About a month ago, we launched a mobile optimized site for Scribd. The intent was to build a mobile site that would be a joy to read and explore documents on any mobile phone with a modern browser, like the iPhone or G1.

The design process for the mobile site was refreshing, as we could essentially build a new interface from the ground up. We paired down the functionality of the mobile site to three main features: searching, browsing, and document viewing.

In mobile design, it’s key to keep things simple, as the the typical mobile user has very little time to interact with and learn new interfaces. Search is very important, and was thus placed at the top. Clicking on any document shows a summary page with some information about the document, with an obvious direct download button. You can also browse around the various tags and categories in a simple and direct list format.

At the Scribd offices, we’re huge fans of the iPhone, and we definitely kept that particular mobile phone in mind while designing the site. However, we built the site so that it would conform with best practices for mobile usability. So, the site should look good in any modern mobile browser, like Safari or Opera Mini.

We also decided to depend on the mobile phone’s internal document viewer, since flash isn’t supported on most mobile phones yet. iPhone’s built-in document viewer is definitely well designed, so we were comfortable with this decision.

If you haven’t tried out the mobile site yet, I would encourage you to fire up your favorite smart phone and point the browser to http://www.scribd.com/ and start exploring. On most phones, you’ll automatically be directed to our mobile site. If you didn’t, go to http://www.scribd.com/mobile and give it a whirl.

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