Article: The Goldilocks Approach TO RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN
Source: http://www.designbyfront.com/demo/goldilocks-approach/
Analysis:
The article starts off by describing the world of mobile technology and the challenges to design (countless phone manufacturers with various screen sizes, screen resolution, pixel interpretation, etc…). I mean, all of us have been on a mobile device where we come across a website that takes forever to load or contains display issues hurt the functionality of the site haven’t we? The question is raised – “What if we could create a truly universal design that was device independent – one that, no matter what device you viewed it on, looked like it was designed just for that device?” To many, this seems wonderful while others may question if the full features of the device are being used to their full ability. The item I found most intriguing was the idea of pixel interpretation. “Pixels sizes aren’t constant – or at least the display of them isn’t” the article reads. It seems that even iPhones and MacBooks will interpret and display font sizes that use pixels differently even though the devices come from the same manufacturer.
How can we, as designers, overcome the countless possibilities of resolution and pixel interpretation? Also, how can we ‘future proof’ our designs (make them less vulnerable to the ever changing world of mobile)? The article proposes that ‘the goldilocks approach’ or ‘gold standard’ if you will, would be to use em for measurements. Designers know that em is fully acceptable for web design so I’m curious why more are not adopting this when designing their sites… Designing within columns using em sounds like a solid practice to me. This article covers the best practices to avoid display issues with varying font sizes (whether defined by the device, the browser, or the user via zoom) but it does not go into depth about other mobile challenges.
To cover the other challenges to mobile I went over to http://www.webpagefx.com/design-build-mobile-web-site.html. I found this site to be the most concise and upfront about mobile challenges and best practices. Use of CSS is crucial, understand that page load times and data usage are very important to the end-user, websites these days are meant to be interactive (there are many touch screen phones these days, consider designs for finger clicks), and browsers don’t support plugins or extensions.
Mashable also had a good article http://mashable.com/2010/07/07/designing-mobile-apps/. This site covers other items to consider. Should you build a mobile site or mobile app? How will the site/app be used? Will geo location be needed? Will the user have access to wifi? There are changing screen sizes to consider. If you’re designing for a specific device, take advantage of UI features.
Overall, the world of mobile seems ever changing and ever promising. While there is much to consider when approaching a mobile design, it now makes more sense of why some design companies have decided to specialize with mobile design. The market craves attractive and functional design. If the site does not work, how will commerce continue or how will the information offered be consumed? It’s all about meeting the challenges head-on and thinking about the longevity of an ever changing landscape.
