There is no way to deny the fact that responsive web design is great. You have to use it because of various advantages that are offered. However, this does not mean that there are no problems that can appear. We will take a look at some of the really common ones so you know what to expect. Do not think that RWD is flawless because it is not. The really great responsive websites are designed by people that do have a lot of experience.
Clients Do Not Understand Responsive Web Design
It was really easy to understand website design some time ago as the process was linear. Clients had no problems understanding everything during the briefing stage. However, when looking at responsive web design, things are much more complicated and many clients do not actually understand why they should pay more for it as opposed to the regular web site.
The good news is that the solution is not at all difficult. Instead of trying to explain what responsive web design does, highlight the result. Simply show a website built with RWD on various devices. That will make everything pretty obvious and the client will be able to quickly understand why the investment is a good one.
No Static Web Design Phase
Instead of creating a static screenshot, the designer has to focus on wireframing, rapid CSS and HTML prototypes and quick sketches. What you have to do is design fewer layouts and focus on more elements. Workflow and web design process can vary from one professional to the other but one solution that is incredibly great is to use paper and drawings to create sketches. That will help you to quickly figure out what you are faced with and you can see how the design is going to look in the future.
Navigation Problems
Site navigation was normally horizontal, right on the page’s top side, rarely down the left side. Now the modern approach is much more complex. You need to create a navigation structure that is highly visible and that focuses on the information and content architecture.
Image Problems
Just as with the navigation, we have so many options that are available when referring to how to handle images in a responsive design. There is no community guideline that is respected and widely used among programmers. Everyone boils down to personal choice. There are dozens of different scripts that are available at the moment and that can be utilized to deal with image presentation on various devices.
In a similar way to the code, the icons and images that you use have to be flexible. This is done in order to guarantee that all graphics would look great on devices that feature high pixel density. A failure to do this can end up showing blurry images.
Do make sure that you have enough time available to prepare the design. Creating a responsive website takes a lot more time than when you simply go for the linear approach associated with regular design patterns we used to take advantage of.