Comments on: Designing for the next generation of devices – don't get left behind

By: DB.

DB. — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:51:01 +0000

Mobile website is still in it's infancy. This is an area which is due big growth in the next couple of years. Once companies have finished playing around with promo iPhone apps, they might concentrate on providing their website content on the mobile medium in a way that's easy for the user to navigate and read.

By: Leigh

Leigh — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:56:01 +0000

Ha! Well, now I have to admit something :) I've never looked at the iPhone's calculator in landscape orientation either ! Can't believe it becomes a scientific calculator - this maybe because I'm so used to calculator's being 'portrait' in shape.

This has me really believing now, that whatever we do with orientation, it can't be at all crucial to the purpose of the website - merely a convenience and it's going to need some Very clear and obvious signposting as to what is happening.

By: Craig Villamor

Craig Villamor — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:38:46 +0000

Great post. I think there's a lot of potential for different treatments based on orientation. The iPad is where it makes the most sense and you can tell Apple feels that way too. Notice that the default apps on iPhone don't change based on orientation, but on iPad they do.

Your experience with Around Me is similar to my experience using Gowalla and I think we're seeing an anti-pattern here that Apple alludes to in their iPad HIG. If you completely change the view when changing the orientation it can be disorienting (no pun intended). The native iPad apps reveal a split-pane of the same view when in landscape. This is logical and less disorienting.

By: Pranab Salian

Pranab Salian — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:30:47 +0000

It took me two months of using my iPhone to realize the calculator had a scientific mode, which it enters when the display is in landscape mode. The only reason I realized this was because I looked at a screen-shot in a magazine.

So yes, it's not always obvious when tilting the screen will change functionality, even in a default Apple app.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:47:56 +0000

This is exactly why I was excited by the iPad. Apps that use the large format will be visually stunning. As a musician, I could imagine a performance app that changed its modes based on orientation and even allowed the "compass" turn effect to function like a knob. Turn it to 11! Cheers :)

By: Max Bucknell

Max Bucknell — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:48:34 +0000

I think it would be kinda nice to see browsers, especially mobile versions of webkit (i.e. iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad implementing something like conditional comments, because when you're talking different stylesheets and javascript for different devices, you really need an efficient way of telling them apart. You don't want to load 5 different stylesheets for example.

The issue of load time is an interesting one. My first thought was well it doesn't matter because they are only on wi-fi, but when using public wi-fi or even 3G size once again becomes an issue, which is why 2 separate stylesheets might not be such a great idea.

Interesting article though, got me thinking. I personally can't wait to get my hands on an iPad, simply to see what the browsing on them is like.

By: David Cadia

David Cadia — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:08:31 +0000

Great article. You bring up some very interesting points and as designers we should begin to take much more interest in mobile design, as this is the futureof computing and the internet. We are entering an exciting time as designers, its not just a visual game anymore.

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:10:42 +0000

This stuff has me really thinking about layers of complexity added to design. I like the functionality, utility and increased user-experience that such designs provide, but find myself wondering about the additional steps/processes (and potential expenses to the the client) required to render things in such a way. Overall, though it's something that absolutely must be taken in to consideration, and at least addressed with new potential clients that could make use of such a feature.

By: Leigh

Leigh — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:07:13 +0000

Well, of course I knew if I said I’d never seen a site changing depending on orientation then examples would appear !

But, excellent! I’m glad they are our there and I’m extremely relieved there is actually a nice term for it – Orientation Specific Content, or OSC. This engageinteractive post was last May too, so presumably there must be many more.

They have even included a very nice tutorial, which I’ll have a go at:

http://www.engageinteractive.co.uk/blog/2008/06/19/tutorial-building-a-website-for-the-iphone/

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:21:07 +0000

Perfectly logical idea, suppose the issue is dealing with variations in resolutions between mobile devices, the major benefit of designing for the iphone / touch is that you know that everyone has the same hardware.

The rather splendid Engage chaps did a good stab at this : http://www.engageinteractive.co.uk/blog/2008/05/16/how-to-create-an-iphone-website/