Ask HN: Website Design Based on Internet Connection Speed

[alxmrph]

I just got done reading an article that I originally stumbled upon through HN by Stephanie Rieger where she describes her frustration with Camper.com via a slow internet connection where the designer's user of technology triumphed the site's usability. (See article here: http://stephanierieger.com/its-about-the-content-stupid/)

Well, this got me thinking. Would it be possible to load different site designs based on the internet connection speed of the user? Basically something similar to that of the way we utilize certain style sheets (CSS) based on screen size.

P.S. Just as a heads up I am new not only to HN, but the entire programming world. I have intermediate knowledge in HTML & CSS, and I've just started learning JavaScript. If anyone has tips or advice I would love to hear from you!

Respect, Alex

[kellros]

Not that I'm aware of out the box. There are multiple good practices to follow. YSlow and Google Pagespeed are both great indicators of what you're doing wrong.

What you need to remember is that you should only 'load' what you need. Don't load a 1920x1200 size image if you're only displaying it as 240x150. Combine your stylesheets, create sprite images, load only javascript you need - try to stay away from flash and similar embedded objects. Make sure your files are served compressed (except images) and that proper caching is in place.

You can't always blame the technology.

[alxmrph]

Thanks for the words of advice, Kellros. And I totally agree, you can't always blame technology.

[mappum]

My mentality is that as long as you can present your content well to a vast majority of your users, you don't need the experience to be perfect for 100% of them. There is always going to be that one guy on IE6 and dial-up, but you shouldn't have to cater to his needs.

This doesn't mean aim for a really big, rich design that takes forever to load, it just means that you shouldn't have to compromise for the micro-minority.

About web development tips, read as much as you can about JavaScript and go with Node.js for the server. :D

[alxmrph]

Thanks for the tips, Mappum! I've definitely been on the hunt for some good JavaScript material, so if you know of any please shoot it my way. I'm not familiar at all with Node.js, but I'm going to take some time to look into it now that you've mentioned it.

Respect, Alex

[JustNick]

it is possible but not usefull. Opera has "Opera turbo" and when connection is slow, it's adjusting all websites. I thinks there is no need to do that for each website.