Mobile Friendly
Greetings, everyone!
There was a time when I didn't think too much about the inconvenience of desktop browser interfaces on a mobile device. In fact, I still have to resort to them today because many sites don't allow certain functions to be performed on their mobile friendly pages. LS560, information technology, has me thinking about all of the opportunities that await us if all websites can bring mobile-friendly features to their sites. It may take developers time to make changes, but now is the perfect time to jump into the world of usability for mobile devices.
During the past few weeks I have been all consumed with working on my group's usability project. Throughout our examination of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art [LACMA] website, I have learned that while web developers may intend for something to show up a certain way on a mobile device, it might not happen. LACMA recently launched a new website with features that would reduce battery use and allow mobile users to easily view their offerings. While this was the end goal for their long term redevelopment project, there were some noticeable flaws. The ability to switch between a light and dark background was an ingenious idea to reduce battery usage, but its inability to work prevents it from actively accomplishing its goal. Unfortunately, when users selected between the light and dark mode, they had to refresh their page for the color changes to apply. This small inconvenience does not seem too terrible if the user had prior knowledge on how this switch functioned, but they did not. In addition to having to self-update the page, when navigating through pages the colors would switch automatically without any direction from the user. Another feature that was brought to my attention was the navigation bar. Instead of formatting the navigation bar to fit in the mobile screen aspect ratio, users have to slide their screen from left to right to see the menu options. If these two things were corrected, perhaps the mobile-friendly version that LACMA is striving so hard to achieve can come to life.
While websites are constantly redeveloping their site's code to adapt to mobile users, there are still changes to be made. Gone are the times where everyone uses a computer to look up a site. Everything is about convenience, and mobile devices give this convenience to the public. If we are to keep technology in a constant state of advancement, we have to take the necessary strides in adaptation.
There was a time when I didn't think too much about the inconvenience of desktop browser interfaces on a mobile device. In fact, I still have to resort to them today because many sites don't allow certain functions to be performed on their mobile friendly pages. LS560, information technology, has me thinking about all of the opportunities that await us if all websites can bring mobile-friendly features to their sites. It may take developers time to make changes, but now is the perfect time to jump into the world of usability for mobile devices.
During the past few weeks I have been all consumed with working on my group's usability project. Throughout our examination of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art [LACMA] website, I have learned that while web developers may intend for something to show up a certain way on a mobile device, it might not happen. LACMA recently launched a new website with features that would reduce battery use and allow mobile users to easily view their offerings. While this was the end goal for their long term redevelopment project, there were some noticeable flaws. The ability to switch between a light and dark background was an ingenious idea to reduce battery usage, but its inability to work prevents it from actively accomplishing its goal. Unfortunately, when users selected between the light and dark mode, they had to refresh their page for the color changes to apply. This small inconvenience does not seem too terrible if the user had prior knowledge on how this switch functioned, but they did not. In addition to having to self-update the page, when navigating through pages the colors would switch automatically without any direction from the user. Another feature that was brought to my attention was the navigation bar. Instead of formatting the navigation bar to fit in the mobile screen aspect ratio, users have to slide their screen from left to right to see the menu options. If these two things were corrected, perhaps the mobile-friendly version that LACMA is striving so hard to achieve can come to life.
While websites are constantly redeveloping their site's code to adapt to mobile users, there are still changes to be made. Gone are the times where everyone uses a computer to look up a site. Everything is about convenience, and mobile devices give this convenience to the public. If we are to keep technology in a constant state of advancement, we have to take the necessary strides in adaptation.
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