18th Feb 2019
The key functions
Creating the website
If you're already working with an existing website, it's very difficult to retrofit this to be responsive. However, applying an adaptive design to a fixed-width website is much easier, as the existing website can be left as it is and adaptive breakpoints applied where necessary. This approach is also better suited where the development budget is limited. If the website is being built or redesigned from scratch then responsive design is simple to implement.
The way the website performs
Criticism has often been leveled at responsive design for not delivering when it comes to download speeds and performance. However, this is not a problem inherent in responsive design but rather the way that designers have approached it, attaching small screen media queries onto a site's existing CSS. This has often meant that the resources in place for bigger devices went to all device instead, basically slowing everything down. Today, responsive design has evolved considerably so this does not need to be an issue.
Browser support
Both responsive and adaptive designs are pretty well supported by browsers. The only issues that may arise are responsive websites encountering the oldest versions of Internet Explorer.
Visual design
Responsive design isn't limited to specific pre-sets as an adaptive approach is. However, the reality may be that responsive design looks great at some of the more popular resolutions but not so great for anything in between. Adaptive design is more reliable when it comes to design control, as this has been defined in advance. However, it's also important to remember that to get a high-quality result, resources may be required to design each of the pre-set layouts that are involved.
Futureproofing
Responsive design has the advantage, as it is created to accommodate all screen sizes, even those that have not been invented yet. Adaptive, on the other hand, may not deal with new resolutions.
Making a choice between adaptive and responsive web design requires an evaluation of existing resources and budget, as well as the purpose of the redesign. There is no one size fits all solution when it comes to web design - each one is, necessarily, very individual.
