"Analysis of Web Content Delivered to a Mobile Computing Environment"

Anthony Perreault 

Anthony Perreault is a senior at New Mexico Tech, majoring in Technical Communication with an emphasis in computer science and web design. While taking classes, Anthony also works full-time at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Pete V. Domenici Science Operations Center as an operations specialist for the Very Long Baseline Array radio telescope where part of his duties include maintaining and upgrading operational documentation. Anthony worked with Dr. Julie Dyke Ford on his senior thesis project, Analysis of Web Content Delivered to a Mobile Computing Environment.

Contents

Abstract

Introduction

Background of Wireless Technology

Literature Review 

Survey of US Web Traffic

Selection of Sites for Analysis

Analysis of Sites

Google.com

Flickr.com

Walmart.com 

Wikipedia.org

Wordpress.com

NYTimes.com

Craigslist.com

IMDb.com

Conclusions

Suggestions for Further Research

Final Thoughts

Works Cited

Introduction

According to the Telecommunications section of the United States Census Bureau’s 2008 Statistical Abstract, in 2006—the last year listed—there were over 233 million cellular telephone subscribers. Given that even the most basic cellular telephone can receive information from the Internet, this figure translates to 233 million plus people that can use their cell phones as mobile computing devices.

Due to the physical limitations of mobile computing devices—memory, CPU processing power, connectivity speed and signal quality, and perhaps most significantly screen display size—technical communicators face different challenges in designing Internet content for this medium as opposed to more traditional web content bound to a desktop or laptop computer. Mobile computing devices—cellular telephones (from the basic units through smartphones), Internet-capable Personal Data Assistances (PDAs), and PocketPCs—require technical communicators to rethink the presentation of content to these devices.

In delivering content to mobile computing devices, sacrifices must be made due to the nature of the mobility of the user. The user is not in a static environment that is controlled (air temperature, humidity, and lighting) with an optimized computer system that has a fast Internet connection. The user of a mobile computing device is often in an uncontrolled environment, on the move, and subject to changeable signal quality as they travel; even within the confines of a large city, signal quality can degrade, resulting in a delay in getting information on the mobile computing device.

The needs of the user in the mobile computing environment are also different than the needs of the user in the static environment. Very often the mobile user is looking for a specific piece of information, such as the location of a restaurant or travel directions. The mobile user is not idly surfing the Internet, gathering bits and pieces of information; they want a specific bit of information immediately, if not sooner.

My research questions, therefore, hinge on how content is delivered and displayed on mobile computing devices. It is reasonable to ask what sacrifices need to be made to the content when delivering it to a mobile computing device. How should technical communicators, who often are designers of web content, go about designing for this medium? Is there an optimal way to deliver content to a mobile computing device? Is the context of the content shifted when being delivered to a mobile computing device, with its small display, as opposed to the same or similar content delivered to a laptop computer?

To answer these questions I will begin this article by examining the technological means of how content is delivered to mobile computing devices. I will present, through a literature review, why and how designing content for mobile computing devices requires different strategies than for more traditional computer platforms. I will then present an analysis of several web sites that were viewed on a mobile computing device. I will discuss how the sites either pass or fail visual design through the use of Williams’ visual design guidelines. Finally, in the conclusion, I will present guidelines for technical communicators when designing web content for the mobile environment.