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4 General Usability Issues – Guidelines for Design
4.1 WML History Navigation
Due to the differences in the processing of the history between WAP and WEB, only the history
processing described in the WML specifications is followed. This means that the service provider has to
take care of the navigation as a whole.
4.2 Validate Your WML
There are several XML validators available that validate your documents against WML Document Type
Definition. It is recommended that authors validate their WAP pages, because invalid WML is always
treated as an error and discarded (that is, it is not shown to the user!).
Several XML validators can be found at http://www.wapdevelopers.org/xml.tpl?CALLER=index.tpl
.
4.3 Site Organization
4.3.1 Avoid ‘doormat’ pages
The user accesses your WAP site over a GSM data call, and pays per second. It is not recommended that
your site begins with a ‘doormat’ page, which serves no purpose other than perhaps to greet the
visitor and to display a logo. It is better that your site allows users to access your service directly. If
there is a need to use a timer, it should not take longer than ~1.5 seconds, if it takes a longer time,
add a 'continue' link to give the user possibility to exit the card.
4.3.2 Automatically Detect the Browser
If you are using a modern Web site hosting environment, it is possible to detect the browser as well as
the language mode and supply the correct content transparently, without requiring user interaction.
Nokia 9200 Communicator Series display is larger than normal phone displays, and thus has more
possibilities that are worth taking advantage of.
4.3.3 Optimise for Size
The size of the content is critical. If you have large decks (listings, large tables, etc.), consider splitting
them in multiple parts for faster downloading.
As for the total downloading time, some studies place an upper limit for acceptable delay to 10 to 15
seconds, including all images, on a PC-based browser. It is highly recommended to have a response
time (excluding connection time) of less than 10 seconds in mobile environments.
4.3.4 Choose Descriptive Card Titles
It is highly useful to give a descriptive name for the card. It might be a good idea to start the title with
your service’s name and keep the total length of the title short.
It also pays to use meaningful URLs since the user sees the URL of the currently selected link on the
screen and can use it as a navigational help, especially when images have not been loaded.
4.3.5 Pay Attention to the First Screenful
Because of the communicator's form factor, the first (topmost) screenful of any page is the most
important one. All of the often-used navigational links, search fields, login screens, and bulk of the
information should reside there, if at all. The user is then able to navigate forward before the rest of
the card has been loaded, and the user does not have to scroll the card.
WAP Service Developer’s Guide for Nokia 9200 Communicator Series
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