So, with mobile usage creeping up to and even exceeding desktop, I figured I was overdue for switching over to the mobile skin, so I get to know it a bit better.
I think it looks very attractive and modern. But it is marred by a usability issue so severe that it is borderline unusable to me, and that is the manner in which the content jumps around as the page is loading.
The problem is that sections are initially loaded in an expanded state, and then collapsed by JavaScript code which is only executed on document ready. This code also pulls in interface elements that are drawn quite late. Even on a fast connection, a quick reader can be halfway through reading a paragraph when all of a sudden the content suddenly and rudely shifts to side or is revoked entirely.
The result is very dizzying and unpleasant. As a result, I find that I have to train myself *not* to start reading the text in front of me until the page has settled down.
I don't think that this is good performance. It may get something to render sooner than it otherwise would have, but it ends up delaying the time it takes for the page to settle into its fully-loaded layout, which forces the user to wait longer (or tolerate the electric jolt of having the content skip around mid-sentence).