Building a functional website requires creativity, an eye for organization, and skillful implementation. And this is why when coming up with a mobile-first website design; it is advisable to get inspiration from other designs out there so that your website does not go off track.
Before delving into mobile-first design trends to be on the lookout for, let us briefly talk about what a mobile-first website design is.
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What is mobile-first design?
Mobile-first designs are as straightforward as they sound. And it involves building the mobile version of a website first before adapting them to other device forms. With a significant number of internet users accessing the web from their smartphones, there is an inherent need to cater to users on this platform.
These designs not only help maximize the use of space but also create the most minimalist version of the website in focus. In addition, they enable eCommerce developer to optimize their desired conversions.
Importance of Mobile-first designs
Every web design should be functional in nature and should deliver the best experience to its users. These are the basic guiding principles of mobile-first designs. With the increasing number of mobile phone users, the prospects of getting value for design efforts rest on the ability of a designer to build a functional mobile-first design.
Reasons Why Mobile-first Designs are so Important
Content maximization
It is common to get overwhelmed when designing web pages because there is too much content to work with. Mobile-first designs, therefore, enable the designer to focus on the essential elements during the design process. It goes against incorporating content that may be redundant to the platform.
Ease of navigation
Navigation is a key component of mobile-first designs. And this has become more necessary as most mobile devices utilize touch and scrolling in-between apps and webpages. Mobile-first design goes beyond design elements placement to ensure that the navigation is also intuitive for the average user. A good example of mobile-first design is the implementation of the tucked-in hamburger menu to ease navigation and provide more space for relevant content.
It boosts visibility and reaches
The drastic increase in the number of mobile users makes them the most used gadget in the modern world. Hence if your website is not mobile-friendly, then it does not stand a chance in the tech world. Mobile designs put your website in the pathway of every potential consumer. That aside, search engines tend to favor sites that cater to mobile users and place them high in search results.
Mobile-first Design Trends to Follow
But with every aspect of technology, no segment tends to stay the same for long, which also applies to mobile-first design. eCommerce brands must keep up with the trends and technological changes happening within mobile web design. And here are a few trends to these stakeholders can follow;
Simple Designs
Simplicity should be at the core of all mobile designs. Web designers should avoid overzealous layouts and design elements that sway consumers away from the brand’s goals. Web designs should be clutter-free and offer a straightforward pathway for users to fulfill their needs. Examples of simple designs include adopting simple fonts, graphics or implementing a search feature.
Use mobile-friendly graphic designs
Using mobile-friendly graphics will make your designs load faster. Therefore, designers must avoid sophisticated graphic elements that take up storage space and are distracting to view. Large-sized graphics affect the loading time, which subsequently impacts the user experience.
Ease of Navigation and call-to-action(CTA) button
Using the call-to-action buttons in mobile designs that are easily accessible by users’ functions in multiple capacities as helps designers save limited space. It also ensures that the design is simple, appealing, less wordy, and more interactive for the users.
Expert tip: Try to place your most important information at the top of the page so users can easily find them.
Clear navigation that adopts a well-organized CTA strategy enables a brand to focus on its conversion goals and steer clear of wanton distractions that impact the consumer’s purchase journey.
Responsive designs
The web design community is tilting towards responsive designs that adapt to hundreds of screen sizes over static designs which cater to specific devices. Responsive designs compensate for most web content and go further to cater to consumer behavior.
Ensure faster loading web pages
Staying true to all the above-listed trends will help ensure a fast-loading page. A mobile design is as good as its loading time. But again, the strategy needs to go beyond optimizing images and graphical elements to other web development practices that reduce page loading times.
Examples of Good Mobile-First Design
There are some websites and apps that over the years have utilized mobile-first designs and are tremendous at it. These are some examples:
1. YouTube Mobile
YouTube is the top platform for content creators, and going by Google’s acknowledgment of catering to mobile users. It was only logical for them to embrace those changes. The YouTube mobile platform is a prime example of a platform adopting the major trends of mobile-first designs.
With the introduction of YouTube Short, where creators upload short videos from their mobile devices, YouTube accommodated these new changes with a robust mobile-first policy.
YouTube set out by implementing a familiar design layout similar to most popular social media apps, but they also went ahead to adopt vertical videos for YouTube stories while sticking to landscape mode for conventional videos. YouTube’s new mobile-first design makes it easy for creators to upload videos, view subscriptions and notifications all from the home screen. And all other relevant call-to-action buttons are positioned within thumb reach.
3. Adobe Mobile app
Adobe is yet another example of excellent mobile-first design execution. The design software solutions provider has gone to extra lengths to deliver a mobile-first design for its smartphone users. Adobe mobile app platform has optimized its call-to-action placement, web content with simple typography and colors that are easy to read and navigate.
Conclusion
Catering to the growing number of smartphone users through mobile-first designs has become more of a necessity than an afterthought for eCommerce brands, and it is no surprise to see many of the big companies hoping on the train.
A mobile-first design smoothens the user experience while at the same optimizing conversion goals for start-ups. But eCommerce brands must stay on top of popular mobile-first design trends if they want to stay competitive, and there is no better way of doing so than with AllValue.
AllValue is the brainchild of Chinese eCommerce merchant giants Youzan and a SaaS platform that offers functional mobile-friendly website templates to enable eCommerce brands to scale with ease. AllValue also delivers top-notch services when it comes to multichannel marketing, thereby increasing start-ups’ chances of making a profit.
For more information, please visit AllValue at: https://allvalue.com/en.