Rather than tailoring disconnected designs to each of an ever-increasing number of web devices, we can treat them as facets of the same experience. We can [make our] designs […] more adaptive to the media that renders them.

What is a responsive website?

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Strictly speaking, responsive websites have three defining features:

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1. Media queries

“A media query allows us to target not only certain device classes but to actually inspect the physical characteristics of the device rendering our work,” Marcotte explains.

Media queries thus allow developers to use condition checks to alter web designs based on the properties of the user’s device. This is superior to simply defining breakpoints in the HTML/CSS, as it’s a more tailored experience for the user.

2. Fluid grids

When flexible grids are created using CSS, the columns automatically rearrange themselves to fit the size of the screen or browser window, whether the user is on a 21-inch desktop computer, a 13-inch laptop, a 9.7-inch tablet, or a 5.5-inch mobile phone.

“Fluid layouts [….] put control of our designs firmly in the hands of our users and their browsing habits,” Marcotte explains.

This enables designers to maintain a consistent look and feel across multiple devices. Plus, it saves everyone time and money by allowing designers to update one version of the website versus many.

3. Flexible visuals

Marcotte refers here to using code that prevents rich media files from exceeding the dimensions of their containers, as well as viewports. As the “flexible container resizes itself,” he explains, so does the visual within it.

Given that there are over 8.48B unique devices in existence today, this functionality allow teams to create timeless designs capable of adapting to any device, regardless of its size or shape.

Responsive web design examples

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