Poll: What resolution do you typically design for?

I use a widescreen 1440 x 900 resolution (15″ MacBook Pro). I choose this because I didn’t want a smaller computer (I’ve already had a 12″) and I couldn’t afford a 17″ (both monetarily and physically).

Tracking software showed that most of my visitors used 1024X768 but I still had a large percentage of 800X600 visitors. Visitors with 800X600 resolution should accustomed to scrolling, however, I look at it like this…why make them scroll if they don’t have to. The happier people are with your site, the more likely they are to return…right?

My decisions are client driven. Although my sites render well at the lower resolutions the expanded resolution allows the dominant class of my clients’ visitors to view more without scrolling. The overall presentation is better at 1024×768 with a small penalty for those who want/need 800×600.

I find that most users these days use 1024×766 or higher. If I am designing a site that is larger than 800 pixels wide I try to put a link on the index page to direct users on how to change their resolution. You can download these instruction for your own use at: Ideas4.

Most people on my island aren’t interested in updating their computers, so i build my websites based on the most popular screen size sold here. Most people who can afford and who have bought a larger screen aren’t usually the once who spend the most money our products and services, nor are they the majority.

I design in 800×600 for several reasons. The biggest one though is that my mother in-law (my test audience) has that resolution. I figure that if that test audience can get the site up quickly and clearly then it’s right. I also view it on my mother (not in-law)’s computer which is one of those monsterous cinema screens from Macintosh. I make sure it still works there and move on.

In my neck of the woods, individuals primarily are casual PC users with dial-up or DSL services. 800×600 seems to be the simplest way to reach this market. Most people don’t have the patience to wait around for a heavier page to load, or are turned off by scrolling.

We build for 800×600 or 1024×768, with room for browser chrome, depending on the project research. For instance, if under 10% are on 800 we’ll often design for 1024.

You should still consider users that aren’t viewing at full screen, alternate devices, and the content you’re displaying. Why use that much space if you don’t have content for it?

Even if we design for 1024, we still keep the primary content within the 800 range and supplementary content in the 1024 sidebar. ESPN.com does a great job of this.

Why not design for several different resolutions? With an little scripting you can auto-detect their settings and then redirect your visitors to a page designed specifically for their resolution. Happy people everywhere. sixeyeco at gmail.com

I design for 800 x 600. I have several analytical devices that test various features of my web sites and most of my visitors are within that range. I have viewed my sites at different resolutions and they appear to render fine.

The only downfall is that there appears to be some unused space at larger resolutions.

I try to create layouts that work all the way from 800×600 to 1280×1024. I make all my layouts stretch to the screen and set the CSS max-width property, so if it’s a higher width than 1280, the content does not get stretched beyond belief.

Originally I designed for 800 x 600, but made a flexible design. Nowadays, with the wide screen getting more common, I have adjusted the layout so it’s more or less enjoyable (= readable) from 1200 px width and down to handheld devices.

1200 as upper limit because I think most users with very big screens use a smaller browser window. I have seen some pages on a 1600 screen, full browser window, and it was quite difficult reading the text, because extremely long text lines.

Regards/Donpedro

I design for 800 x 600–with a content area that is actually 720 x 540. Most of my development occurs on a laptop and my target audience is generally college students with limited funds for the latest computers. I tend to use a fixed layout, or at least a fixed width layout, rather than liquid layouts becuase I want some consistency from viewer to viewer. I try to make my sites easy to read, with plenty of whitespace. The downside is that even a simple site may have dozens of pages.

After looking at the poll results, I may start designing for a 1024 x 768 screen.

SBW

I use 1280 x 1024 on a 19″ flat panel monitor. I can still read all the text and I can get more packed into the screen so I don’t have to scroll around so much.

Although I prefer a higher resolution to both view and design with, our demographic client base is an older male with poorer eyesight and older CRT machines typically set on 800 x 600. Therefore I design for that size, while also minimizing (sic. eliminating) annoying Flash and other extraneous animations. Load it fast…give ‘em the goods…keep ‘em coming back!!

Jennifer: You said:

our demographic client base is an older male with poorer eyesight and older CRT machines typically set on 800 x 600. Therefore I design for that size

That is exactly what you should be doing. Rather than making dogmatic pronouncements that can’t be proven either way “everyone browses maximized” or “no one browses maximized”. Instead, take a look at your audience, do testing, and design a site that best meets their needs.

The big problem with maximizing or not maximizing is that no one really knows. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find out that it’s 50/50. But I also wouldn’t be surprised to learn that larger monitors and resolutions generate a larger percentage of non-maximized browsers. That’s what my testing has shown and that’s what I design for, but as with everything “your mileage may vary”.

Kudos to you for taking a look at your audience and designing for that first.

The majority of people on the web bought their computers within the last 8 years or so. The computers came setup for 1024×768 resolution. 800×600 and 640×480 are very old.
However I also consider designing sites for display on phones and the PSP.