When is the right time for Responsive Design?

‘Responsive Design’ is one of those hot new phrases you are starting to hear a lot about. Carin van Vuuren’s recent Forbes post “Mobile Apps: The Trouble with Using ‘Responsive Design’” does a good job of describing appropriate scenarios for use — and those times when you should reconsider. For the most part, it comes down to the user experience you want to achieve. Carin views responsive design — meaning it responds to the device type and size (PC, tablet, smartphone, etc.) by essentially scaling the web content based on screen size — as most useful for content rich sites such as “news” sites.  When you have a full featured app (think lots of fields and buttons, specialized code scripting, complex layouts, etc.), then you want to take into account functionality and load time and a more traditional approach is likely to deliver the better ultimate experience.

Bottom line, our Oinkodomeo advice is this: don’t be dazzled by trendy ideas and buzz words. Do your research and design to what creates the best user experience.