Pros and cons of responsive intranet
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2025 6:15 am
Managing, sharing, organizing and distributing documents at one central point was another important argument. We wanted to develop and strengthen a structured and efficient workflow.
ROI important factor in choosing app, mobile or responsive
Last year, Jakob Nielsen published a number of articles ( Mobile Sites vs. Apps: The Coming Strategy Shift , Mobile Site vs. Full Site , and Repurposing vs. Optimized Design ) that were not entirely without criticism. However, we would like to highlight one quote from Nielsen that certainly holds water:
“The decision whether to build a responsive site or separate mobile version should be driven by return on investment.”
Therein lies the answer. A cost-benefit analysis showed in the case of Nidos that it is more profitable to develop one responsive intranet than two separate ones (mobile and desktop). And we are convinced that this also applies to many other organizations. But such an analysis will have to show this for a specific situation each time.
Advantages:
Independent of device type or platform: works not only namibia phone data on smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktop PCs and other devices, but also on different types of smartphones and so on.
The layout is optimized for any screen, making content always accessible.
Only one (holistic) approach — research, strategy, design, development and implementation — is needed. Saves development costs.
One intranet with one codebase and one information source. Saves on management costs.
Complex websites or intranets are often built from a structure with multiple levels of information (in your information architecture) and this is often reflected in the navigation (main navigation, meta navigation, sub navigation and search function). On a desktop PC where a screen has a high resolution, there is enough space to develop this navigation in a user-friendly way. But translating it to a mobile device is a lot more difficult. (And for complex navigation, 'mobile first' design and development is not necessarily the solution, in our experience.)
And why not an app(s) or mobile intranet?
We would like to list the pros and cons of the technical possibilities (app, mobile or responsive intranet). Of course, budget and management also play a decisive role in this.
ROI important factor in choosing app, mobile or responsive
Last year, Jakob Nielsen published a number of articles ( Mobile Sites vs. Apps: The Coming Strategy Shift , Mobile Site vs. Full Site , and Repurposing vs. Optimized Design ) that were not entirely without criticism. However, we would like to highlight one quote from Nielsen that certainly holds water:
“The decision whether to build a responsive site or separate mobile version should be driven by return on investment.”
Therein lies the answer. A cost-benefit analysis showed in the case of Nidos that it is more profitable to develop one responsive intranet than two separate ones (mobile and desktop). And we are convinced that this also applies to many other organizations. But such an analysis will have to show this for a specific situation each time.
Advantages:
Independent of device type or platform: works not only namibia phone data on smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktop PCs and other devices, but also on different types of smartphones and so on.
The layout is optimized for any screen, making content always accessible.
Only one (holistic) approach — research, strategy, design, development and implementation — is needed. Saves development costs.
One intranet with one codebase and one information source. Saves on management costs.
Complex websites or intranets are often built from a structure with multiple levels of information (in your information architecture) and this is often reflected in the navigation (main navigation, meta navigation, sub navigation and search function). On a desktop PC where a screen has a high resolution, there is enough space to develop this navigation in a user-friendly way. But translating it to a mobile device is a lot more difficult. (And for complex navigation, 'mobile first' design and development is not necessarily the solution, in our experience.)
And why not an app(s) or mobile intranet?
We would like to list the pros and cons of the technical possibilities (app, mobile or responsive intranet). Of course, budget and management also play a decisive role in this.