We're building a mobile web site that will mainly be used outdoors in bright sunlight. What design factors should I consider?
Answer
Some of the most important things are going to be high contrast, large text and dark on light design.
Some good examples of high contrast designs are here on Web Design Guru Blog. They have some nice color examples but remember to keep it minimalist.
Keep your text large to keep it readable and force yourself to cut out as much text as possible. Keep the interaction areas (buttons/links) large to make it easy for people to press them, keep the boundaries of such elements very clear so they can be seen.
Dark text on a light background will be important; brightness is the key to overtaking the sun on most smartphone models.
Most importantly: test your design on multiple leading smartphone models. To get a quick impression of some differences, see this video showing smartphone screen comparisons in direct sunlight.
Don't just test the iPhone 4S, the Galaxy Nexus and call it quits. Test the most popular (not the most high-tech) models of a variety of devices to see how well you can see the display in direct sunlight.
Have real users test the site on a sunny day in direct sun; they'll be able to tell you if your site is reasonably readable. Try a couple different models of phone as well if possible. You or your design team will know what they're looking for on the site and be able to parse things a new user might not. A fresh look is important.
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