When I first heard the term “Responsive Web Design” (RWD) I thought it had something to do with the speed with which the website operated, but that was not the case. Proponents of RWD define it as a design methodology that can sense the type of device it is being viewed on and adjusts the site to optimize the experience for the user. Let’s say a desktop user and an iPhone user is accessing the same site.
The experience could be quite different when being viewed on a 19 inch screen versus a 3½ inch screen. There is nothing worse than trying to get some information from a miniature website on my smart-phone. If you’ve designed your website with RWD, it will automatically adjust the visuals based on the size of the display. Some website builders will create an entire parallel website optimized for a small screen to accomplish RWD.
Why is this becoming increasingly necessary? A Gartner study predicts mobile web browsing to outpace desktop browsing by 2013. If your site experience is only favorable from a desktop system, you may be annoying more than half of your visitors by next year.
My company recently redesigned our website; new content, new structure and RWD. Take a look at www.dmcdental.com from a desktop computer. Now look at the same site from your smart phone, the same, but different. The experience is optimized based on the device. This is a right click no matter how small your screen.
