Mobile First, Content First, User First

Think Mobile First when designing for the web

The term “Mobile First” is thrown around more and more often – I think we’ve all heard it by now. What “Mobile First” means is subjective at times, and when philosophy is applied to process, there are bound to be exceptions to rules, edge cases, etc.

What is Mobile First?

For most people, the initial thought is mobile devices. But what is “mobile”? Mobile is mobility. This is important, because mobility speaks to the humanistic qualities of experience, whereas devices are hardware.

The most important piece of a Mobile First process is the context of the user. I recently attended DrupalCon Denver, where Michael Keara, of That User Advocate Guy and My Planet, compared a user to a traffic cone. A traffic cone, in and of itself, is inconsequential. But when placed in any environment, the traffic cone should alter its environment to its purpose. People are the same way, and the goal of any Mobile First process is to nail down the context of that user. More great reads in Michael Keara’s blog. Continue reading

UX Part 1: UX is Everywhere

“When a Product is being developed, people pay a great deal of attention to what it does. User Experience is the other, often overlooked side of the equation—how it works—that can often make the difference between a successful product and a failure.”

- Jesse James Garrett, author of The Elements of User Experience

User Experience(UX) isn’t just about how people interact with technology, it permeates our lives. Observing your everyday interactions can inform your thinking process when planning out your next website or app. Take your experience with cars for example. Cars are incredibly complex, with thousands of moving parts, but think back to last time you “interacted” with a car unfamiliar to you, say a rental or friend’s car. Most likely you drove it with minimal effort because you’ve learned that pressing down on the gas makes you go faster, stepping on the brake slows you down, the steering wheel takes you left and right, and so on. Continue reading