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LSST E-News

LSST E-News

June 2012  •  Volume 5 Number 1

DrupalCon 2012 – Goin’ Mobile (with apologies to The Who)

A desktop computer with the words 'This is not the web' on the screen

This is not the web.

LSST web team members Iain Goodenow, Emily Acosta, and Mark Newhouse were among the more than 3,100 people who attended DrupalCon 2012 March 19-23 in Denver. DrupalCon Denver's theme, "Collaborative Publishing for Every Device," focused on Drupal’s move toward supporting web access through mobile devices.

“Given that nearly half of Internet traffic now comes by way of a mobile device and that many mobile Internet users rarely or never access the web via a traditional desktop browser, LSST must take these trends into consideration as we plan for the future,” Newhouse said.

As LSST’s web needs become more complex and its websites become more sophisticated, the skills and knowledge base of the individuals tasked with building and maintaining them must likewise become more sophisticated. Months ago, LSST converted its websites to Drupal, a free, open source content management system. LSST chose Drupal because of its flexibility and good track record among large organizations. Drupal has the additional advantages of built in security, running on off-the-shelf components, and support from a large, active and diverse community of users. Attending DrupalCon, a biannual event put on by the Drupal Association, affords the LSST web team an unparalleled opportunity for insight and skills development.

A wide variety of devices (desktop and laptop computers, tablets, phones, etc.) with screens that all say 'WEB' on them.

This is the web.

Goodenow, Acosta, and Newhouse all came away from DrupalCon Denver with the same insight: the rapid growth of mobile Internet access has profound impact on the design of LSST’s websites.

Mobile Trends

Mobile Internet access is rapidly eclipsing traditional web browsing, that is sitting at a desk in front of a large screen. Nearly 50% of Internet traffic comes by way of a mobile device and 28% of mobile Internet users rarely or never access via a desktop browser. In Africa, Asia and India the latter number jumps to 50% or more. Services like Twitter, Facebook, Yelp and Pandora are already seeing a huge shift to mobile use; Facebook's mobile users are twice as active as their desktop counterparts.

Responsive Design & Thinking Mobile First

A wider variety of devices (desktop and laptop computers, phones, tablets, refigerators, cars, watches, personal gaming devices, etc.) with screens that all say 'WEB' on them. Also, many question marks.

This will be the web.

Clearly, ignoring mobile is unwise, but more than that, mobile itself will continue to evolve. Web designers need to be prepared for the plethora of alternative access modes arriving in the near future. Current best practice emphasizes moving toward responsive design. In this approach, the content and site design adapts to the screen and device being used to access it. This can be as simple as reflowing the content for different screen sizes or serving up completely different content based on which device is asking for it.

While these are new ideas and implementations, they are coalescing around the idea of thinking mobile first when designing websites and Internet interactions.

By thinking “mobile first” and designing responsively, LSST can craft world class websites to serve users of any device, whether they are smart phones, tablets, gaming consoles, or any other appliance connected to the Web.

Article written by Robert McKercher, Mark Newhouse, Iain Goodenow, and Emily Acosta. Images credit Brad Frost.

 

LSST is a public-private partnership. Funding for design and development activity comes from the National Science Foundation, private donations, grants to universities, and in-kind support at Department of Energy laboratories and other LSSTC Institutional Members:

Adler Planetarium; Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL); California Institute of Technology; Carnegie Mellon University; Chile; Cornell University; Drexel University; Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory; George Mason University; Google, Inc.; Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; Institut de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules (IN2P3); Johns Hopkins University; Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC) – Stanford University; Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, Inc.; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL); Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL); National Optical Astronomy Observatory; National Radio Astronomy Observatory; Princeton University; Purdue University; Research Corporation for Science Advancement; Rutgers University; SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory; Space Telescope Science Institute; Texas A & M University; The Pennsylvania State University; The University of Arizona; University of California at Davis; University of California at Irvine; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; University of Michigan; University of Pennsylvania; University of Pittsburgh; University of Washington; Vanderbilt University

LSST E-News Team:

  • Suzanne Jacoby (Editor-in-Chief)
  • Anna Spitz (Writer at Large)
  • Robert McKercher (Staff Writer)
  • Mark Newhouse (Design & Production: Web)
  • Emily Acosta (Design & Production: PDF/Print)
  • Sidney Wolff (Editorial Consultant)
  • Additional contributors as noted

LSST E-News is a free email publication of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Project. It is for informational purposes only, and the information is subject to change without notice.

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Copyright © 2012 LSST Corp., Tucson, AZ • www.lsst.org

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