running with paper

I’ve been using my iPhone to browse a lot more – looking for retail locations, checking business hours, and amusing myself during down time. Recent searches sent me after articles about local technology companies at a local news site, looking for a blog post about “Cash for Clunkers”, and trying to manage some administrivia on Facebook.

Facebook redirected me straight to their mobile site; I’d followed a “take action” link from their email but the mobile site gave no indication if I took the action, or if I could take the action. All I had was a simple screen with shortcuts. I should have checked my Facebook application instead (which has its own issues) – maybe the administrivia can be done that way. But I was faced with a generic screen of little value.

The “Cash for Clunkers” blog post was something a quick Google search had found for me. I followed the link to Edmunds, and again, dropped straight to a mobile site. Eventually, I was able to find the blog trail I was looking for (the main site of the blog) but I never found the exact article.

The local paper was worse than the rest; a simple page not found message. I clicked the link while on a standard computer later, and was taken straight to the article.

It’s 2009. Why are large sites still using generic web error pages (if any?)?  Is it that expensive, complicated, or cost-prohibitive to come up with a script that generates an error message that tells you something:

• What the site thinks you wanted to do
• What URL you were attempting to access
• Offer alternatives, such as mailing yourself and support the error data

And why do we have generic mobile sites? Yes, not all pages can be designed for all sizes of browser screens. However, sticking the mobile users with limited to no data, and no way to navigate where they intended (such as the URL you were trying to access) without giving them any opportunity to get off of a dumbed-down mobile site is pretty useless.

Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com, for example, have done a good job of stripping down their sites while retaining useful information. Searching for a book? The site will take you to an information page about the book, but in usable mobile-friendly format. Certainly, they have a large incentive to do this, considering we’re revenue, but they also make it easy for you to use the full site – just click their respective “PC Site” links.

At the least, it’s making me aware of should and should nots next time I’ve got a large site to create or provide input for. Constructive and useful error pages, decent redirects, and options for more powerful mobile browsers to access a full “PC” site.