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Website Design -- Mobile or Desktop?

by RaymondB
24 replies
Hey guys,

It's a known fact that the world is fastly going mobile. If half of the world today is mobile and the other half is going to be mobile anytime soon and we are designing websites for desktop, do you think we should be designing on mobile first before desktop? Would love to hear our what you think... Thanks!
#design #desktop #mobile #website
  • Profile picture of the author mak25
    I agree. Most businesses should consider doing mobile first, especially take-out restaurants.

    The ones I work with incorporate their mobile site into their Google listing. 90% of those that Google them are on a mobile device. (stats from GA)

    It's a no-brainer.

    Mike
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  • Profile picture of the author JacobS
    I think that mobile-first is the best approach for new websites. I personally find it easier to start with a mobile website and then scale it up to a desktop site, as opposed to starting with a desktop website and converting it to a mobile website.
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  • Profile picture of the author Valdor Kiebach
    Responsive design then its all taken care of straight away.
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  • Profile picture of the author usemyteam
    You can use themes for desktop sites that has mobile responsive capability. It makes things easier!
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    • Profile picture of the author host dingle
      Originally Posted by usemyteam View Post

      You can use themes for desktop sites that has mobile responsive capability. It makes things easier!
      is it possible to covert normal html design to responsive ?
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  • Profile picture of the author RaymondB
    Valdor Kiebach, we have to admit it... Not all responsive design fits perfect on mobile devices. Many of the responsive sites I checked are really not user friendly as they do not fit well with the screens of mobile devices.
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    Raymond B.

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    • Profile picture of the author mak25
      Originally Posted by RaymondB View Post

      Valdor Kiebach, we have to admit it... Not all responsive design fits perfect on mobile devices. Many of the responsive sites I checked are really not user friendly as they do not fit well with the screens of mobile devices.
      Totally agree with RaymondB. Depending on how the responsive site is designed and coded, most are quirky on a mobile device.
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  • Profile picture of the author JacobS
    I'm not a huge fan of responsive sites. I prefer to go with adaptive designs if at all possible.
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  • Profile picture of the author AlphaSirius
    [DELETED]
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  • Profile picture of the author livi
    To make a website for suit for all devices.

    Cheers

    livi
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  • Profile picture of the author Kishor Mhaskar
    One more vote for responsive theme.
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  • Profile picture of the author RaymondB
    livi exactly! What people should think about right now is the inevitability of the world going full blown mobile.
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    Raymond B.

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  • Profile picture of the author Action Man
    Originally Posted by RaymondB View Post

    Hey guys,

    It's a known fact that the world is fastly going mobile. If half of the world today is mobile and the other half is going to be mobile anytime soon and we are designing websites for desktop, do you think we should be designing on mobile first before desktop? Would love to hear our what you think... Thanks!
    yes

    yes but the big boys got in first, we could maybe get some clients, but that means seeing folks smiles
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  • Profile picture of the author stan farrier
    I believe mobile, you contact faster with your customers,1.000.000.000 and more smartphones !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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  • Profile picture of the author ZoroBlaze
    No desktop first. Honestly even though people are going mobile more they still want to be able to view things on a bigger screen whether it is a desktop or a laptop.
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  • Profile picture of the author AskMsD
    Ok, mobile vs responsive which is it, I do agree with the bigger screen but that could be a tablet or Ipad but once again not all sites can be seen on tablets such as flash sites, actually some smartphones cannot see flash sites. So what's the solution?
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    • Profile picture of the author TeganSpruce
      Ideally website design starts mobile first. Your aim with the mobile design is to par down to the absolute basics for your site - the essential information, all displayed in a way that eats as little data as possible. The design should be simple, yet effective, allowing fast load and easy browsing.

      From there you start building up until you have a fully formed desktop site with all the frills you want.

      I prefer responsive sites because they provide a larger range of size options. If you've got a good designer and coder with the right intent for the site, it shouldn't be any less effective than a dedicated mobile site. Responsive sites allow for stages between mobile and desktop.

      Then again, I totally understand dedicated mobile sites, too.

      Originally Posted by AskMsD View Post

      Ok, mobile vs responsive which is it, I do agree with the bigger screen but that could be a tablet or Ipad but once again not all sites can be seen on tablets such as flash sites, actually some smartphones cannot see flash sites. So what's the solution?
      You should not be using Flash.

      Flash is dead. Anything that can be done in Flash can now be done in dozens of other languages, like HTML5, CSS3, & JS. Why code a site if most devices won't support it? Madness.
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  • Profile picture of the author RaymondB
    There's a thing called 'reverse responsive' and it is designing on mobile but looks like a real desktop site if viewed on desktop.
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  • Profile picture of the author aboutsophie
    i think ipad or phablet do not actually need mobile design anymore...
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  • Profile picture of the author RaymondB
    aboutsophie, I absolutely disagree. There are tons of websites in the surface web, how much more in the deep web, that look very bad on mobile - smartphones and tablets. What if the information you need is there but you cannot literally see the text because images and text are truncated?
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    Raymond B.

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  • Profile picture of the author xthemers
    just create the responsive website which is open properly in each and every device.
    because today every people use mobile so if they need some information they directly search from mobile and if your site is not open properly in it they will leave you website and increase your bounce rate which is bad for seo point of view.
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  • Profile picture of the author RaymondB
    please keep in mind that NOT ALL responsive designs work great, look great, fits great on mobile devices. There are hundreds of responsive mobile websites that have issues on their appearance after making minor changes to their site.
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    Raymond B.

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    • Profile picture of the author chuckievee
      The thing I like about a dedicated mobile website is that i can customize it for an optimal user experience. Responsive sites I have played are not as user friendly and sometimes laid out really crappy making them had to navigate which leads to abandonment.

      When I get a prospect that wants or has a responsive site I ask them if their business is worth x amount of dollars a month. I then explain the benefits of having a dedicated mobile website over a responsive site.

      The closer is when I show them what a responsive site looks like which is usually one of their competitors sites and then I show them one of my dedicated sites.

      I then explain that they can lease a custom coded dedicated site for only $x a month with a small down payment of a few hundred dollars to get started. The monthly price is based on how many changes they would need and number of pages, etc.

      On the most recent website, the monthly lease was $75 for an 6 page site that included hosting and 2 changes a month with a $300 up front fee. When he saw what he could get for $75 a month he wanted to know how soon can his site be ready. Lol
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  • Profile picture of the author RaymondB
    Yes, any normal html design (getting rid of flash) can be converted to mobile responsive sites
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    Raymond B.

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  • Profile picture of the author goriggs
    I love responsive sites, but like people said, some things don't fit/look right on mobile devices. It's definitely easier to do a mobile site, add the redirect code to their regular site, and they're good to go.
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