Ever since the Almighty Google announced its stance towards responsive web design, the web development industry took a major shift in paradigm. Almost every client you meet wants their website to be compatible with mobile devices, and two major solutions are available for these requirements: Responsive Web Design and Adaptive Web Design. Even though Many people use the terms Adaptive Design and Responsive Design interchangeably when they actually are entirely different things. Even a Google search for Adaptive Design generates most results for Responsive Design because these terms are synonyms outside of Web Design. Those who understand that these are separate believe that Responsive and Adaptive design are practically the same thing. So what sets these two apart?
Table of Contents
Similarities
Both Responsive and Adaptive design are meant to produce the same results: make a website that is compatible with any device. Irrespective of the screen size or resolution it is viewed with, the website should be optimized to provide the best possible experience to its users.
Differences
Responsive Web Design
Responsive web design uses CSS3 media queries to find out the screen sizes and resolutions of the device being used. In Responsive Web Design, all decisions regarding the layout and presentation of the website are made at client-side. Entire available data and content is downloaded from the server irrespective of whether it will be displayed on the device or not. The data, the videos and images are fluid and flexible as they resize and reposition themselves on the run, depending on the changes made by the user on the device. Can you see the flaw in this design? What if the website is a complex one, let’s say an online shopping store where each page has multiple plugins and 10+ photos to display the design of product. If we download all of that data in its full form, when at the end only a small portion of the site and resized images will be used, it will be a pointless delay in loading time of the website.
Adaptive Web Design
Adaptive Design uses the concepts of Progressive Enhancement to define a set of design methods that are user focused. In Adaptive, the decision of which data is to be fetched for the device is made at server side. The screen size is fed to the server, and it responds with that data that is suitable for the device it is being used on. Since we are not downloading any material that will remain unused, it saves a lot of time in downloading the content and loads much quicker as compared to Responsive Design. Reconsider the example of the e-shopping website.
If the site is designed using Adaptive Web Design, the device is determined before fetching the data, and the required code and data is downloaded from the server; resulting in minimization of the time to its core necessity.
What to choose?
If you’re looking to target a wide group of audience, Adaptive Design is your safest bet. This is because Responsive Design is relatively new technology and people with phones that have older browsers would fail to view the proper website. As its con, adaptive design requires more effort on the developers part, and hence is expensive.
However, what is true in one case doesn’t necessarily remain true in general. In most cases Responsive Web Design remains a better solution to developing device friendly websites. So unless you are making a website that has like a dozen call to actions on every page, you can safely use Responsive Design without sacrificing a lot on the efficiency. Read our supporting article on how you can make a successful website, and the key metrics for success with a local business website.
Here is an info-graphic that superbly explains the differences between RWD and AWD. (Source : Mashable.com)
