An article from the Nielsen Norman
Group, entitled “Mobile Content: If in Doubt, Leave It Out”, discusses how
content for the mobile require a much stricter editing process than needed for
web content. Because mobile users live a
busy and fast-paced life, they want the information they receive to be quick to
access and short, but straight to the point. They dislike verbose sites that
waste their time so it is important that when editing and writing for mobile,
the information is clearly understandable, due to content on mobile being
harder to understand more than content one would receive on a desktop or PC.
Because interaction costs are much
higher for mobile than desktop content, a much larger focus on mobile content
in necessary. Content should be tightly written but precise enough to get all
the main facts and information out that is needed. One example would be to not
include so many quotes in a breaking news story. It may be good to include a
quote from a person of greater social importance such as a community leader,
politician or other well-known figure but it is not necessary to include quotes
from multiple average-Joe's, as it is an example of bad filler, making the story
for mobile unnecessarily wordy which is bothersome for users.
There were 2 solutions described
for this matter:
1. Condense. Eliminate anything
that is drawn out and too lengthy to the point that is unnecessary information.
Only keep what is important but tighten what you say.
2. For the less important
information, defer it to a secondary screen for users who ask for extra
information. This will keep users who prefer shorter articles happy along with
users who prefer that additional information because of their interest in the
topic.
In conclusion, the article states
that in regard to mobile content, “if in doubt, leave it out.”
Looking good so far. Keep up the posts.
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