Why responsive design may not be the best idea

Kevin Z · 3rd Sep 2012, 12:06 PM

There has been a lot written about responsive design being the preferred method of design these days for mobile. However one must know some of the caveats before deciding if responsive design is the best way to go.

Reality on the ground
Local business owners are sick and tired of getting burned by their websites. First they were told they needed a website then they were told they needed a flash site with a jazzy intro, then they were told they needed a Web 2.0 site now they are being told they need a responsive site. Business owners know their customers are going mobile but they simply don't want to dish out another small fortune to accommodate them.

Navigation issues
Due to the nature of responsive it can be troubling to note that once your site is scaled down your menus will often get pushed way to the bottom of the page, sometimes navigation will get ripped entirely out of your design if you don't design your responsive site properly.

Time + Cost
It takes much longer and in most cases much more money to design a responsive site from scratch. Stand alone optimized mobile sites can accommodate your mobile needs in a much more cost effective way.

Content bloated sites do not scale well with responsive
There has been much debate regarding the 1 site fits all, but IMO a Mobile Optimized site will accommodate the end user much more effectively than a responsive design from a site with tons of content. The fact of the matter is browsing patterns are different when we are on our smartphones then sitting in front of our laptop or desktop PC's.

Google likes responsive but they also like properly designed stand alone mobile sites
Yes Google has said they like responsive but the fact of the matter is that Google understands that not everyone will adapt responsive so as long as your stand alone site runs off an m dot and is properly designed you will not be penalized in Google's mobile search.

Conclusion
Before jumping on the responsive bandwagon be sure to do your research, present your client with all the facts and information, and in most cases a properly designed cost effective stand alone mobile optimized site will be the best option.

lint631 · 3rd Sep 2012, 05:56 PM

Great post! I think for most local business the cost factor is a big one. If you can bang out a mobile site for them that costs only 300-400 bucks then why not?! A complete new design will be at least 800-1000 (or more) and a lot more work. With a simple mobile template you can have a site for them with in a few hours.

iwillbeontop · 3rd Sep 2012, 08:35 PM

I couldn't disagree more brother...

Im not looking for a debate or argument but Ive been designing websites 10+ years... Statistics do not lie. Desktop computers will soon be obsolete and there will never be a standard screen size for tablets/phones and other mobile devices. To compete, engage, maximize conversions, sales etc.... Sites must be responsive. It would behoove any "Serious" business to make sure their website is responsive...

shoopt · 3rd Sep 2012, 11:29 PM

That a really nice post Kevin.
The conclusion given by you sounds effective, I will implement it with some clients of mine and check out how it works for me.

Social Guy · 4th Sep 2012, 02:03 AM

Originally Posted by Kevin Z

Conclusion
Before jumping on the responsive bandwagon be sure to do your research, present your client with all the facts and information, and ....

I think this is the best point you made...

"And, create the best possible solution for this client"

I'm building mobile and responsive websites for different clients and everybody is in another position.

If my client wants to update his site regularly I think it is better to just build an responsive designs because you can use Wordpress.

If my client is using a one year old website and he does not have the budget I will create a mobile site for him, but when they see our responsive sites I got their attention and I make sure they will want one the next 6 months or so...

IMHO you just have to listen to the client needs and give advice whats best for him so you have a long ongoing relation.

WillR · 4th Sep 2012, 05:47 AM

Originally Posted by Kevin Z

Navigation issues
Due to the nature of responsive it can be troubling to note that once your site is scaled down your menus will often get pushed way to the bottom of the page, sometimes navigation will get ripped entirely out of your design if you don't design your responsive site properly.

Issues like this come down to poor design and coding and not the fact a mobile website is responsive. I have seen plenty of responsive websites where the menu is presented just like most of us do on a standalone mobile website.

Even when it comes to standalone mobile websites, there are still good ones and bad ones.

Originally Posted by iwillbeontop

Statistics do not lie. Desktop computers will soon be obsolete and there will never be a standard screen size for tablets/phones and other mobile devices. To compete, engage, maximize conversions, sales etc.... Sites must be responsive. It would behoove any "Serious" business to make sure their website is responsive...

I think you are confused.

A standalone mobile website can still stretch and/or shrink to fit any device screen. It would be useless if it didn't. That is what's known as fluid and that is how mobile websites should be built.

Kevin Z · 4th Sep 2012, 09:20 AM

Originally Posted by Social Guy

IMHO you just have to listen to the client needs and give advice whats best for him so you have a long ongoing relation.

This is the most important area that many local marketers fall short, they look for the big prize (payout) while not focusing on the important picture which is providing your client the most effective solution for his/her needs.

The big prize is good for the one off payout but IMO it's better to build a relationship that will last allowing you to make more money over the long haul.

