Pragmatic responsive design

pragmatic
responsive design
making the best of old and new techniques

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/dwonderwall/3341419492

This presentation is...
• part case study
• part lessons learned
• part future-thinking

THE CASE STUDY
sadly no longer online as
of February 2013 :-(
browser.nokia.com
A small campaign site introducing three new web
browsers for Nokia devices.

Chrome

Opera Mini
Nokia N97

iPad

THE CASE STUDY

Site goals:
• Inform end-users and industry
• Prompt end-users to update their browser
• Experiment with responsive design to support
a global audience and wide range of target devices.

Call to action: Update your browser!

70+ target Nokia devices

Symbian^3/Anna/MeeGo Series 60 Series 40
Touch (+ many w/ keyboards) Touch and non-touch Touch and non-touch
2008-present 2006-present (S60 3rd FP 1/2) 2008-present (~S40 6th Edition)
WebKit browser WebKit browser WebKit browser or
11 devices 45 devices Nokia proxy browser
23 devices
new browser
being promoted

+ all the usual suspects

many Nokia users on S40 feature
phones still use Opera Mini

v 6.0+

mobile

v. 7+
desktop

initially

no support was planned for
legacy and/or XHTML-MP browsers

< v 5.0 Obigo

Windows Mobile
Nokia S40 Lite
Browser

Internet Browser
UC Web

popular Chinese
proxy browser

Part 1: The design process

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/jordanﬁscher/63832583

You can’t get there from here
Designing only pixel perfect mock-ups makes it
diﬃcult near-impossible to then think responsively.

an emerging process

etc...

sketches/IA basic visual “live” more “live”
mockups responsive sketches responsive
mockup mockup

no

ok?

“live” responsive small visual mockups
yes mockup to “reality check” to discuss speciﬁc
performance and stylistic issues
progressive enhancement

message/ copy copy content ﬁrst
draft 1 draft 2
brand/
strategy

etc...

sketches/IA basic visual “live” more “live”
mockups responsive sketches responsive
mockup mockup

no

ok?

“live” responsive small visual mockups
yes mockup to “reality check” to discuss speciﬁc
performance and stylistic issues
progressive enhancement

If it’s layout prototype it.
(...on real devices to clarify changes in context and the
impact of native capabilities and viewport conditions)

If it’s visual design mock it up
(...but then prototype to determine performance, impact
of native fonts and em values, viewport conditions etc.)

PAIN POINT

Too many to mention.
Mental models in particular are getting in the way.
We (our teams, our clients, their marketing departments
etc.) still presume and expect we can control too much.

We have lots of counterproductive
behaviours we need to unlearn.
• Creating elaborate workarounds to suit (what you
perceive) as edge case screen sizes or devices.

• Agonising over small diﬀerences in rendering and
alignment (remember...each device you haven’t tested
on will have its own quirks.)

• Creating elaborate reference lists of screen sizes,
pixel densities in the belief that with enough data
you can design for each device.
etc...

Part 2: The CSS strategy

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/wscullin/3770015203

TECHNIQUE

Mobile ﬁrst
Design for (the simplest) mobile browser ﬁrst.

the fact that it may
be mobile doesn’t
really maer...

“
The absence of a media query
is in fact, the ﬁrst media query.
Bryan Rieger, Rethinking the Mobile Web

begin with a lightweight default

A
fully ﬂexible with default
B styles for navigation, fonts, key word here
content and not deﬁned is ‘defined’...see
C slide 26
through media queries

TECHNIQUE

Embrace the cascade
Don’t merely swap style sheets...let it cascade.

This results in smaller subsequent style sheets,
less duplication in declarations and is more eﬃcient for
the browser to parse (as it’s only dealing with deltas).

each style sheet augments the others
breakpoint breakpoint
style sheet 1

augment original
A A
B style sheet with
B C
(only) the style
C changes that are
needed to enhance
the layout

< xx px wide xx px to xxx px
(or unable to
understand further
instructions)

each style sheet augments the others
breakpoint breakpoint breakpoint
style sheet 1 style sheet 2

A C
A A B
B augment
B C
once
again for
C TVs etc.

