What is mobile first design?

More and more people are visiting websites on their mobile devices. Those in the world of web design are responding to this trend with the mobile first approach, meaning that websites are first designed and programmed for smartphones and tablets, and then the desktop version is built on this basic framework.

What does mobile first mean?

Put simply, mobile first is a concept for mobile optimized web design. With this strategy, mobile oriented sites are given priority, and the desktop browser versions are developed afterwards. Mobile first is therefore a design trend that responds to the evolution of search engines such as Google in the mobile sector.

In the past, it was common for web designers and programmers to first concentrate on developing the desktop version of a website. The full range of functions, graphics and design options were used to create a site that was designed for large screens and fast data connections. As a result, mobile sites often remained a mere afterthought for many developers. The mobile first strategy reverses this workflow and sets priorities differently, affecting not only a site’s look, but also the technical infrastructure behind the website.

What measures does the mobile first approach include?

When developing a mobile first strategy, the main aspects relating to product, brand, or provider as well as the website are laid out at the start. This is not just about content and images, but above all about the most important functions and modules that need to be integrated as elements on the website. The following tips should be taken into account in web design when it comes to the mobile first approach.

• Focus on the essentials
• Keep time and energy spent on programming to a minimum
• Maximum performance on all mobile devices
• Faster access to information by structuring content
• Design that caters to smartphone displays
• Avoid large images and unnecessary features
• Scale back source code
• Avoid using JavaScript, program the page directly in HTML5

The key message here is to focus on developing optimal solutions for mobile devices. Laptop and desktop displays are of secondary importance and should be optimized according to the principle of progressive enhancement. In order to optimally display content on all devices, it’s necessary to follow the principles of responsive web design, which often uses CSS grids so that the page remains scalable.

What are the advantages of mobile first design?

Web design should now focus primarily on mobile sites. This is because mobile-optimized websites are able to reach a very large audience. The mobile first approach is also able to adapt quickly because by focusing on web design basics and opting for a sleek structure, a website can be adjusted more efficiently at a later date and new developments are easier to integrate. Since only the essential elements are included in the website due to the limited screen size, mobile websites often offer improved user experience design and greater user-friendliness.

Additionally, web designers can lighten their workload by using preprocessors when generating CSS designs. With the help of CSS preprocessors, parameters such as color and font are easily changeable, and do not have to be painstakingly changed in the CSS code.

Advantages of the mobile first approach

• Reaches a large target group
• User-friendly and clear websites
• Fast and efficient development
• More flexible and easier to customize websites

What are the disadvantages of mobile first design?

Errors often occur with mobile web design, meaning that the optimized website is ultimately not very user-friendly. But even without errors, the mobile first approach does have a few disadvantages.

If you have a desktop-optimized website, migrating to mobile devices may be difficult and require a completely new design concept or even a complete relaunch. The same applies to graphics and image content because content optimized for mobile design may look worse in the desktop version, as the resolution of computer and laptop screens is completely different.

It should also be noted that the mobile first strategy is not a valid solution for all use cases. If you want to provide complex web applications for mobile devices, for example, a mobile-optimized website may not be sufficient or may even be impossible. In cases like this, you should think about designing your own app, which, however, involves a relatively high programming effort.

Disadvantages of the mobile first approach

• Migration from existing desktop sites difficult
• Graphics and image content require a different resolution
• Complex websites may not be fully represented on mobile devices
• Not suitable for every use case

What counts as mobile friendly?

Closely related to the mobile first concept is the question of when a page should be classified as mobile friendly. This is generally the case when:

• content is collected as quickly as possible
• content is responsive and understandable right off the bat
• the website has a short loading time
• links are easily readable and can be clicked on easily

If the mobile first principle was taken into account when your website was being designed, then it should actually fulfill the points mentioned. As the operator, you can easily test whether a page is also recognized as mobile-friendly by consulting Google. The Chrome Lighthouse tool is part of Chrome DevTools and checks your website automatically.

In addition to Google’s mobile-friendly test, website check tools are also available to see how well your website is optimized for mobile. With the Website Checker from IONOS, the check also provides further relevant insights into how easily your website can be found on the web.

Summary of the mobile first approach

When creating a website, it’s important to take the mobile first approach into consideration. If you think about the fact that most users use their mobile devices to visit websites, it makes sense to take advantage of this and ensure that your website performs well on smartphones and tablets. The desktop version of the site can then be derived directly from the mobile version, which saves a lot of work. However, bear in mind that the mobile first approach isn‘t suitable for every situation. Complex websites or even web apps should be designed according to a different design principle.