Function Trumps Form On Phones

He might have found a more charming way to say it, but your own experience surely tells you that Jason Falls is right in this rant: Function Will Always Trump Form With Mobile.

With any new page:

• Pages must be responsive from he start, and look good on all platforms.
• The mobile display must be simple, clear, linear, and quickly deliver what the user is looking for.

Falls says:

As we all adjust to the mobile-first audience, we’re going to have to come to terms with some new realities. One of those new realities is that function will often trump form.

And if you haven't started adjusting yet: All pages should be responsive, they should know the browser and platform your reader is using and display the page accordingly. No one wants to scroll through the tiny text of a full sized web page crushed onto their phone's small screen.

How do you build into your day, checking how your pages look on mobile devices? Perhaps start by leaving a Safari browser open in developer mode with an iphone page as your user agent. Or drop your page into Google's mobile page tester. You could spend a day a week only looking at your site on your phone.

It's not important how you do it. It's just important that you do regularly look, as a mobile user, at every page your company produces.

Then you'll know what needs your developers' attention.