Just several year ago all website owners, that were thinking about attracting more visitors, were trying to have a mobile version of their website as a must. Now the number of mobile users grows enormously every day. And so does the number of various devices that is used for getting online.  Previously web developers were just designing a couple of website versions that would suit several most popular screen sizes. Now such solution is just meaningless, as there are thousands of devices all with different screen sizes, resolutions and orientations. And there are more and more to come! 

So what can be done to fit website into this variety of screens?

Here comes the responsive design. It is a kind of website design, when a website has a flexible outlook and structure that changes according to the characteristics of the devices. Such website will be convenient to use independently of screen size, resolution, screen orientation, OS or browser. 

So nowadays we do not design websites for iPhone or Samsung, but just for smartphones and tablets. And even if tomorrow there will be 10 new devices created, our website will look perfectly on every of them. 

Such approach is very user friendly, as now most people would like to have the same convenient access to their favourite resources from any device – desktop, smartphone or tablet. In such way getting responsive design for your website will show that you care about your clients. 

So how does it work?

According to the screen size the layout of the website is changed. If you just shrink the website in size to fit it into the screen, the user may get something very small, difficult to use and impossible to read. Responsive design excludes zooming in, zooming out and endless scrolling. Big tables, images or videos are reduced or even omitted. Long menus become shorter, navigation is changed.

So responsive design is a future oriented technique that will help your website to stay easily accessible and user friendly for a longer time. And it it vitally important in our mobile and quickly changing world. 

Do you have a mobile version or responsive design? Why?

Natalia is responsible for IT Blog in outsourcing company SMISS Ltd. Natalia's main focus in SMISS Blog is organization and management of outsourcing process, general questions about software and application development IT and company news.