The Case for a Dedicated Mobile Website

Sometimes, a responsive web design is not the most appropriate way to develop a company’s mobile presence. There, I said it. Recently, all the talk is about responsive design – justifiably for the most part; it is a genuinely significant change for a lot of clients who now need to consider how and where their...

Why Facebook and TickTock struggle with mobile apps

I read this short piece the other day: Why the Facebook innovation machine doesn’t work on mobile devices. It’s an interesting read and I couldn’t help draw parallels with my brief (and aborted) foray into mobile app development. (And I refer here specifically to mobile apps – apps you download in an app store, and...

Learning iOS app development – some resources

Earlier this year, my physiotherapist wife was selected for an audit by the professional body that regulates Health Professions in the UK.  The process is quite daunting. She is required to undertake and document regular training and educational development.  Documenting this can become quite a burden – she needs to list every ‘learning outcome’, demonstrate that the outcome...

Great to see so much responsive web design going on

It’s great to see more and more responsive web design going on … and this wonderful showcase highlights some of the best current work. This example from the University of California in San Diego is lovely – a good, strict responsive grid.  It doesn’t try to do too much, but each screen resolution looks native...

An evolving work practice – HTML5, Modular CSS, using the LESS app

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I build websites – the process and the code base I use for each projects – both of which have recently undergone the sort of evolutionary leap more commonly found in X-men movies. It started with a need to familiarise myself with HTML5 at the beginning of...

Mobile web design considerations

Have just written a lengthy page on mobile web design considerations … I’ve got it as a page, rather than as a regular post because it will eventually feature more prominently on the site … but for now, that’s where it is.  I’m gearing up for some changes here at TickTock – 2012 is going to...

Front end coding for a responsive web

So then, the time has come to start a client project from scratch using purely responsive techniques (as defined by Ethan Marcotte’s book Responsive Web Design).  I’ve retro-fitted some responsive techniques to previous client sites, but this will be the first ‘responsive’ project I’m starting from scratch.  The three core ‘ingredients’ for this responsive website...

Mobile Development testing with Ripple

So – this looks interesting … a plugin for google Chrome browser for emulating mobile environments.  Whenever I work on mobile websites perhaps the biggest challenge is testing across devices – and being able to use the desktop for geo-location services and the like.  Ripple seems to overcome that difficulty: Ripple is a multi-platform mobile...