Smashing Magazine published The Mobile Book this week, and wow… it’s a humdinger. It’s full of smart advice from all the people I simultaneously love, fear, and admire in the universe of mobile web: Jeremy Keith, Peter-Paul Koch (PPK), Stephanie Rieger, Trent Walton, Brad Frost, Dave Olson, and Dennis Kardys. With such great company, I was especially honored to contribute the book’s final chapter about designing for touch.
The book is not only smart but beautiful. The dead-tree version is hardcover with stitched binding and, get this, an old-school ribbon bookmark. The thing is just gorgeous. Even if you prefer your books in pixels instead of paper, you still get an elegant interior design featuring the illustrations of Mike Kus.
Much of the book looks at mobile through the lens of the web, but it’s also a useful resource for developers and designers on other platforms. The book is neatly organized into three sections: the mobile landscape, responsive web design, and UX design for mobile. The first and last of these are applicable to any platform, and frankly, the web-specific responsive-design techniques will quickly become matters of basic digital literacy.
This matter of evolving literacy is very much the point of Jeremy’s foreword to the book:
This book is an artefact of its time. There will come a time when this book will no longer be necessary, when designing and developing for mobile will simply be part and parcel of every Web worker’s lot. But that time isn’t here just yet. So in the meantime you’ve got the current state of all things mobile packed together into this single volume.
I’m flattered to report that the first round of reviewers agree with Jeremy about the book’s stature as a well-rounded and authoritative review of mobile design technique.
Design Shack: “It’s a handbook for web design today. Earlier I mentioned that you should add this book to your shelf, in reality, you’ll probably want to keep it on your desk.”
UX Magazine: “I highly recommend this book to both the blossoming and the experienced UX designer. The various voices of different authors breathe fresh narrative air that carries diverse-and-deep domain knowledge along in a cohesive story about how to harness the chaos of our ever-evolving world into a mobile-UX delight. Consider the lessons in this book a whopping set of New Year resolutions.”
Open Designs: “As somebody who spends a lot of time tinkering and tweaking websites to make them work better, I thought this book was bloody brilliant. There is so much depth and information packed into its 336 pages that I think it will become the book for the mobile Web.”
The table of contents:
- Jeremy Keith: Foreword
- Peter-Paul Koch: What’s Going on in Mobile?
- Stephanie Rieger: The Future of Mobile
- Trent Walton: Responsive Design Strategy
- Brad Frost: Responsive Design Patterns
- Dave Olsen: Optimization for Mobile
- Dennis Kardys: Hands-On Design for Mobile
- Josh Clark: Designing for Touch
I’m admittedly biased, but my advice is to run out and buy The Mobile Book immediately. It belongs on every webslinger’s bookshelf and/or ebook. Buy the book, or download a free chapter, “Responsive Design Strategy” by Trent Walton (PDF, 8MB). Enjoy.
