Before the advent of smartphones capable of displaying websites and portals in all their glory, web designers and developers had to contend with designing focused only on desktop and laptop screens. But with the advancement in technology, mobile phones and tablets became the ubiquitous standard for seamless connectivity on the move. This posed a challenge as now businesses had to hire web developers to develop and maintain a separate mobile-compatible website that would be displayed correctly on the small screen of mobile devices. This meant whether a company decided to hire .NET developer, Java developers or open source experts; their web design and development tasks were cut out, and the budget for online business began spiraling upward.
Fortunately, responsive web design entered the fray with the inception of HTML5 and CSS3, and web developers, designers and everyone in need of a website in general breathed a sigh of relief. With responsive web design, sites had the capability to optimally resize themselves based on the display space on the host device. So, whether it was a desktop or a small smartphone, a laptop or a tablet, only one website version needed to be developed. While responsive web design does sound to be a dream come true, there are a few pitfalls and covered ditches that you may inadvertently slip into when cruising along on your project.
If you engage in the practice of drawing up intricate Responsive Web Design (RWD) layouts that include breakpoints based on device width or screen size, then you can be in for tons of optimization when mobile devices with the sizes you haven't accounted for are launched. Besides, this is not an ideal RWD practice, as your website would be compatible only to a select few mobile devices, instead of realigning and resizing itself for any screen. Switch to breakpoints based on design, so that your website stands the test of time and technology.
A hotly debated topic, content always seems to take a back seat whenever something is being designed. Visuals do make a great first impression, but when a user wants to know more about the product, it is content that helps. If you compromise by cutting off content to ensure your responsive website fits mobile device screens, you are essentially robbing mobile users of the desktop-like experience that RWD promises. Content on a responsive site needs to be paid attention to and altered to suit mobile devices.
Taking cue from the point above, don't stuff unnecessary content into your website or it might become heavy and refuse to load quickly. This is a problem that commonly plagues a lot of websites, and surveys have pointed out that mobile device users have little-to-no patience for a website that takes ages to load. Keep file sizes and content on your website in check.
While content is being scaled, also keep a look out for integrating adaptive image management in your responsive website design. This will ensure that your images are resized perfectly along with the content, when the website is displayed on differently sized mobile devices.
Find any of these familiar? These 4 common pitfalls are known to plague responsive web design and now that you know what they are, it should be simpler to avoid them. It might be a little tricky, but isn't impossible. Keep your focus on the end users' needs, and your RWD endeavor is sure to be a success!
Fortunately, responsive web design entered the fray with the inception of HTML5 and CSS3, and web developers, designers and everyone in need of a website in general breathed a sigh of relief. With responsive web design, sites had the capability to optimally resize themselves based on the display space on the host device. So, whether it was a desktop or a small smartphone, a laptop or a tablet, only one website version needed to be developed. While responsive web design does sound to be a dream come true, there are a few pitfalls and covered ditches that you may inadvertently slip into when cruising along on your project.
- The Breakpoint Trap
If you engage in the practice of drawing up intricate Responsive Web Design (RWD) layouts that include breakpoints based on device width or screen size, then you can be in for tons of optimization when mobile devices with the sizes you haven't accounted for are launched. Besides, this is not an ideal RWD practice, as your website would be compatible only to a select few mobile devices, instead of realigning and resizing itself for any screen. Switch to breakpoints based on design, so that your website stands the test of time and technology.
- Content taking a Back Seat
A hotly debated topic, content always seems to take a back seat whenever something is being designed. Visuals do make a great first impression, but when a user wants to know more about the product, it is content that helps. If you compromise by cutting off content to ensure your responsive website fits mobile device screens, you are essentially robbing mobile users of the desktop-like experience that RWD promises. Content on a responsive site needs to be paid attention to and altered to suit mobile devices.
- Fat Files
Taking cue from the point above, don't stuff unnecessary content into your website or it might become heavy and refuse to load quickly. This is a problem that commonly plagues a lot of websites, and surveys have pointed out that mobile device users have little-to-no patience for a website that takes ages to load. Keep file sizes and content on your website in check.
- Un-scaled Images
While content is being scaled, also keep a look out for integrating adaptive image management in your responsive website design. This will ensure that your images are resized perfectly along with the content, when the website is displayed on differently sized mobile devices.
Find any of these familiar? These 4 common pitfalls are known to plague responsive web design and now that you know what they are, it should be simpler to avoid them. It might be a little tricky, but isn't impossible. Keep your focus on the end users' needs, and your RWD endeavor is sure to be a success!