Responsive Web Design: What Not to Do

We've covered quite a few ideas on how to build more responsive websites – that is, websites that use flexible layouts, media queries, image scaling and other tricks to make sure that the site looks great and works well on any screen.

Sometimes, though, it's helpful to see what not to do. Responsive design guru Brad Frost recently outlined five common mistakes responsive developers make over at .Net magazine. Frost covers responsive sins like relying on specific screen sizes to trigger layout changes (it's far better to create design breakpoints based on a site's actual design than to just use the screen sizes du jour) and avoiding a one-size-fits all experience.

Of the latter Frost writes:

Mobile is much more than just various small screens.... We shouldn't sell ourselves short by only creating responsive layouts. For example, we sometimes forget that mobile phones can get user location, initiate phone calls, and much more. Hopefully soon browsers on all these gadgets will have access to even more device APIs, further pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on the web.

We should do all we can to make the entire experience respond to what the device is capable of. Addressing constraints first gives us a solid foundation to stand on, then we can utilize progressive enhancement and feature detection to take the experience to the next level.

The entire post is well worth reading, but we'd like to add a sixth rule to the list: Don't assume that what you did yesterday will be the best thing to do tomorrow.

That's not to imply that what you do today won't work tomorrow, just that chances are there will be an easier way to do it.

Responsive web design is a very new challenge and the best ways of meeting it are still being worked out. That can be a pain, but it also means that some very smart people are solving some very hard problems and you can benefit from their work provided you know about it.

We see new things popping up all the time, whether it's a new way to handle responsive images or a browser update that adds widespread support for a new CSS feature. We encourage developers to spend some time reading up on the latest tips and tricks before each new project. New responsive tools are being developed and refined so rapidly that the hack you used on your last project might turn into a stable, well-maintained JavaScript library by the time you start building a new responsive site.