Is there a point to responsive web site designs?

Newbie to this so hope I have the terminology right - by responsive I mean have a mobile/tablet design built in so auto converts to the right version for the viewing device.

Is there a point? I keep coming across conflicting viewpoints about this, so can someone who has more experience give me a steer in the right direction ?

Cheers
 
Basically it means you site will work on most devices in a pleasing/logical manner to your vistors, no matter what device/size they're viewing on/at, without you having to create different versions of the site (a stripped down, mobile version on a sub-domain for example) and then mess about redirecting mobile/tablet users to these domains. You can now do it all through CSS using the same HTML mark up. It seems fiddly, but in the long run, it should mean less work.
 
Just to add to what Paul has said, you will know if there is a point by looking at Analytics data. If your site gets a decent amount of mobile traffic then definitely worth delivering content in a mobile-friendly manner. Responsive is frustrating but really rewarding when you see the different site states working well on devices.
 
well here is a little fact, tablet devices in febuary and march 2013 were up 10.7% over laptops and mobiles, so its defo needed
 
the whole intention of a responsive website is to improve the practibility of a website for a visitor, giving them a uniform design across all platforms, they also help a website owner keep their site updated as you're only updating one website rather than having 2 or 3 versions (main site, mobile site and tablet site (seen this a few times).

Responsive sites are still in their infancy, in that the feature is still being edited and has not been fully released as a standard (CSS3) so expect some changes which could mean even better techniques for making the site react to a device.

CSS3 isn't just about Responsive though, there are lots of interesting techniques such as border-radius (cornered elements), multiple backgrounds per page and gradients. Have a look at CSS3 Info for tutorials and info on the CSS3 platform
 
Absolutely. We work responsively with a few of our larger clients. If your client has a large mobile/tablet user base, you should consider tailoring the experience towards that market.

Tablets and smartphones make up a large part of modern internet usage, as they get more powerful that market share is going to get larger.

The 1140 grid system is a good framework to start with when designing responsive websites, throw a browser reset stylesheet in there and you've got a good base to work from.
 
Absolutely. We work responsively with a few of our larger clients. If your client has a large mobile/tablet user base, you should consider tailoring the experience towards that market.

Tablets and smartphones make up a large part of modern internet usage, as they get more powerful that market share is going to get larger.

The 1140 grid system is a good framework to start with when designing responsive websites, throw a browser reset stylesheet in there and you've got a good base to work from.

I've been looking at Foundation: The Most Advanced Responsive Front-end Framework from ZURB recently. Really trying to work out the various pros and cons of different grid systems so would be interested in why you use your chosen grid system Pete.
 
Yes of course, responsive website design is a must, you want to make sure as many people can view your sites in the best way possible. It take a little more work but is worth it in the long run.
 
I'll give Foundation a whirl Corrosive. The main reason I was using the 1140 grid was because it fits nicely into my workflow, plus the way the CSS works in nice blocks of rows makes it idea for coding into Wordpress themes.
 
Newbie to this so hope I have the terminology right - by responsive I mean have a mobile/tablet design built in so auto converts to the right version for the viewing device.

Is there a point? I keep coming across conflicting viewpoints about this, so can someone who has more experience give me a steer in the right direction ?

Cheers

ITS THE FUTURE!

so they say..

I think that if you are going to make responsive websites then your targeting the tablet to PC market and everything in between. I suppose it will be needed in the future (short future that is) as everyone now seems to do everything on an ipad. I personally have not got in to it yet but I suppose ill have to do it shortly.
 
It may well be that tablets dominate the home user market in the near future whereas desktops and laptops will have a place in offices for a very long time. Our B 2 C sites are getting hits up to 34% from tablets and mobiles. 2012 it was under 20%.
 
A responsive web design adjusts itself in accordance with the screen resolutions. However, at times it does not provide with convenience of browsing. Instead of a responsive web design, you can think of getting a mobile website done that can be accessed through the mobile devices and tablets. A mobile website presents with the ideal interface that provides with browsing convenience.
 
A responsive web design adjusts itself in accordance with the screen resolutions. However, at times it does not provide with convenience of browsing. Instead of a responsive web design, you can think of getting a mobile website done that can be accessed through the mobile devices and tablets. A mobile website presents with the ideal interface that provides with browsing convenience.
Well if you want to go back to they way it was done 5 years ago maybe...
How is your mobile site going to cope with the variety of screen widths on large and small tablets?
Why would responsive design not 'provide with convenience of browsing' given that that is exactly what it aims to do?
 
It may well be that tablets dominate the home user market in the near future whereas desktops and laptops will have a place in offices for a very long time. Our B 2 C sites are getting hits up to 34% from tablets and mobiles. 2012 it was under 20%.
.. and just to add to this stat - of this 34% that were using tablets/mobiles about 90% of that was iPhone/iPad.
 
Hi Responsive web design certainly makes your site more accessible in different devices using media queries with css will help achieve this.
 
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