That’s right, I said squishable. That’s the technical name we use in the web community. A more accurate term for the best method of addressing all devices from a mobile first perspective would be expandable. And you are correct, I am joking about the term squishable, but when web designers such as myself use the phrase “reponsive web design” most people have a dazed look on their face which implies “hey geek, you are speaking another language and I just want to know what it does.
2011 saw the explosion of mobile devices accessing web content. Although the trend started earlier in the century and first saw a large bump in 2007, last year seemed to be a magical year for mobile. Early in the year I set my focus strongly on the emerging standard of responsive web design. I’m amazed at how much it has grown in popularity in such a short time. The Boston Globe site will be the shining star of 2011, but 2012 will bring the same great functionality to millions of websites while also building upon the design and feel of that new “expandable technology”.
Go ahead, expand and squish this website in Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 9+ or another modern browser. You’ll see the difference right away. Whereas other websites start to get cropped, responsive websites flex and contour to the size of screen you are using. Does your website do this?
