mobile first design
What is mobile first design & why should you care?
mobile first design
What is mobile first design & why should you care?
What is mobile first design & Why should you care?
If your website works well on a mobile device, it translates better to all devices.
Historically designers have always worked from the biggest screen down to the smallest – meaning that the first and main design would be for the full desktop view with that having the most functionality and the mobile design is just over looked later on. But with mobile users set to overtake desktop users, mobile simply can no longer be an afterthought.
As of February 2017 research has found that 50.5% of internet users are mobile only. In some areas of the worlds, such as rural China, mobile only internet use is as high as 65.1% and 59.5% in Africa.
Many design elements and functionality that look and work great on desktop simply does not translate to a good mobile experience. Mobile has the most limitations, screen size and bandwidth to name a few, and so designing within these parameters force you to prioritise content ruthlessly.
Here’s a graphic showing how a ‘responsive’ layout’s code re-arranges a web design to display differently based on screen size:
As you can see the elements change size and position, in order to best populate various screen sizes.
The mobile-first approach organically leads to a design that’s more content-focused, and therefore user-focused. The heart of the site is content — that’s what the users are there for.
As you can see the elements change size and position, in order to best populate various screen sizes.
The mobile-first approach organically leads to a design that’s more content-focused, and therefore user-focused. The heart of the site is content — that’s what the users are there for.
It’s important to make a distinction between mobile first and mobile responsive, in this context, as mobile responsive takes existing elements and scales them down, but not necessarily reducing their file size. While a mobile responsive site may maintain the aesthetic of its desktop counterpart, the larger file sizes unnecessarily eat data, and may cause the site to load slower on data connections
Why should you care?
The imple answer is that it can make you more money. A big part of going mobile first is making your site load faster. Decreasing your site’s loading speed matters. Your load speed matters for your Google ranking. Not only is Google prioritising mobile optimised sites on mobile search but additionally they are also looking at loading time. What this means for your business is that if your website doesn’t provide an excellent user experience on a smartphone, you are losing business to a competitor that does have a mobile friendly and easy to use website.
On a desktop you can get pixel perfect precision with the flowing gracefulness of the mouse. On mobile, it’s your big sausage thumbs that help you get from point A to point B. Nothing is more infuriating than pressing a menu to have it block a button, or having to scroll through giant walls of text that is impossibly small.
Whenever you are designing anything, you’re taking into account all the different possibilities and technologies that the environment gives you. Mobile phones allow you access to specific features that are not found anywhere else, take advantage of that! Think precise geolocation, touch events, camera etc.
Users expect a new level of performance and function on their mobile devices. On a small device with low bandwidth, there isn’t much room for error, so these factors need to become priorities. With every new device and mobile statistics, the mobile first design makes more sense. It’s a tough transition to make, but ultimately you and your users will benefit going forward..
We can help!
We take a big picture approach to our clients’ operations with the goal of getting their sales to the next level, including mobile-first redesigns. If you’d like help getting your website converted to the new mobile-first standard, give us a call or shoot us an email today for an initial consultation.
What is mobile first design
& Why should you care?
If your website works well on a mobile device, it translates better to all devices.
Historically designers have always worked from the biggest screen down to the smallest – meaning that the first and main design would be for the full desktop view with that having the most functionality and the mobile design is just over looked later on. But with mobile users set to overtake desktop users, mobile simply can no longer be an afterthought.
As of February 2017 research has found that 50.5% of internet users are mobile only. In some areas of the worlds, such as rural china, mobile only internet use is as high as 65.1% and 59.5% in Africa.
Many design elements and functionality that look and work great on desktop simply does not translate to a good mobile experience. Mobile has the most limitations, screen size and bandwidth to name a few, and so designing within these parameters force you to prioritize content ruthlessly.
Here’s a graphic showing how a ‘responsive’ layout’s code re-arranges a web design to display differently based on screen size:
As you can see the elements change size and position, in order to best populate various screen sizes.
The mobile-first approach organically leads to a design that’s more content-focused, and therefore user-focused. The heart of the site is content — that’s what the users are there for.
As you can see the elements change size and position, in order to best populate various screen sizes.
The mobile-first approach organically leads to a design that’s more content-focused, and therefore user-focused. The heart of the site is content — that’s what the users are there for.
It’s important to make a distinction between mobile first and mobile responsive, in this context, as mobile responsive takes existing elements and scales them down, but not necessarily reducing their file size. While a mobile responsive site may maintain the aesthetic of its desktop counterpart, the larger file sizes unnecessarily eat data, and may cause the site to load slower on data connections
Why should you care?
