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Good points, but I dont agree with this: >> 14. Design for mobile first (even if a mobile app is not in your roadmap). The constraints of a mobile context will

by iridium 14y ago

Good points, but I dont agree with this: >> 14. Design for mobile first (even if a mobile app is not in your roadmap). The constraints of a mobile context will force you to focus on what’s essential, and help you cut what’s not needed. The question “How would I design this as a mobile app?” always clears my head and helps me find the simpler, elegant solution. Unless you are primarily designing a mobile app, this ends up shortchanging the web user. A full web interface can always do more and the challenge should be converting those features to mobile as opposed to dumbing down the design for the lowest denominator.

ohashi 14y ago
That one bothered me too. For someone so focused on the experience, it seems narrow to think of focusing on one platform that admittedly, might not even be used. Shouldn't you be focused on building the best experience on the intended platform?
icefox 14y ago
Around three years ago I postulated that websites will soon start to develop their mobile version first and not second. Little by little I keet seeing more examples and the last year it has really been accelerating. It is an interesting time and while many besides yourself will find offense with this "rule" I would expect more of it in the future.
ashraful 14y ago
Regardless of the amount of screen real estate available to you, there should always be one main purpose for your website/app - one action (usually the most common action) that the user should take. Designing with the mobile-first approach makes it easier to determine what that main purpose is and aligns the design of your site with that purpose. This does not mean that you don't include all the additional functionality, just that you prioritize the main objective of your site.
JCB_K 14y ago
It's not dumbing down, it's simplifying. By designing mobile first, you force yourself to think about the priorities in your UX. You can still add all kind of things on top in the full web interface, but that's on top of the core experience.
dhyasama 14y ago
Here is a solid book about mobile first development: http://www.abookapart.com/products/mobile-first http://www.abookapart.com/products/mobile-first It's a good (and quick) read, even if you don't agree with it, as are all of the A Book Apart publications.
deveac 14y ago
If you agree with point 27 (questing for Minimum Viable Product/Experience), then rule 14 makes a lot of sense to me. He isn't saying not to design a full web interface (which as you point out, can do more). He is merely saying by doing mobile dev first, you are essentially forced into discovering your MVP more lucidly. You can then add features to the full web interface from there. >A full web interface can always do more and the challenge should be converting those features to mobile as opposed to dumbing down the design for the lowest denominator. I think that this sentence gets to the crux of his point. Terms like 'dumbing down' and 'lowest common denominator' to describe the mobile experience seem a little loaded to me, and imho, this is exactly the type of situation where deving movile first could provide surprising insight into your MVP. I'm talking honest to goodness slap in the face reveals. I think it's safe to say we have different opinions on this point, but man...I simply can't count the number of "Hey check out my startup" websites that I've clicked on and just kind of had my jaw drop at what was going on. I'd honestly say the majority of the ones I've seen could have benefited from this approach. That's completely anecdotal, I know, but it's the impression I have.
- iridium 14y ago
  I agree with MVP and your anecdotes - less bloat, all the better, but from a UI/UX perspective, let me give you a few examples of what usually gets thrown out in a mobile first design: Dropdown menus - Mobile first almost always means multiple clicks to get to the same place, which is more annoying on a slower browser. Commenting system - still yet to see a decent one that I would one on a mobile interface Flash/animations - like it or not, moving images grabs attention but does not translate well to mobile. Page width - 1440 pixels on my shiny screen, but text is stuck in a 200px box that forces me to scroll down. Flexible width usually gets thrown out when you add sidebars and ads. Large Buttons - Great for mobile but I'd rather see context that a sign up button taking half the page Related content links - Especially for blogs/news websites. Inline images - My primary annoyance with this article which is ALL TEXT. Mobile design says dont take up an entire screen view with an image. Web first design says even if the current text is boring, people will scroll down if they see an interesting image. I honestly believe that having separate approaches will allow for better UX, time and cost permitting.

by iridium 14y ago

ohashi 14y ago

That one bothered me too. For someone so focused on the experience, it seems narrow to think of focusing on one platform that admittedly, might not even be used. Shouldn't you be focused on building the best experience on the intended platform?

icefox 14y ago

Around three years ago I postulated that websites will soon start to develop their mobile version first and not second. Little by little I keet seeing more examples and the last year it has really been accelerating. It is an interesting time and while many besides yourself will find offense with this "rule" I would expect more of it in the future.

ashraful 14y ago

Regardless of the amount of screen real estate available to you, there should always be one main purpose for your website/app - one action (usually the most common action) that the user should take. Designing with the mobile-first approach makes it easier to determine what that main purpose is and aligns the design of your site with that purpose. This does not mean that you don't include all the additional functionality, just that you prioritize the main objective of your site.

JCB_K 14y ago

It's not dumbing down, it's simplifying. By designing mobile first, you force yourself to think about the priorities in your UX. You can still add all kind of things on top in the full web interface, but that's on top of the core experience.

dhyasama 14y ago

Here is a solid book about mobile first development: http://www.abookapart.com/products/mobile-first http://www.abookapart.com/products/mobile-first It's a good (and quick) read, even if you don't agree with it, as are all of the A Book Apart publications.

deveac 14y ago

If you agree with point 27 (questing for Minimum Viable Product/Experience), then rule 14 makes a lot of sense to me. He isn't saying not to design a full web interface (which as you point out, can do more). He is merely saying by doing mobile dev first, you are essentially forced into discovering your MVP more lucidly. You can then add features to the full web interface from there. >A full web interface can always do more and the challenge should be converting those features to mobile as opposed to dumbing down the design for the lowest denominator. I think that this sentence gets to the crux of his point. Terms like 'dumbing down' and 'lowest common denominator' to describe the mobile experience seem a little loaded to me, and imho, this is exactly the type of situation where deving movile first could provide surprising insight into your MVP. I'm talking honest to goodness slap in the face reveals. I think it's safe to say we have different opinions on this point, but man...I simply can't count the number of "Hey check out my startup" websites that I've clicked on and just kind of had my jaw drop at what was going on. I'd honestly say the majority of the ones I've seen could have benefited from this approach. That's completely anecdotal, I know, but it's the impression I have.

iridium 14y ago
I agree with MVP and your anecdotes - less bloat, all the better, but from a UI/UX perspective, let me give you a few examples of what usually gets thrown out in a mobile first design: Dropdown menus - Mobile first almost always means multiple clicks to get to the same place, which is more annoying on a slower browser. Commenting system - still yet to see a decent one that I would one on a mobile interface Flash/animations - like it or not, moving images grabs attention but does not translate well to mobile. Page width - 1440 pixels on my shiny screen, but text is stuck in a 200px box that forces me to scroll down. Flexible width usually gets thrown out when you add sidebars and ads. Large Buttons - Great for mobile but I'd rather see context that a sign up button taking half the page Related content links - Especially for blogs/news websites. Inline images - My primary annoyance with this article which is ALL TEXT. Mobile design says dont take up an entire screen view with an image. Web first design says even if the current text is boring, people will scroll down if they see an interesting image. I honestly believe that having separate approaches will allow for better UX, time and cost permitting.