I’m sure you’ve been there. You’re looking at a website on your phone, sifting through a thousand things you don’t care about, thinking, “I just want the phone number! Where’s the phone number?”
Users on a mobile website aren’t looking for flash, they’re looking for information. Because we can now consume information whenever and wherever we want, we don’t want to slog through a bunch of unnecessary design elements and animated fire gifs to get to the point.
With fewer resources available (smaller screen, lower bandwidth, slower connection speeds) this means a focus on content, not flair. As one member of our account team says, “If you don’t need it, delete it.”
Present your content in a way that makes it as useful as possible
This is why we take a mobile-first approach to web design. We boil the site’s content down to it’s core elements and showcase those for users on a device with limited resources. Once the foundation is in place we can expand that message with some more robust design elements, in-depth product details and animations.
Look, we all have that friend who likes to tell us a long-winded story about the time when they got locked out of their house at age 16 and had to climb a tree to jimmy their bedroom window open at two in the morning just to get to the point that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
Bloated mobile designs are like that friend. There are only so many times you can hear that story before you stop listening. And having your customers stop listening is the last thing you want.
Minimalism ≠ Simple
Let’s be clear: Minimalist does not mean simple. Black text on a white background is simple. The The Karate Kid poster up top is minimalist. It takes the core point (“Wax on, wax off.”) and presents it without clutter.
As a bonus, having a mobile-optimized site boosts search ranking in Google.
With limited screen space you have to maximize your impact. Have a purpose when you design. Build the best experience you can for mobile and then expand that for desktop. Mobile users shouldn’t miss out on your core message.
Make Miyagi proud.