Web design is undoubtedly an ever-evolving field. Going back to the 2000s, you will remember design with heavy fonts and static design because everyone was using PCs. However, with the advancement in technology, there are new gadgets with various screen sizes.

Due to this reason, designing a website according to the screen size is crucial. Responsive and adaptive web designs play a huge role in this. So, let's have a look in depth!

What is Responsive Design?

The latest web design trends are always changing for the better, and discussion over it is justified. Well, to know, you must understand both approaches. 

A website created using a responsive design is the same for every device. So, how does it work on all screens? Actually, the website is fluid and alters its layout and appearance based on the dimensions and orientation of the device. During this process, the UX designers work closely with the developer to create a website which adapts to every viewport.

In addition, the developers use unique Cascading Style Sheets to ensure that websites will reform according to the screen. Also, it has certain breakpoints to tell the website when to modify itself.

What is Adaptive Design?

Adaptive design is an altogether different process. Here developers use helpful resources for web designers to create various website layouts. So, developers with other teams narrow down all the possible devices on which their users can access the website. Then, developers create specific layouts for each.

The common screen sizes can be 320px, 480px, 760px, 960px, 1200px and 1600px etc . There can be different user experiences for each layout for the same website. You can make out from this explanation that it's more time-consuming than responsive designs. Furthermore, it involves lots of work, but it's one of the low code development platforms.

Pros and Cons of Responsive Design

Here are some plus and negatives of the responsive design:

Pros:

• It takes less time 

• Do better in search engine rankings

• Can adapt to numerous screen sizes

Cons

• A large website can be slower to load

• Involves heavy coding

• Developers and UX designers have to work perfectly to deliver a smooth website.

• It may hang for some screen sizes.

Pros and Cons of Adaptive Design

Here are some advantages and disadvantages of Adaptive Design:

Pros

• Websites are smooth and easy

• It requires less coding

Cons

• It requires lots of time 

• Uncommon screen sizes are not covered

Finally, Decoding the Difference

Both responsive and adaptive design has their pros and cons. So, you must narrow down your audience and your website's reach and then decide. The key difference you must remember is responsive design can change its layout according to small to large screens.

On the other hand, adaptive design requires the formation of different websites for each possible screen size. Also, responsive design is best for larger websites that work from scratch. In comparison, adaptive design is great for smaller websites that are revamped. 

Developers must do excessive coding in the responsive and work by UX designer. While in the latter one, the UX designer has to create various websites. So, according to your platform, niche and audience, you can decide which one is best for you!