Mobile devices such as smartphones have been taking over the internet, as more and more people are connecting to their favorite websites using their phones rather than their computers. As a result web designers are becoming more responsive to these mobile needs. Websites are creating sites that would be easy to use on a mobile device. For example, rather than having a setup that has multiple columns displayed, companies are opting for a seamless scroll.
These websites are often considering mobile users before they consider their original desktop users. You may have noticed that websites are becoming more simple and clean in design, opting for solid colors and simple shapes. Some desktop sites have become annoyingly interactive. You have probably seen those sites that require you to click through a slideshow to only see one picture and a small caption at a time. Other websites have an interesting looking animation to go through all the content option on their page. Though they look cool and work great on mobile, these pages are aggravating and waste more time when on a desktop or laptop.
On the other hand, you have the straggler websites which never updated their website to mobile, and require the user to scroll in and try to read tiny font or click impossible links while on their phones. These used to be extremely common when people just started to use their mobile devices to use the internet. Nowadays, most websites at LEAST rescale.
This brings up the question: is it better for firms to focus on their mobile site or their desktop site? Especially for smaller sites which cannot afford to spend a large amount of money micromanaging both types of sites. Often one designer is paid to create one site, and the other site comes as second; whether it is mobile or desktop. Larger firms, which spend a lot of money on advertising and customer interests have their websites, both mobile and desktop, micro-managed to produce their intended psychological responses. However, these are the few market controlling firms.
For most companies determining which to fund, mobile or desktop, is a financial decision. Since most users are turning to more convenient mobile devices, websites are turning to the more economic decision of nurturing the mobile site, and putting the desktop site aside. Companies gain more potential customers by having a perfected mobile site than they lose from the desktop site. It has become a quick and easy decision to favor the mobile site. The economy often tends to rule company decisions, and the evolution of the web. The preference for mobile sites is no different. As people prefer the mobile site, the desktop will fade, and as a result lose even more support. People will continue to turn to what is expanding and evolving, leaving the old internet behind. That is, until something new comes out that will take over the market, and repeat the endless cycle of consumer and producer; whether it is for the better or worse.
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