The importance of responsive design
By Anna Allen
Responsive web design is the art of adjusting elements on a page to fit the window it appears in, such as mobile or desktop. This is essential to a business, as it ensures their site can be reached anywhere, by anyone.
Without responsive web design, customers can become frustrated with a business if their site is clunky, hard to read or disorganized. Especially when many people are making appointments and shopping on mobile devices, businesses need a good user experience on any-sized screen.
Roughly 30 percent of all purchases made online are through mobile devices; bad mobile design can cause those purchases to turn away from a business.
Below are some tips to get your site looking great no matter the dimensions.
Design Your Logo in a Variety of Sizes
One of the best ways to cut down clutter on a smaller window is to make a mobile-friendly logo that is simpler or downsized from your company’s original logo. Doing so makes a complicated logo easier to see on a smaller site, especially if your logo contains text or fine lines.
Much like the design of your company’s letterhead looks different from your business card, changing your logo to appear cleaner on a mobile device is best practice.
Design Mobile First
Anyone in the web design industry knows the key to responsive design is to start with mobile and move up to desktop. Designing for mobile first allows you to keep your site simple and clean. It’s also easier to add as you go rather than having to downsize later – better to have extra space than not enough.
When going from mobile to desktop, it’s important to make your design cohesive. Fonts, colors and content should remain the same between devices, although changing menus, headers, footers and other structural components are essential to make sure your content is screen appropriate.
Usability is Most Important
When designing a website, it’s easy to get carried away with fun colors and designs and add too many features.
Remember, the most important aspect of a website is usability. If your audience is unable to navigate the website easily and has a hard time finding your content, they are less likely to engage with that content or come back to the site.
The key to a good website is having easy-to-read navigation tools and a clear hierarchy of content – the product or service is most important and should be clearly represented on your site. On mobile screens, less space makes it imperative that only necessary information be included on the page.
Does your website lack responsive design? Contact 1893 Brand Studio to get quality structural and design ideas for your site that will work for you and your customers.
