Mobile-Friendly Vs. Mobile-First
In 2016, mobile internet traffic surpassed desktop traffic for the first time. Today, mobile devices account for more than 60% of global web traffic. Sure, some industries, including real estate, automotive, and travel, still hold stronger desktop usage (large purchases mean a desire for a larger screen and more research), and the average site visit is longer on desktop than on mobile. Still, reaching for your phone is the go-to move.
We know you know having a mobile-friendly website is essential, but there’s a difference between being mobile-friendly and being designed with mobile usage in mind. Determining which methodology is right for your digital product means knowing your users’ journeys and goals. If most users access your website from their phone, you might want to think beyond just “mobile-friendly” and design for “mobile-first.”
What is Mobile-Friendly Web Design?
When accessing the web on a mobile device first began, developers relied on graceful degradation. They start with the largest screen, incorporating the most complex bits, and strip away content as the size shrinks. The result is a technically mobile-friendly website, but probably with missing content and less-than-ideal functionality. If a user needs to pinch and zoom in to read the text on their phone, it’s not designed with a mobile user in mind.
That’s where progressive enhancement comes in. This method of building digital products includes ensuring every user can interact with the content and have a consistent user experience. When applied to design, progressive enhancement can look like starting with the smallest screen and building up. This mobile-first mentality leads to mobile-optimized sites, improved user interfaces, and higher-quality content.
Why Mobile-First?
Putting aside the fact that mobile usage is higher than desktop usage, there are other important reasons to adopt a mobile-first mentality. It’s easier to scale a site-designed mobile to fit a desktop screen than it is to take all the content from a desktop site and shrink it down. Starting with a smaller screen eliminates the risk of mobile users missing out on content and information that just couldn’t fit. Designing with a mobile-first approach forces businesses to really focus on what content is important.
Mobile-first doesn’t just improve your user experience, it also improves your search engine rankings. Google utilizes mobile-first indexing – shifting its focus from the desktop versions of websites to the mobile versions. Rather than basing their ranking criteria on the desktop version of a site, Google is looking at the mobile version instead.
Features of Mobile-First Web Design
Quality content over quantity
The content mobile users are looking for is likely different from desktop users. For a restaurant, mobile users are probably looking for an address, hours, and maybe ordering take-out. For a retail environment, users on the go might be interested in the same things – hours, location, and also if a product is in stock, maybe even what aisle of the store they can find it. It’s a plus if you’re able to break up content using headings and bullet points, as mobile users are more likely to need to quickly scan a page. Starting the design process with a smaller screen forces businesses to prioritize content. Figuring out what content is truly important to your customers improves the overall quality of content.
Simple navigation
Navigation is challenging with limited space. Having intuitive navigation and a simple layout are key elements of mobile-first design. One longer webpage is easier to scroll down than navigating subpages after subpages. Hamburger menus occupy less space than text-based navigation bars. You may be considering a bottom navigation bar for your mobile application or website. To determine if this would enhance the user’s experience, note that you should limit the number of items in the bar to around four. Icons may not be intuitive enough for users, so using short labels will be more effective. If your content fits and labels are intuitive for users, then the thumb-friendly placement of a bottom navigation can be a real plus.
Mobile-friendly features
Certain features simply don’t work on mobile, or they work but are incredibly frustrating. Pop-ups, certain widgets, and any elements that require hovering are hard to deal with on a smartphone. Any videos or audio that automatically start are generally annoying to anyone and cause problems for accessibility, but they are even more annoying on a phone. Have you ever tried filling out a long form or questionnaire on your phone? Keeping forms to only the absolutely necessary questions or allowing users to save their progress and continue on a different device can ease their frustrations. Don’t forget about the feasibility of clicking an element using your thumb. Your clickable links, buttons, and arrows should be sized for mobile devices, not too large or too small, to avoid irritating users. It may seem like having a button at the middle or top of your website is a great way to get users’ attention and clicks. On mobile, however, it can actually be too much of a reach or require two hands, which will not always be feasible for people on the go.
Fast-loading
Mobile users are often on the go, even if “the go” is simply walking from the kitchen to the living room. They want information fast. If your site is taking more than two seconds to load, there’s a risk people will exit before they even make it to your homepage. That’s it. Just two seconds. The risk increases with every additional second it takes. Unlike a desktop user, who is likely somewhere with a reliable wifi connection, mobile users could be trying to access your content with only one bar of data. Items, including large image files, are easy to replace to speed up the site. An image that’s viewed on a five-inch screen does not need to have 300 dpi. Even when displayed on a 17-inch laptop, lower-resolution graphics are fine. Loading speed is also one factor that impacts Google search rankings, making it even more important.
Is Your Site Optimized for Mobile?
One of the easiest ways to see how mobile-friendly your website is is to pull out your own phone and check it out. Take some time to explore, and note down anything that doesn’t flow quite the way you want. Grab a tablet and do the same. Of course, there are also various web tools to check your mobile-friendly status. Google’s Lighthouse tool and Hubspot’s website grader both provide detailed insights into overall digital product performance and other key factors.
Knowing if your mobile site needs improvement is the first step. While you can’t really start with a mobile-first design unless you’re redesigning everything, the methodologies still apply for design updates.
Mobile-Friendly Vs. Mobile-First Design: Determine What’s Best for Your Users
When considering a refresh or optimization for your digital product or service, you must know your users. Learn their preferred method of accessing your application or platform. Then you’ll know the value of a mobile-friendly vs. a mobile-first methodology for your project. By understanding the specific behaviors and preferences of your users, you can make informed decisions that enhance user engagement, satisfaction, and ultimately, the success of your digital product or service.