You may have heard that you should always design for mobile first — meaning, when you first lay out a new design, you should focus on the mobile-sized viewport first, and then translate that to desktop size.
But I do it opposite — I design for desktop, and translate it to mobile.
Sure, there’s many arguments for both sides — but here’s why I don’t design for mobile first.
1. It’s limiting
As a designer, I prefer a larger canvas to explore my creativity in a new design. With a desktop width, you have that full capability to do so, but with mobile, you’re really confined to a narrow viewport that makes it much more difficult to push your creative limits.
2. Scale down, not up
My personal preference is to design a website fully in desktop dimensions, and then translate that design into mobile — understanding along the way how certain layouts and elements will scale down.
Because I’ve been designing for so long, I already know as I’m designing for desktop what limitations I have in terms of scaling down responsively for mobile.
It’s a bit of a pet peeve of mine when the desktop version of a site looks awesome, and then on mobile half the elements and design that makes it awesome is just hidden because it doesn’t work.
You’ve got to think about mobile while designing in desktop from the beginning so that the two versions (and user experiences) are as closely aligned as possible.
3. Thought process
As we touched on, I always thinking as I’m designing how it will scale down to mobile. A basic fundamental is to think about how your content and layout stacks — from left to right, top to bottom.
Knowing the fundamentals of how basic responsiveness works, I find it much easier to design in desktop first.
If you approach mobile first, it feels like backwards thinking in having to undo how elements stack and then get translated on desktop. Sure, it’s just the opposite thinking, but it feels like a forced way of thinking.
Instead, I design in desktop, then adjust the layout as needed — sometimes swapping order of elements so that the mobile site is cohesive and flows.
When to design for mobile first
Now, although I’m not on team mobile-first, I do believe they are times when you should be.
Most notably, is if you are designing an app or when your audience is focused primarily on mobile.
In these two scenarios, it can be best to ensure your mobile design is the primary focus — creating a user experience that’s optimal for your audience and end user.
What do you do — design for mobile or desktop first? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Thanks for reading,
