We can no longer predict how people are accessing our websites now, let alone in a few years’ time when the technology people use to access the web will inevitably diverge even further and perhaps in ways we haven’t even considered yet. Rather than seeing this unpredictability and lack of control as a problem, we should embrace these ‘known unknowns’ and the inherent flexibility of the web. Put simply, responsive web design is about being more flexible and assuming less about our users, from how they’re accessing our websites and what technology they’re using to their environment. This talk will discuss the four tenets of good responsive design: content parity, performance, future friendliness and accessibility against a backdrop of Matt's experiences designing and building responsive websites over the past 3 years with plenty of useful tips and takeaways along the way.

1. ADAPTING TO A
RESPONSIVE
WEB DESIGN

2. HELLO
I’m Matt
@duckymatt
!
!
!
!
!
!

3. @cyberduck_uk cyber-duck.co.uk

4. HOW DO WE DEFINE
RESPONSIVE?

5. To react quickly
and positively.

6. Responsive web design is a
design approach that aims to
create interfaces that react
quickly and positively to the
user’s conditions.

7. PEOPLE WILL ACCESS OUR
WEBSITES IN WAYS WE HADN’T
EVEN CONSIDERED YET
Image Copyright: Walt Disney Pictures & Tim Burton Pictures

8. THE PREVIOUS STATE(S) OF
OUR OWN WEBSITE
“DESKTOP” SITE
(2011)
“TABLET” SITE
(LATER 2011)
*Not to scale :)
“MOBILE” SITE
(2012)

9. OUR SEPARATE MOBILE WEBSITES:
A STOP-GAP STRATEGY

10. SO WHY GO
RESPONSIVE?

11. 3 FACTORS
Image Copyright: L.A. Films & Home Box Office (HBO)

12. MULTIPLE CODE BASES1
CONTENT STRATEGY2
KNOWN UNKNOWNS3

14. SETTING 4 GOALS FOR A
RESPONSIVE DESIGN
Image Copyright: Chartoff-Winkler Productions & United Artists

15. CONTENT
PARITY
Credit: http://wtfmobileweb.com/
THE SAME CONTENT
SHOULD BE AVAILABLE
ON ALL PLATFORMS
1

16. SPEED
MATTERS
BECAUSE PERFORMANCE
AFFECTS EVERYONE
2
Image Copyright: Universal Pictures

17. FUTURE FRIENDLY
See: http://futurefriend.ly/
CUT DOWN ON MAINTENANCE AND
SUPPORT KNOWN UNKNOWNS
3
Image Copyright: Universal TV

18. ACCESSIBILITY
STYLES, BACKGROUNDS AND JAVASCRIPT
ARE PROGRESSIVE ENHANCEMENTS
4
Photo Credit: Neil McKenzie: http://www.flickr.com/photos/furbyx4/2968376257/

19. CONTENT PARITY
1

20. ASSUMPTIONS
1
Image Copyright: BBC

21. You don't get to decide which
device people use to access
your website.
KAREN MCGRANE
http://alistapart.com/article/your-content-now-mobile
Photo credit: Eirik Helland Urke: http://www.flickr.com/photos/webdagene/6149954950/

22. Credit: http://xkcd.com/773/
1

23. 1

24. RESEARCHING
CONTENT STRATEGY
SPEAKING TO EXISTING CUSTOMERS
GOOGLE ANALYTICS
CRAZYEGG
LEAD FORENSICS
1
Image Copyright: Warner Bros.

25. OUR CONTENT DEFINES
THE LAYOUTS WE NEED!
NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND
1

26. SPEED MATTERS
2

27. 2
moto.oakley.com

28. If you were data roaming on an
iPhone, at $9 per Mb data
roaming, that web page would
cost me $785 to look at on my
iPhone!
ANDREW CLARKE
http://alistapart.com/article/dao/
Photo credit: Jeffrey Zeldman: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeldman/12621077243
http://dandelion-burdock.com/articles/view/the-weight-of-the-web

29. DOES RESPONSIVE =
POOR PERFORMANCE?
Credit: Guy Podjarny - Creator of Mobitest: http://www.guypo.com/mobile/what-are-responsive-websites-made-of/
2

30. To react quickly
and positively.
2

31. IT’S EASY TO CONFUSE
IMPLEMENTATION WITH
TECHNIQUE
2
Image Copyright: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

32. MAKING PERFORMANCE A PRIORITY
!
SETTING A PERFORMANCE “BUDGET”
2
timkadlec.com/2013/01/setting-a-performance-budget/
Image Copyright: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

33. To load the Facebook, Twitter and Google social
media buttons for a total of 19 requests takes
246.7 KB in bandwidth.
http://zurb.com/article/883/small-painful-buttons-why-social-media-bu
2

