Introduction
With the increasing number of mobile devices, operating systems and their versions, screen sizes, and resolutions, the need for mobile browsers to access websites is also growing. So the challenge is to ensure that a single version of the source code of the server-side user interface layouts can render the web page correctly on different screen sizes. Hence, mobile-enabled web applications on tablets, smartphones, phablets, etc. it is not just a matter of viewing the same web page (which was originally designed for a desktop / laptop) in a mobile browser as it will result in horizontal and / or vertical scroll bars, rendering the page unusable. Mobile enablement of a web application requires a completely different approach to make it usable across the variety of device form factors. The solution is to make the application compatible with all devices running a web browser.
Responsive Web Design (RWD), which simply means designing your application by running some “media queries” that will identify the device’s screen size and resolution, is a key factor. However, RWD is not as simple as it sounds. It all happens from the bottom up to make the sites so responsive that the consumer doesn’t have to switch between apps or URLs.
Let’s see what RWD offers!
What is Responsive Web Design (RWD)?
In RWD, all visual elements on a web page are rendered proportional to the size of the entire page through the use of fluid aspect-based grids, flexible images, and CSS3 media queries. Fluid layouts could be the first aid, while media queries are helpful for adding flavors to mobile devices. The RWD concept is best used for minimizing effort and money, cross-browser compatibility, optimal performance, and heavy content. And to achieve this, the layout must be driven by the system, compared to the pages.
Some rules to follow include: checking content, using a small mobile device to form the design foundation, applying features for a browser, using a modular approach, and designing a scalable framework across business verticals. Managing corporate branding UI themes as part of this framework provides much more flexibility by serving this as a solution to clients.
Examples of ready frameworks, with the possibility of including some customization include Bootstrap, Skeleton, The Goldilocks approach, Foundation, etc …
The key is to understand and follow the guidelines below:
- Our pages must be displayed legibly at any screen resolution.
- We mark a set of content, making it visible on any device.
- We should never show a horizontal scroll bar, whatever the size of the window.
To achieve the above, it is necessary to use the following principles that are based on CSS:
- Flexible layouts – use proportional sizes to fit each page
- Flexible images and media – Use CSS to prevent images or media from overflowing with the elements that contain them
- Media Queries – Use the CSS3 Media Queries module to detect media features like screen resolution and respond accordingly
The magic of media inquiries!
Media queries enable the creation of an optimal viewing experience on devices by doing the following:
- Media queries allow the web page to use different CSS style rules based on device characteristics, especially once it identifies the width of the browser.
- Media queries tailor CSS to any device by identifying your media using a specific query, such as its width, height, and resolution.
- A media query consists of a type, such as screen and print, and a zero along with more expressions to match against the media. Once the expressions evaluate to true, the CSS rule is applied.
The challenge continues where different devices may have similar screen resolution but completely different physical factors (for example, iPad and Kindle). “Resolution media query”, a media query specification would normally guarantee to bridge this small gap between physical and digital pixels.
“Media queries are now very well supported by modern browsers (including IE9 +) and mobile browsers as well, which can really make the difference between a website that degrades well in a mobile browser versus one that is enhanced for leverage rich user interface optimization “… (Reference: Google web master team)
Adoption
RWD is becoming a de facto web standard when designing the user interface for web and mobile browsers. Some examples analyzed through reports and analyst views:
- The US Government Officially Endorses RWD as Best in Providing Greater Accessibility to Government Information and Resources
- Microsoft has a clean, less cluttered corporate website that uses multiple CSS files to resize all design elements on different device sizes.
- Currys has gone for smart design where some of its design elements change multiple times for various screen sizes and it is smart enough to deliver a rich experience to its users.
- Starbucks has implemented a unique media query style in which navigation items are replaced by a single symbol that leads to all menu items instead of turning them into symbols.
The above are some key examples that show that there are many rumors about RWD. Clearly, the world has moved towards greater mobility and people are increasingly interacting with their mobile phones rather than using regular browsers when consuming Internet content.
The content will be more structured, the pages more modularized and the user experience more attractive. It’s not something you forget in the middle of style guide discussions and composition reviews. Today, customers go beyond “Look and Feel” and demand a “Customer Experience”. Previously, the design of a web page was weighted by how good it looked to stakeholders, whereas now everyone in a web design project is forced to think about how the end user consumes content and what is really important in different devices and for the site. in general.
Why is RWD the best choice for an organization’s mobility strategy?
When considering RWD for an app or website that is not currently mobile-friendly, you should always think ahead and not just today.
- The best advantage or benefit of using RWD techniques is that it does not just focus on devices, but it resets to fit any screen size, which is very future-proof.
- It is a recommended mobile configuration, as it has a URL with the same HTML on all devices and desktops. Such content is much easier to manage from a single source and share it among multiple users rather than having separate sites. For example, an application applicable to a mobile device as well as a desktop when accessed from two different URLs can result in a less than optimal user experience when viewing the same desktop results in a simplified version on a mobile device.
- While the layout can be adjusted in terms of column width to fit the screen size, be it desktop or mobile, overall the layout and (fluid) style remain consistent throughout.
- Since all the content is in a single URL, it is useful with factors such as social media sharing, search engine rankings, bookmarks, web statistics, etc. all in a single version to be maintained, thus saving time and effort
Conclution
Responsive web design is in its early stages and therefore there will be multiple opinions and recommendations to try to solve usability issues that arise due to device size variations. Whether to build mobile designs first or desktop computers first or delve into RWD to meet such challenges is a decision that will continue as a debate for some time, as RWD standards will continue to evolve as better ways to handle the changing world of devices. and browsers.
Creating a user interface with RWD is a complex subject, but over time it will be imperative for web designers to use it to make web sites available to the growing consumer base.
