Mobile traffic makes up approximately half of all internet traffic. Web design statistics predict that this number will rise to almost 75% by 2025. Businesses with websites that aren't optimized for mobile traffic face serious consequences.
Your website must be accessible from any device to be successful on the market. How? Responsive web design.
What is Responsive Web Design?
Although it's simple, this concept has a huge impact. Responsive web design, at its most basic, optimizes page layout regardless of the device being used to access it. Websites can use specific coding strategies to adjust the content according to the device they are accessing.
Ethan Marcotte, a web designer, published an article entitled "Responsive Web Design" in 2010. This was the first time this term entered the history of web designing. Marcotte stated:
We don't have to adapt our designs to every device, but we can consider them all part of one experience. You can design for optimal viewing but also embed standards-based technologies in your designs to make them more adaptable to the media they are rendered on. We need to practice responsive web designing.
Marcotte proposed a flexible design solution. Businesses could create a second version of their website specifically for mobile before responsive web design services. They were identified with a unique URL. This approach was not without its faults.
- It was slow for the user. The browser had to decide which version of the website to load, so page load times were slow. The website's design was sometimes very different from the one on the desktop, negatively affecting brand consistency.
- Businesses found it time-consuming. It involved the creation and administration of two websites.
- Mobile users could access the site from other devices, but the mobile version did not account for them. Displays on devices with smaller screen sizes than the "in-between" were left unmodified.
Ten years after Ethan Marcotte's groundbreaking article, responsive web design has become the industry standard. Consider your favorite website. You're probably using responsive web design if you find it easy to locate important content on your desktop and mobile device.
Design thinking is the key to responsive web design. This is a solution-based approach that anticipates and meets the needs of the users the design is intended for. Design thinking involves asking questions such as:
- How can I make it easier for users to navigate the website using a touchscreen or a mouse?
- What content is most important for the user to view on a smaller screen, and what should they focus on?
- Is the menu easy to find on different devices?
These questions, and many others like them, can guide the technical application for responsive web design.
Responsive Web Design FAQ
Before we get into the technical details, let's first address some common questions about responsive web design.
What's the Difference Between Adaptive and Responsive Web Design?
Although they can sometimes be confused, these are two distinct approaches. Let's look deeper at responsive design.
Responsive web design employs precise CSS (Cascading Stil Sheets) media queries to apply a particular layout to a specified size viewport (the area on the screen that displays information). It is an "if/then" statement, which is the type used to formulate scientific hypotheses. If your viewport is 600 pixels or less, query X should not be used.
Despite the layout changing, the content is proportional to your viewport size. This can be achieved by collapsing columns and stacking images, hiding content, or hiding content. These can all be achieved using fluid layouts and flexible media. We'll discuss them shortly.
The adaptive web design layouts are specifically created for common screen sizes. Every layout is static. This means that the content can change. A desktop version might have a large background image, but it won't work on a smaller screen. A solid background might be used for a smaller screen. Different layouts are available for different sizes. This requires more work at the front end, but it can be a great option for businesses that deeply understand their customers' devices.
We recommend responsive web design to as it provides a consistent user experience regardless of screen size. This helps to build brand consistency and equity in a market.
What is Mobile-first Design?
Mobile-first design refers to a design principle where designers design for mobile devices before other devices. This requires designers to immediately identify the most crucial content that mobile users need to engage with the design and take the necessary actions to achieve the desired outcome. This design can then be gradually adapted to larger devices. Mobile-first designs are often more practical, efficient, and precise.
Is Responsive Mobile-friendly the Same thing as Mobile-friendly?
They are not identical, although there is a common misconception. A mobile-friendly website has static content that works on all devices, while a responsive website uses flexible layouts that adapt to the screen size.
A responsive website may display a full menu on a desktop but switch to a hamburger menu for mobile. A mobile-friendly website does not change depending on the device. It is best to choose a simple menu that will not appear too crowded on a smartphone.
Although it might seem counterintuitive, mobile-friendly websites are best for sites with fewer users. Mobile-friendly design must work on both small and large devices.
Responsive web design is better if you expect large numbers of users to visit your website via mobile devices. It will allow you to customize the user experience for mobile users.
What's the Difference Between a Fixed and Fluid Layout?
Fluid layouts use relative measurements that adjust to the screen size (screen width). The percentage of the maximum width of the viewport is used to measure the measurements. This means that the percentage of the max width changes with screen size.
Fixed layouts, on the other hand, use static measurements that do not respond to the width and height of the viewport. If you view a website from a desktop and shrink your browser window slowly, the design won't change. To view all content, you would need a horizontal scroll.
A fixed layout is only used for websites specific to a particular device. However, mobile internet usage statistics show that most new websites use fluid layouts to provide great user experiences on various devices.
What's the Difference Between Responsive Web Design and Progressive Web Applications?
This is a trick question. A progressive web application (PWA) is an application built and runs on the internet. It uses responsive web design techniques. PWAs are used by many well-known brands like Uber, Starbucks, and Pinterest.
