Adaptive web design
One form of responsive web design is adaptive web design, which goes beyond simply scaling a website. Each situation determines what a visitor will see with adaptive web design, such as:
- Different, no or fewer images in mobile display
- A button that allows the visitor to call directly when a website is visited on mobile
- When the visitor is within a certain radius of the company a route option is given
These are some of the possibilities with adaptive web design, but there are a lot more. The idea behind adaptive Web design is that a mobile visitor expects different elements from a desktop Web site. When companies meet these expectations, they provide the ultimate website experience for every type of visitor.
Difference with responsive web design
The difference between responsive web designs and adaptive web designs is in two important ways. A responsive Web site scales smoothly in percentages with the screen size. An adaptive web design scales in leaps and bounds. This difference is in the following aspects:
- A responsive design works with breakpoints and scales between breakpoints to accommodate changes
- An adaptive web design also works with breakpoints but does not scale between them like a responsive website does
There are a few more special things about an adaptive web design. First, an adaptive web design looks at what device it should load on, then loads the best version for that device once it has been determined which device it is. The reason adaptive web design does not scale like a responsive website is very simple. More is offered per "best version" for the device. Adaptive web design goes one step further than responsive design goes in that regard.
