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We’ve all heard the following, “Content is King”.  Content is nice, but thanks to Cameron Moll I think the new saying should be, “Context is King”.

As some of you know, I’ve recently acquired a copy of Cameron Moll’s Mobile Web Design book.  I also have a full project load and am getting ready to sell my home so I haven’t had a ton of time to dig into it.

However, one section completely fascinated me.  Not necessarily because it was something I didn’t know, or because it was an in-depth revelation.  It fascinated me because it is so very true, but we don’t hear much about it.

This understanding has great relevance in mobile web design (let’s face it, what’s the good of content if a user can’t see it) but can extend far beyond to it’s Internet relative.

Remember, the mobile web is not the Internet on your phone.  The mobile web opens up new opportunities and challenges, for developers and users, to make our lives just a little bit easier and more productive.

Your content is of little value to users if it ignores the context in which it is viewed, manipulated, and processed.

Cameron Moll - Mobile Web Design

When you take something “out of context”, you are ignoring the surrounding conditions - whether words or graphics.  Unless you keep your site in context, you are going to ignore the surrounding conditions - namely your users.

Most users who access mobile content are accessing it on the go.  Let’s face it, would you sit at home and browse on your phone rather than your desktop or laptop computer?

This means a couple things… intermittent behavior, small screen viewing, and most likely one-handed use.  Adding links to phone numbers to invoke a phone call, or a link that will add contact details to a visitors address book are just a couple ways to keep your mobile content in context. 

C. Enrique Ortiz has a nice white-paper mobile context that’s a recommended read.

Your big idea will ultimately be of little value if it ignores the context in which users interact with your big idea. … Ask yourself, what is relevant to my users and the tasks, problems, and needs they may encounter while being mobile?

Cameron Moll - Mobile Web Design

Tags: mobileweb design, mobile web contaxt, web context, mobile web

Vandelay Website Design is having a blog design competition in the spirit of March Madness.  For those readers outside of the USA, this is a huge NCAA College Basketball Tournament that happens every march that’s dubbed, “March Madness”.

The tournament will work just like the NCAA basketball tournament, head-to-head matchups, single elimination, winner advances to the next round. I’ll seed all of the competitors into a bracket and then I’ll post the matchups with a poll for readers and visitors to vote. The poll will be set for a certain length (probably 24 hours) and the winner moves on.I think this will be a fun way to get everyone’s opinion of which designs they like the best, and of course the competitors can encourage friends and readers to vote if they like. I’ve decided just to include blog designs because having a tournament of any type of website design would be too broad to work very well (blogs can be broad too, but I think it will work better)…

Feel free to keep mentioning those that have already been mentioned by other commenters because that could help me with the seeding. You can certainly nominate your own blog, but I do ask that you identify it as your own in the comment…

Obviously, free themes should not be included. But if moderate customizations have been made to the theme it can be included.

Blog Design Madness | Vandelay Website Design

Tags: blogdesign competition, blog design, design contest, design competition

I came across Monoslideshow today and was highly impressed!  Not only is it affordable, it’s a great tool and well worth the minimal investment.

Monoslideshow - your photos on your siteMonoslideshow is a Flash® slideshow to view your images in a web page. It can be placed on every website, in whatever size you want and filled with whatever content you like. It’s designed for maximum flexibility, whether you want to have a professional looking portfolio, or just an image rotator on your website.

Monoslideshow - The ultra customizable Flash® image viewer for your site

Tags: flashslideshow, monoslideshow