Friday, August 9, 2013

Mobile vs Web usabilities


I have a laptop and a mobile phone. Why is it that some features are better on mobile and are not easily replicable on the desktop versions? It seems like things that should be simple to do on a desktop is just not there, but it’s simpler on mobile, that I have to go between the two.

A few examples are:

- Google Places – GREAT feature on Google Maps to find contextual places near an address. However, to do a similar feature on desktop, there’s no Google places button. You actually have to search and find near by.

- Newsreaders on desktops are a pain. On mobile, it’s easier to digest and view news. I use Pulse, and Pulse on the desktop is just awful. It’s slow, harder to navigate, and painful to use.

- Linkedin on mobile’s great, especially these days. The desktop version is a plethora of items that’s difficult to navigate and focus on what you want. The mobile version, on the other hand, is elegant, and easy to navigate to information that you want.

- Most of the major email clients on mobile are great. The desktop versions also have the same issue of navigation.

Now, I get this push for mobile, but sacrificing the desktop version for mobile is a bad idea. After all, more people still use desktop versions of these web applications then on mobile.

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