6 Ideas for Designing Ideal Mobile-first Websites
At Authentic Style, we prioritize design in all we do.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that we have a "mobile first" mentality towards designs when we begin working on a website design project given that 63% of Google visitors in 2019 were made via a mobile device.
Yet what does "mobile first" actually mean? Here, we discuss six factors that we take into account when designing for mobile devices first, as well as how these factors enhance user experience.
1. Start with small goals
According to the mobile-first design philosophy, you should start wireframing or designing for the smallest screen before moving on to larger ones when building a website or app.
Basically, it involves giving the appropriate user experience to the appropriate device.
Your website will display better on all larger devices if it functions and looks excellent on a mobile device.
2. Prioritizing content
The fact that the mobile-first strategy also prioritizes content is more significant, though.
Since mobile devices have the most restrictions (screen size, bandwidth, data usage, etc.), designing for them from the beginning pushes you to put content before any inessential frills.
Mobile users occasionally need different content than desktop ones. The question of what the user will value more may usually be used to change the device-specific content (for example, a module that was previously scrollable on mobile may need to be swipe-able).
3. Navigation needs to be simple.
Keep in mind that for mobile users, navigation should be clear, simple, and intuitive.
Should you represent how to access the navigation with a "hamburger" style menu icon (three lines piled on top of each other)? Nowadays, most consumers are aware of this, but not all are, so take into account your target audience and what would perform best for them.
The second piece of advice we have is to use as few dropdowns and submenus as possible. While they can assist simplify a desktop design, mobile users frequently need the quickest path to the data they're looking for.
4. Improve the speed of your website for mobile users.
We'll want to reduce page load times to an absolute minimum and make sure users aren't consuming a significant quantity of data bandwidth when browsing your site by "thinking mobile first."
Reduce the quantity and size of the photos on a page. Maybe use shapes or bolder, more emotive fonts in place of photos to draw visitors in and increase the likelihood that they will stay on the page longer.
5. Examine videos
In the third quarter of 2018, mobile devices accounted for more than 60% of internet video plays. A mobile user's experience and engagement with the site can be greatly improved by video content. Think about using video blogs or a short video on your site to introduce your business.
Avoid stuff like auto-playing video backdrops on the mobile version of your site since most mobile devices require the user to trigger video playback. Use optimal poster pictures instead, and make all videos something that the viewer has to tap their finger to start.
6. A consistent user experience across all platforms
We've discussed designing the "best experience" for each individual platform, but we also need to think about how those experiences should be comparable to one another. The main goal of responsive design is to make sure nothing detracts from the user experience on your site just because it is being seen on a smaller screen.
Try to make sure that every feature is available on all platforms. Although design features might be hidden within browser breakpoints, we should always aim to build from the premise that all content should be accessible on all available screens. Finding a layout and size that are appropriate for the optimum screen width is the key to success.
For more contact Nova Labs now.
