The displays of Android devices: a search path for responsive design

Abstract

Android devices show a wide variation in the display size and resolution. Unlike its main competitor, Apple, whose IOS is installed only in the devices produced by them - which ensures standardization in the displays and graphic interface - the Android system can be used by several different mobile device manufacturers that define their own standards, whether for tablets or cell phones. This directly impacts on the layout design of applications for the Android system, since it must consider and anticipate the diversity of display specs, aiming to deliver the best user experience. Responsive design seeks to answer such problems, applying techniques that allow the layout design to provide the user with the optimal experience of visualization, contact and interaction in handling a wide variety of different devices. Thus, this study focuses on understanding the design steps required to build an application for mobile devices running the Android operating system, in order to achieve the best response from the user through responsive design. To do so, this paper’s methodological basis is grounded on a descriptive case study, not only for the novel approach it allows to mobile applications and for the wide range and flexibility of analysis it provides, but mainly to describe the behavior and results achieved by the applications in displays with different specification.