Web design appears to be getting better and better as time develops. Its improvement is not only in the aspect of aesthetics. Architectural structure has equally evolved to the point where users now have better guidance when navigating a website. With continuous feedback and data, there are emerging discoveries regarding how sites can be better optimized in relation to changing trends, whether it be changes in technology and device or personal needs. Which is why the concept of mobile first design has become more necessary than ever before.
For many years, Google already made it clear that web contents would be consumed more by mobile devices than desktop computers. To buttress Google’s prediction, the world got to a tipping point in 2016, forcing website designers to be serious about employing mobile first design in their design processes so that their contents can be conveniently accessed by any type of device.
A very common usability trend right now is the implementation of fewer navigation menus. Previously, navigation menus used to have at least between 5 and 7 items. These days, that has changed because they now use between 3 and 4 items for it to be optimized for mobile. This has been deemed as great by expert designers because it reduces the clutter on the screen and also looks appealing to users who are not comfortable with more than the necessary options.
Designers are equally moving away from the use of heavy graphical designs to better usage of colors, texts, as well as page composition for achieving readability and aesthetics. Although images will continue to be a powerful medium for conveying messages, websites that concentrate extensively on heavy graphic designs often struggle to render nicely on mobile devices. That is why mobile-first sites now downplay the use of images even though they are still there.
However, these tips are just the mobile first design surface! There are several reports and studies that dive deeper into every detail in this regard, from tabulated data to form fields. Although all of these are now considered as best practices for web design, the only way you can improve your online presence and offer your users the intuitive experience they deserve is by engaging constant revisions and updates from time to time.
What are the Best Practices of Mobile First Design? The key to mobile first design is to focus on the user experience, not design. Focus on the user experience by removing unnecessary elements and creating a valuable experience. Smaller screens mean less content. Use intuitive navigation and condense secondary elements into easy-to-skip navigational buttons. Below are some tips to help you make your mobile-friendly site as valuable as possible.
The main principle of mobile-first design is to create a website that is optimized for a smaller screen. Because content takes up valuable real estate on mobile screens, you should optimize your website to be fast and load efficiently. You can speed up page loading by compressing images and utilizing “lazy loading.” For better SEO, use HTTPS protocol, which is faster and secure. Make sure your team follows a defined process when creating mobile-first websites. Here are some steps to follow when building mobile-first websites:
Developing a website for a small screen is easier than designing for a large screen. By focusing on the smallest screen size, you’ll be able to prioritize what’s important to your users. Focusing on the most important functions first will help your website become more usable, and the process of expanding to a larger screen is quicker and easier. This method of designing has been used by leading industry players for years and has proven effective.
Another advantage of the mobile-first approach is that your site will load faster. This is because fewer elements are needed to display content. By using a simple navigation, users can easily find what they are looking for. In addition, you can add more bells and whistles to your desktop applications. Smaller screens mean less content and better user experience. This approach will help you improve your SEO. In addition, Google is crawling pages based on mobile-first approach.
Accordions can be used to help readers easily find information. Often used on FAQ pages, accordions help users find answers to a few questions without having to scroll all the way down the page. Accordions also help users to fit the content into small screens. Here are some examples of how accordions can be used on your website:
Accordions are containers for information that displays as a header on a mobile device. They expand when a user taps on them and allow the visitor to skim the content. Accordions should be used sparingly, however, because they require front-end work and reduce conversion rates. While accordions are often the best choice for some sites, they should not be used exclusively. Accordions are great for FAQ pages, menu sections, and more.
Accordions are best practices for mobile first designs because they conserve screen space. However, they can lead to user disorientation because the content underneath is so long. Users may have to scroll down the page to see the entire accordion, which can cause them to lose track of where they were before. However, these problems can be solved by expanding the Back button functionality. If accordions are used sparingly, the design is still good.
