The advent of pocket size devices has facilitated the users to be able to perform any function on these devices anywhere, anytime. The busy lifestyle of human beings doesn’t allow them to sit back in a closed cabin for doing web browsing. So, the small pocket devices such a smart phones, notebooks, tablets, etc. have come up as a bane.
The complex tasks such as storing, sharing and using the data available on the device or on the internet has become as easy as clicking the button or tapping the screen. All these devices perform similar functions but are based on different operating systems and software. This led the web developers to create a technology which can be uniformly used on all these devices and termed it as responisve web designing
Responsive Web Designing Technology
The term responsive web design (RWD) was coined by Ethan Marcotte, first in his article, ‘A List Apart’ in May, 2010. This web designing approach aims at crafting sites such as to provide optimum viewing experience. It reduces the resizing, panning and scrolling because the responsive websites adjusts itself according to the size of the screen. It makes reading and navigation easier for the user, irrespective of the size of the device used to browse. The websites developed using responsive web designing are compatible with all devices from mobile phones to desktop computer monitors. These websites respond to their environment using fluid grids, flexible images, W3C CSS3 media queries which are the extension of the @media rule.
The theory of responsive web designing is based on three essential technical elements they are fluid grids, flexible images and media queries. The concept of fluid proportion based girds adjusts the page element sizing in relative units i.e. in percentage instead of using absolute units such as pixels. Similarly relative units are used for sizing the flexible images also, so that they can fit in the environment and adapt to the different screen sizes. The feature of media queries let the webpage use different CSS style rules according to the specifications of the device on which the sites is being displayed. Mainly the width of the browser is taken into consideration while adapting.
The notion behind this new adaptive technology is to ease out the work of the designer and the developer of the website because it reduces the task of designing different versions of the same website for desktop computers and for mobile devices. Now they have to work only for one version of the webpage which will be uniformly functional on all the devices. The responsive web designing approach requires unique thinking to make it a successful endeavor . You can learn more about website development through online training, like a CSS course .
Advantages of using Responsive Wed Design
With the augmented usage of internet in every sphere such as it is a source of acquiring knowledge, sharing data with others, communication medium across the globe etc. Along with these aspects, internet has paved way for an entirely new way of marketing and shopping. The sudden growth and popularity of the online market came heavily on the marketers to have the most attractive website, to allure the maximum number of the internet users.
When the number of internet users has increased so drastically over the past few years then it became inevitable for the webpage developers to enhance the experience of the users and make the websites user friendly. The designers have to keep in mind that not every user uses the same device to browse through the websites. So the static web designs cannot suffice the needs of every user. The small texts, uncomfortable view of the page, information viewable in bits and pieces are very frustrating for the user which in turn leads to lose of business for the website owner.
The business of the shopping websites is entirely dependent on the customers who shop online. Thus, for such business houses each and every transaction depends on the satisfaction of the customer. The images of the products that are put up for sale play the most important role. If the customer is allured by the image only then he or she will make a move further to take the risk and purchasing the product without having to see the product physically. For this reason the picture quality of the images has to be the best yet the images have to be flexible enough to adapt according to the size of the browser on the device. Moreover, it is very important for the owner of the website to be able to display the maximum information about the offers etc. on the website to communicate to the users.
Optimizing Customer Satisfaction
Many websites that are already designed with the responsive web design technology make it feasible for the mobile users to have a separate menu bar, for viewing the different tabs and page linked with the website. This feature makes it easy to navigate and enhance the viewing experience of the user. The more, user friendly the website is the more popular it become and in turn the more business it gives to the owner.
Responsive web design for websites can be called as the future for the websites because with the times to come more number of people will be adopting this kind of lifestyle, thereby increasing the user interface. Currently it is just the beginning of the online shopping trend, but every passing day its gaining popularity and number of online buyers are increasing. So having a responsive website will be essential for all the website owners who focus on having the real client work.
So all those new entrants who have brilliant business ideas involving huge clientele, it will be a brilliant idea to go for responsive or adaptive website. It is important that you should consider time and money, browser support, performance of the page, content on page. You should also weigh the website versus webapp pros and cons to finalize your decision. It is suggested that those of you who look forward for a future in this, should begin today by presenting their website for the small screen mobile users.