PWAs have similar features to native apps (the ones you can download to your phone), but downloading or installing them is not necessary. Although some features may not work with older versions, they can be used on any device and browser. PWAs can be fast and reliable, and with service worker scripts, they can offer engaging features such as push notifications, camera access, location services, and camera access - features that are not available in native apps.
Google, who in 2015 coined the term progressive web app, says that "one of the great aspects of the progressive" nature of this model is that features are gradually unlocked as browsers provide better support for them." PWAs have ever-increasing capabilities.
How can you tell if a web app with progressive features is right for you? It all depends on what functionality your business requires. A progressive web app is a great way to provide an app experience for your users without creating a mobile app.
Are Responsive Web Designs Really Necessary?
Yes. Yes. Responsive web design optimizes layouts and delivers seamless user experiences. Websites that do not provide exceptional design at the right time and place for users are more likely to be bounced than those that offer it. This is a problem in today's mobile-oriented market. Responsive web design can also be more cost-effective and easier to manage because you only need one website to make and maintain. This alone should be enough to convince businesses to adopt responsive web design.
Read More:- Build a Stronger and Impressive Web Design Process
But there are more. Google prefers responsive websites. Google can identify responsive and mobile-friendly websites and index them quicker because it only needs to index one version rather than separate desktop or mobile versions. Google can also recognize when a website provides poor user experiences and rank it accordingly.
According to web statistics, Google will start indexing websites mobile-first starting September 2020. Your website will be evaluated first on mobile devices and then on desktop. Non-responsive websites will have a tough battle on the market after September.
Google said in its March 2020 article about mobile-first indexing:
While we support many ways to make mobile websites, we recommend responsive website design for new websites. Because of the confusion and issues, we have seen over time, both search engines and users, we recommend not using separate mobile URLs (often called m-dot)
Can I Make my Website Responsive by Updating it?
Yes, you can make design and development changes to an existing website without needing to build it from scratch. However, as with home renovations, the difficulty and time required to make a website responsive will affect the cost and time involved. This all depends on the content and quality of existing designs and codes.
An experienced Unique Web Design Agency that offers web design and development services will conduct a site audit to determine the requirements for making your website responsive.
Responsive Web Design Components
Now that you know what responsive web design looks like let's take a closer look into the component's developers use to maximize user experience across different devices. This overview is only a guide, and the actual coding may be more complex depending on the website's nature.
Viewport
The area of a screen that displays information is called the viewport. Each device has its viewport. A responsive website uses a meta-viewport tag in the code to instruct the browser how to adjust dimensions and scale. This tag ensures that the page's width equals your device's width.
The mobile design would only appear on a very small part of a desktop screen without the meta viewport tag. Or vice versa, a desktop design on mobile would be too large and require horizontal scrolling to view all content.
Flexible layout
There are many dimensions available on different devices. You can't depend on any one viewport setting. CSS allows you to code layouts using flexible grids defined in percentages rather than pixels. These preserve content spacing even when the viewport changes.
A flexible grid layout, for example, can be used to direct three text columns to collapse to one or two as the viewport shrinks. Content blocks and images can also be realigned vertically rather than horizontally. These strategies are crucial for two reasons: they ensure that key content is visible and aligned hierarchically and maintain the appropriate ratio of content to whitespace.
Flexible layouts can also be used to hide content strategically. Design thinking is required to determine what content should be hidden. A common example is to hide your main navigation and replace it with a hamburger menu. This is a good choice as most mobile users will recognize the hamburger menu, and full menus can take up valuable screen real estate.
Media queries
A media query is a snippet of code specifying each device's design style. It's essentially an "if/then" statement. Apply X layout if the viewport is of X size.
Media queries allow for extensive layout changes to accommodate different viewports. These are just some of the conditions that media queries can be used for:
- Dimensions - The height and width of your device's viewport
- Orientation - landscape or portrait (typically used to identify tablet users)
- The aspect ratio is the width-height ratio for the viewport
- Hovering - The ability to hover over any element (only applicable with a cursor and not a touchscreen).
- Resolution - The pixel density of the device
These conditions, and many others, can be used separately or combined to create precise instructions. A corresponding layout can only be applied if all the conditions are met.
Typography
Different layouts and device sizes should affect readability. While font size is important, other factors can help you create easily-digestible content.
Let's start by understanding how people read and absorb content. We don't always read everything. We scan. Numerous studies have shown that we scan pages in an F-shaped fashion. The first few lines are slower, then we jump from one line to the next, looking for words that convey the overall meaning of what is being said.
This is why the page layout must be easy to scan. It is best to break up large blocks of text into smaller paragraphs. Also, optimize the line length (measure) for your page. It is recommended that the measure should be between 45 and 75 characters (including spacing). Responsive web design allows us to maintain an optimal measurement on different-sized screens. This measure is used to determine breakpoints. Text columns can be expanded or collapsed according to the screen size.
Desktop design should have larger fonts that are easily readable from a distance of at least an arm's width. Because users naturally hold their phones closer to their faces, mobile fonts should be smaller. Horizontal scrolling and zooming should not be necessary.
