For years, now, it has been termed as the “mobile web.”
It’s the bite-sized version of the Internet. Some websites, even still today, have their mobile version. There’s even the popular use of .mobi as a domain name extension that’s used to drop your mobile version on.
Matt Ward of Echo Enduring Media wrote a great piece that posed the question:
Can we finally move beyond mobile?
With 43% of web users accessing the web on mobile devices, wouldn’t we say, “Hello” instead of “Goodbye? How could we ever think of “moving beyond mobile?”
Responsive Design
It’s called responsive design.
Develop one website that flexes and shifts based on the users screen resolution. Desktop or mobile, the page calibrates the content.
We’ve covered a few different responsive resources on ChurchMag in the past:
- How To: 3 Solid, Responsive, Mobile-Friendly Layouts
- Responsive, Mobile-Friendly Development Boilerplate
- Responsive 1140 CSS Grid
- Responsive Web Design Collection
With more and more users accessing content on mobile devices, it looks like we need to start posting about more responsive web design resources!
Transition
Right now, we are in a transition. It’s not required to build responsive websites, but if you don’t start learning, now, you’ll find yourself behind the curve.
It’s not just from a technical standpoint, either, but how we think about web design, too.
The beauty of the so-called “mobile” design is that its fundamental constraints naturally lead to a better user experience on handheld devices (or at least handheld devices that offer a modern browsing experience). But the idea shouldn’t stop there. Instead, it should flow over into the entire site, placing the focus on content and usability in all contexts, not just for the smaller screens of our handheld devices.
By saying, “goodbye” to the mobile web, we’re essentially saying, “hello” to better design.
In my mind, this is the way of the future. It’s not about a “mobile“ web that stands in direct contrast to a “desktop“ web. Instead, its about a single, flexible and meticulously crafted web that provides rich user experiences across a wide range of different devices.
I agree.
What do you think?
[via Echo Enduring Blog | Image via Johan Larsson]
Andre' Barnes says
Good blog post Eric. True and true.
Eric Dye says
Thanks!