The use of Internet on handheld devices like mobile phones is on the rise providing a new definition to web experience. Many mobile phone operators are offering new and innovative web services so that their users can now access their favorite websites, which they used to view on PC before, on their mobile devices.

Web designers designing various websites now feel the importance of designing web pages that can be viewed on mobile phones precisely. Some of the websites have already taken drastic steps in this regard with tremendous results. Other sites need to catch up with them in order to sustain themselves in the view of intense competition. Many Internet savvy people have a lot of expectations as far as performance is concerned when browsing the web on their handheld devices.

The needs of mobile Internet users in comparison to PC users are more urgent and short-term in nature. They want information that can straightway address the problem at hand such as finding the route to a particular location, the latest developments in the nearby areas etc. They also seek some quick mode of entertainment to pass their idle time while traveling somewhere or waiting for somebody. So websites must provide such facilities that will fulfill the user’s needs.

There is a huge difference between PC and mobile Internet in terms of navigation offered. It is highly recommended for PC web design to repeat the navigation on each and every page. But the same principle can’t be applied on mobile devices. The mobile space is very limited and navigation buttons can occupy lots of space which must be meant for useful content. So your website on a mobile must contain the navigation on the home page only. The other pages must only have links to the home page and the last page the user has visited. These links must be located in the beginning and end of the page so that users can find them easily and quickly.

While moving between various items on a web page using joysticks or direction buttons, mobile Internet users can’t trace the selected or highlighted item. To deal with this problem, you need to set a different font or background color for the highlighted link against the page’s overall appearance so that users can know about the item in focus.

Make arrangements for providing inputs in a simple and less painful manner on your mobile website. The best method for providing inputs will be through making selections instead of entering a number of texts. Entering texts on mobile devices take a lot of time and are most often error prone. This is a technique which majority of users are likely to avoid. As an alternative, provide a number of options in the form of links for each input field.

When users make requests for some information from websites, send them only the relevant information devoid of any kind of unnecessary data. As a mobile screen can hold limited amount of information, essential content may take a backseat if you attempt to make space for everything else. The users may also have to pay a higher price if the web page gets bulky. Sometimes, they have to pay for the content that they never want. So provide information to users as short and relevant as possible.

Tags: Website Usability on Handheld Devices