The best of Strangeloop's Mobile Optimization Hub
Contributed by Tammy Everts.
When we first started gathering and publishing information on the mobile web, smartphones were in their infancy and tablets were still two years away.
Now, just four years later, 1.2 billion people worldwide access the web on mobile devices, and by 2014, mobile browsing is expected to exceed desktop. As for ecommerce, $10 billion will be transacted over mobile devices in 2012, and that number is projected to grow 300% by 2015.
Throughout this change, we've been compiling resources in our Mobile Optimization Hub, and it now contains scores of independent articles, reports, videos, slide decks and presentations related to all things mobile. Here's a quick sampling:
Analysis
Why page size matters even more for mobile web apps
Mobile web applications have many limitations, and the end-user experience can easily be damaged when these limitations are forgotten. This excellent post from dynaTrace outlines why page size matters even more for mobile apps.
Mobile optimization starts with mindset: Hooman Beheshti interviewed at Velocity 2012
Where are we in the mobile optimization life-cycle? What mindset should site owners adopt when boosting mobile performance? Are performance measurements improving? In this video, O'Reilly's Mac Slocum talks to Hooman Beheshti about his unique insight on the current state of mobile.
Responsive web design: Missing the point
A recent post by Brad Frost illustrates that, though mobile browsers are getting better at rendering full websites, creating adaptive sites for mobile users is essential to improving the user experience.
News and research
HTML5 features increase mobile usage by 28%
Static pages needing an upgrade can vastly improve mobile user engagement through the addition of HTML5. The new release features interactive galleries, overlays, and expandable/collapsible boxes, driving up pageviews and decreasing bounce rates.
Mobile website optimization now factors into mobile search ads quality
Google's official announcement that mobile-optimized sites will factor into landing page quality and perform better in AdWords.
Retailers create better designs on their web sites and beyond
Study shows that 44% of online retailers have mobile commerce sites, up from 13% a year ago.
Controversy
Is Nielsen wrong on mobile? Arguments abound
Jakob Nielsen’s assertion that “good mobile user experience requires a different design” is being challenged by a noted mobile expert, who argues that rather than stripping down for mobile, companies should be doing more.
M-commerce site performance hampered by Verizon
"The amount of time it takes to load a page from a web server to a smartphone is dependent on many factors, but the efficiency of a wireless network is a big one—and one that is completely out of the control of a merchant."
The way carriers manage networks can hurt phone performance
Among other things, CNN writer Amy Gahran says that "One of the largest U.S. carriers (unnamed in the study, since the data was made anonymous for legal reasons) appears to be slowing its network speed by as much as 50%."
Make your mobile site faster
Bookmark the Mobile Optimization Hub to stay in the loop on the latest mobile research and resources. To learn how Strangeloop can help accelerate your website across mobile browsers, visit our Mobile Optimizer product page.
