Today there is an active debate about the need for sites for mobile devices. They began when many users had sufficiently powerful smartphones and high-quality and accessible Internet almost everywhere. Experts are divided on this subject, with some saying that a mobile site is definitely needed and others saying it’s not.
Mobile usability expert Jacob Nielson, who recently published his own mobile usability guide, says that having a mobile site is a must. And in order for users to be comfortable, it’s necessary to lighten the design of the site. So we get two sites, two designs, and the ability to run it all. All of this, in turn, is contradicted by Bruce Lawsen, the lead web technology specialist for Opera. He argues that cutting the site, facilitate and remove various elements for mobile devices has a negative impact on the user, because we can not predict what they need today (like it) and what they do not. Although from his experience, the expert can say that the creation of a mobile site – a faster and cheaper solution, which in some cases – very helpful. But creating a separate mobile site in the presence of the main one is a time-consuming and expensive procedure, because if your main site is accessed from a mobile device, you must redirect this user to the mobile version of the site. And this is not always possible and creates inconveniences. The question is how to determine where a person is coming from – from a mobile device or not – and redirect them to the mobile site.
Most users go online with a browser rather than a built-in app, so it’s almost impossible to know who’s coming from where. In addition, there are many other factors that make it impossible to recognize the desired object and send to the right page. So it turns out that, in spite of the work you have done to create a separate site, the result is not much. It is also possible to set a link to the mobile version, but to do this, you still need to go to the main site.
The trend of using mobile devices is increasing and more and more people are using exclusively mobile devices to access the Internet. So why should they have to go to a stripped-down copy of the main site?
Based on all this, it is worth saying that the most correct option would be to create a website that is adapted for any device. The right approach and competent implementation will make this project a success.