Flexible images
Images should be able to shift their scale and position with the flexible grid. Images can achieve this by having a maximum width of 100 percent. The image must remain within the screen's maximum width, even if the viewport changes. To optimize load times, compress images for smaller screens.
Breakpoints
A breakpoint is where the layout needs to be adjusted (e.g., Two text columns can collapse into one.
The most popular device sizes usually determine these. You must stay current with the latest market developments. Design thinking should be applied to the design to maintain aesthetics and hierarchy.
Because flexible layouts adapt to the changing viewport, content size can still change before and after a breakpoint. It is important to remember that the layout changes when that breakpoint has been reached. The media queries that control how content is displayed are two.
For example, the X layout should apply if the device has 600 pixels or more. However, the Y layout should apply if the device is smaller than 600 pixels. By shrinking your browser window, you can easily identify breakpoints on any responsive website.
Evaluation
After completing the code, it is important to evaluate the website's responsiveness. Quality assurance (QA) testing ensures the design works in different viewports.
tests design on real devices (desktops, tablets, Androids, iPhones) to determine how they feel and look on the actual device. To ensure that the designs look exactly as we intended, we compare the devices and make sure the navigation works well. Because each person will interact with websites differently, we often include multiple team members in our testing. We use Chrome DevTools, Cross-Browser Testing, and device testing to ensure that the code and design are correct at all viewport sizes.
Wonderful Examples of Responsive Web Design
It is becoming more common for websites to be built for responsive web design. However, just because a website is responsive doesn't mean it will help your business achieve its goals. You need to combine design and development to create a visually stunning and effective web experience on all devices.
We've chosen three of our favorite responsive websites to show you how responsive web design works. Check out our website design case studies collection to see some of 's responsive websites.
Square
For Square to succeed as a B2B SaaS (business-to-business software as a service) mobile payment startup, best-in-class responsive design is essential. The layout is simple and clean on mobile and desktop, with many whitespaces.
Square is a great example of fluid layouts. By shrinking your desktop browser, you can see how the content blocks stack at each breakpoint.
We like that Square chose to have a carousel for mobile but full-screen content on a desktop. You can swipe horizontally to view a range of tools in the carousel. Because it's intuitive to touchscreen, mobile users can recognize cues to swipe. Carousels on the desktop are riskier. Users may miss the cue to click through the carousel and miss valuable content.
The sticky CTA button (call to action) at the bottom of Square's mobile design ensures that users know where to start.
Wealthsimple
A B2C (business-to-consumer) robo-advisor financial instrument is Wealthsimple. You can find many engaging animations on both desktop and mobile. We noticed seamless transitions as we slowed down the browser window on the desktop.
Scrolling triggers the animations, so we compared scrolling on a desktop with the touchscreen on a mobile. These experiences were equally enjoyable, especially the spinning coins animation at the bottom.
The mobile experience is almost identical to the desktop, with very few changes to content. Mobile content is not hidden but neatly collapsed into one vertical column.
Apple
Apple now uses seamless, responsive design, but it wasn't always that way. They were slow to adopt this method because they had previously designed for specific devices. Apple joined the responsive movement only two years after Ethan Marcotte's first responsive web design. This transition is described in a 2014 article.
"With iOS 6 and the subsequent release of the taller iPhone 5, Apple introduced Auto Layout, a relationship-based layout engine. Apps for the taller iPhone did not require a separate build. Instead, they were built with layout adjustments. Apple's first real attempt at responsive design in native apps was Auto Layout. This was because, like the web, different layout rules could be applied to the same base code.
Apple has now adopted responsive web design. We first loaded the homepage from the desktop to see what would be most noticeable on their website. Slowly reduce the browser window. Although most contents were the same in smaller windows, the primary image (a large horizontal iPhone image) was replaced by a smaller image with two vertical iPhones. Mobile also had this smaller image. This was our smart choice, as the smaller image is better suited for smaller screens.
Four Things to Remember When you Consider Responsive Web Design for Your Site
New devices and ways of surfing the internet have changed the way we do business. Your website should be able to engage potential customers no matter where they are located, whether they are browsing on the move or at work.
Your website must be constantly improved to stay current with the market. If you have discovered that your website isn't responsive after reading this guide on responsive web design, we encourage you to seriously consider optimizing it.
These are the key points to remember:
- Mobile devices are now the most popular device for mobile usage
- Google will soon offer mobile-first indexing
- Design with the user experience at the heart
- Responsive web design company evolves constantly.
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The Key Takeaway
If you are looking for a responsive web design company to design and develop a website for your business, contant Cyber Infrastructure Inc. As a renowned web design and development company, we empower businesses to transform, scale, and gain competitive advantage with our powerful and adaptable web and mobile solutions that satisfies the evolving needs of modern customers. We build you site designs that adapt to the varied visual features of the devices, and our web development services and web hosting services are designed to deliver an unmatched experience across a range of devices.