Accordions are best practices for mobile first designs because they make navigation on smaller screens easier and more convenient. Instead of large, horizontal columns, accordions create sections of a collapsible content that allows the user to scan content in a fraction of the space. These elements will help improve navigation on smaller screens and also make it easier for users to skim the content on a smaller screen. They’re also a great way to organise content on a smaller screen.
In a recent study, Microsoft found that the average attention span for web users dropped from 12 to 8 seconds. This trend suggests that web users increasingly expect to have intuitive access to information. If your website is unable to accommodate this user demand, users are more likely to leave than to stick around. This is where intuitive navigation comes in. Whether you’re designing for desktop or mobile, consider the following best practices to improve your mobile site’s navigation.
Keep the navigation interface consistent and straightforward. If your visitors are looking to go back a few steps, they shouldn’t have to spend any time finding it. Make sure the main menu is at the top of each page and place a logo at the top left of the screen to link to the homepage. Keep the navigation interface consistent across all pages, even if it means using a different colour scheme. In addition to using colour for menu items, it’s best to use conventional symbols for links on your site.
The font and colour contrast should be consistent across all platforms. The navigation text should be easy to read and sized correctly for screen sizes that are smaller than a mobile user’s monitor. Make sure that the font is large enough to be legible on a mobile device without having to pinch and zoom. It’s also important to use a contrast checker tool to identify issues with the font size. Lastly, the text should be readable without zooming.
When designing for mobile, reduce the amount of effort required to accomplish your goals. Break large tasks into smaller steps and prioritize the actions you want your users to perform. Hide secondary actions. Offer a way to save progress and re-engage with your site later. Consider adding a search bar with predictive search, deep filters, and back button navigation. Your mobile first design should be centered on the content rather than the secondary elements.
One of the most critical features of a mobile website is intuitive navigation. Condensing secondary elements into easy-to-skip navigational buttons allows visitors to jump to the section they need without opening multiple tabs and losing track of the page they were just on. Users don’t appreciate pop-ups or advertisements taking over their screen. This is especially true of websites that are designed to be mobile-first.
When designing a mobile website, don’t overload the page with unnecessary content. Condensing secondary elements into easy-to-skip navigational buttons is a great way to make your content smaller and more digestible. The smaller the fonts, the easier they will be to read.
As with any web design, responsiveness is crucial to ensuring that the website is functional on a variety of screen sizes. Depending on which platform your website is being viewed on, you should consider the size of the font and the size of the elements that make up the page. You can do this by using the Bootstrap framework, which has made mobile-first design a common industry standard. The Bootstrap framework uses screen-width breakpoints to accommodate different screen sizes. To test responsiveness, simply run a mobile-friendly test on Google.
As more people access the web on mobile devices, the standard single-column design is not going to cut it. Mobile users use their thumbs to navigate a website. For this reason, mobile-first designs pay special attention to making clickable elements larger and further apart. Additionally, a responsive design will condense content to fit all screen sizes. Long paragraphs are a huge turn off for most mobile users.
Responsive web design is important for several reasons, but the most obvious is a simple one: it helps keep your content on the front of the page. By minimizing the number of elements and adjusting for different screen sizes, you can improve the overall user experience. It is important to remember that the most important parts of a website are still there, even if it isn’t visible on a smaller screen.
Before launching a website, consider performing usability testing on all major mobile platforms. Most smartphone users have some level of familiarity with how to use their device, but if you’re targeting a more diverse audience, it might be better to conduct user testing on multiple platforms.
In addition to analysing user behavior, usability testing can also help you understand your target audience. By including a diverse range of demographics, usage behaviors, and ability levels, usability testing can help you build a better product. The results of your test can be used as a guide for future development. And since we live in a highly visual world, always consider how people in various locations and situations to use different products.
When conducting usability testing, be sure to get consent from your participants. You should get consent from your users twice: once before you begin the test, and once again at the end. You must get their permission to record and use the results, and once again when you are done. It may be difficult to get consent if the participants don’t fully understand what’s involved in the test. But by following these rules, your users can give their informed consent.
