What do the Vancouver Canucks, Tourism BC, Metropolis at Metrotown, and Nature’s Path all have in common?
FCV!
Having already signed those four major contracts before wrapping up the first quarter, we’re off to a fantastic start to our seventh year. But a contract with FCV isn’t all that these brands share in common. For each client, our team is combining – or in the case of our two most recent contracts, considering combining – aspects of mobile and strategy that leverage responsive web design to deliver clean websites that look (and work) great on any screen, in any resolution.
Wondering what’s so great about that?
For those of you who work in or are familiar with web design and development, you’ll appreciate that designing a fixed interface for a widescreen monitor is no longer good enough. Not by a long shot. Given the explosive growth in mobile technology and resulting shift in consumer behavior, almost every new client these days wants a site that isn’t just smartphone compatible, but that works on tablets, as well – and rightfully so!
But there are literally hundreds of web-enabled smart devices on the market, with new ones appearing every day, bringing along with them their own set of design challenges and requirements. For many businesses, creating a different website version for each new device and resolution would be impossible, or at the very least, extremely time consuming and financially impractical. Should your business have to sacrifice visitors on one device for the benefit of gaining visitors on another? Or is there another option?
Enter: Responsive web design.
Responsive web design describes the process of designing and developing websites that react to users’ actions, detect the medium the site is being viewed on, and adjust accordingly to optimize navigability and readability. In other words, instead of creating dedicated sites for mobile, tablet, desktop, and large desktop platforms, with different content, user interfaces, and creative elements, a single responsive site can automatically adjust to accommodate necessary changes in resolution, image size, and scripting abilities. The end result? A flexible and user-friendly website that could save you time, money, and most importantly of all, customers.
Check out these TravelSmart Tracker screenshots, a site we built using RWD:
As computers, software, and electronics evolve, it’s important new websites not only work on existing technology, but are future-proof, as well. For those two very reasons, responsive web design is quickly becoming one of the most practical ways to build a site. While it has its complexities (such as cross-browser compatibility for HTML5 and CSS3) and might not be appropriate for every project – depending on technical specs, resources, and target audience – FCV believes responsive design to be an important consideration for any new website. By adopting it, you can effectively ignore many of the tech restrictions you'd otherwise have to deal with. And without these restrictions, amazing things are possible, which, in the end, can save your business time, money, and customers.
