Designing for the future - Fat Fingers

[Mr Happy]

When your coding new websites people on KWWH who are creating PSD templates or designing websites aren't keeping up with current trends. Tablets are getting really popular, the desktop is dying and Windows 8 is touch screen.

You really need to keep this in mind when working on new projects. Think of KWWH. Anyone who has browsed KWWH on a touch device and wants to go to page 2 of a topic knows you have to do a lot of zooming in before they can click on the page nav. This is because it's designed for desktops and a mouse cursor which have more accuracy than fat fingers.

Space links out more, make them bigger and think would I be able to click on them without zooming in for ages. Another thing to keep in mind is the hover effect. Their's no hover on a touch device so something like a link much be clearly obvious and not need a hover effect to show it's clickable. There are other things to consider such as no flash, and smaller screen sizes but the two above will affect traffic more as a hard to navigate site results in a very high bounce rate.

No more shitty old fashioned PSD's for sale please.

Mr Happy Reviewed by Mr Happy on 28th Sep 2011. Designing for the future - Fat Fingers When your coding new websites people on KWWH who are creating PSD templates or designing websites aren't keeping up with current trends. Tablets are getting really popular, the desktop is dying and Windows 8 is touch screen. You really need to keep this in mind when working on new projects. Think of KWWH. Anyone who has browsed KWWH on a touch device and wants to go to page 2 of a topic knows you have to do a lot of zooming in before they can click on the page nav. This is because it's designed Rating: 5

[Lifetalk]

The better of ideas would be to have a subdomain or a design exclusively tailored for mobile devices; and show that site to mobile devices only based on the Useragent.

While you can make a site that caters to both desktop and mobile users, achieving a perfect balance between the two while maintaining the professional outlook can be a bit of a daunting task, especially given the limitations of mobile devices. That's also partially the reason you see some of the bigger sites coming up with completely redesigned versions for the mobile platforms - it really simplifies things that way.

[Mr Happy]

I agree. Ideally you'd have a mobile theme and a main one but the main theme still needs to consider touch devices as this is the one most likely used by iPads and other tablets. It's not great sending tablets to a mobile device which is designed for a much smaller screen. Having a separate theme just for tablets is just too much work for most people. That's why I still think it's important to consider touch devices when doing your main theme. Remember to keep in mind Windows 8 as well.

[shiver]

Anyone who has browsed KWWH on a touch device and wants to go to page 2 of a topic knows you have to do a lot of zooming in before they can click on the page nav.

This is so true hahah. I always click on the wrong page while browsing on my iPod

[Amodity]

My thought; is that not why they have mobile themes?

Try going to GMail on your PC, then GMail on your iPad. That'll explain everything.

[Mr Happy]

Not everyone has the resources like Google to have different themes for iPhone, Android, iPad, desktop etc.

If a site has a mobile theme and a default theme then the default theme will still be used by some touch screen devices. Anyway touch screen devices are the future so at the least start considering them.

[Amodity]

Those with the resources succeed, those without them dwindle away. If you can't serve every single device, then you are limited to the devices in which you can.

Thank you for creating this thread Mr Happy, these predictions are quite intelligent and it is something that web designers and developers alike should be thinking about.

[Putin]

Google+ has tried to do this - you may have noticed.

I don't believe we should make the website designed for a tablet as the desktop users don't like having huge buttons as it makes them feel like being 3 years old with one of those awsome kiddie sites you went on to play awsome games about moving some blocks of wood.

I agree with Lifetalk, we should seperate the tablets, mobiles and then the desktop.
Modern mobiles I assume would work with a tablet made site just fine? Idk...

Well my tip for a tablet site is to eliminate scrolling like Grooveshark it would make it much more efficient. Anyone agree or am I crazy?

[Loonycgb2]

This is the reason for browser user agent switch codes...

You will never have to worry about making a second theme just code a special css for certain user agents and specify the if statement in php...

[Yasmin]

It is mainly an issue when a new designer is working for you. He might have excellent imagination and designing skills. however, his lack of trend knowledge, you might fall back.