34. OFF THE SHELF
FRONT-END FRAMEWORKS
2

35. Photo credit: Don Shall: http://www.flickr.com/photos/donshall/3817115551/
2

36. 2
Photo credit: James Bowe: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesrbowe/4231509266/

37. KNOWING YOUR CODE FROM
TOP TO BOTTOM IS ESSENTIAL TO
HAVE TOTAL CONTROL OVER IT
2
Image credit: http://css-tricks.com/

38. http://cyber-duck.github.io/hoisin.scss/
WE CREATED A MINI-LIBRARY THAT
IS SIMPLE, FLEXIBLE, LIGHT AND
DOESN’T MAKE DECISIONS FOR YOU
2

39. ONLY LOADING
WHAT WE NEED
WHEN WE NEED IT.
2

40. JAVASCRIPT
2
http://requirejs.org/

41. CSS
2
http://sass-lang.com/

42. IMAGES
2
BEGIN WITH OPTIMISATION

43. IMAGES
2
THEN COMPRESSION
http://imageoptim.com/ https://tinypng.com/

44. IMAGES
2
27 KB 266 KB
USING THE RIGHT IMAGE FOR THE RIGHT TASK

45. CACHING
2
SERVING FILES FASTER
http://www.cloudflare.com/ https://www.varnish-cache.org/

46. 2

47. FUTURE
FRIENDLINESS
3

48. THE WEB DOESN’T HAVE
A FIXED WIDTH
3

49. We should embrace the fact that
the web doesn’t have the same
constraints [as the printed page]
and design for this flexibility.
JOHN ALLSOPP
http://alistapart.com/article/dao/
Photo credit: TEDxNSW: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42645924@N02/3933255654/
3

50. LAYOUT
AND
FLOW
3

51. LAYOUTS BASED ON CONTENT
RATHER THAN DEVICE
3

52. RESPONSIVE DESIGN WORKFLOW
3

53. SKETCH
3
Copyright: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation & Paramount Pictures

54. PROTOTYPE
3
Copyright: Paramount Pictures & Marvel Enterprises

55. USE STYLE TILES
http://styletil.es/
3
Copyright: Sandollar Productions & Touchstone Pictures

56. PROTOTYPECREATE PATTERN LIBRARIES
http://boagworld.com/design/pattern-library/
3
Copyright: Universal Pictures & Alphaville Films

57. ENHANCE FOR CONTEXT
3

58. ANIMATION AS AN
ENHANCEMENT
3
Copyright: Touchstone Pictures & Amblin Entertainment & Silver Screen Partners III & Walt Disney

59. ACCESSIBILITY
4

60. 7 QUICK WINS FOR
ACCESSIBILITY
4
Copyright: Warner Bros.

61. 1. MAKE THE PURPOSE OF
ALL LINKS AS CLEAR AND
DESCRIPTIVE AS POSSIBLE
IF YOUR LINKS SAY “CLICK HERE”
YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG
4

62. 2. CREATE A HIDDEN SKIP
NAVIGATION LINK
4

63. 3. MAKE URLS HUMAN
READABLE AND PERMANENT
WHERE POSSIBLE
HTTP://ART.COM/ARTGALLERY/DEFAULT.ASP?
ID=9DF4BC0580DF11D3ACB60090271E26A8&COMMAND=FREELIST
4

64. 4. USE DESCRIPTIVE ALT TAGS
FOR WHEN AN IMAGE
CANNOT BE SHOWN.
4

65. 5. DON’T USE PLACEHOLDERS
AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR LABELS
ON FORMS
4
http://www.webaxe.org/placeholder-attribute-is-not-a-label/Image credit: Dave Bushell: http://dbushell.com/2013/11/08/form-label-design/

66. 6. USE APPROPRIATE INPUT
TYPES AND ATTRIBUTES ON
FORMS
4

67. 7. PROOF DESIGNS IN GREYSCALE
TO CHECK COLOUR CONTRAST
4
ALSO USE COLOUR BLINDNESS SIMULATORS
AND COLOUR CONTRAST CHECK TOOLS
Related: http://24ways.org/2012/colour-accessibility/

68. THE RESULTS

69. SINCE LAUNCH:
200%
INCREASE IN
MOBILE
TRAFFIC
43%
INCREASE IN
CONVERSION
RATE
-4000%
REDUCTION IN
HOMEPAGE EXIT
RATE ON MOBILE

70. MUCH TO LEARN THERE IS
Copyright: Lucasfilm

71. THANK YOU
@duckymatt
@cyberduck_uk
Copyright: Studio 37 & La Petite Reine & La Classe Américaine
& JD Prod & France 3 Cinéma & Jouror Productions & uFilm