Switching to responsive, mobile-first designs that put mobile prioritization at the heart of the design process is listed as one of the 2020 WEB DESIGN TRENDS. This article was an interesting read to me, and I think that it is closely related to this week’s topic: usability. I didn’t know that Google predominantly uses the mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking. I checked it out and found that it started from July, 2019.
Coincidently, in the course evaluation email we received yesterday, I read, “In addition, you may access the evaluation site with a mobile device; the site will be configured appropriately.” And also, Canva, one of my favorite graphic design apps, has a “Mobile-First Presentation” design option. Going mobile is definitely becoming trendy! What do you think?
Thank you for bringing this up!
I think a mobile-first design is so important because mobile users have now surpassed desktop users. I personally use my phone to search for everything. If I do need to find more detailed information I will still resort to my desktop, but my first access is always my phone. When I am on my phone, I am appalled when a site that I go to isn’t compatible with my phone, if it takes too long to load, or if the proportion isn’t correct, I have a bad first impression of the company that created this website. It makes since that when designing a website, we consider the needs of mobile users first, and their user experience when browsing through the site. For example, knowing that they are browsing on very small screen many change the kind of content and font that you want to put on your website.
BTW, I’d also like to share this with you: in ETEC 510, we were asked to do a Playing with Design project where we interpret and discuss an everyday object utilizing new media technology in the form of a story, and this object has to be significant to us in both our personal and professional lives. And what I’ve chosen is Google. Below is my rationale and project.
For this assignment, I’ve decided to choose Google which plays an important role in both my personal and professional life. I do not remember when “Google” became an everyday word to me. It has infiltrated my daily routines with its products and services including smartphones, tablets and computers. Therefore, the title of my story is Everything Google, and my audience could be a wide range of stakeholders, including students, parents, teachers, administrators and businesses.
Without a doubt, Google has exerted dramatic social-cultural impacts since its establishment in the late 1990s. As Google for Education tools enter classrooms, school-aged children have become active citizens in the Google world. Google is showing more and more pedagogical significance in the field of education. Some studies support the view that Google has positive effects on learning, while others question its effect on learners’ information-seeking behaviour and working memory. However, the effects of technology do not occur at the level of opinions or concepts. The message I want to communicate is that while technology amplifies us it alters our patterns of behaviour and perception (McCluhan,1964).
Link to the story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=355&v=oCY9uSDpQAY
Hi Lyon,
Thanks for your thoughts. The influence, I think, will be huge.
“Changes in technology and user behavior form an irresistible movement that businesses need to roll with” (Atchison, 2020). Below are some interesting stats from Gennaro (2020):
There are 5.11 billion unique mobile users in the world. (We Are Social)
People spend over 3.5 hour per day on their mobile devices. (eMarketer)
51% of shoppers have completed an online purchase with a smartphone. (Pew Research Center)
93% of Millennials have compared online deals using a mobile device. (Statista)
Shoppers made 108% more purchases using apps than they did on the mobile web during the 2017 holidays. (Button)
Mobile commerce sales, also known as mCommerce sales, will account for more than half of all eCommerce sales by 2021. (CBRE)
According to John Mueller (2020), Developer Advocate at Google Zurich, Google will be switching to mobile-first indexing for all websites starting September 2020. Google announced a mobile-first indexing initiative as early as in 2016 (Atchison, 2020). “There’s no getting away from mobile-first, particularly with giants like Google actively encouraging it’s use” (Onslow, n.d.). Onslow argues that if you want your website to appear in Google, you need to take a mobile-first approach. He also says, “when it comes to driving traffic to your website and growing your business, the power of Google is obvious”. If not taking a mobile-first approach, many websites will be penalized in their rankings, at least on Google, the search engine giant. It is true that changes in technology and user behavior influences our practice and vice versa, isn’t it?
References
Atchison, J. (2020). How to Go Mobile-First in the Age of Mobile Marketing [Web log post]. Retrieved August 1, 2020, from https://www.business.com/articles/mobile-first-marketing/
Gennaro , L. (2020). 99+ Mind-Blowing Digital Marketing Statistics (2020) [Web log post]. Retrieved August 1, 2020, from https://wpforms.com/digital-marketing-statistics/
Mueller, J. (2020). Announcing mobile first indexing for the whole web [Web log post]. Retrieved August 1, 2020, from https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2020/03/announcing-mobile-first-indexing-for.html
Onslow, M. (n.d.). Mobile first [Web log post]. Retrieved August 1, 2020, from https://www.logicdesign.co.uk/blog/mobile-first/
Interesting point you brought up about Google!
I wonder — with how universal Google search is used along with the desire of websites to become higher ranked on it — how influential Google has been in driving this mobile-first movement.