The term responsive web design seems to have become cliché due to its overuse because today, you just cannot think of creating websites without it. It will be hard to find a web designer in Brooklyn who has not used responsive design in the last few years.  Since responsive design has become the new baseline, it will be ridiculous to treat it, especially because everyone does it, and it has become a norm. Rather, doing something else could be special but not responsive design that has paved the way for creating a single design that caters to all devices, including smartphones and the like. Responsive design has offered more creative opportunities to Brooklyn web designers at Vigor Seorchers, who can play upon flexible design patterns that throw up interesting challenges to designers who love to experiment with their creativity.

More than fitting content on small screens

Responsive design has led to creating single websites that display in the same way on any screen of desktops and mobile devices. People from Brooklyn often describe the design by highlighting its ability to adapt to various screen sizes, which are, of course, a very prominent feature of the design. But it will be wrong to assume that it is the only goal of designers. Just designing websites by focusing on content display would be undermining the concept of responsive design because it is much more than that and must aim to deliver the best user experience. Creating an interactive design to ensure its proper display on small screens is only meaningful if it performs as efficiently as it does on desktops, and designers must know how to achieve it.

Designers must take a mobile-first approach in responsive design and create designs for small screens first and then scale it up for desktops instead of taking the approach of from desktops to mobiles.

Mobile-first? Not always

The wisdom of designers come to test when they have to decide whether they should stick to the mobile-first approach in responsive design always. Flexibility in approach sets a good designer apart from the rest, and one must consider the circumstances and the nature of the design with respect to the end-user of the website to decide if they should take the mobile-first approach or deviate from it. For example, if the website or app is meant for displaying primarily on desktops, tablets, and notebooks, then it becomes evident to optimize the experience for the bigger devices first and then scale it down to adapt it on mobile screens. In such cases sticking to the mobile-first approach will take designers nowhere.  

A more balanced approach that addresses the design aspects of desktops and mobiles simultaneously is more preferred for most of the designs. This would enable designers from Brooklyn to build a proof of concepts for each of them quite early in the design process.

The hallmarks of responsive design

The responsive design must empower users to control their experience on mobile devices by going beyond the concept of just arranging content to fit into the small screens.

  • Mobile devices are embodiments of speed, and since users are keen to speedily access what they need in a way they are familiar with their device, navigation must be as much simplified as possible.  Instead of relying on a hamburger menu, only you can experiment with nav systems and app-style tab bars.
  • Any data input like forms should be broken into smaller digestible steps compatible with mobile devices. For a better mobile onboarding experience, using a wizard-style interface with one question at a time instead of a complex form enables better performance on mobile screens.
  • Using the scrolling feature is a solution to accommodate long lists and wide data tables conveniently on smaller screens. Turning line items into cards and regrouping data to maintain its relevance are some other techniques.
  • Making websites appear speedy is as much important as its actual speed, and in order to make mobile websites appear more like apps, designers can use animations and page transitions.
  • Reducing the size differentiation between headings and body and tweaking font sizes is a stable method of enhancing user experience as it allows reading long content on small screens most conveniently.  The arrangement ensures that the content is easy to digest.
  • To make interactions much more intuitive, you must fall back on touch gestures wherever possible by ensuring that the tap targets are large enough.
  • The mobile design patterns must adapt to various screen sizes of mobile devices, and designers must visualize the effects to create the most versatile design that fits effortlessly into all screens.

All these things and much more must be on the designer’s mind to get the best results from responsive design.

Adaptability is the last word in responsive design

Unique navigation patterns, broken-grid layouts, and smooth screen transitions might create highly impressive visuals on any particular screen, but what matters most is to figure out how it would work in any other context or screen. You will be surprised at the transformation of design when switching between different screen sizes because something that works amazingly well on a desktop screen might look quite ordinary when shifted to smaller screen sizes of mobile devices. The success of the responsive design depends on the realization of designers that the sum of the responsive variations defines the quality of the design work.  Even the most fascinating design on a desktop screen will lose its appeal immensely if it cannot generate the same kind of ‘wow’ factor when viewed on mobile devices. The more consistent is the design stronger will be the brand.

Designers must have a good understanding of the client’s interest and protect it through meaningful designs that also address the interest of their users. The task is not at all easy, and one must refrain from cutting corners that does no good for anybody.

Building the pillars of web design on the virtues of responsive design and fine-tuning it to meet the growing competition is what designers must stay committed to in order to give their best in web design.