Jay Moreno · 4th Sep 2012, 09:59 AM

Originally Posted by Kevin Z

Google likes responsive but they also like properly designed stand alone mobile sites
Yes Google has said they like responsive but the fact of the matter is that Google understands that not everyone will adapt responsive so as long as your stand alone site runs off an m dot and is properly designed you will not be penalized in Google's mobile search.

To clarify Google recommends responsive design based on whats easier for them to crawl - ie one url serving content for both mobile and desktop, bare in mind with a responsive design often provides no indicators that tells Google this is anything more than just a desktop website. Whilst they recommend responsive design they also support dynamically served content based on user agent which is what we use in our adaptive approach and also served on the same url, the other thing they support are standalone mobile sites ... their recommendation from what i can see has nothing to do with the end user mobile experience.

So they are not actually saying responsive design is the best for the mobile end user experience - what they are saying is they recommend serving content with a responsive design because it delivers the content on the same url in the same way that an adaptive approach does.

Kevin Z · 4th Sep 2012, 08:01 PM

Originally Posted by Jay Moreno

So they are not actually saying responsive design is the best for the mobile end user experience - what they are saying is they recommend serving content with a responsive design because it delivers the content on the same url in the same way that an adaptive approach does.

Great points Jay as people were quick to jump on the responsive bandwagon as the only solution when the opposite is true. Google is smart enough to know that not everyone will be able to go responsive it simply isn't feasible.

Personally I'm not in favor of 1 site for every screen, I truly believe a dedicated mobile site can give end users a better experience by tailoring content to what end users want when they are browsing on their mobile smartphones.

Kevin Z · 5th Sep 2012, 09:29 AM

Originally Posted by iwillbeontop

Statistics do not lie. Desktop computers will soon be obsolete

With the proliferation of mobile search and the fact that it will soon eclipse desktop search doesn't mean that desktop computing or search is going obsolete.

People will continue to use desktops and laptops at home and in the workplace but the majority of users will be using tablets and smartphones for personal use.

One thing is for certain it will be interesting to see how the industry continues to evolve as we move forward.

mayankgangwal · 7th Sep 2012, 09:23 AM

Bookmark this page for future reading

Al Andrews · 7th Sep 2012, 09:27 AM

Originally Posted by Kevin Z

The fact of the matter is browsing patterns are different when we are on our smartphones then sitting in front of our laptop or desktop PC's..

This is so true... When browsing from your mobile device you are usually out and about and looking for something fast... also your resources on your mobile is much lower than your computer, (ie. smaller screen, less memory, weaker processor...).

farahR · 7th Sep 2012, 10:50 AM

I find that responsive designs are very compromised. They don't look that great on either desktop/laptop or on mobile. Personally I think it is better to have separate high quality designs for each, and use a mobile redirect script.

Kevin Z · 7th Sep 2012, 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by farahR

I find that responsive designs are very compromised. They don't look that great on either desktop/laptop or on mobile. Personally I think it is better to have separate high quality designs for each, and use a mobile redirect script.

So true Farah, couldn't agree more myself

Kevin Z · 8th Sep 2012, 02:18 PM

Interesting read for anyone interested.

Dew Point » Why I Hate Responsive Design

PeacefulCalamity · 8th Sep 2012, 02:57 PM

The thing responsive sites lack more than anything, is loading fast. Mobile websites have the advantage having very little content and therefor load remarkably fast on most of the quadcore phones coming out on the market today.

Even with the best phones, getting a responsive site to load as quick as a mobile website is crazy talk.

Kevin Z · 10th Sep 2012, 09:06 AM

Originally Posted by PeacefulCalamity

The thing responsive sites lack more than anything, is loading fast. Mobile websites have the advantage having very little content and therefor load remarkably fast on most of the quadcore phones coming out on the market today.

Even with the best phones, getting a responsive site to load as quick as a mobile website is crazy talk.

Great point and often overlooked.

Designers will not optimize their images for mobile making it lag quite a bit when downloading desktop content especially if your responsive is not designed to omit certain content during scale down. Something all designers should take into consideration when designing for mobile is the fact that data usage costs the end user $$$ so making the site as thin and optimised as possible is critical.

