PixelMEDIA » Users http://www.pixelmedia.com/blog The official staff chatter blox Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:55:43 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 Information Architecture for Mobile http://www.pixelmedia.com/blog/information-architecture-for-mobile/ http://www.pixelmedia.com/blog/information-architecture-for-mobile/#comments Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:09:21 +0000 1 PixelMEDIA http://blog.pixelmedia.com/?p=389 Continue reading →]]> Mobile users tend to be focused on quickly finding answers to burning questions as opposed to simply ‘surfing’ the Web as they do on a PC or laptop. Given the smaller resolution and disparate browser capabilities across mobile devices, designing the navigation becomes more difficult.

Not everyone has an iPhone or Blackberry Storm. A lot of users have simple smart phones, requiring careful thought into how deep content lies within the Mobile Experience and how many clicks it takes to get to it.

Information Architecture and Interaction Design for Mobile needs to take this into account and requires the structure to contain a number of “either/or” choices and tailoring the navigation (modified from the work of Christian Crumlish):

  • If at all possible, limit the number of categories to five (5)
  • To help users access links quickly, choose the top 10 per page to assign numerical access
  • Minimize the number of levels of navigation: the deeper the content is, the harder to drill in and out
  • Reorder the site categories by priority to best suit the needs of the Mobile audience. Speaking to users will help determine the best approach for this.
  • Make telephone numbers links:
    <a href=”tel:+19995551234”>+1 999 555-1234</a>

Be prepared to spend time working through the navigation and interaction modeling for the Mobile Experience. In order to simplify the structure into an intuitive experience that breaks the content down into digestible chunks takes patience. Ironically, simplification is one of the more complicated processes, but the payoff at the end of the day is worth it. Just ask your happy users.

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