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The update does not mandate responsive Design but specifies that sites must be mobile-friendly with good user experiences and strong performance capabilities.
Let's consider both adaptive and responsive design from performance and UX perspectives. Since smartphones came into wide range use, one of the key debates has been whether to build an individual mobile website with its URL or go for a responsive design.
Here, we won't address stand-alone mobile websites as they tend to be less desirable among designers and business owners; these require separate construction costs upfront and ongoing support costs for maintenance purposes.
Are you searching for a web design prototyping app? Uxpin offers breakpoints that make experimenting easy - start a trial to explore them further and experiment with what makes adaptive and responsive designs unique.
Responsive and Adaptive Web Design
Responsive website design is fluid and adapts the display size according to any device, using CSS media queries to adjust styles as required for that device, such as display type, screen size, height or width.
Adaptive Design uses layouts with static designs based on breaking points that don't react when loaded; adaptive designs provide layouts that adapt accordingly once loaded.
You should typically create an adaptive website designed for six standard screen sizes:
- 320
- 480
- 760
- 960
- 1200
- 1600
At first glance, adaptability might appear more challenging: designing layouts with at least six widths requires considerable work.
Respondents require additional care since improper or no media query use could cause display and performance issues for site users.
Media queries may help address this problem; however, there may still be drawbacks since responsive websites cannot load as fast as their mobile equivalent.
You may use media queries for workaround purposes; just be mindful that responsive sites cannot always match up to dedicated mobile site counterparts quickly.
Adaptive Web Design: Why Use It?
Retrofitting an existing website to become mobile-friendly can be done using responsive design techniques.
However, taking full control over web design for multiple viewports gives you fuller creative control than responsive. Furthermore, this method gives more freedom over content (for instance, layout and Design) versus just responsive.
Typically speaking, it is wise to start small when designing multiple resolutions so as not to lose usability or limit UI design.
In most instances, six different resolutions should suffice - web analytics can help identify which devices users prefer the most and help inform Design accordingly. Start from scratch, if necessary, to design an adaptable website, first by designing for the lowest resolution and gradually increasing it as needed using media queries for viewports with higher resolutions.
Avoid designing user interface elements for multiple screen sizes, as this could cause their layouts to jump when resizing a device window.
Designing and developing websites that adapt to multiple viewports takes additional work; therefore, this feature is usually only implemented post-development as an afterthought.
Adaptive Web Design Example
You will most often come across adaptive web designs on websites for large corporations and companies that were established before mobile device introduction and, therefore, find it simpler and less expensive to retrofit these large organizations with adaptive designs than redesign them responsively.
We look at some of the largest websites worldwide and how they have employed adaptive web design techniques to give their sites modern design elements in line with Google's mobile-friendly ranking factors.
Amazon
Amazon quickly realized it needed to redesign its site with adaptive designs to offer global customers faster page loads (an essential Google ranking factor) and provide them with an enjoyable user experience regardless of the device they access it from.
Amazon has adopted adaptive design templates so users can easily switch between its full website and app while enjoying similar workflow and functionality.
By switching devices seamlessly without changing workflow or functionality, users can take full advantage of adaptive designs without learning to use new devices for browsing or purchasing items on Amazon.
Amazon can use this approach to optimize page loading speeds and ensure users can access their eCommerce platform from their desktop computer or mobile phone.
Their adaptive approach to Design provides a good example of keeping everything consistent and efficient; their search bar remains at the core of every layout while other elements are enhanced for mobile use.
USA Today
USA Today, America's daily newspaper, recently updated its website to maintain its prominence as a news provider online.
They used cutting-edge adaptive web design that responsive design solutions couldn't beat.
Newspapers have recently implemented technology to tailor content according to screen size, operating system and device.
This innovative technique allowed their developers to craft an experience beyond six standard screen sizes. It ensured each reader had an exceptional and tailored user journey.
IHG
Hospitality companies don't usually come to mind when considering responsive web design solutions for businesses.
IHG recognized that its customers wanted a faster web and mobile booking design process to expedite phone or PC booking faster. To address this need, they created the IHG quick book platform, which makes booking easier than ever across devices such as phones or PCs.
IHG utilized an adaptive web design strategy that capitalized on GPS and location features found on most mobile phones to develop an engaging site for its mobile customers, providing easy access to offers and reservations at nearby hotels while on the move.
Why Responsive Website Design?
Most new websites today are responsive. This has simplified life for designers and developers who may lack experience thanks to themes available via CMS platforms such as WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.
Responsive designs may not offer as much control as adaptive ones but require much less work to implement and manage.
While adaptive layouts use percentages for fluid scaling effects when scaling windows up/down.
