technologist who wants to know where to start, I got a list for you after the jump:
Posts Tagged: mobile web
Breaking Development: The Sessions, Slides & Notes
Tues 04.17.12 – Yesterday I was quite wrapped up in the nerves of presenting, today I took notes during the Breaking Development Orlando sessions and I have added in the presentations slide embeds as the various speakers have shared them.
My two favorite BDConf presentations from Monday the 16th was Guy Podjarny’s “Performance Implications of Mobile Design” and Stephen Hay’s “Responsive Design Workflow“:
Performance Implications of Mobile Design
View more PowerPoint from guypod
Responsive Design Workflow
View more presentations from Stephen Hay
Per my usual, my notes are a paraphrase of what is being said during the presentation and what is on the slides, anything is quotes is a quote from the speaker rather than a paraphrase. The notes plus presentation slides can be found after the jump.
Breaking Development: A Minimalist’s Guide to the Mobile Web
On April 16, 2012, I will be speaking at the Breaking Development conference in Orlando, Florida on:
A Minimalist’s Guide to the Mobile Web
Designing and developing for mobile devices can be overwhelming in the sheer amount of factors to consider. Questions of where get started or how to retool for fast and lovely mobile sites can send one screaming for the supposed safety of webkit before running and hiding under an iOS rock. But such fear and trembling is unnecessary and we can go forth in confidence with the minimalist’s guide on data sipping as a legitimate lifestyle, serving responsive images, how to strip that code, and do I really need all this javascript?
Come join us for a mobile spring break in Orlando at BDconf! Register here with the following discount code, ORHAN12, will give you a $100 off the registration.
Appnostic : Time to Pioneer Human Centered Mobile Design
This August, while speaking at the Mobile Javascript Summit, I came out in my presentation as Appnostic, stating that the mobile world is too young for us to get set in dogma on the subject of mobile web vs. mobile native apps but instead we need to be pioneering on all fronts of mobile development and creation. I don’t care if one is creating/developing a mobile native app, a hybrid app, or a web app / site, what really matters is that the human who owns the mobile has a good to great user experience, accomplishment of tasks, and an element of delight. Let’s create, design, and develop in a way that delights the mobile user and moves all of us forward.
Much of the web only for mobile rhetoric is not only limiting but a bit absurd when taken to the logical end. How many of the mobile web only folks would work only in their computer’s browser for every activity, professionally or personally, for months on end? Why ask that of the mobile owner that every task and activity should be accomplished only in the browser?
Two recent articles have pinpointed that now is the time to pioneer mobile design:
Cennydd Bowles makes a clear and concise argument that we need to build and innovate for mobile be it web or native apps:
“No one has this problem about native desktop apps vs. web apps. The same people that decry native mobile apps use Coda, Photoshop, and OmniFocus. Native enthusiasts use FreeAgent, Google Docs, and Basecamp without a second thought. In the desktop world, we already know that whether a native or web app is better depends on what it’s for.”
Go read it.
In another recent article in the Guardian piece on Nokia’s Design EVP, Marko Ahtisaari, makes a great point about giving the mobile user choice:
One of the glories of a mobile is that it is particularly personal and the user should have the choice to use their mobile as they so choose, not how we choose for them. Maybe you prefer to do things in your mobile’s browser, but your next door neighbor loves loves loves native apps, dowloading them mostly but loves ’em anyways. Maybe you have only one ecosystem you will use and all of your devices use that one OS, but maybe your neighbor has a MacBook, an XBox, and an Android mobile and doesn’t care if they are different OSes, in fact they prefer it that way.
The mobile world is still very young and let’s not fight for a small slices of professional territory but instead let’s create great human centered user experiences and happy mobile owners rather than getting set in our ways so early.
Why the Mobilism Call for Papers is Brilliant for the Mobile and Web Communities
Mobilism has announced a Call for Papers for their May 2012 conference in Amsterdam. I think this is very exciting.
As the xkcd comic above amusingly illustrates a problem that gets solved by an academic gets many years and much publicity generated out of one problem, and in business it is on to the next problem with nary a peep out of the problem solver.
Web design and development have evolved faster in the last 15 years than academia’s ability or desire to keep up with it, in response the community has been largely self-educated with keen practitioners who have solved various problems rising up to write articles, blog posts, books and speak at conferences. In the last few years, a certain set of these practitioners have become the rockstars of the web publishing and speaking worlds.
Recently there has been a bit of a brouhaha about how conferences seem to have the same speakers, the prices are high, and charges of elitism have been leveled on the in crowd.
