Over the past few decades, technology has reduced the number of devices you need on a daily basis. You can combine the functions of a PC, camera, Personal Data Assistant, and gaming console into your smartphone. If the current trend continues, you can see more than 7.5 billion smartphones in operation worldwide by 2026. That means people are more likely to use their phones to access your domain. Thus, it pays to design your software with a mobile-first approach.
However, the process is more complicated than you might think, especially when you plan to utilise the same domain for smartphones, tablets, and computers. Here’s a definitive guide that will tell you about the concept of what is mobile-first and how to implement it for your systems.
What Is a Mobile-First Responsive Design?
A mobile-first responsive design makes your website or application compatible with a smartphone screen. Since most have a different orientation and resolution from a computer screen, it means modifying the size and structure of your domain.
It would help to account for people using touch instead of a precise cursor to browse your website. Moreover, the content should load quickly without requiring excessive bandwidth. In later sections, you’ll discover the balance between the effort for a responsive website and its benefits.
Benefits of Using a Mobile-First Design
While it can be challenging to achieve, a mobile-first approach can yield several benefits for your enterprise. A few prominent ones include:
User-Friendliness
Going mobile-first means you’re adapting to the increasing usage of portable devices. It makes you design content around the user, such as more extended hyperlinks and a larger bill of sales. If people find your service more intuitive, they prefer it over the competition, even if they have more market penetration.
Fast Loading Pages
When you design your website per the smartphone display, you keep things lean to account for the shorter bandwidth. That makes your pages load quickly and keep the user experience seamless. It also lets any employees have easier access to the asset management system in an area of poor internet reception, like a warehouse.
Search Engine Ranking Priority
Search engines account for your website being mobile-friendly in determining its SERP rankings. So, being mobile-first directly affects your domain’s SEO, gaining a more vast audience swiftly.
What Is the Mobile-First Design Process?
Now that you know about the advantages of a responsive website, here are the steps you need to make the design process as efficient as possible,
- Content Inventory
Before inserting the relevant content, you must draw out a definite plan that fits your mobile-first approach. Try to determine what you want to display and structure the page accordingly.
- Visual Hierarchy
You don’t want to overwhelm the visitors with a wall of text as soon as they open your website. That’s why you must follow a slim structure that only lets the essential information display on the home page, with links for additional information available after scrolling down.
- Building Mobile Wireframe First
Breaking down the web page into smaller sections allows you to manage each visual element carefully. You can try a wireframing method to achieve that quickly. With it, you can create tiny blocks to insert more minor elements, building upon them as you progress through the entire page.
- Optimising Graphics
You must accommodate the appropriate graphics and icons to make the most of your user experience. Furthermore, if you’re planning for a smartphone-compatible QR code system, you must ensure that users can operate it while carrying packages or using gloves. More so if you’re planning for warehouse automation.
- Testing In a Real Device
Before you finalise the design, it helps to test your system on a handheld device. You can use several test smartphones to scan the containers in your warehouse or wave them in front of the security scanner to ensure the system detects them. In addition, you need to test it in changing conditions, such as different brightness settings and a weak Wi-Fi connection.
Short Summary
For a mobile-first approach, there are several conditions you need to account for to offer your users the best-curated experience. But pulling it off can mean substantial long-term gains for overall security and asset management. We hope this guide helps you with your website or app development procedure. For automation and business optimisation solutions, connect with Qbasis today.
