The Beginner’s Guide to Responsive Web Design

T h e B e g i n n e r s G u i d e t o R e s p o n s i v e W e b D e s i g n

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When over half of your potential visitors are using a mobile device to browse the internet, you can’t just serve them a page designed for desktop. With an internet increasingly accessed from mobile devices, it’s no longer enough to have a static website design that only looks good on a computer screen. Common examples of breakpoints include 480px, 768px, 1024px, and 1280px. So developers work by defining two (mobile-desktop) to three (mobile-tablet-desktop) different breakpoints. Then along with other properties we will talk about below, you can define your various styles for each breakpoint. Wireframing can help to iron out the creases early in the design process, and this works well when taking a mobile-first approach to responsive web design.

Responsive and mobile website

Below is an example of a common use case of mobile first styling in which a column is 100% width for smaller devices, but in larger viewports is 50%. In the rapidly evolving landscape of connected devices, responsive web design continues to be crucial in web development. Ever wondered why certain websites open differently on your mobile device vis-a-vis on other devices… Learn to make responsive web designs for an eCommerce platform that can delight your audience who pr… If the application has already been released to the public, then data can be collected regarding user devices, and the devices on which the application is most frequently used can be identified. Mobile users are impatient and are quick to switch from website to website in search of entertainment.

How to create Responsive Web Design for E-Commerce Platforms

BrowserStack offers a number of the latest real devices on which to check how a website looks, and if it is responsive enough. Additionally, 53.8% of web designers state that “not being responsive on all devices”  is a major reason for a website to be redesigned. Naturally, website developers and designers put great emphasis on creating responsive websites in the first place.

Responsive and mobile website

This guide will give you everything you need to know about responsive website design, including definitions, a step-by-step walkthrough, examples, and more. You can make images responsive by using the various methods listed above – but due to the nature of images, they are easily cropped or distorted if you’re not careful. This element with the position fixed completely left its original position. Then, based on the the value of the top and left, it was aligned some distance from the top of the screen. These elements are then positioned using the top, bottom, left, and right properties.

Responsive Web Page – Full Example

With over 58% of consumers using mobiles, it’s very important to ensure that user experience remains consistent across different devices. This is why responsive design is highly important in today’s day and age. When a website is responsive, users can access it from any device without having to zoom in or scroll horizontally.

Responsive and mobile website

To make this look good even on devices with smaller screens, you can use media queries to either completely remove the aside bar or you can bring it below the main content area. One of the most fundemental ways to create a responsive website is by using media queries. Media queries help you to define different breakpoints for your website.

All open-source articles on Responsive Design (RD)

This isn’t surprising since, in the second quarter of 2022, mobile devices generated 58.99% of global website traffic. This meta tag exists because when smartphones first arrived, most sites were not mobile optimized. The mobile browser would, therefore, set the viewport width to 980 pixels, render the page at that width, and show the result as a zoomed-out version of the desktop layout.

  • If the application has already been released to the public, then data can be collected regarding user devices, and the devices on which the application is most frequently used can be identified.
  • Responsive web design is an approach that focuses on a website user’s environment.
  • Make sure your text is in em or rem units and always sized to be effortlessly readable — not so tiny that readers have to strain their eyes, not so large that only a few words at a time fit on the screen.
  • Organizations and designers found the benefits of responsive design hard to ignore.
  • The suggested size to be usable for thumbs is the equivalent of 48dp.

Web applications are created in order to address existing user demand. Hence, it is important to understand the consumers and then create a product that caters to their needs for better retention. The rest of this article will point you to the various web platform features you might want to use when creating a responsive site. This will set the viewport of your page, which will give the browser instructions on how
to control the page’s dimensions and scaling.

Using viewport units for responsive typography

But once the device gets small enough to be held one-handed, users will expect one-handed functionality. This can mean enabling thumb navigation by having the navbar at the bottom of the screen when you reach a mobile breakpoint. The suggested size to be usable for thumbs is the equivalent of 48dp.

Responsive images are images that scale nicely to fit any browser size. If you’re looking for some professional assistance when it comes to how to design a website making your website responsive, WebFX can help. We offer responsive web design and development services, with over 1,600 sites launched.

Mobile UX Design: The Beginner’s Guide

This also means the buttons can be larger, making them easier to use with fingers. Try viewing this demo on different devices,
such as a regular desktop computer and a phone or tablet. Media queries are simple filters that you can apply to CSS styles, to change
those styles based on the types of device rendering the content. They can also
change styling based on device features including width, height, orientation,
and whether the device is being used as a touchscreen. Now that we have a few RWD layout techniques up our sleeve, let’s take a look at elements that pose challenges specific to their visual nature – images and video.

Responsive and mobile website

The overall layout of your site is the key to maintaining the look and legibility of the majority of your site between devices. Consider columns, grids, negative space, and the flow of the eye down the page. As the viewport narrows, content should reflow to make your layout more vertical. As a result, responsive design is likely to be significantly better for small and medium-sized businesses and individuals that want a unified, seamless experience for their users. Mobile sites can be tailored very specifically to what the designer wants mobile users to see and how, and they may still be a better choice for complex sites that need a lot of fine control. The challenge is the development time and money it takes to create two (or more) separate sites.

The aspect ratio box is not a new technique and quite a useful tool to have up your sleeve as a web developer. By using modern image tag attributes we can accommodate a range of devices and resolutions. Lastly, think through possible issues that may surface at a later time regarding responsiveness and try to preemptively address these issues early in the design process. One of the most essential factors when designing a website to be more mobile-responsive is pondering over what a potential user would want from the web application.

Katerina Monroe
Katerina Monroe

@katerinam •  More Posts by Katerina

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