Why mobile-first design is the top priority in web building

Mobile-first design is a crucial part of effective product design. Designers can focus on product functions by starting with the smallest screens and moving up.

In the past, software was created with desktop computers in mind, and mobile access was considered an afterthought. But these days, mobile devices have been at the vanguard of the digital revolution of the past decade. With nearly 54% of all website traffic coming from mobile devices, a mobile-first design has dominated the market. Outsourcing companies are up to date with this trend to bring the best mobile app development services for customers.

As customers and society as a whole become increasingly reliant on smartphones, the creation of a mobile site or application is now nearly expected. Experts predicted that three-quarters of the population would only use their smartphones to access the internet by 2025. Nonetheless, businesses must recognize the necessity of having a user-friendly mobile access point for their services.

Mobile-first design: Understanding some basic concepts

What is mobile-first design?

Mobile-first design indicates that web developers begin the product design process from the mobile end, which has additional limitations. Then they increase its functionality and adapt it for tablet and desktop versions.

The notion of mobile-first design encompasses two sub-concepts: Responsive Web Design (RWD) and Progressive Advancements and Graceful Degradation. These sub-concepts aid in achieving a mobile-first design strategy while developing online and digital platforms.

For developers and site administrators to accomplish a mobile-first design, these principles and approaches work hand in hand. Let’s discuss both notions to help you comprehend mobile-first design.

Responsive Web Design meaning

Responsive web design (RWD) is a form of web design that dynamically adjusts live web pages to different device dimensions. As a web page is rendered on different devices, the layout and design are modified so that the viewer can easily view the website's content.

Incorporating RWD into your web page design greatly minimizes the amount of panning, pinching, zooming, and scrolling that consumers must perform while browsing the web.

Progressive Advancement & Graceful Degradation definition

Typically, these principles come before the adoption of responsive web design. When building a web design or application interface display that accommodates various screen sizes, developers generate tailored versions of the items for various platforms, including tablets, the web, mobile devices, smartwatches, etc. If you've noticed, the browser or program displayed on your laptop or desktop computer looks different than the ones on your smartphone or other mobile devices.

• Progressive development refers to the creation of a version of a browser with only the most fundamental capabilities and features. This lower browser is generally associated with mobile devices. Once the basic version is complete, developers create an upgraded version for tablets or PCs with more complex effects, animations, interactivity, and other elements to improve user experience.

• Graceful Degradation, on the other hand, begins its product design process from a more sophisticated end, such as desktops, and produces a version with fully developed functionality from the beginning. Developers then make downgraded versions and use them on tablets, phones, etc.

With these ideas, developers and web managers can carefully show how their websites or apps look. At the same time, they also need to ensure that all the features work on all devices to give customers a good experience.

Why mobile first approach is crucial today

As previously stated, mobile internet usage has surpassed desktop usage. Because 72.5 percent of people will only use their phones to access the internet in 2025, providing an excellent mobile user experience is imperative. Therefore, the emergence of mobile-first design is inevitable. Here are some benefits of mobile-first design strategy.

Increases businesses' customer base

It is apparent from prior statistics that mobile devices will soon dominate global internet traffic. Accordingly, developing a mobile-first design will enhance both interest and traffic. Creating an easy mobile platform to use has the potential to improve client loyalty. Consequently, satisfied customers will be more likely to purchase your product again.

Better UX for optimized user experience

When applying mobile-first design, you create a user experience that is optimized for mobile devices. It is opposed to one that has been compressed from a desktop version. Better UX is known to increase traffic and conversions.

Develop new revenue channels

When offering a mobile-first design with the rest of your business, you can improve or expand your revenue channels. Apps can provide numerous monetization alternatives, such as paid products, in-app purchases, gamification aspects, upgrades, and premium functionality.

Faster the uploading process

More content results in a long loading time. Beginning with mobile-first designs reduces the amount of content on each page, which speeds up the uploading process. Each additional second of load time (between the first 0 and 5 seconds) decreases conversion rates by an average of 4.42 percent, so faster load times will boost your chances of conversion. 

Mobile-first design strategy will also improve your search engine rankings, as page load speed is an important ranking component.

