HTML5 / RWD – Why and How does it matter.
The increase in mobile traffic on the web assets has forced the marketers to think about how their web assets would look on the mobile devices. You might think that this is a continuation from my previous blog ‘Mobification‘. Yes, you are right. Soon after the blog got published, we started to get questions on how to proceed further on the mobification path. Therefore this blog and we hope this helps.
A disclaimer before we proceed any further. This is not a technical blog where we discuss the coding level information. This is purely a review from the marketer and the end user perspective.
As soon as we talk Mobification of a website, the immediate question they ask themselves is which path to take, HTML5 / RWD. This blog is focused towards sharing information on the basic questions of ‘Why’ and whether it really matters.
There are multiple ways of looking at it in order to select the right one. Based on what we have come across in the market, below are the six questions that get commonly asked across all our customers. We call them the Sensible Six, simply because they are all sensible and sums up all the information one would need to make a decision on the mobification process from a UI and UX perspective.
- What are they?
- Which one is simpler to implement?
- Which one is easier to maintain?
- Which one is good for the end user device?
- Which one is good for the end user UX?
- How does it matter for one as a marketer?
Let’s start taking one question at a time and try answering it from both perspectives.
What are they?
These are technologies that make the website compatible to all mobile devices such as the smart phones, Mini Tablets, Tablets and the Laptops. Let’s see how the both differ from each other from a marketer and an end user perspective.
HTML5
With HTML5 the website will look the same across all the screen sizes. Meaning, the webpage design or layout of content will be standard across all screens. The entire website will fit into the mobile screen of the end user. There would be minimum efforts required from the end user to navigate from left to right or top to bottom to view the entire content of the webpage.
RWD
With RWD the website layout will be dynamic as it will vary from screen to screen (as shown in the image above, courtesy: WordPress) depending on the size of the screen. For example, you might see one column of content (one below the other) on a mobile screen held vertical and might see two columns (one next to the other) when the device is flipped to the horizontal position.
Which one is simpler to implement?
HTML5
HTML5 is easier to implement as there will be no changes required on the existing website layout. All that is needed is a HTML5/JS app running from your m.yourdomain or touch.yourdomain.
RWD
RWD is a bit difficult one to implement compared to HTML5 since you will be breaking down your webpage into multiple components that will realign themselves based on the device it is being accessed by. We will have to liberty to decide on the order of realignment during the coding.
Which one is easier to maintain?
HTML5
HTML5 is comparatively cumbersome to maintain as there are two assets (yourdomain and m.yourdomain/touch.yourdomain) to maintain in case of any content updation or website redesign if necessary.
RWD
For RWD, it is just one website you will have to maintain and you are done. This again is rated as one of the biggest advantages of RWD by many critics.
Which one is good for the end user device?
Considering the device to be the end user interface, it is very important for us to know as to how each technology works on the end user device.HTML5
HTML5 is light on the device as far as data package is concerned but would need a good hardware support from the device in order to convert the data package into a webpage. But once loaded the transition between pages is very smooth mostly in-line with the local mobile applications run on the devices.
RWD
The data package is heavy as the entire data of the page has to be dispatched from the server and therefore the load speed depends on the network one is in. Wifi and 4G being the best and 3G being the next.
Which one is good for the end user UX?
This gets a bit tricky here as it depends on how you see it. This affects the loading time and therefore is a critical component of the UX.HTML5
The page load speed is fast and the transition is smooth and the layout of the webpage looks friendly and standard across all devices. But, the UX primarily depends on the content of the page. Too much content makes the content look puny and the user might have to zoom in to get a better view and understanding of the content. Very less content on the page and it will look pale and the user will lose interest.
RWD
The page load speed depends on the network one is in. Today, even the common man knows that Faster the speed, better the UX. The content of the webpage is completely optimised for the device screen and the user can easily go through the content at leisure and with complete comfort. This is what we would want our user to be doing wont we. But the decision on the best UX is subjective to the network speed and considering the technology we are seeing with 4G and beyond, I don’t see a problem with embracing RWD for the best UX.
How does it matter for one as a marketer?
This is the one question I love the most and you will know why. We all know website is there for a reason. Majority of them are there for the marketing purposes. Therefore, this decision of going the HTML5 or the RWD way has to be justifiable to the marketer from achieving his/her business objective. Let’s now see how each of the two fare.
HTML5
Maintaining a standard layout across all platforms is a good thing to have, but to get the best UX coefficient one will need the optimum use of content. Given the right kind and amount of content on the webpage that will not need the user to zoom in or zoom out on the browser we have a very good chance of achieving the business objective of having the website.
RWD
Marketers would love to position every piece of content in an order if given the option. RWD does just that. As mentioned earlier, the webpage is divided into multiple components that will realign themselves in a predefined order based on the device it is being accessed. This gives the marketer to tell the story in an order, an order that has the possibility of giving the maximum conversion on the business objective. The webpage will work like a local app on the device where the user can access every line of content on the webpage with absolute ease and comfort as it is perfectly optimised for that kind of an environment.
Verdict
This definitely is not an easy one to make. We have understood as to how each of the both fare against the six parameters. HTML5 is the preferred one on a few and RWD on a few and both equally on some instances. However, I would place my bet on the RWD than the HTML5 due to its extremely customizable nature compared to the other. As a Marketer, I would like to control the way how my visitor on the website would consume the content, in an order that would help me take him closer to the conversion or achieving the business objective. This decision of mine stands good for now, but for the future depends on the way evolution of these technologies happen. Looking at the development on the speed of the data transfer RWD seems to lead. This factor will depend on how the technological development will take it through to match the advancements on the smart phone side. This is something to be watched closely in the days to follow.