Web Style Guide by Patrick J. Lynch & Sarah Horton

Author:Patrick J. Lynch & Sarah Horton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2016-01-05T05:00:00+00:00

FIGURE 6.10 This example responsive site design expands at three breakpoints, and sets a maximum width of 960 pixels for laptop and desktop displays.

Prioritized content and functionality

Given the severe layout and bandwidth constraints of smartphones, a mobile-first design approach forces a development team to look hard at the central priorities and needs of all users, not just mobile users, and to create sites that have stripped away a lot of the graphic and textual bloat that adheres to designs that begin with a large desktop layout. On mobile screens there simply isn’t room for the nice-to-have stuff—only the must-have stuff will fit.

Rather than defaulting to a desktop version of the site and then later trying to cram all the content and navigation into a small format, the mobile-first approach builds up from the most critical content and functionality and gradually adds secondary material and features as space allows. This focused mobile-first approach comports well with responsive design techniques, and agile project management that emphasizes a constant focus on high-priority goals and features.

In a common mobile layout, the material in sidebar columns tends to be pushed down below the “main” content column, resulting in a tall stack designed to fit within the tight confines of a mobile screen. However, CSS layouts give you complete control over where various semantic HTML containers (<header>, <main>, <nav>, <article>, <section>, <aside>) or other <div> containers are placed on the screen for mobile breakpoints. Carefully consider the priorities for your various page elements before burying them three screens deep in your mobile layout. For example, the content or navigation material that was at the top of your sidebar column may also belong near the top of your smartphone layout. Make your layout decisions based on content and navigation priority, not on simple layout formulas.

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