Responsive Web Design, a few things to consider
One of today's hot web development topics is
Responsive Design.
Unlike traditional web development, where web pages are rigidly scripted with grid-like precision, responsive design allows a for single design that flows and adapts to various screen sizes. Responsive design is particularly useful for mobile devices, as it allows viewing of standard web pages without the need for resizing and gratuitous scrolling. Like most ideas, however, responsive design is not a panacea. Here are a few additional things to consider.
Mobile users have different needs
If someone comes to your website from a mobile device, they may have specific needs that someone using a desktop computer wouldn't have. For example, if you are designing the website for a hospital, you have to assume that many mobile users are visiting your website while in transit. And as a mobile user, you may be most interested in directions to the hospital, where to park, or locations of the emergency room or cafeteria. A mobile user may also be highly interested in quick lists of phone numbers. In contrast, someone coming to your website from their desk may be more interested in what's called considered decisions, like: hospital policies, job openings, insurance information or selecting a doctor. In short, ideal web content for mobile users may be very different than the ideal content for a desktop user.
Mobile navigation needs to be simple
The same cascading web navigation that is visually attractive and hierarchical when viewed from a desktop computer, can be absolutely impossible for mobile users to navigate. No matter how responsive your design may be, mobile websites require simpler navigation and larger controls than traditional websites.
Mobile websites require less area devoted to hyper-links
Coinciding with the growth of
online marketing,
has been the growth in the screen real estate that links to other places. This is particularly true when larger images are used as hyper-links. Mobile users become frustrated with large hyper-links because they scroll pages by touching their screens. If they inadvertently touch a link to another page—usually an unwanted online offer, they have to navigate back to the page they were reading. The lesson here is that mobile users need ample white space, placed in convenient areas, so they can scroll and view content.
Mobile websites should be optimized for bandwidth
No matter how modern the device, all mobile users have waited for massive web pages to load over poor network connections. To allow easier viewing with limited service, mobile web pages need to be
optimized for bandwidth.
This means, fewer network connections, less use of AJAX, and images that are optimized for both size and resolution. More often, however, the mobile pages with the best optimization have less content than standard web pages.
Not all web form controls translate well to mobile
There are many new and interesting form widgets available to web developers that were not available only a few years ago. It's important to remember, however, that not all of these new form controls work well on mobile devices. In particular, most sliders, or controls that allow the user to slide a button across a calibrated rule, do not work on touch devices. For that matter JavaScript image rollovers and many web hints don't work on mobile devices either.
Conclusions
While responsive design is useful, and a positive direction for web developers to explore, it is not the total solution to mobile web development. Responsive design alone may work well in many or most cases, but it is a compromise. In many cases--if budgets allow, it is still desirable to develop separate websites for desktop and mobile users.
--Michael Schrenk
August 18, 2013
Las Vegas Nevada
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