Their abrupt jump when window sizes change can also cause severe visual dissonance compared to fluid designs, which use percentage widths as percentage adjustments per user (like fluid designs use percentage widths for example) so fluid designs need percentage width adjustments per user and should use media queries rather than percentage-width calculations when designing responsive layouts with all users in mind as this can make designing responsive layouts quite complex compared to adaptive.
Responsive solutions are better when beginning a new project or retrofitting existing installations.
Examples of Responsive Web Design
Websites with newer designs that require an effortless user experience or are more important to Google should utilize this design method as it makes site maintenance simple and affordable.
Many top technology and design firms employ it because its creation and upkeep require little time or resources.
First, we review successful examples of websites employing responsive web design to see its effects on performance and user experience, simultaneously meeting large brands' messaging and e-commerce requirements.
Slack
Slack has quickly gained popularity within businesses due to its user-friendliness.
Slack continues to gain market share among enterprises of all kinds by offering an intuitive, straightforward user interface coupled with features for integration and optimization - as evidenced by its responsive website design.
Displays that seamlessly change and rearrange their layout highlight an app's ability to transition seamlessly from desktop to mobile.
Using CSS grid and flexbox layout technologies, Slack's responsive interface takes another big leap forward. Slack's web interface should match its app. Hence, users have an effortless experience whether on laptops, PCs or mobile phones in the workplace.
Shopify
Shopify's responsive design is unique in that its website and app were tailored differently, aiming for optimization for specific devices rather than adopting an "all or nothing" philosophy.
Shopify's designers strongly believed their design elements should match up to whatever size screen their customer used - no matter the case! Shopify's site was tailored to adapt automatically to different screen sizes for users to enjoy an optimized user experience on each device, featuring several CTAs, illustrations and sizes scattered throughout its various pages and locations.
On PCs, tablets, and mobile phones, Shopify CTAs, images, and other elements appear on the left of forms; on mobile devices, they appear below and to the center, allowing for an enhanced UX while giving users optimal user interaction with their screen.
A responsive approach enables this result.
Dribbble
Dribbble, the creative hub for design and self-promotion, features an exceptional responsive web design.
This platform website is an outstanding example of how responsive web designs enhance user experience.
Dribbble utilizes a grid-based layout, which is flexible and works on various screen sizes.
As users interact with it by shifting columns around, designers can adjust how items are displayed within it for maximum visibility and count -- providing users with an experience without becoming overwhelming or confusing. This site will be presented on 13-inch laptops and PCs in four a three-grid format; smaller screens will show their portfolio in single-column form.
Responsive? Consider Site Speed, Content, and User Experience
As we discussed previously, responsive websites may become slow if they're improperly implemented.
Responsive web design also necessitates additional coding work to accommodate each device accessing it.
However, the additional work (in comparison with adaptive design) might not justify itself, given that adaptive sites require separate HTML and CSS codes to be developed and maintained for every layout; it can also be more challenging when it comes to modification; you will have to ensure all aspects (SEO, links and content) still function after implementation of your changes. Of course, when considering user experience, it's also essential to think carefully about visual hierarchy, as responsive Design adjusts content according to each device window.
Nielsen norman group states that responsive design can often be described as solving an existing problem; for instance, how to move elements between larger pages and thinner ones to ensure they fit appropriately or vice versa - and it must consider multiple screens and resolutions as part of its success.
Both techniques require equal work in creating an all-inclusive website; responsive sites offer one potential advantage since you will require less maintenance in future years.
Which is Preferable, Adaptable or Responsive Design?
No matter which design method you employ, keeping the audience in mind when creating websites or apps is key.
Once you understand their target visitors and their preferred devices for visiting websites or apps, crafting tailored sites that suit those audiences becomes much simpler. No matter which design approach you employ, keeping the audience in mind is key. Once you understand who they are and which devices they use to access the website, creating something tailored for them should become much simpler.
Your website design requirements depend upon whether it's new, existing or both.
Current trends indicate that responsive design has become the go-to method - around 1/8th of websites use responsive designs (with few or no statistics on adaptive). Furthermore, responsive sites have experienced rapid adoption rates, almost equalling that of mobile-only sites. This suggests that responsive Design may be your preferred method - given adaptive designs require ongoing maintenance costs.
Catchpoint's testing revealed that adaptive is an appropriate option for companies or clients with ample funds available for web design projects.
Two pages were developed in WordPress using WP TwentyFourteen standard responsive theme and the Wiziapp plugin for automation purposes, providing advanced options to configure further and facilitate its use in automating iterative process.
Results regarding load time are clear: responsive websites download all necessary files for desktop computers immediately upon upload, although their themes might not perform optimally out-of-the-box.
