Designing Websites for Mobile Devices

If you live in the US in 2012, there's almost a 50% chance that you own a smartphone according to Nielsen's 2011 State of Mobile Media Report.  The continuing rise of smartphone use means more and more people are accessing the web via handheld mobile devices.  As that transition from desktop to mobile browsing continues, the focus on providing mobile-friendly websites becomes more important.

The main difference between the desktop browsing experience and browsing on a mobile device is, of course, the screen size.  If you've ever tried to browse the full desktop version of a website on your smartphone, you understand how challenging it can be to navigate.  You'll most likely end up doing a lot of zooming in and out, swiping, and trying to make pinpoint touches on tiny text links.  The usability of full-scale websites on a mobile devices depends somewhat on the device and it's browser.  But even the largest screens are around 5" in size - exponentially smaller than a typical desktop or laptop monitor. 

Another difference is what types of technologies the browsers support.  Most mobile browsers can support javascript, but some will not support flash and other technologies commonly found on desktop websites.  One example of this is trying to navigate a typical drop-down menu in a mobile browser.  Some flyout menus do not translate well to mobile browsing, making it difficult - and sometimes literally impossible - to navigate the website.

One last difference worth mentioning is the data connection speed.  Most of us have become accustomed to browsing on a high-speed internet connection on our computers.  But most smartphones are limited to significantly slower speeds.  This difference in bandwidth can affect how images are displayed in a mobile browser.  Large images not only make page load times longer, but their dimensions can flow well beyond the bounds of these smaller screens and make visibility a challenge.

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TEEM Technologies Gets a Full Makeover

Welcome to the completely re-designed website for TEEM Technologies!  As it turns out, I was able to complete the re-branding and website design sooner than I anticipated.  Something I'm learning about myself is that I don't seem to like leaving design projects in an unfinished state.  I feel compelled to keep working on them (even into the late hours of the night) until they are completed - then I can rest.

A Little Bit About the Process...

I started this process with a desire to make my brand and website better reflect the growth and transformation of TEEM Technologies.  Now in the third year since starting this business, I recently realized that my own website hadn't been updated since I originally designed it.  I preach to people about keeping their online presence updated, but working on client projects had kept me from applying that wisdom to my own site.  Not only had the design of my original website and company brand fallen out of date, but my design skills have improved as I've learned new techniques and become more experienced.  I wanted the face of my business to reflect that talent to potential clients.

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Coming Soon: TEEM Technologies Brand and Website Refresh

I just wanted to take a moment to tease something that I've been planning for a while now and have begun working on in my ever-elusive free time.  It's time for a new website to represent TEEM Technologies, and along with that, a slight change in branding.  I don't want to give too much away and I'm not certain these concepts are finalized, but I have a pretty good idea where I'm going with it.  The graphic to the right is a teaser of what may be coming.  -->

I hope to finish up the design work and launch a new website and brand sometime in February.  But as always, work for paying clients comes first.  The past couple of months have been quite busy with design projects, so I'm having to squeeze in time on my own site whenever I have an hour or two here and there.  It's good to be busy (and have some revenue flow)!

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Extreme Makeover: Website Edition

My father always taught me not to "judge a book by it's cover."  Good advice when dealing with people.  The web is from about the same generation as I am, and judging by some of the websites generated in the 90's, I'm guessing the father of the web (Al Gore has made a claim to fatherhood of the web, but DNA testing was inconclusive) offered the same advice.  But both the web and I have grown up, and times have changed.  I still try not to judge people by their appearance, but it's no secret that most people absolutely judge a website based on their first impression.  In fact, a recent study shows that 42% of people judge a website on overall design alone.  And more importantly, 52% said they would not return to a website with poor aesthetics.

So what does that mean for you?  Well, if your website has a poor design and/or is just plain ugly, you can expect about half of first time visitors to never return to your site.  Can you accept that?  Didn't think so.  And yet plenty of websites today fall into the category of being poorly designed and ugly.  Is yours one of those?  Let's find out.

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Design a Great Church Website (Tips & Principles)

Let me begin with a statement of fact:  EVERY church needs a good website.  I can tell you from a personal standpoint that if I can't find a church's website, I'm not attending that church.  Period.  Even if I know the church exists, where it is, and what it stands for.  The mere fact that a church doesn't have a website communicates something important to me and it's pretty much a deal-breaker.  I've had that conversation with others and most, if not all, agree on that.

But that's not a very big issue because most churches DO have a website.  The real issue is the quality and focus of some church websites.  That is the problem I want to address in this article - how to design a GREAT church website and avoid common mistakes of website design.  Some of these principles can be applied to other types of websites, such as non-profit or small business websites.  Some of the points are very specific to church websites.  So let's get right to it...

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