Adaptive web design

The environment of web design is constantly changing both in terms of design trends and the technology that we are using. Even the devices we use to access the internet are constantly changing - in fact we are apparently now in the "post-pc" era. So how do we keep up?

Of course, we follow the trends: we've seen some pretty nifty ways to adapt and evolve in the new landscape and we are constantly adapting our own methods to achieve the best possible results. One of the biggest changes to web design is probably in the nature of the devices being used to access it and the standards that these users expect from a website. Mobile is growing fast, tablets are taking over and people are even using their games consoles to access the web. People want an experience that feels natural and intuitive and, unfortunately, one size does not fit all. So we need to create something more adaptive.

Looking at the problem from my own perspective, and I probably fit the bill as a great litmus test of web design as I access from my phone, my tablet, my laptop and my 2-screen pc for everything from work, play, reading, socialising etc. I know that I don't want multiple disconnected experiences. I want the website I access on my PC to be just as accessible on my phone but not a reduced experience - I get really annoyed when I am forced to access a site's reduced mobile site. I also don't want a website that spans across a huge monitor making the sentences on the page too long to read like you see in stretching layouts.

So I come back to adaptive designs, not cut-back designs. The problem is the current implementations leave a lot to be desired - meaning a reduced design in order to accommodate the changing dimensions. So we are trying our own solutions and are excited to see the course the designs will take. These things should start to be reflected in upcoming designs but we test cautiously and incrementally as we don't ever build anything for a client that we aren't sure is completely stable and effective. The exact shape of things to come we still don't know, but we are genuinely excited by the challenges ahead.

Our goal is to create a structure for websites that allow dynamic re-positioning of elements to better suit the device size and interface. From there we can start to use it as a framework for our sites in the future.

I'd love to hear about your experiences and thoughts (whatever kind of web user you see yourself as) of visiting websites on mobiles, tablets, netbooks (even so-called 'normal' pcs) so please leave your comments, email us or - as usual - get on twitter and let us know what you think, @gorillacreative.