When it comes to Web design, wireless technology is the great equalizer. At least that's the case in the U.S., where designers are caught in a 2G rut that severely limits their ability to inject cool graphics. And even if animation, sophisticated visuals and live action were a fact of wireless life, images squeezed into a 4-inch screen are still a tad underwhelming.

Which presents a vexing challenge to designers of Web sites for wireless devices, who have to rein in the right sides of their brains to create efficient pages that provide the most information in the fewest possible clicks.

Here are three rules of thumb to ensure your wireless site delivers the goods without delivering too much:

Keep it simple. Handheld consumers aren't looking for bells and whistles, just useful information delivered with no-frills functionality. "People aren't used to making applications as compact as they can be," says Tom Flournoy, director of wireless development for Weather.com. His wireless platform ditches the dense meteorological maps found on the Web site in favor of meat-and-potatoes forecasts.

Minimize navigation. Avoid intro screens, links and excessive buttons; wireless users don't have the time, patience or finger dexterity to wade through a site to get the information they want. "It's important not to give too much superfluous information," says Marty Kacin, co-founder of wireless Web provider AvantGo (AVGO). "When you're looking at a small screen, what's more important, content or high-end graphics?"

Offer words, not pictures. It's hard enough to read text on wireless devices; pictures only slow downloading and create visual confusion by cluttering the screen. Designers will be tempted to use more images when checking out pocket PCs - such as the Sony Cli&#233 and Casio Cassiopeia - with rich color displays, but they'll still have compatibility problems. "The color support and color depth changes from one device to another," says Kacin. "Images can look radically different depending on what you're using. Also, keep your images small, otherwise they will degrade on the small screen."

Companies like Ericsson could soon make image size less of an issue with new products such as the R380 Smartphone. A fully integrated Web-PDA-handset, the Smartphone's wide screen runs along its length, providing more lines of text and sharply defined icons for easier navigation.

Used in conjunction with greater bandwidth, devices like the R380 will allow designers to bring sophisticated functionality into the palm of one's hand. "We'll see incremental improvements over the next year or so," says Weather.com's Flournoy. "And two years from now, we'll all be running fine-tuned machines."

That forecast may be a bit optimistic - so don't throw out these design rules too soon.

Marc Weingarten is a freelance writer living in Los Angeles.