WAP is Whack?!

Not a chance! WAP-enabled sites provide new opportunities for user and design innovation. And innovate we must given the pint-sized platform with which we are tasked to work. Usability on a smaller form factor comes with its own special set of handicaps. Issues of connectivity, download capability, readability, navigation, and learnability are amongst the top considerations.

Navigating a site on a handheld device can be slow and daunting at best. As a result, we need to innovate to accomodate the differences between surfing the web from a desktop computer versus a handheld browser but not over-innovate lest we should alienate our users. Treading new waters is tough enough so any steps towards easing the learnability and recognizability factors go a long way towards improving usability. A master WAP design framework has pretty much been established for the most part - a lone logo at the top of the screen and a copyright line in the footer. The guts is the sandbox and typically where the navigation panel can be found. The use of common, cross-platform GUI elements such as blue, underlined link styles and conventional interface interactions such as clicking the logo to return to the homepage aid in easing the usability burden.

The WebGuild also recently held a packed-house event on "Mobile Web Trends" featuring Nir Baldev of Google's Mobile Division and Kelly Goto of Goto Media.