The iPad is clearly the leading tablet and is very much the creator of the tablet space as we know it today. While the iPad shares many characteristics with the iPhone, the whole interaction concept due to the larger screen format and ease of touch, benefit from specialized design.

The iPhone launched over five years ago with a very specific set of interaction paradigms. Over time, these have matured and have been added to both through the UI and design concepts. Daring design can drive real competitive advantage within the application space, but standard paradigms must be taken into account to ensure users can easily navigate the application.

Android tablets are slowly gaining traction in the marketplace, and their popularity can be expected to grow following the positive reviews of the latest version of the operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich. Android’s user interface design concepts are slightly different from those of the iPad; with additional concepts such as widgets that can be leveraged for applications.

Android smartphones have the largest market share in many key markets; and are therefore an important target for any smartphone campaign. The Android user interface requires specific attention to ensure that it works consistently well under the many different screen sizes that Android phones are available under.

The Kindle Fire is one of the biggest competitors to the iPad on the market today. However, it is a very different class of device which can support applications, but its limited hardware requires careful application design. The Kindle ecosystem presents a clear opportunity to address a new consumer market.

Responsive Design is a design dynamic where pages are designed and built to dynamically adapt the available screen space. While there are trade-offs involved, Responsive Design can be an excellent solution for certain projects and can represent serious savings when addressing multiple-devices and multiple-platforms.