Adaptive design is a website design technique that enables a version of the site to be adapted to all types of media (PC, tablet, mobile, etc.).
This concept is becoming more and more widespread, bringing a high level of visual comfort and ergonomics to users.
In the field of web design, several trends intersect and resemble each other, such as mobile-first design, responsive design, and adaptive design.
These notions refer to a way of designing web pages so that they adapt to the different terminals used, and to mobiles in particular.
However, there are a few differences between the well-known responsive design and adaptive design:
- Responsive design: a technique made possible by CSS3's Media Queries. Using a single HTML code and a system of fluid grids, the website automatically adapts to the size of the screen on which it’s viewed. A single site is thus developed to adapt to all terminals. This technique is fairly easy to implement, but it can have a few drawbacks, notably slowing down page loading times.
- Adaptive design: this is a different type of design that considers the expectations and browsing habits of web users, depending on the device used (PC, tablet, smartphone, etc.). When the site is designed, a specific strategy is developed for each terminal. This enables users to consult a high-performance site that offers the best possible rendering, whatever the screen used.
Adaptive design offers greater performance and fluidity than responsive design. It takes users' browsing preferences for each type of device into account to enhance the user experience.
An adaptive website is thus able to detect the dimensions of the user's screen and choose the most suitable layout from the set of layouts created.
However, adaptive design is more difficult to implement, since it involves developing several versions of the same site for each screen size, a process that necessitates some trial and error. This approach is more costly for companies.
A development budget that can increase, especially because of the number of new device models released on a regular basis, each requiring new trials and updates.
