Responsive Design - The Power Of Responsiveness
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The World Is Flat
To understand the power of responsiveness and responsive design it’s helpful to first comprehend the polar opposite of responsive: Reactive.
Take, for example, the sudden reemergence of an old theory which has recently become popular again on social media:
The notion that the world is flat.
Of course, this old-new theory attracts just as many Defenders of the Globe who angrily leap into the fray to insist the world is round. A fight then ensues as each side passionately defends its beliefs, facts and quasi-facts delivered by shouts, hectoring, and numerous references to those good old standbys of, “We’ve always known this,” and, “It’s always been this way.”
This noisy back and forth is not responsive, but reactive.
As the word implies, re-acting is acting out a scenario repeatedly with the expectation of a different result; a process that may be construed as insanity by more responsive people.
Reactivity is based in fear—fear of change, fear of new ways of thinking, and fear of new ways of addressing old problems based on new information or sudden changes. There’s no collaboration between Teams Flat and Round. No progress, or even a goal.
The argument is only put to rest when that rare, responsive person armed with historical context—artifacts—comes along to provide a solution:
Well before Magellan’s time, the terms world and earth were distinctly different words with different meanings. Modern man too literally interpreted an ancient metaphorical philosophy. A flat world was one regarded as disharmonious.
Flat in tone, not shape.
To better give an idea about the difference between world and earth—flat or round—look at software development. Responsive software developers can create technological worlds of integrated, time-saving harmonious solutions for your enterprise.
Alas, in spite of this wondrous exercise in world building, all of us remain gravity-bound to the same old spherical earth.
The Well-Rounded World
Choosing responsiveness over reactivity is the heart of innovative software design. Through constant deployment, responsiveness becomes a self-perpetrating superpower; embrasure of unlimited intellectual and creative resources.
Responsiveness ...
Empowers collaboration so smaller teams are more effective.
Quickly incorporates unforeseen events and even mistakes into the development process.
Embraces changing customer requirements.
As a creative process, responsive software developers can’t help but speedily delivery working software responsive to user needs.
The Flat Earth Society
But change ensures that even flat can take on new meaning. Flat can refer to worlds built on equality or flat can remain atonal; lacking robust energy because it is comforting to cling to old hierarchies and processes:
Collaboration is replaced with diva-like tantrums because traditional dogmas about design are rattled by new ideas.
(If the belief is so shaky that it’s threatened by new ideas, perhaps it never held useful waters in the first place?)
Changing customer requirements are a cause for panic.
(Agile minds consider change as avenues for innovation.)
Mistakes are sources of outrage and bitter contention.
(Mistakes are opportunities to improve software and how it’s developed)
Instead of sprinting, design becomes sidetracked to a crawl with constant testing.
(A face-saving measure to hide the fact one is working with mediocre coding prefabricated from uninspired minds.)
From this state of reactivity nothing innovative or even useful can be wrought. The world of software development would always remain flat. No equality—loud but disharmonious.
Fortunately your company needn’t be gravity-bound to reactive software development.
If you are looking for a design team that knows how to respond, contact the Intellection Group. Or give a call at 678-283-4283 if you need well- rounded world builders to provide innovative solutions to all your software needs.