Responsive web design is a different approach that implies that the design and development respond perfectly to the user's behaviour and the environment based on the platform, orientation and screen size, giving the best viewing experience no matter the type of device being used.
Over the past few years mobile sales have blown up with sales of the PC slowing down, so having a responsive web design that supports mobile response has become of great importance, especially now since Google is prioritising and boosting sites that are mobile friendly.
Responsive website design has truly become an incredibly important tool for anybody who has digital presence.
The meaning of a responsively designed site is having different elements that will respond according to how they are being viewed. This includes all different types of devices, with different screen sizes.
When we talk about fixed websites we mean the way it’s shown on the screen if for example the content is being viewed on a computer screen, the website might show three columns of content that will be easy to view in one go and move one.
When the same content layout is seen on a smaller device the user might be forced to scroll to get a full view, which is something most users do not like at all. Some elements might be hidden or even look distorted on the user screen.
Instead of simply resizing content, responsible web design aims to render the pages in a format which will flow uniquely to the device at hand, such as maximising the width of the desktop screen for wide and alluring shots whilst typically splitting rows of elements up into smaller rows of content on mobile to allow users to easily view and scroll down content.
Consideration is also usually made in terms of the appropriate sizing of media due to different levels of signal strength between mobile and desktop devices. Smaller images are usually incorporated into the design when accessing on a mobile device to minimise the actual size of the page itself.
Simplistic designs revolving around text-heavy content and simplified CMS is also quite typical, as represented in Google's AMP initiative.
How does responsive web design work exactly?
Page elements are sized to adjust to the default proportion rather than the pixels on the screen. Taking into perspective three columns on your screen, the proportions are not measured with the wide of each column but rather with how wide they are or should be in relation to the other columns.
Media such as pictures and images become resized relatively. The way the image stays within the column or the relative design of it
It’s no longer a secret that more users are starting to use their mobile devices to access more websites rather than using their computers. As a result, many companies have created responsive websites to generate more and more leads to win advantage over companies that have not started to do so.
Related issues to responsive website design.
Download speed and graphics.
Some of the most known issues on mobile devices are the graphics and download speed, that is why it is recommended to reduce the graphics and resolution for mobile devices so the site doesn't take forever to load. Same with the larger adds it is recommended to change them for smaller ones for faster loading speed.
Apps and mobile versions.
With so many different devices on the market today, it’s getting even more difficult to create apps with different versions for each and every single device and their corresponding operating platforms.
Mouse versus touch.
When we are talking about mobile devices and the website design to be responsive to them, the touch factor has to be taken into account by the designer.
When clients are on a desktop computer they have a mouse to select and navigate around the site, while on smartphones and tablets, they use their fingers. Making it a rather difficult task if the website isn’t designed correctly to support touch.