Website shape - time to go widescreen!

It used to be that you made your site for 800x600 because that is what everybody had, it was the most common.  Then we crept into 1024x768 range, the 15" and half of the 17" LCD's out there usually fall into that category.. that was in like 2001.  Now, 99% of the screens being sold (and same for recent history) are all widescreen, 16:10 ratios, 1440x900, etc - this really changes how your site will look on a newer display.

Here is a good question that I had (if I do say so myself): Do we want to make the site look "The most Compatible" (800x600 still), or do we want the site to look "The BEST" for the majority of users that have relatively new gear?

Answer: The later.  We are building websites for consumers, not librarians.  Consumers buy things.  Consumers hopefully won't be using the same screen they had in 2002, if they are, I bet they are using that screen to shop for a new screen.

If the site looks compatible, but your competition looks awesome, your Politically Correct attitude could land you in second place with a huge percentage of the shoppers out there.

A possible way to measure your audience could be by their browser type - you can infer from the browser type/age much more about their personality - this can be fun.

1. If they have Chrome, they are pretty gadget-ty, this is not a mainstream browser quite yet, although does have a ton of users - these are mostly hobbiests and geeks.
2. If they have Safari, they have a an apple - these are ALWAYS widescreen / beautiful displays.
3. If they have IE8 - it's a toss-up, but I would bet the same people upgrading their browser are upgrading their PC.
4. If they have IE7 - who knows.. probably still 80% bigger screens.
5. If they have IE6 - they should not be on the internet! (although this is still a large percentage of OUR visitors :P )
6. If they have Firefox - let's assume it's a decent screen, they obviously care about their computer, or someone does FOR them..
    

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0 #1 Eugene Radulov 2010-02-26 08:29

I have Firefox, though my screen isn't large enough

www.softmarket.ro

 

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