When the world was introduced to the World Wide Web, the personal computer was the only means to enter into the plethora of information that the Internet offered. If we wanted to enter into the so-called global village, it was only through the personal computer that we would able to interact with people from all over the world or access just about all kinds of information available.
However, technology is an ever-moving phenomenon. Internet savvy individuals have seen how the virtual world has become more accessible. Gone are the days that we have to sit in front of the computer for hours to get to our favourite websites. These days, we’ve have become more mobile and our expectations from websites we visit are slowly changing. As people and businesses continue to adopt a more mobile lifestyle, it would be safe to say that the next best thing to having a personal computer is having a mobile phone, a smartphone, at that; not to mention a tablet.
This growing trend in gadgets has signalled a challenge among business owners that largely rely on their company website to strengthen their brand and solidify their online presence. As their target markets move closer into a lifestyle that is quite dependent on their mobile phones or tablets, companies have felt the need keep up with their clients. In response to this demand, small and large companies have begun offering mobile versions of their websites. At face value, this seems to be a good direction to go, the rationale behind responsive web design believes otherwise.
Responsive Web Design creator, Ethan Marcotte, believes companies can have one website for every screen; that is, it responds to the environment it is being accessed from, whether through a personal computer, a tablet, or a mobile phone. As such, this is not only a trend but a fundamental shift that companies need to acknowledge.
Responsive web design is not just a one-time strategy that businesses and their web designers are to adopt. It is a series of ideas and techniques that aim to keep up with the new devices that are introduced day by day. Companies which keep this in mind at the onset of putting together their website stand to potentially keep the clients they already have, win the ones they lost, and gain new ones along the way.