Media queries could help solve this problem; however, the example provided above serves as an excellent illustration of why responsive UX designs may not be optimal for mobile devices. Unfortunately, it isn't easy to pinpoint an ideal solution.
However, we should learn to code and visual design responsive websites instead. Responsive Design could remain popular due to the ongoing maintenance needed for adaptive website interaction designs.
In contrast, responsive is currently the dominant form and adaptive web designs still exist. However, some improvements could render adaptive obsolete in future years.
Common Mistakes in Responsive and Adaptive Web Design
Iteration is an integral component of design team. To find what's ideal, you must experiment and try various options before finding what fits the bill.
Don't feel pressured into suffering painful failures to effectively understand responsive web design vs. adaptive web design. Avoid common errors that slow the process by following these tips.
Desktop Versions Are Too Much in the Spotlight
Mobile design has quickly overtaken its desktop equivalent. Mobile-first sites typically provide superior user experiences than their PC and laptop counterparts on smaller devices.
Yet, many platforms, tools, and sites began life online as desktop-centric entities, with mobile versions only emerging later, leaving many platforms and tools with a heavier emphasis on desktop than mobile.
Website designers must shift away from desktop-focused work styles, adopting a mobile-first work style.
Their focus should be on how Design functions on mobile, as this will have even greater ramifications for interaction design thinking advancement.
It entails abandoning the conventional definition of the most likely screen sizes to require dedicated designs in favor of designing for various screen sizes with percentage-based rather than fixed ratio goals in mind.
This doesn't entail abandoning desktop design altogether but rather striking a balance between it and mobile development.
Ignoring Gestures
Soon, users may navigate websites without touching any physical surfaces; most mobile phones today come equipped with touch capabilities that enable navigation of websites without interaction between hardware or surfaces and users.
Gestures provide powerful responsive web design elements, which are often neglected.
Responsive design offers product designers an ideal means of exploring these motions - from employing gestures for zoom, swipe, scroll and return through conveying instructions and carrying out complex commands to employing gesture architecture across devices for navigation purposes.
However, product designers often fail to consider this innovative aspect of their designs due to the difficulty in creating uniform gesture architecture across devices. One solution could be to ensure a website follows a uniform structure across devices for ease of use and accuracy.
Buttons Are Too Small
One of the most irritating design flaws on mobile is buttons too small to be accurately touched with.
Anyone who has used an application featuring such buttons will quickly realize its shortcomings; on larger screens and mobile devices, thumbs or fingers may miss their target; desktop versions benefit from precise cursor control for greater precision in targeting targets.
Sometimes, responsive design may group clickable items or compress them on smaller displays to optimize layouts and available space, leading to user frustration.
In contrast, the accuracy, usability and user experience (UX) may suffer. Developers must evaluate how their responsive design strategy affects buttons since not all hands, fingers and eyes were created equal.
Putting Appearance Over Function
While aesthetic appeal on desktop and mobile browsers is important, first and foremost, a website must function.
Users who access an attractive site will naturally assume an equal effort has been invested into its utility; one can imagine their disappointment when one doesn't match up. This frustration could cause significant drops in both traffic and reputation.
At the core, desktop and mobile functionality should remain distinct: A site that sets an excellent standard in design and operation for desktop use is much better without bothering to incorporate mobile capabilities.
Venture beyond developer perceptions by conducting extensive testing with various niches and using effective prototyping to ensure that the design matches up with functionality.
Having a Distinct Mobile URL
Using multiple URLs between desktop and mobile website versions can be detrimental to both design and search rankings, not to mention frustrating users by switching them back and forth between versions.
Separate URLs also run counter to SEO best practices and are usually unnecessary.
At times, using multiple URLs can allow developers to build lightweight mobile versions of websites that perform better on mobile devices - but only where desktop versions are anti-mobile.
I Am Not Taking Future Maintenance and Development Expenditures Into Account
Development costs money, yet often, design decisions are made solely based on short-term financial considerations without taking the long view into account.
While adaptive web design (AWD) generally requires greater upfront investments due to its labor-intensive development process, its maintenance costs remain consistent over time.
Responsive Design may present unexpected cost risks; however, its benefits for improved UX may outweigh such financial concerns.
Ten Things to Keep in Mind When Creating a Flexible Website
An adaptive or responsive website in web design involves paying close attention to every element on your site and considering the impact changes may have on them.
When designing mobile-friendly designs, try to include or enhance these key elements:
1. Header Content
The header of a site can reveal a great deal to visitors at first glance:
- Branding is what the company does
- It offers
- What actions should you take?
- Search through the entire content.
On a desktop computer, there's plenty of space to include all relevant data within its header; however, mobile users require something different: responsive or adaptive web designs must consider this to achieve success.
Consider what navigation elements will be included on your mobile site, from logos and brand images, menu items or shopping icons if applicable, etc.
