Desktop-down design is so painfully dated and damaging to user experience

There’s of course, some cases where design for desktop-first is essential, but friends, when you’re designing a responsive website, you have to give mobile so much more attention.

Check out this chart from StatCounter:

A chart (which is linked above) showing that mobile consistently trends around 20% above desktop in device usage

Now imagine starting with desktop, or worse, not even considering mobile. I hate saying “mobile” too, because a small screen does not equal a mobile device—it could mean anything. As I explain in my recent talk, there is so much fragmentation in device and viewport sizes, that picking just a couple is futile, but at least targeting the smallest viewport is a good place to be.

I’m telling you, when you do that, you will 100% improve how your website works for everyone, and that’s the most important thing.


👋 Hello, I’m Andy and this is my little home on the web.

I’m the founder of Set Studio, a creative agency that specialises in building stunning websites that work for everyone and Piccalilli, a publication that will level you up as a front-end developer.


Back to blog