Responsive design and why it's not only MediaQueries

Nowadays it is not an option anymore to have a site that is not looking it's best on all devices. Businesses not only miss customers, but they might also confuse or lose existing customers.

I will focus on topics like

• Why responsive is important for every website (some statistics and stories about mobile usage and how India's biggest companies don't support desktop websites anymore but go full mobile)

• mobile vs. responsive site (what is the terminology of mobile/responsive/adaptive and what should be used for which use case)

• content choreography (Do i need to reorder my website on mobile devices? Where does my sidebar go when space is limited? How can i prepare my DOM for the best results, and what options do I have for mobile suitable menus?)

• content strategy (is the same content relevant on mobile devices? Should I add a "call now" button in the header of my mobile website? Do my images work, are they still showing the same information? Why should I remove most optical gadgets like icons design elements?)

• Information architecture for mobile/responsive sites (What are the goal of the user visiting my website from a desktop, what are his goals visiting from mobile devices? Are they the same or can I provide different information to the devices to give the best user experience? Examples are "find the next branch" information for mobile bank sites vs. online banking for desktop users.)

• Why mobile first is not enough and only progressive enhancement will give us real advantage (If we punish the mobile device by removing stuff and adding polyfills the user experience will suffer. If we reward desktop browsers because they are powerful and have lot's of room to show information we can create the best user experience on all devices.)

• I will showcase websites that include the best practices and make really good use of them. (I have a number of websites that showcase content strategy, information architecture and progressive enhancement in a way that is fun and informative to explore)

This session will be based on an 8 hour workshop that we present to customers. So far we got very positive feedback on the content and the presentation of this very comprehensive topic. Since session time is limited I will give an overview of solutions and options and provide lot's of must-read articles and links to gather more information on the selected topics. I will not cover the technical implementation side of responsive web development but only on the information architecture planning that part of requirements engineering and planning phase of projects.