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MobiThinking has put together a list of what it considers to be the top principles of a good mobile website and they list examples of what sites they feel exemplify these best practices. The list of principles is great but I found their examples to be very lacking. The white paper mostly focuses on the major sites and brands such as ESPN and the Weather Network, but completely lacks any popular technology blogs such as Engadget, who have a great mobile site. I’ll post the categories and examples, as well as point out some good insight from a fellow blogger Jason DaPonte, who works with BBC Mobile Platforms.

Jason DaPonte, Managing Editor of mobile platforms for BBC Mobile, posted his thoughts about MobiThinking’s “Best and Worst of the Mobile Web” white paper that was recently published. Jason has a ton of experience dealing in the mobile web space and it’s interesting to read his take on the “best” side of things. To read the Jason’s full post about the subject, go here.

Principle: You need to have one (provides an essential service)
Winner(s): BBC (BBC.mobi)

Principle: Make sure it actually works
Winner(s): ESPN(ESPN.mobi)
“The site (ESPN) is incredibly user friendly AND its content is incredibly deep - not an easy balance to get right on mobile.” - DaPonte

Principle: Solve a real problem
Winner(s): Northwest Airlines (NWA.mobi), Google Maps (Google.mobi)
“NWA’s site (for an american airline - not the band NWA!) is deceptively simple and straightforward looking considering how much functionality it provides.” - DaPonte

Principle: Maintain laser focus
Winner(s): Fidelity Investments (Fidelity.mobi), Obama Mobile (obamamobile.mobi *now off-line*)
“Fidelity clearly provides this (focus) for its busy banker target audience. ‘Do one thing and do it well. Don’t try to do everything you can do on the ‘full-fat’ web.’ is something I tell people frequently.” - DaPonte

Principle: Content is king…but in small bites
Winner(s): The New York Times (http://mobile.NYTimes.com), Edmunds (http://xhtml.edmunds.com)
“I’ve always loved The New York Times and just about everything about it and their mobile site is no exception.” - DaPonte

Principle: Simplify, but don’t over-simplify
Winner(s): Zagat (Zagat.mobi)

Principle: Make your site findable
Winner(s): Weather Channel (Weather.mobi)

Principle: Make your site device-aware
Winner(s): American Airlines (https://mobile.AA.com), Bank of America (BofA.mobi)

Principle: Remember the user’s details
Winner(s): ESPN (ESPN.mobi), Weather Channel (Weather.mobi), Zagat (Zagat.mobi)

Principle: Break free from .com thinking
Winner(s): Facebook (http://m.FaceBook.com), eBay (eBay.mobi), Weather Channel (Weather.mobi)

To download the PDF, “The Best and Worst of the Mobile Web” click here.

Thanks for the tip Jason!