How do you choose between mobile-first and desktop-first for responsive web design?

1 Mobile-first design

Mobile-first design means that you design your website for the smallest screen size first, and then add more features and content as the screen size increases. This is to ensure that your website is fast, simple, and usable on mobile devices, which are often the primary or only way people access the web. Additionally, mobile-first design helps you prioritize the most important information and actions for your users, as well as avoiding cluttering your website with unnecessary elements. There are several benefits of mobile-first design, such as improved performance and loading speed which can increase user satisfaction and retention. It also encourages the use of progressive enhancement, rather than graceful degradation when dealing with older or less capable browsers. Finally, it can help you comply with the mobile-friendly guidelines of search engines which can boost your ranking and visibility.

2 Desktop-first design

Desktop-first design means that you design your website for the largest screen size first, and then remove or rearrange features and content as the screen size decreases. This approach ensures that your website has a rich and immersive experience on desktop computers, which are often used for more complex tasks and longer sessions. Moreover, desktop-first design takes advantage of the higher resolution and more powerful hardware of desktop devices to create more interactive and engaging websites. Some of the benefits of this design technique include allowing you to use advanced features such as animations, transitions, hover effects, and media queries to enhance the aesthetics and functionality of your website. Additionally, desktop-first design enables you to display more information and content on larger screens, providing more value and context for your users. Finally, it helps you cater to the expectations and preferences of desktop users who may be more accustomed to traditional web design conventions and layouts.

3 How to choose between mobile-first and desktop-first design

When determining whether to use mobile-first or desktop-first design for your website, there is no definitive answer. It depends on various factors, such as the purpose and goal of your website, the content and features, the audience and context. For instance, if your website is mainly focused on delivering news or articles, then mobile-first design may be best to ensure content is readable on smaller screens. Conversely, if your website provides games or simulations, then desktop-first design may be preferable to ensure content is immersive and engaging on larger screens. Evaluating these factors can help determine which approach suits your website better.

4 How to implement responsive web design

No matter if you opt for mobile-first or desktop-first design, you need to implement responsive web design techniques to make your website adapt to different screen sizes and devices. To do this, you can use flexible layouts with relative units such as percentages, ems, or rems; media queries to apply different styles and rules based on the screen size, orientation, resolution, or other media features; and responsive images to display different versions of an image based on the screen size, resolution, or pixel density. You can use the srcset and sizes attributes, or the picture element, to specify the different image sources and dimensions. This will help you optimize the image quality and loading speed for different devices.

5 How to test and optimize responsive web design

Once you implement responsive web design, it's important to test and optimize your website in order to guarantee that it looks and works well on different screen sizes and devices. To do this, you can use developer tools such as Chrome DevTools or Firefox Developer Tools to inspect and modify your website, and simulate different scenarios. Additionally, online tools like Responsive Design Checker or Google Mobile-Friendly Test can be used to test and analyze the website. To get a realistic view of how your website looks and functions on different devices, you can use real devices such as smartphones, tablets, or laptops. Alternatively, BrowserStack or Device Lab can be used to access and test your website on a variety of devices and browsers.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?