We’re not completely there yet, but we’re close enough for users to spend increasingly more time accessing sites directly from their phones. This audience segment is relatively new, and while they are the same folks that were engaging from the desktop their needs are quite different. Below are some items to consider when designing your sites for mobile devices.

• Interactive cues such as rollovers do not work well on mobile browsers. For example, your users will not even be able to see the effect since it will be covered by their finger when they interactive with your user interface. Allowing your design to rely on the interaction built into the device can keep the experience familiar for the user.
• Design your site to work more like an application or tool than a regular site. Users that visit you from their mobile device are more purposeful about their visit. They are there to accomplish a specific goal and leave.
• Avoid actions that are not user driven such as opening new windows or auto-redirects. These become very annoying when accessing through a mobile device.
• Keep resources to a minimum if you can by only using one CSS file and one JavaScript file associated with your page. Image file also carry a lot of weight so the few the user has to download the better.
• Using Progressive Enhancement is important for your mobile audience. The idea is to provide exactly what they need at the bare minimum, and layout interactive and other presentation elements on top based on device capability.