Jump to content

Extranet/application design for mobile devices


knowNothing

Recommended Posts

Hey guys, I've decided that it's in my best interest to create a customer/client extranet for the purpose of securely delivering content such as project details, project status, time organization, messaging, commenting, and whatever else I decide...  What I was wondering, if anyone has experience in designing applications for use on mobile devices such as PDA phones.  I was reading about Mobile Web Best Practices over at http://www.w3.org/TR/2005/WD-mobile-bp-20051220/, which is fine and dandy, but has anyone had firsthand experience with development?  Is it worth it in the long run to offer a mobile-only version as well as a "I have a normal computer with a normal web browser running a normal screen resolution" option?  How many people would actually login from a mobile device?  Am I wasting my time?

 

knownothing

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How many people would actually login from a mobile device?  Am I wasting my time?

it depends on the nature of the industry using the application. i've actually started doing a lot of work on an app of my own for PDA use (ie, a handset with a proper browser not just WAP) as the recruitment industry can mean time on the road away from computer. The app itself doesnt actually differ in any way, apart from a few $_SERVER checks to determine the type of handset/screen res, etc (differs slightly with each device as to what info is available other than just USER_AGENT). The biggest difference is your CSS/templates. If you site is predominantly table-based, then you'll have a more difficult job (because some browsers are landscape, some portrait so sometimes you need to really cap the width), but if it relys much on CSS for the layout, you shouldnt actually find it too bad. It's just a case for me of including a different layout stylesheet based on the device.

 

A site that has pretty good use of this is http://www.bbc.co.uk - it provides most of the content with alot of the unnecessary bells and whistles taken out, in a stripped down portrait format. Worth a look for some ideas, as the site has LOTS of content when viewing on a "normal" browser.

 

Hope that helps a bit...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread is more than a year old. Please don't revive it unless you have something important to add.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.