2. Text Legibility
Text on websites can be tricky to manage effectively; you must ensure it reflects your brand style, looks good visually, and ensures any design choices don't compromise legibility.
As screen sizes change, styles and sizes may remain static - therefore, this must be checked before launching your website.
3. Hamburger Icon
Consideration should be given to how different devices might alter the experience for users when browsing your site, including creating menus in the shape of hamburgers and using this technique for navigation.
A hamburger menu is a three-line icon typically placed in either the upper right or left corners of websites, familiar to users who utilize these stacks of horizontal lines to navigate mobile website designs.
4. Navigation Placement
Mobile applications have grown increasingly popular, altering how web admins structure mobile navigation.
More often than ever, we encounter designs beyond what has previously been recommended to web admins - such as a basic hamburger menu design.
Some brands may add up to three or four links (no more) as part of their top-level navigation (usually as the horizontal sticky menu at the bottom or in their header), utilizing lightbox to create pop-up full-screen menus.
5. Sticky Header
You can make mobile web pages shorter with an adaptive design. In responsive web design, all content from desktop pages is carried over directly onto mobile pages unless modified for display on that specific platform.
Consider making your header sticky if your pages load slowly on mobile despite all your best efforts, enabling users to always access navigational elements.
6. Visual Hierarchy
Visual hierarchy refers to the path a visitor's eyes travel when visiting a website page, especially mobile sites.
A poorly designed or overly busy page could make it hard for users to decide what or how to browse, potentially leaving them frustrated and uncertain about how best to proceed with browsing or what content to read next.
Add headers, subheaders and image blocks to your web page to increase its appeal and draw viewers in.
Break large or complex topics into bite-size sections for easier understanding and consumption. How to create a structured page of information. Be certain that the design you choose is balanced. Relationships among sections.
The adaptive design provides a solution by meticulously planning each version and designing responsively since certain elements will resize or change style as the screen shrinks.
Create global styles compatible with desktop, tablet and mobile for optimal content production during responsive redesign processes. This ensures the restructuring doesn't alter existing information pages that might otherwise impact its readability or usability.
7. Page Length
Length is also important. On mobile phones, navigation options make scrolling through longer pages more efficient when used on smartphones; however, less scrolling may also prove beneficial.
Adaptive design allows you to remove text and images from mobile layouts to add more content on desktop versions while keeping mobile versions legible.
8. Imagery
Images on websites can be an extremely effective means of design, branding and storytelling, as well as increasing sales.
As with anything, though, consider carefully how images impact responsive or adaptive web designs; while size should no longer be an issue on adaptive sites, only use what images are absolutely necessary to avoid slowing down pages.
9. Content Embedded
External content like videos, social media widgets or banner advertisements is commonplace today.
With adaptive design, you can use external elements within their display containers using adaptive design embedding code, which should adhere to responsive design coding rules to stay within their boundaries.
10. Interaction
Interactive design elements should:
- Easy to recognize as interactive
- Searchable page
- The Interactive without Error
Think through all the interactions your visitors will likely experience on your website; for instance, if your company number appears prominently in its header, desktop users might dial it, while mobile phone users might expect to tap to call.
Interactive interface designs or gestures continue to vary between platforms. An image slider may look the same to all users, but only mobile users can slide left or right, while visitors on desktop computers use mice instead of swipe gestures.
Focusing solely on how content can be moved or sized across platforms - adaptive or responsive - shouldn't be your sole consideration; consider how context influences content interactions.
Conclusion
Modern website design gives us three options for web pages: Responsive Design, Adaptive Design and Stand-alone Design (though stand-alone Design has fallen out of use over time).
Responsive Design allows designers to adjust the content according to browser space available, providing consistency between what a site displays on desktop computers and handheld devices. Responsive design remains the "traditional" approach and remains more popular today.
Selecting between responsive and adaptive designs requires careful deliberation.
While responsive designs may appear simpler for cost reduction and SEO purposes (saving users hassle with transition between devices), all pros and cons associated with both designs must be assessed thoroughly; adaptive ones might better adapt to users' evolving needs in the field; therefore companies must stay abreast of changing user expectations and needs.
Charles Darwin famously noted that individuals in species who survive aren't necessarily those with superior intellects or strength but those most adaptable to change - think back to dinosaurs as evidence for that argument!
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Think carefully about how your digital product or service fits within a user's environment; what aspects of user behavior could keep them informed and engaged? With today's smart devices ranging from desktops and smartwatches to clocks and heaters forming part of an "Internet of Things", devices that sense and respond to environmental changes, now more than ever, must be designed keeping in mind how smarter objects need to become when designed concerning us as humans.
We must design with that intelligence in mind!
