Is Responsive Web Design Right for Retailers? A User Experience Perspective.
by Amy LaniganThursday, May 23rd, 2013
Last week we asked “Is Responsive Web Design Right for Retailers?” and you responded. Our interview with Steve Reighgut, Fluid’s Director of Engineering, struck a cord with readers and retailers. Right on.
So we continue the RWD conversation with Abigail Hart Gray, Fluid’s V.P. of User Experience. Fluid’s UX team is at the forefront of designing in digital to meet and exceed consumer needs. RWD gives them a new palette with which to play.
My top three take-aways:
1. In-the-moment needs matter: Decisions about RWD should come down to whether customers have expectations of your brand that differ by device.
2. RWD is mobile’s best friend: In Abigail’s words, “Mobile is the final frontier of shit usability. RWD is a panacea for this almost universal issue.” (Seriously why would I say that any differently?)
3. RWD can increase mobile conversion rates: The notion that consumers aren’t willing to convert on mobile is outdated. It’s blaming users for a usability issue – that RWD can help solve.
Now on to the interview…
[Amy] What is Responsive Web Design?
[Abigail] In its most pure definition it is a device agnostic way to manage your website with a single code base that works across any screen resolution.
RWD detects device resolution and then adjusts content layout and interactive feature differences based on the screen real estate of the device being accessed.
[Amy] What’s the best thing about it?
[Abigail] RWD requires much less maintenance cost and ensures device appropriate experiences without having to worry about adjusting for new devices that hit the market – which we know happens every day. The experience is always going to look good.
[Amy] What’s the biggest challenge of RWD?
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