WHAT IS RESPONSIVE
WEB DESIGN?
INTRO
THE WEB RIGHT NOW
16.2 million mobile handset subscribers in Australia
an increase of 7% from 15.2 million subscribers at the end
of December 2011
* Australian Bureau of Statistics
THE WEB RIGHT NOW
6,610 Terabytes downloaded during three months
ending June 2012 an increase of 32%
from the three months ended 31 December 2011
* Australian Bureau of Statistics
THE WEB RIGHT NOW
As many as 31% of users use their mobile as their primary means to access the internet
(United States stat)
DIFFERENT RESOLUTIONS & FORMATS
TWO APPROACHES, EXPLAINED
Separate Mobile site:
• Mobile & desktop experiences are treated completely differently
• The Web site detects the devices and diverts the user to the appropriate site
• Typically the mobile site has fewer functions and content
Responsive design
• User experience is based on the same foundation
• The site detects the screen resolution and adjusts the interface accordingly
• Content is the same across desktop & mobile
CONSIDERATIONS
Separate Mobile site:
• Good for dedicated experiences
• URL’s will be different
• Page load can be better optimized for the device
• Users may not expect a completely different experience
Responsive design:
• May impact production costs
• One URL is good for SEO (Google's preferred approach, although they support separate sites too)
• Easy to maintain (one single version of the site)
• Mitigate against future devices
• Guarantee to fit on the users screen
• Resizing graphics could be problematic
• Compatibility issues with HTML5 & CSS3
• Responsiveness can be compromised
WHY SHOULD EPA BE RESPONSIVE?
Mobile traffic growing from around 5% a year to 10%
(and increasing)Plan for the future
53% mobile traffic during
summer
10% mobile traffic
WHY EPA AND NOT THE BEACH REPORT?
WHY EPA AND NOT THE BEACH REPORT?
Main EPA site gets less mobile traffic and has less of a specific
purpose Responsive design allowed EPA to support mobile whilst catering to
all audiences and needs
DEMONSTRATION
11% increase in visits and24% increase in page views
in the 3 months afterlaunch compared to the 3
months before launch
GENERAL TRAFFIC RESULTS*
* Please note that these are approximations
10% mobile traffic 1st Aug – 31st Oct 2012
(compared to 5.6% mobile traffic during
1st Aug – 31st Oct 2011)
MOBILE TRAFFIC RESULTS*
* Please note that these are approximations
External feedback has been overwhelmingly positive
...AND MOST IMPORTANTLY
SOME LEARNINGS
• Content can be tricky e.g complex tables• Legacy apps - Think about how to integrate non-responsive
apps/microsites• Page and image sizes• Order of item layout at various sizes - requires thought• Hard to explain to people without showing them (having
responsive wireframes developed was useful as an internal sales tool)
• Content creators need to update their thinking to consider mobile (the responsive design framework isn't going to solve this) - still working on this one