Common misconceptions about Responsive Website Design

Everybody browses the internet everyday, on multiple different devices such as Macbook, iPad, Macbook Pro etc. But what really bothers is the website which aren't optimized for the larger screen resolutions,or which take more time to load on mobile devices.

We have accepted the concept of responsive web designs, but there are some misconceptions about it.

Let’s take a look on those misconceptions:

Responsive design is solely a mobile design: People often associate responsive design with mobile design. But that is not the case. Responsive design is not a mobile design. We cannot associate it to any of the devices as it is least concerned with the dimensions. Responsive design automatically yields accurate response to every design and hence the tag.

Responsive design is expensive: The other misconception people often have is that responsive designs are expensive. Responsive website takes time for development but are not expensive. They are rather cheap as the codes, assets and other processes are shared for the sites to be developed.

All responsive website look the same: We all have seen some responsive websites which look alike. But this is not because they have to look same, its just that the way those site were designed and developed were similar. There are ample of nice templates available, so if you are working with a developer tell him to customize the things perfectly so that your site doesn’t look like the guy’s next door.

Every Website should be Responsive: If your website is simple, without too many different page types like article pages, browsing by page etc and if the user experience is significantly not different on mobile devices, then Responsive Web Design can be a good solution to improve the user’s mobile experience. And if you have complex site with too many page types and if user have significant different goals while browsing your site on mobile device, then Responsive Web Design is not for you.

However, if you have a complex site with many pages but the user intent is not different on the mobile and if you’re planning to redesign then you can at least consider Responsive webdesign. This can work very well if you have a targeted marketing campaign and you are driving the traffic to those specific pages. You can make those specific pages responsive and thus you would have the best of both the worlds.

With the advent of mobile and smart phone technology we can access content anywhere and in any context. But it is also important that we reach all our users and give them what they want, when they want it. Responsive design is a new technique and the perfect technique to present our content across the web.