3rd Sep 2012, 12:06 PM	#1
Kevin Z brickandmobile.com War Room Member Join Date: 2010 Location: Toronto Posts: 309 Thanks: 60 Thanked 106 Times in 64 Posts	Why responsive design may not be the best idea Share on: There has been a lot written about responsive design being the preferred method of design these days for mobile. However one must know some of the caveats before deciding if responsive design is the best way to go. Reality on the ground Local business owners are sick and tired of getting burned by their websites. First they were told they needed a website then they were told they needed a flash site with a jazzy intro, then they were told they needed a Web 2.0 site now they are being told they need a responsive site. Business owners know their customers are going mobile but they simply don't want to dish out another small fortune to accommodate them. Navigation issues Due to the nature of responsive it can be troubling to note that once your site is scaled down your menus will often get pushed way to the bottom of the page, sometimes navigation will get ripped entirely out of your design if you don't design your responsive site properly. Time + Cost It takes much longer and in most cases much more money to design a responsive site from scratch. Stand alone optimized mobile sites can accommodate your mobile needs in a much more cost effective way. Content bloated sites do not scale well with responsive There has been much debate regarding the 1 site fits all, but IMO a Mobile Optimized site will accommodate the end user much more effectively than a responsive design from a site with tons of content. The fact of the matter is browsing patterns are different when we are on our smartphones then sitting in front of our laptop or desktop PC's. Google likes responsive but they also like properly designed stand alone mobile sites Yes Google has said they like responsive but the fact of the matter is that Google understands that not everyone will adapt responsive so as long as your stand alone site runs off an m dot and is properly designed you will not be penalized in Google's mobile search. Conclusion Before jumping on the responsive bandwagon be sure to do your research, present your client with all the facts and information, and in most cases a properly designed cost effective stand alone mobile optimized site will be the best option.
	[ brick&mobile Click here to start your Mobile Marketing business Last edited on 3rd Sep 2012 at 12:11 PM. Reason: typos

3rd Sep 2012, 05:56 PM	#2
lint631 MobileWebRockstar War Room Member Join Date: 2011 Location: New York Posts: 253 Thanks: 41 Thanked 52 Times in 37 Posts	Re: Why responsive design may not be the best idea Share on: Great post! I think for most local business the cost factor is a big one. If you can bang out a mobile site for them that costs only 300-400 bucks then why not?! A complete new design will be at least 800-1000 (or more) and a lot more work. With a simple mobile template you can have a site for them with in a few hours.
	WPMobileSalesPro - Mobile Web Sales Tool

3rd Sep 2012, 08:35 PM	#3
iwillbeontop HyperActive Warrior Join Date: 2011 Posts: 129 Thanks: 100 Thanked 18 Times in 16 Posts	Re: Why responsive design may not be the best idea Share on: I couldn't disagree more brother... Im not looking for a debate or argument but Ive been designing websites 10+ years... Statistics do not lie. Desktop computers will soon be obsolete and there will never be a standard screen size for tablets/phones and other mobile devices. To compete, engage, maximize conversions, sales etc.... Sites must be responsive. It would behoove any "Serious" business to make sure their website is responsive...

3rd Sep 2012, 11:29 PM	#4
shoopt HyperActive Warrior Join Date: 2012 Location: USA Posts: 174 Thanks: 7 Thanked 21 Times in 19 Posts	Re: Why responsive design may not be the best idea Share on: That a really nice post Kevin. The conclusion given by you sounds effective, I will implement it with some clients of mine and check out how it works for me.
	I am Daniel Jones, working in a Mobile Application Development Company as a Mobile App Developer. I enjoys exploring apps on iOS, blackberry, android and other mobile platforms.

7th Sep 2012, 09:23 AM	#11
mayankgangwal HyperActive Warrior Join Date: 2012 Location: Plano, Texas Posts: 163 Thanks: 1 Thanked 9 Times in 8 Posts	Re: Why responsive design may not be the best idea Share on: Bookmark this page for future reading
	Charlotte Seo \| Dallas Seo

7th Sep 2012, 10:50 AM	#13
farahR Warrior Member Join Date: 2012 Posts: 20 Thanks: 1 Thanked 8 Times in 6 Posts	Re: Why responsive design may not be the best idea Share on: I find that responsive designs are very compromised. They don't look that great on either desktop/laptop or on mobile. Personally I think it is better to have separate high quality designs for each, and use a mobile redirect script.

8th Sep 2012, 02:18 PM	#15
Kevin Z brickandmobile.com War Room Member Join Date: 2010 Location: Toronto Posts: 309 Thanks: 60 Thanked 106 Times in 64 Posts	Re: Why responsive design may not be the best idea Share on: Interesting read for anyone interested. Dew Point » Why I Hate Responsive Design
	[ brick&mobile Click here to start your Mobile Marketing business

8th Sep 2012, 02:57 PM	#16
PeacefulCalamity Businessman/Beautiful War Room Member Join Date: 2011 Posts: 164 Thanks: 55 Thanked 37 Times in 34 Posts	Re: Why responsive design may not be the best idea Share on: The thing responsive sites lack more than anything, is loading fast. Mobile websites have the advantage having very little content and therefor load remarkably fast on most of the quadcore phones coming out on the market today. Even with the best phones, getting a responsive site to load as quick as a mobile website is crazy talk.