As mobile continues to grow in importance, more and more people have questions about how to best design for the platform. There is, of course, a lot of nuance to the subject; however, there are – in my estimation, at least – four essential principles:
- Economy: Not long ago, the whole web game used to center around who could have the flashiest website with the most bells and whistles. The exact opposite is the case with mobile. You want to prize a minimalist design, which allows for the user to easily navigate your website.
- Speed: Like it or not, we live in the “give it to me now” society, and mobile devices are a big reasons for that. Therefore, it’s exceptionally important that your mobile website run as quickly as possible. Your customers, clients or readers are conditioned to expect things instantaneously. Giving them anything less will damage your reputation.
- Function: Just the same as with speed, the people visiting your website expect things to work exactly as they should. When your mobile website breaks down, those thumbs and fingers are going to tap their way to some other webpage. Don’t give them the opportunity; check your website thoroughly for broken links, faulty redirects, and other common issues.
- Aesthetics: Even though you should cultivate a minimalist design, that doesn’t mean your mobile website needs to be unattractive. Pay just as much attention to design elements like color, font, layout, and everything else as you would with a desktop website. Your visitors have slick phones in their hands; your website should look equally slick.
If you design a mobile website that attempts to achieve the utmost in each of these four principles, you’ll be well on your way to having a mobile website that gets results.
Source:
http://www.themost10.com/keys-effective-mobile-website-design/
http://www.adobe.com/inspire/2011/11/ten-best-practices-designing-mobile-websites.html