Simple answer is that it can make you more money. A big part of going mobile first is making your site load faster. Decreasing your site’s loading speed matters. Your load speed matters for your Google ranking. Not only is Google prioritising mobile optimised sites on mobile search but additionally they are also looking at loading time. What this means for your business is that if your website doesn’t provide an excellent user experience on a smartphone, you are losing business to a competitor that does have a mobile friendly and easy to use website.
On a desktop you can get pixel perfect precision with the flowing gracefulness of the mouse. On mobile, it’s your big sausage thumbs that help you get from point A to point B. Nothing is more infuriating than pressing a menu to have it block a button, or having to scroll through giant walls of text that is impossibly small.
Whenever you are designing anything, you’re taking into account all the different possibilities and technologies that the environment gives you. Mobile phones allow you access to specific features that are not found anywhere else, take advantage of that! Think precise geolocation, touch events, camera etc.
Users expect a new level of performance and function on their mobile devices. On a small device with low bandwidth there isn’t much room for error, so these factors need to become priorities. With every new device and mobile statistics, mobile first design makes more sense. It’s a tough transition to make, but ultimately you and your users will be benefit going forward.
We can help!
We take a big picture approach to our clients’ operations with the goal of getting their sales to the next level, including mobile-first redesigns. If you’d like help getting your website converted to the new mobile-first standard, give us a call or shoot us an email today for an initial consultation.
What is mobile first design
& Why should you care?
If your website works well on a mobile device, it translates better to all devices.
Historically designers have always worked from the biggest screen down to the smallest – meaning that the first and main design would be for the full desktop view with that having the most functionality and the mobile design is just over looked later on. But with mobile users set to overtake desktop users, mobile simply can no longer be an afterthought.
As of February 2017 research has found that 50.5% of internet users are mobile only. In some areas of the worlds, such as rural china, mobile only internet use is as high as 65.1% and 59.5% in Africa.
Many design elements and functionality that look and work great on desktop simply does not translate to a good mobile experience. Mobile has the most limitations, screen size and bandwidth to name a few, and so designing within these parameters force you to prioritize content ruthlessly.
Here’s a graphic showing how a ‘responsive’ layout’s code re-arranges a web design to display differently based on screen size:
As you can see the elements change size and position, in order to best populate various screen sizes.
The mobile-first approach organically leads to a design that’s more content-focused, and therefore user-focused. The heart of the site is content — that’s what the users are there for.
As you can see the elements change size and position, in order to best populate various screen sizes.
The mobile-first approach organically leads to a design that’s more content-focused, and therefore user-focused. The heart of the site is content — that’s what the users are there for.
It’s important to make a distinction between mobile first and mobile responsive, in this context, as mobile responsive takes existing elements and scales them down, but not necessarily reducing their file size. While a mobile responsive site may maintain the aesthetic of its desktop counterpart, the larger file sizes unnecessarily eat data, and may cause the site to load slower on data connections
Why should you care?
Simple answer is that it can make you more money. A big part of going mobile first is making your site load faster. Decreasing your site’s loading speed matters. Your load speed matters for your Google ranking. Not only is Google prioritising mobile optimised sites on mobile search but additionally they are also looking at loading time. What this means for your business is that if your website doesn’t provide an excellent user experience on a smartphone, you are losing business to a competitor that does have a mobile friendly and easy to use website.
On a desktop you can get pixel perfect precision with the flowing gracefulness of the mouse. On mobile, it’s your big sausage thumbs that help you get from point A to point B. Nothing is more infuriating than pressing a menu to have it block a button, or having to scroll through giant walls of text that is impossibly small.
Whenever you are designing anything, you’re taking into account all the different possibilities and technologies that the environment gives you. Mobile phones allow you access to specific features that are not found anywhere else, take advantage of that! Think precise geolocation, touch events, camera etc.
Users expect a new level of performance and function on their mobile devices. On a small device with low bandwidth there isn’t much room for error, so these factors need to become priorities. With every new device and mobile statistics, mobile first design makes more sense. It’s a tough transition to make, but ultimately you and your users will be benefit going forward.
We can help!
We take a big picture approach to our clients’ operations with the goal of getting their sales to the next level, including mobile-first redesigns. If you’d like help getting your website converted to the new mobile-first standard, give us a call or shoot us an email today for an initial consultation.