Ideas and Discoveries

A measly 12 percent of the top 500 US online retailers have mobile websites. Many who do have mobile sites are fumbling with misguided attempts to create lite versions of the “real” website.

Tomi Ahonen shared his snapshot of global mobile stats, including a slew of just-plain-astonishing nuggets.

Designing for touch means creating direct interactions that shed three decades of abstract desktop metaphors. As designers, that means we have some deprogramming to do.

I couldn’t stop giggling when I saw my ugly mug on this tea towel created by the good folks at Future of Web Design.

“The best iPad apps are not those that just stretch their iPhone table views out to take advantage of the larger screen.”

A stark example of how quickly new platforms generate enthusiasm along with an appetite for learning and community among developers.

A gallery of mobile horrors calls itself “an argument for closed systems,” but more subtly, it’s really an argument that bad taste abounds.

This isn’t a matchup at all. Providing a great experience almost certainly means that you’ll build both web and native-app solutions. We’re all in this together, friends.

Just ordered “Helvetica and the New York City Subway System” based on an engaging review by Michael Bierut.

I just finished teaching an eight-week class on tapworthy iPhone design and user experience. If you missed it, all 12 hours of video are available for sale.

Iotacons are clever, low-resolution portraits by illustrator Andy Rash. There’s a whole lotta win here.

SXSW spilled over the levees of Austin’s infrastructure, creating logistical headaches that sank the conference. But man, it sure was fun. Also: I gave a talk on iPad app design.

Touchscreens introduce new interface metaphors, as well as new techniques to subtly help our audiences understand how to use our apps. Suzanne offers some useful examples.

Our job as designers is to make complexity uncomplicated. I’m not sure the designers of this seventies-era power plant pulled that off, but the resulting complication sure is gorgeous.

Last night, I was walking down the sidewalk and brushed against a woman carrying a cake.

Geeks love black-and-white answers, but the same rule applies to the mobile web as every other technology: use the right tool for the job.

App developer Justin Williams shares his no-nonsense, single-price approach to app pricing: find your audience, charge the right price, and stick to it.

VisionMobile’s pretty graphic visualizes the shifts in handset sales over the last ten years.