Mobile devices have led the digital revolution during the last ten years. Mobile devices now account for roughly 54% of all website traffic, and a mobile-first strategy is unmistakably taking over the industry.
A new approach to development called mobile-first design, which promotes mobile-friendly design, has emerged in response to the widespread use of mobile devices to access the internet.
This article will help you include the mobile-first design strategy for creating responsive websites and applications that prioritize the mobile user experience.
What is Mobile-First CSS?
A design philosophy known as “mobile first CSS” aims to provide better user experiences by starting the design process even with the smallest of screens: To ensure that your user’s experience is smooth across all devices.
For instance, a mobile-first designer wouldn’t start designing a desktop layout when they were prototyping or drawing up a website layout. Instead, they sketched out how it might appear on a mobile device before moving onto broader and wider screens.
How mobile-first strategy came into existence?
In the past, websites have frequently been developed under the assumption that desktop computers will be the primary method of access. In the end, website designers attempt to modify these sites by compressing some features to improve mobile and tablet viewing.
The practice of scaling down websites is infamously referred to as the desktop-first approach or graceful degradation.
This method’s main drawback is that different online developments are not adequately synced to lower screen sizes. As a result, this reduces how small websites look visually.
To solve this problem, a new approach called mobile-first design or developer-progressive advancement is introduced.
According to the “mobile first” philosophy, website developers should build their sites first for the smaller screens before adding more features for larger screens.
Why Mobile First design is important?
The use of mobile devices has grown crucial to the current web ecosystem and will remain so in the future. As was already said at the opening, mobile devices account for about half of all web traffic.
Remember that the number of mobile users has already overtaken that of desktop users. Mobile users have a leading market share of 60.43% when compared to desktop users, according to Statscounter Globalstats.
The Smartphone usage statistics address a few stats to reassess the mobile-first approach
- Most likely, the average amount of time that smartphone users wish to spend is 3 hours and 15 minutes.
- Millennials often use their smartphones for more than 5.7 hours every day.
- On average, consumers check their phones 58 times every day.
Best practices for the Mobile-First approach
Page content is a priority
Never lose sight of the reality that “content is king” while using a mobile-first approach as a designer. Web designers should make sure that the most crucial parts are prominently shown because those are the ones consumers would actively look out for given the space limitations on smaller screens.
Delivering seamless navigation
Intuitive navigation is crucial for providing a clean and uncluttered experience on mobile devices. Web designers can use features like navigation drawers (using hamburger menus) to highlight the website’s supporting components. It will make it easier for consumers to find the information they need.
Ignoring disruptive pop-ups
Mobile devices have a limited amount of space, as was already noted, and no user wants to be bothered with unexpected pop-ups or adverts that take over the screen. Only focusing on what’s vital to users and providing them with what they were looking for should be the goal for designers and website owners.
Testing on actual devices under real environment
Testing websites on genuine devices is the only surefire way to ensure that they operate flawlessly or without a hitch on all devices. Designers can use it to check that the website displays properly on mobile devices, tablets, and desktop computers.
Conclusion
We hope this article has given you enough insights regarding what mobile CSS really is. And why is it important? Since the number of mobile users is continuously increasing, if you are looking for mobile-responsive design then you arrive at the right place. Stellar Digital, the best mobile app development company in Delhi and Gurgaon provides mobile app development services. Reach us at contact@stellardigital.in for more information.
