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Responses

1. 

   Brendan
   February 2, 2008
   [ permalink ]

   

   I think it is the devices job, a site can look wonderful but because of the format of the device the site can become a total mess.
2. 

   Dan Cole
   February 2, 2008
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   Designers already have to design for 4 different browsers, so why should they have to design for yet another browser, plus it’s unlikely that all mobile use the same browser software.
3. 

   David Sparks
   February 2, 2008
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   It’s my job to make it look good on the phone just like its my job to make it look good on the site.
   but it is certainly annoying trying to make them work RIGHT on the phones.

   so its definitely the designers JOB to make it LOOK good.
   there is a drastic need for mobile standards and hopefully a limit on browsers for these devices.
   hopefully that will get under control soon and with the iPhone i cant imagine it staying the way it is. they set the bar high and other phones need to either be able to keep up in the same manner in some way. its in their best interest to figure this out.

   its got a bright future and i think IS the future bc there is still a percentage of the population that doesnt have computers. but almost everybody has a cell phone and once this market really gets its teeth sunk into the possibilities that presents something is going to have to be done about rendering pages more similar to a computer like the iphone or at the least using less browsers.
   maybe giving people the choice to download the browser they want. a mobile firefox would be cool.

   and @ Dan Cole. we have to design for more than 4 browsers in some cases. yes mobile phones generally have their own browser and there are MANY of them. thats why .mobi style sites are so bare bones.
   but as to why should we have to design for another?
   bc thats our job as designers.

   if you feel that way though there will be somebody to fill in the gap you leave as a designer bc the need for mobi sites is only going to get stronger.

   this is the next big thing.
4. 

   Max
   February 3, 2008
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   In my opinion both must care. The designer can use an alternativ stylesheet for handhelds, wher the sizes are defined in % and so on and Nokia, blackberry etc. have to improve their browsers so that they support web standards. I think that’s the way it should go in the next few years. The iPhone was a good beginning. If Nokia, Samsung… to follow apples example the world would be perfect, right?…ok I forgot the IE6
   Max
5. 

   Human Resource Manipulation
   February 3, 2008
   [ permalink ]

   

   Well, basically, I believe that the range of the browser capabilities in the mobile devices in use today, varies a lot - probably more than a designer could handle. In a way, both are accountable for it since the sites might not look good without actual designers and no matter how good the designs are, if mobile browsers do not give in, the designers effort goes to waste. Having said that, I believe that designers are already there, when designing mobile apps. But mobile browsers have got a lot of catching up to do!

   And by the way, CSS3 is so totally awesome!!
6. 

   Will
   February 3, 2008
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   If I build a standards-compliant, valid web site, the burden should be on the device to display it correctly — especially if I include a mobile stylesheet.
7. 

   Chris S.
   February 3, 2008
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   I agree with Will. But, understand, that IE 6 and less isn’t a true standards based browser either. But if you expect people with mobile clients to be using your site then you _should_ make an alternative style sheet to turn off just about everything except for text.

   Firefox is working on a mobile browser right now. In beta, and is very similar to Safari. And it is actually rendering websites with flash and without screwing with the way it looks.
8. 

   Verne
   February 4, 2008
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   It’s somewhat of a give and take situation, but I think web designers need to take the first step. I recently picked up my first smart phone equipped with a wifi browser, and I had the exact same contemplation. I summed up my thoughts in an article entitled Our move.

   It could be my bias as a web designer and my ambition to inflict positive change, but it seems like the balls in our (web designers’) court.

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December 3, 2008

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About the Author

Chris Coyier is a web designer from Madison, Wisconsin currently living in Portland, Oregon and working for Chatman Design.