It's no secret that mobile devices are growing in popularity. Around 40% of Internet content is now accessed from mobile devices.With this rapidly growing shift to mobile access many companies have
found themselves in a position in which they are trying to find ways to cater to their ever-growing mobile market. If you've ever used a cell phone to access a webpage I'd bet all the pretty pennies in my red crayon piggy bank that you've come across at least one site that redirected to a mobile-only version. In theory this sounds like a wonderful idea... but is it really? That is the grand question and the central theme of this blog post. If we were only analyzing my own usage, I suspect my statistics would be somewhere closer to the 80% range when discussing internet content accessed on a mobile platform (iPhone 4s in my case... yeah, yeah, I haven't upgraded!) vs a traditional way of accessing internet content (like my desktop computer). For me mobile access is so much more convenient. Reading the daily news while nursing a baby and fixing every crooked wheel on my older kids Monster Jam trucks (I mean really, why are they moveable?) is not an easy task if I'm grounded to a computer chair. Mobility is freedom in my household. I can take the kids to the park, the pool, or pretty much anywhere we want to go and take my news (and even my school, Blackboard app for the win!) along with me. So... I've established that having mobile access is very
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I made a discussion board post on this trip
to the beach for one of my final undergrad classes.
Do THAT with a desktop! |
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important to me. Now begs the question: is it necessary to have a mobile specific version of websites for mobile users? My person answer to that question is... sometimes, but rarely. Now, don't think I hate all mobile sties. Sometimes it's really nice to get a quick, dumbed down version of a web page. When I'm accessing local or national news sites, I am really only looking for the highlights, hot stories, and most recent additions. I also find mobile versions very beneficial for websites that utilize Adobe Flash Player (because you know, Apple hasn't gotten on board with support of that for some insane reason). I don't mind a lot of shopping sites either; they load faster are generally easier to navigate on my little 3.5" screen. Where I come to dislike mobile versions is when they just don't measure up to their full site counterparts and don't have a working option to opt out of the mobile version. Taylor Martin recently made a post that summed this up pretty well. He writes
"scrolling to the bottom and finding the "Full Site" link isn't too
much trouble. The problem is what happens after you click that link
(granted it's even available) – one of three things will happen:
- The full site will load and your preferences will be remembered for the remainder of your visits (until you clear you cache)
- The full site will load and once you click a link, you will be reverted back to the mobile site
- Nothing happens
If scenario one happens, I'm peachy. But if number two or three
occur, I generally get too frustrated to bother with fighting it and
never visit the site again from my phone after."
This is the most accurate summation of the frustrations incurred when dealing with mobile versions of websites that I've seen to date. What happens when people like Taylor and I don't ever visit the site from our phones again? It often means we just don't visit the site again in any capacity. Perhaps we're a small crowd, but we still exist and that means lost customers/viewers. I believe mobile versions have a time and a place, but they need to be done well. A mobile version with an option to view the full site that doesn't work is not helpful. A page that reverts back to the mobile version with one click is nothing short of infuriating. Where do you stand with mobile internet usage? Do you appreciate a simplified mobile version or is it more frustration than help?
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