Shelly Bowen presented a workshop-style session about editing for mobile. She led a lively discussion where we all learned a lot from her and each other.
There was too much good information shared to capture in one blog post, but read on here for highlights.
What is mobile first?
Consider the mobile experience (i.e., the “smallest” format) first before you consider other experiences.
This is relevant to ALL of you
Do you edit for mobile? Reality check: Chances are that if you create or edit content that anyone else sees, the answer is YES! So this topic is relevant to most people in our field whether or not it’s top of mind.
Tips from Shelly and the attendees
- Voice and tone for your brand should be consistent across web and mobile experiences.
- Test! Use the built-in Chrome mobile emulator or use relevant devices.
- Plan ahead for accessibility – it can be tricky to adapt later if not considered in original design.
- Text choices – put the most important information FIRST because less characters are seen on mobile previews.
- If your content will be localized (either through formal delivery or if you’ll have global customers using machine translation), plan ahead for how languages that use more characters will need more space.
- Consider the how and why of your users’ mobile experience – will they prefer a simplified mobile experience or expect to have full desktop functionality in a mobile-friendly format?
Recommended resources
Nielsen Norman Group research about UX trends – nngroup.com
Mobile-friendly test – search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly
Mobile fact sheet – pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/mobile/
Mobile workflow tool – invisionapp.com
Mobile usability book (2012) – https://www.nngroup.com/books/mobile-usability/
Common mistakes – developers.google.com/search/mobile-sites/mobile-seo/common-mistakes
Connect with Shelly Bowen
Shelly Bowen, Pybop’s chief content strategist, has led teams of web writers and creatives to develop interactive content for more than 15 years. She has agency and in-house executive-level experience focused mainly on health, technology, and education organizations, including Citrix, Intuit, USD, UCSF, SI-Bone, Ossia, and Mediafly. She founded Pybop in 2008 and has since worked with more than 135 diverse brands on content strategies and interactive and online content development. More about Shelly.
