In earlier postings ((“Are Businesses in My Hometown Mobile Ready?” and “Is Your Business Website Missing the Boat on Smartphones?“)) I have pointed out what must now be a commonplace bit of knowledge about how customers are behaving – well over 50% in the US are using their smart phones as a primary tool to access the Web.

A recent article, “How Mobile-First Became Mobile-Only in the Emerging World” by Alec Oxenford, Co-Founder and CEO, OLX raises the interesting point that we need to move away from starting our web development work with the desktop as the target and start with the smart phone. Instead of adapting the sprawl of the desktop to the confines of an iPhone or Android device, start from the mind set that most of our customers are reaching us via that screen, not the desktop.

This will lead to some very different conclusions about what information should appear where. For example, for a retail business, how easy is it on a smart phone for your customers to find out where you are located, what your hours are and what your telephone number is? How many pinches, scrolls, and menu taps are required? Since this is such fundamental information this should be on the first screen they see.