One of the new buzzwords in the web design community is “responsive design“. This refers to website design that responds gracefully to the device it is being displayed on. While on the surface this sounds like a great idea, there are some drawbacks.

1. It’s hard to design a site that works well on a big screen, AND a small smartphone screen. Elements get re-arranged, content gets squeezed, and the user experience can suffer.
2. It’s disorienting – users that are used to the “desktop” version of your website, can be disoriented when the site looks different on their tablet or smartphone. If they are used to panning and zooming, they may prefer the site to stay the same, and the way they are used to viewing it.
3. Less is not more. Users on smartphones can feel like they are “missing something” if the site looks stripped down from the desktop version.

The long term solution for building websites may indeed be responsive design, but I don’t think that’s clear yet. New devices and technologies may change the landscape yet again. While you can’t ignore mobile users, going after a full re-design at this stage may be premature.