With 2000+ devices, multiple carriers and various mobile OS versions designing for the mobile world becomes
more difficult day by day. After talking to a few guys over at Crisp here are the top 15 rules to apply for mobile web design:

1. Avoid using tables for the main layout.
2. Use CSS. Period!
3. Use UTF-8 characters in the code
4. Design for usability and with the small size screen in mind
5. Use lists over text fields. Typing on a mobile phone is still a pain
6. Design light pages. 20kb should be the max
7. Use .gif or .jpg images for maximum compability
8. Use valid markup
9. Simplify whatever you can simplify
10. Give users the option to use normal site
11. Don’t force users to download the app
12. Limit scrolling to one direction
13. Avoid pop-ups or open new window function
14. Minimize use of images
15. Optimize navigation
16. Avoid Flash and Javascript (if possible).
17. Double-check that re-direct to Mobile page is setup right
18. Use Mofuse, Mippin or Mobilesitegalore or anyone of the other mobile web design companies  if you don’t know how to design a mobile website

Ryan over at Punchkickinteractive is always good for a great post. This time the 5 Commandments of Mobile Web design. Here a quick summary:

1. The Mobile Web is not the little sister of the Traditional web.
2. Give People What they want, when they want it
3. Build unique mobile content, or don’t bother at all.
4. Make it useable (3xtimes)
5. Don’t forget about design. Seriously

and my 6th one:
If you design for mobile, read Ryan’s book (cannot find link now…but read it!).

Interesting article in the New York Times and the screen of the Iphone. I partially agree with the article, however the Iphonemania is kind of getting on my nerves. Especially when 1000 people line up in front of my office.

Here a nice excerpt from the article “Slipstream – On a Small Screen, Just the Salient Stuff::

“By having fewer items to scan for on a small display, users can find what they want more quickly and can be more confident that they have made the right choice,” said Ben Shneiderman, a computer scientist who founded the Human-Computer Interaction Library at the University of Maryland. “If you just put the juicy stuff up there it works better.”