5 excellent mobile-first design examples that inspire you

Youtube - Mobile-first design led to the success of a giant

The YouTube Desktop Web Edition's Material Design language reflects, to some extent, the preference for mobile devices. Therefore, it makes sense to implement a responsive design. So there is no doubt that the lack of buttons and text on small-screen touch mobile devices is to accommodate user habits.

The new night mode is also a concession to the mobile-first design strategy. The desktop version's UI has a white background. In the mobile device's night-light mode, the yellow background is preferable to the black and white background. Due to the small size of the display and the elimination of all light, the best way to protect the eyes of the user is to minimize the screen's brightness.

Apple - Brings an amazing content navigation

A Nielson/Norman Group user experience survey reveals that hiding navigation (such as hamburger navigation) affects content discoverability by 21% and increases navigation by an average of 2 seconds. Apple's mobile website features an excellent content arrangement. 

Thanks to mobile-first design strategy, users may access information simply by scrolling down the page, which is convenient. The shopping bag icon is often essential and obvious at first look for shopping users. In addition, if no information is desired after browsing the page, the bottom navigation allows you to search for the desired information.

Pitchfork - An user-friendly navigation bar

Even though there are numerous studies of thumbnail areas, many websites and applications leave the navigation bar at the top of the display. Nonetheless, if you observe, you will see that the larger the phone, the more difficult it is for the user to access the content on the screen's outer edge. 

Pitchfork, in contrast, positions the primary navigation bar toward the bottom of the screen, where the thumb is most comfortable. As the number of mobile devices continues to rise, this design style should become increasingly popular. Pitchfork has successfully applied a mobile-first design strategy to bring the best user experience.

Typeform - Offers a minimalist interface for mobile users

Typeform offers a gorgeous desktop design with a simple copy, high-definition video, animation, and many design components. However, complicated design elements, such as video and animation, are not mobile-friendly and can dramatically down page load times. 

As a consequence, Typeform applied a mobile-first design strategy. They reduced the number of extraneous design components on the mobile website page. However, they still kept the huge menu buttons that work well on mobile devices to simplify the entire mobile experience.

Airbnb - Uses card design to convey information

Card design facilitates the temporary connection of users and information for a limited time. Google adopted card design as their design standard for this reason. Airbnb and other Internet companies have progressively accepted and adopted this strategy. 

Each card's message is brief and effective and usually consists of a title, picture, graphic, or profile text. This mobile-first design provides sufficient information and makes it simple for users to determine if they wish to delve deeper and acquire further knowledge.

The optimal techniques to adopt a mobile-first design strategy

Creating a website presents its difficulties. However, development teams must be aware of several best practices to guarantee that your website is adequately optimized and meets the expectations of your users. Here, we have included a list of mobile-first design best practices to assist you in incorporating this strategy into your website development.

Content is king - Prioritize the creation of superior content

"Content is King" is a well-known adage, and for good reason in mobile-first design strategy. Prioritizing the creation of high-quality content and incorporating it into your website can greatly contribute to the success of your platform. You may attract more clients while strengthening your trustworthiness and ranking on key search engines such as Google and Bing if you have a solid collection of content.

Guarantee an easy-to-use navigation

Nothing is more detrimental to a platform than a confusing and disorganized navigation mechanism. On mobile devices, demonstrating easy navigation allows you to provide a nice and clear user experience. Utilizing features like navigation drawers and an interactive sitemap in mobile-first design will help your users navigate your website more efficiently.

Avoid extraneous and disruptive pop-ups

The spatial limitations of mobile devices restrict the user's range of view when interacting with your website. Customers will likely have a terrible experience on your website if needless pop-ups and advertisements occupy the majority of their screens.

Always conduct beta testing before going live

Testing your application or website before going live is one of the most vital and indispensable aspects of developing an online platform. This is also one of the most efficient methods for ensuring that your website provides great user experiences across all devices.

This mobile-first design practice will allow you to identify design defects and repair them before releasing the product to customers. In addition, this helps you to ensure that the website renders and translations correctly across mobile, tablet, and desktop devices.

Final words

Taking a mobile-first design strategy allows businesses to look more closely at the user experience design services and features they offer their clients. The world is quickly becoming a more fast-paced and mobile-heavy society. Therefore it is important to ensure that your mobile applications and platforms are in the best shape possible.

Adamo software, a leading Vietnam software development company, anticipated that the software development industry would continue to boom in the future.