What, Why and How of Responsive Web Designs

Web designers and bloggers all over the internet have been screaming at the top of their lungs about responsive web design for past few years. It is probable by now you may feel "Okay, YES I got the concept! Can't just anybody around here tell me how to get one?" Well guess what, I'm writing this piece just to tell you that.

Responsive Web Design in short

To summarize responsive designs once again a zillion^th time -

• Designs which adapt themselves with respect to the screen size.
• It is an ideology not a technology.
• It focuses on providing user maximum amount of information via any type of source.
• The mere content and pictures don't shrink, the layout adapts itself to the size of the screen.

Why Responsive Web Design

Once again widely searched and answered question's response-

• 2.1 billion subscriptions of mobile-broadband (Forbes)
• As of 2013 73.4 % mobile user access internet from their mobile which is likely to grow up to 90% by 2017 (Statista)
• In US already 90% of mobile users prefer their mobile to go online (Forbes)

The need for a responsive design is very much evident from such a staggering statistic. If you wish to understand more about it and its need then visit this infographic present in an intricately worded article by Joshua Steimle on Forbes magazine.

To come back to the point which I made you wait for is-

How to get Responsive Web Design

For a responsive design you'll have to be very cautious and thorough at every juncture of the process of website development.

• Clear you basics: I wrote all the above stuff because it is very important your basics are clear before you begin your journey towards a responsive website.
• Choose Wisely: It is necessary to choose a web design agency well versed in responsive design and capable enough to do it..
• Check credentials: Check the credentials of the agency not by reading the testimonials on their website rather by checking their work on a number of different platforms yourself.
• Technical Aspects: Understand a few technical aspects before you talk to a web design agency, so they do not consider you a naive customer. For example ask them what type of framework they will use for your website. Bootstrap and Foundation are two popular CSS frameworks used these days.
• Testing and debugging: These two are very important,so this processes should be carried out by a competent agency only so either hire a freelance for a second opinion or make sure the web design agency you have chosen is capable of testing the website in all the possible conditions then debugging the code.

These are some of the checkpoints you have to clear if you want to complete this race and make a responsive website.