On one hand, as Andy does, one can argue that known speakers are needed for conferences to draw paying attendees so that the conference organizers can rent the venue, pay for all the attendant expenses, etc. On the other hand, known speakers and authors can state that they are feeding back into the community by getting the information on standards, new & best practices, as well as lighting an inspirational fire for other designers and developers.
Be that as it may, there are many other web and mobile designers and developers who by dint of introversion, fear of putting oneself out there, thinking the problem or solution is not good enough, busy-ness at work, family obligations, NDAs and other corporate contracts who are not being heard or even seen as they just move on to the next problem to be solved and keep quiet about the one they just solved. The rest of the community is much the poorer for their silence.
For this alone, the Mobilism Call for Papers is brilliant, as it will hopefully be the (structured) encouragement that many developers and designers who have solved really cool problems but never think to or have not yet published or spoken about them will come out of the woodwork and will submit their solutions as a paper for the 30 minute presentation slot.
Yes, you, don’t be shy, share your ideas and solutions, go submit a paper to Mobilism 2012.
*****
Update: Wed 10.05.11 – Please read the comments below as Jeremy Keith asks a pertinent question about my language and link choices and I reply.
Also, Helen Keegan, FJ van Wingerde and I comment about this from an the academic v. practitioner point of view on Facebook.
The Mobile JavaScript Summit
This Tuesday, August 30th from 9am – 6pm (Central Time, read Texas Time), the Mobile JavaScript Summit will be coming to a browser near you. If you are a web designer/developer who is wondering how to get started with designing/developing for the mobile web and mobile apps or have already started but would love to know more about how to take the web technologies you work in and turn them to mobile, then this will be a great one-day online conference for you.
The great thing about the Environments for Humans’ Summits is that the price is low and you attend the conference on your own computer. The software used to present the conference allows the attendees to not only have a video feed of the presenter, also the slides in the main window and the ability to ask questions in real time.
Here are the talks that will be given:
Josh Clark on The New Rules of Designing for Touch
Jonathan Stark on Mobile Apps and the Enterprise
Jenifer Hanen (me) on The Realities of Mobile Design
Simon Laurent and Daniel Pinter on From “It Works” to “Wow! This is Fast!”
Lunch break
David Kaneda on Sencha Touch
Stephen Gill on Phone Gap
Marc Grabanski on jQuery Mobile
Kevin Whinnery on Appcelerator Titanium
Tom Dale on SproutCore
I presented last year at the UX Summit and really enjoyed the online format, I definitely look forward to talking about one of my favorite subjects on Tuesday.
If you would like to join us, please use the following discount code, HANEN20, at The Mobile JavaScrip Summit.
Amsterdam, Goodbye for Now
Sun 05.15.11 – Mobilism 2011 was a great conference, not only were all the sessions quality, but all the folks I met were smart and thinking about as well as doing some cool things in the web and mobile web space. Big thanks to PPK, Krijn Hoetmer, and Stephen Hay for all of their vision & organizational abilities!
It was also great to be back in Amsterdam after 18 years away, even if for only 4 days, as the city has changed for the better and it was lovely to see a small slice of it. I will definitely come back.
Mobilism 2011: Photos at the Conf and on Saturday
Sat 05.14.11 – Here are a few of the photos taken during and after the sessions of Mobilism 2011, as well as on Saturday. Both Thursday and Friday, I had the opportunity go out for delicious dinners with other speakers and friends. On Thursday, we went to Kantjil & de Tijger, a dutch-indonesian fustion place on Spuistraat, and on Friday a super delicious Italian slow food restaurant, Pianeta Terra on Beulingstraat. After dinner on Friday, we went over to Cafe Hoppe (Anno 1670) for drinks and talk.
On Saturday, after all of Mobilism was over, I rented a bike from the hotel, took the ferry to the NDSM werf and met up with Martin & Abi Sutherland and their family for a late lunch at the fun & funky Cafe Noorderlicht and then a lovely bike ride up to Het Twiske, as well as a tour of the book cases. As a proud reader & book addict, I too, one day endeavor to have a two wall living room / book case showroom. Even more important, Abi gave me a few good book recommendations.
On Saturday evening, after a bike sprint back to Amsterdam and a walking sprint to the Ouid-Zuid, I met up with Brian LeRoux, Joni Rustulka, and her brother Jay. We had dinner at an Eritrean/Ethiopian restaurant that had the best tasting Ethiopian food I have ever eaten (not usually a fan) and a lot of laughs. All was well, until 2am, when the food decided it didn’t like me. Oops.
All photos at Mobilism or afterwards taken by Ms. Jen with her Nokia N8.
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