Writing Content for Mobile Sites and Apps

This morning on my commute I was reading an article in Businessweek’s iPhone app. After scrolling a few times due to the content being so long I became uninterested in the rest of the article and went back to listening to music. I didn’t feel like reading a novel on my 10 minute commute.

This got me thinking, if Businessweek created an app for the iPhone to make their content more accessible on mobile devices, then why did I become uninterested in it half way through? The content was just too long for an article that could get to the point quicker. This is where I think the old 200-500 word article count is soon to be thrown out the window.

Businesses need to start writing with mobile users in mind. Short, headline driven articles thats all. Get to the facts fast and make your point. If you create a piece of software for use on a mobile device, be sure the purpose it serves is for what it is intended to do, make reading on mobile devices easy.