#RESPONSIVE LAYOUT DESIGN SOFTWARE HOW TO#

Enlarge touch targets - Fingers are much wider than pixel-precise mouse cursors, and so need larger elements on which to tap. Expand the screen until there’s too much white spaceĤ. Design with the smallest breakpoints and then scale up - Build the mobile wireframe first, then use that as the model for larger breakpoints.

#RESPONSIVE LAYOUT DESIGN SOFTWARE HOW TO#

Visual Hierarchy - Prioritize the elements in the content inventory and determine how to display the most important elements prominently.ģ. Content Inventory - This is a spreadsheet or equivalent document containing all the elements you want to include.Ģ. These presets layout the proper screen size for you, so you can wireframe keeping only the content in mind.ġ. When wireframing or prototyping, we use the responsive breakpoint menu to streamline the process of moving to different screen sizes, starting with the smallest. We’ll describe a process that helps our designers at UXPin.Īs usual, wireframing is a recommended early step to most efficiently structure your layout. But with the mobile-first approach, the breakpoints develop naturally around content, so you don’t need any awkward edits. Again, the alternative is worse: having to squeeze an already plump design into a tiny framework. The best way to plan ahead for these is by creating user scenarios.Īnother advantage to the mobile-first approach is that the small-screen breakpoints can better fit around the content. Device-specific content can be gauged by considering context - what, in a given situation and a given environment, will your user appreciate more. One caveat, though, is that mobile users sometimes require different content than desktop users. The heart of the site is content - that’s what the users are there for. The mobile-first approach organically leads to a design that’s more content-focused, and therefore user-focused. Mobile has the most limitations, screen size, and bandwidth to name a few, and so designing within these parameters forces you to prioritize content ruthlessly. More important, though, is that a mobile-first approach is also a content-first approach. If your site is good on a mobile device, it translates better to all devices.

In this post, we’ll explain tips & techniques, then finish off with a hands-on lesson in which we build a hypothetical website with the mobile-first workflow. We, along with others, strongly recommend progressive enhancement with a mobile-first approach. The entire philosophy runs the risk of treating mobile design as more of an afterthought since you’re “cutting down” the experience. The problem with graceful degradation is that when you build the all-inclusive design right from the start, the core and supplementary elements merge and become harder to distinguish and separate. This incorporates all of the complexities right from the start, then strips them away later for smaller devices.

The opposite approach is graceful degradation.What it boils down to is that, the smallest of the designs will have only the essential features, so right away you have designed the heart of your UX. Once the mobile design questions are answered, designing for other devices will be easier. It is the ideology that mobile design, as the hardest, should be done first. The mobile-first approach is a tenet of progressive enhancement.It is one of the best strategies to create either a responsive or adaptive design. The mobile-first approach is exactly as it sounds: designing for the smallest screen and working your way up. A Hands-On Guide to Mobile-First Responsive Design

Responsive layout design software