Mobile-specific content—some considerations

When thinking about what content we might want to send to mobile devices as distinct from desktops, we need to tread carefully. First, we need to think about why we're doing this, then about what the differences need to be, and finally about how we're going to achieve this.

Why send different content to different devices?

You've probably come across websites that have a very different, completely stripped-down mobile version of the site. Sometimes this is a separate site, and sometimes the main site with lots of content missing. How does this make you feel as a user? The experience of using such a site could be positive in that the layout is optimized for mobile, but there will also be some frustration. What about the user wanting to access parts of the site hidden to mobile users, who only has a mobile to browse on? How is he/she going to feel?

I'm a strong believer that a mobile site should never omit content that's on the main site. If something...