[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4cast #392: Designing for mobile

Wed Jul 2 10:30:30 EDT 2014

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OPLIN 4Cast

OPLIN 4cast #392: Designing for mobile
July 2nd, 2014

Converse shoesHow many times have we told you guys that mobile computing 
is important? (Looks like about one out of every ten 
<http://www.oplin.org/4cast/?tag=mobile-computing> /4cast/s.) So, if you 
have a website - and every library does - what's the best way to design 
a mobile version of your site? At the moment, there seems to be three 
leading contenders for the right answer to this question. The oldest way 
is to build a separate mobile website tailored for smartphones, usually 
with the letter "m" prefixed to the URL (e.g., m.oplin.org). These days 
you hear a lot about responsive web design, in which the website is 
designed to automatically respond to the mobile device by rearranging 
the elements of the website to best advantage. And sometimes you hear a 
third possibility mentioned, usually called "adaptive" or "dynamic," in 
which the website server detects the device and serves up a ready-made 
page for the correct screen size. Which is best? Responsive design 
currently seems to have the edge, but the decision is not unanimous.

  * How responsive design increases the results of your online marketing
    <http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2351176/How-Responsive-Design-Increases-the-Results-of-Your-Online-Marketing>
    (Search Engine Watch | Kristi Hines) "Responsive design allows users
    on any device - desktop, smartphone, or tablet - to have the same
    experience. Some businesses choose to go with a mobile-only and
    desktop-only experience, but the trouble with this is the lack of
    consistency between the two. People who make a purchase on the
    desktop site will have a completely different purchasing experience
    on their mobile. And the most troublesome issue is generally how a
    mobile-only design will not include every page that a visitor will
    want to see."
  * Why responsive web design is the cornerstone to any mobile strategy
    <http://www.business2community.com/mobile-apps/responsive-web-design-cornerstone-mobile-strategy-0900512>
    (Business 2 Community | George Glover) "Google has advocated for
    responsive web design and recommends it for mobile configuration
    with its application (app). The company further states that
    responsive web design is in fact the industry best practice. So why
    does Google advocate so insistently for responsive web design? It's
    because these types of sites have only one URL and the same HTML,
    neither of which change regardless of the device being used."
  * Report: Mobile "configuration" errors cause 68 pct. traffic loss
    <http://searchengineland.com/report-bad-mobile-decisions-result-68-pct-traffic-loss-194944>
    (Search Engine Land | Greg Sterling) "By 'mobile configuration' the
    company means responsive design, dynamic serving or dedicated mobile
    sites (separate URLs). BrightEdge found no significant general
    ranking difference among the three approaches.... Yet improperly
    configured mobile sites showed a much worse outcome: 'an incorrectly
    implemented site resulted in a drop in smartphone rank by almost two
    positions (1.82 on average).' That lower position translated into a
    68 percent decline in traffic. In terms of configuration errors,
    BrightEdge said responsive had none (which makes sense). Dynamic
    serving saw a 30 percent error rate. But separate URLs (dedicated
    mobile sites) saw a massive 72 percent configuration error rate."
  * Responsive design vs. mobile websites: And the winner is...
    <http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/36697.asp#singleview>
    (iMedia Connection | Brandt Dainow) "Responsive design rarely
    provides a best-of-breed solution for the mobile user, while mobile
    websites make sharing elements difficult. It seems to me the
    solution to this is to use 'adaptive design.' Under an adaptive
    design system, the server works out what type of device is
    connecting and serves a combination of shared and unique elements.
    For example, it might use the same content for all devices, but use
    different artwork for smaller screens."

*/Articles from Ohio Web Library <http://ohioweblibrary.org>:/*

  * Responsive web design, discoverability, and mobile challenge
    <http://web.a.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/ehost/detail?sid=02d8a911-d844-4a0a-b4d0-d7575042b730%40sessionmgr4001&vid=1&hid=4204&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=90405356>.
    (/Library Technology Reports/, Aug/Sep 2013, p29-39 | Bohyun Kim)
  * That was then, this is now: Replacing the mobile-optimized site with
    responsive design
    <http://web.a.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/ehost/detail?sid=8600bcf7-0bc5-4798-892b-d0fd4453a541%40sessionmgr4004&vid=1&hid=4204&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=93378674>.
    (/Information Technology and Libraries/, Dec 2013, p8-24 | Hannah
    Gascho Rempel and Laurie Bridges)
  * Flat design travels to library websites
    <http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/chc/detail?sid=22ab3ee5-9d07-4155-b962-de4996e1eb89%40sessionmgr111&vid=4&hid=112&bdata=JnNpdGU9Y2hjLWxpdmU%3d#db=cmh&AN=96354061>.
    (/Online Searcher/, May/June 2014, p28-31 | Darlene Fichter and Jeff
    Wisniewski)

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