A recently popular phrase that has been appearing over the internet recently is ‘responsive web design’, stemming from the maturing of a recent idea. As this idea has gained tract and popularity it is changing the way in which websites are built, evolving from a buzzword into the inclusion of every project in web design.

With the shift towards ‘responsive web design’, here are some tips from websites Wigan to help you adapt.

Don’t simply scale your website linearly

If you are checking a website to see if it is responsive, the first thing you’ll probably do is scale up or down the browser to see how the layout changes the way it’s displayed and leave it at that, and that is how you’ll look at it as a designer.  When looking at a website as a user, you’ll have no patience for such things and simply want it to work, not caring how the websites scales.

Rather than have a simple, linear scaling of a website from fat to skinny, to create a responsive website you should focus on the core website and build it up from there as the site scales. For example, if you’re creating a website that needs to be viewed on a low resolution mobile device, that should be used as the core website; building the site up from there for larger resolutions.

Create wireframes to show the layout

Creating a responsive website is time-consuming and complicated. When you’re designing a responsive website, the client will want to know how the website will look on a wide range of devices such as smart phones and tablets. This can result in a lot of effort to create quite a few PSD files for a single website, and could take quite a while to implement any changes.

One method to help with this is to create a basic wireframe of the website’s layout to present to the client, allowing you to discuss the layout whilst not talking about design that can be focused on later.

Be prepared to accept change

The standard way of designing a website is to create a graphical representation of the site in Photoshop; however, responsive web design means adapting the approach you take and the tools that you use. There is a wide range of software to help you with designing websites, so don’t just limit yourself to Photoshop.

For example, CSS pre-processors such as SCSS and LESS can be a huge help with your workflow. They can help to simplify some of the complexity of creating a website and cut down the repetition.

Don’t forget your roots

CSS and HTML are very responsive. The internet has been designed from the start to be adaptable to any piece of hardware with access to the internet, and remained this way until web designers progressed to using fixed layouts. Using fixed pixel dimensions will constrict the website to desktops only.

Ultimately, responsive web design is all about the viewer – websites should be created to work well for anyone who wants to view it, no matter how the content is accessed, making the site visually pleasing as well as adhering to the needs of the user.

nexusadmin

Bespoke Website Design

Established in 2010, Nexus Websites are a creative digital agency based in Wigan working with clients all over the UK. With a vast range of experience and a proven track record we have everything you need to take your business to the next level.