Consumer-oriented marketing through interactive video ads and free in-game credits through mobile apps seems to have taken hold and has been a burgeoning trend in mobile advertising. Naturally, online retailers that have already made their fortunes and established their brands online are now expanding their market reach by optimizing their digital content and website design for different screen resolutions and mobile platforms. They are aimed at tech-savvy consumers who frequently use their smartphones and tablets to watch blockbuster movies via paid streaming services like Flixster and to buy songs, ringtones and apps from iTunes or Google Play.
The principles of Responsive Web Design (RWD) were intended to address usability issues when displaying websites on different platforms and screen resolutions. Designers must create multiple versions of a website design for at least three screen sizes, including 320×480, 480×768, and 768x browsers. Most designers assign a fixed layout to each screen resolution and simply adjust the margins for convenient styling. On the one hand, web design experts see a fluid and scalable design as a more optimal option for a better user experience on a greater number of mobile devices, including aftermarket products running on older versions of Android.
The old trick of simply adjusting the width of a web page in relation to a smaller screen no longer works. It forcefully squeezes other page elements, such as an embedded media player and interactive menu, into a very limited area. Now, designers must work with website owners when selecting content to display on smaller screens. However, all versions must have the same formatting for text and images and must use the same design elements, such as an image or font type, in whole or in part.
To illustrate, a website’s home page appears on a 10-inch tablet just as it does on an LCD monitor. On a mobile browser that is 480 pixels or more wide, the display area can only accommodate a single column layout with three or four links, an image or two, and a few lines of text. Users don’t have to scroll down a longer screen (ie 480 pixels wide by 800 pixels tall for some Android and Windows 7 devices), which also provides more space for additional content. Some creative ways to make the most of a limited mobile screen include placing text in expandable or collapsible containers and breaking long blocks of text into multiple pages of two or three paragraphs.