StatCounter, an independent web analytics firm, recently announced that for the first time ever Microsoft had been knocked of the top stop of the most popular operating system and replaced with Android. This further re-enforces the trend that more and more people are prefering to surf the internet using mobile devices instead of the traditional desktop or laptop.
Should mobile design now take priority over desktop? #MobileFirst #mobilefriendly #mobilewebdesign #responsivedesign https://t.co/FigqIzRSJ0
— Preeny (@PreenyWebDesign) 3 April 2017
Let’s Flip Everything Upside Down
For years now we have been told that our websites need to be mobile friendly, in fact Google have a tool where you can actually test how mobile friendly your website is, but with this trend in mobile usage increasing is it time we forget about making websites responsive to mobile, and instead flip everything on it’s head and make websites responsive to desktop?
So instead of designing a website and then making design alternations to allow the website to be responsive to mobile, we should be forgetting about desktop completely and starting with a 100% mobile design making sure we get optimum usability and performance on mobile first. We can then adapt the design to fit into a desktop screen where it’s importance is below that of mobile.
Hold Your Horses!
As a general guide I believe mobile design should be at the forefront of the thoughts of both designers and business owners, but as with any design implementation it is always best not to guess, but use analytical data to determine if indeed the majority of people visiting your website are using mobile. Once you have this data you can then make a much more educated decision about where your website design or re-design should be focused.
Not sure how to get your websites data? Ideally you should have a Google Analytics account and link this to your website. If you are having problems or would like help setting up a Google Analytics account or help understanding all the data that it gives you contact us and we will be happy to help.