Re: Responsive sites

[standuncan]

Very interesting topic and some very interesting points made on both sides of the argument.

Funny that Google was brought up; when I access Google’s site on my mobile device, (Android), I always scroll and access the “classic site” link because, as a user, I like the familiarity of the desktop site. Also because trying to access gmail through the mobile Google site (not the app)… well I still haven’t figured out how. Reason for this is I leave my mobile browser logged in as one gmail account and my gmail app dedicated to two others.

On another note, I also think it was an interesting topic that one person felt scrolling horizontally on a phone different from a desktop. I tend to agree somewhat, because scrolling horizontally on a desktop site is a no-no, (in my opinion as a user), however it doesn’t annoy or irritate me as much on my phone.

Which brings up, what if a user doesn’t mind scrolling horizontally on their phone and you have a responsive design on your site, so that a column width shrinks down and text content is now only 10 words wide, however it may seem like infinite vertical scrolling. Do these responsive designs have backwards usability so that a user can pinch/zoom and see the content displayed as it would appear on a larger device like a desktop? (somewhat rhetorical)

I am neither for nor against responsive design at this time, I am still learning. Just thought I would share some of my experiences and say I liked the discussion.