< xx px wide xx px to xxx px >xxx px wide
(or unable to
understand further
instructions)

TECHNIQUE

Use major and minor breakpoints
Create media queries inside of media queries.

content or
component-speciﬁc
tweaks

Why we call them major and minor breakpoints

major layout
changes

a common approach
One style sheet with media
queries on the inside.
styles.css

@media {
(min-width: 320px)
}

1 css file = 1 hp request,
@media { but includes unnecessary
(min-width: 480px) style data that all devices
} end up downloading

@media {
(min-width: 640px)
}

@media {
(min-width: 768px)
}

a more robust option
Multiple style sheets with
media queries on the inside.

MAJOR
BREAKPOINTS @ @
IN DOCUMENT 320px 720px
HEAD
basic.css enhanced.css enhanced+.css

MINOR
(typically) @media { @media {
BREAKPOINTS
no media (min-width: 480px) (min-width: 768px)
WITHIN EACH queries } }
STYLE SHEET
@media {
but feel free to (min-width: 640px)
include some if you }
feel they can enhance
the experience and
are sure (!) they will
graciously degrade on
older browsers

MAJOR BREAKPOINTS IN DOCUMENT HEAD

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheets/basis.css"
media="screen, handheld" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheets/enhanced.css"
media="only screen and (min-width: 320px)" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheets/enhanced+.css"
media="only screen and (min-width: 720px)" />

MINOR BREAKPOINTS AS NEEDED WITHIN EACH STYLE SHEET

@media screen and (min-width: 640px) {
section ul li {
width: 20%;
}
}

don’t multiple style sheets
cause multiple http requests?
(which will aﬀect performance)

Yes!...but (as we will see) we have
bigger issues...

but it’s just
“one line of code”

= 84Kb, ~10 http requests
(or 1.340 Seconds) I’m wondering if he
ran this test on a
Facebook Like PC with broadband?
Button

Source: Matthew Ogborne, Facebook Like Button = 84Kb or 1.340 Seconds?
More great examples on Steve Souders’ P3PC project site

3rd party requests don’t just include widgets,
they can also include:
• ads
• analytics
• utilities (comment utilities, font hosting etc.)
• libraries and polyﬁlls
Many of these services are not yet mobile friendly.
(And many that claim they are, merely support certain mobile browsers.
They may not necessarily be lightweight or conscious of performance).

everything has dependencies
Otherwise known as
everyone has ‘partners’

Source: Luma Partners

Example: 1 line of code spawns 49 server calls (including 21 redirects)

“What happens next is the scary part:
You eﬀectively lose all control.”
- Web Performance Today, Fourth Party Calls

Conclusion
Each http request should add value!
If a few well chosen http requests enable you
to improve the experience-go for it.
(then take a long hard look at other requests that may be lurking)

TECHNIQUE

choosing breakpoints

Disclaimer
There is no “perfect set” of breakpoints.
Set your breakpoints based on the needs of your layout
and (the legibility, weight and nature of) your content.
Cross-check these choices on your key devices.
(...80% of traﬃc in your analytics will often come from 20% of devices...seems a
shame not to ensure the site looks and works especially well on these devices).

major breakpoints
major layout changes

Major Breakpoint 1 Major Breakpoint 2
(media query in document head) (media query in document head) Major Breakpoint 3
(media query in document head)

1024

320 px to 720 px wide 720 px to 1024 px

320 720
< 320 px wide
and/or unable to nothing is
understand further here...but
some tablets
instructions that’s ok!
most NetBooks
iPhone (P) many Desktops
many Android (P)
many BlackBerry
S60 QWERTY
Most S60 (L) (P) = Portrait
S40 QWERTY (L) = Landscape
(L*) = Landscape w/ native viewport adaptation

minor breakpoints
content-related tweaks

(media query in document head)

Minor Minor Minor
Breakpoint Breakpoint Breakpoint
(@media) (@media) (@media)

TVs
645 732 1024

320 px to 720 px wide 720 px to 1024 px body
copy is
320 720
< 320 px wide too large
and/or unable to nothing is
understand further here...but change in some tablets
instructions adjust line that’s ok! image most NetBooks
iPhone (P) length alignment many Desktops
many Android (P)
many BlackBerry
S60 QWERTY

minor breakpoints
key-device-related tweaks

Minor (media query in document head)
Breakpoint
Minor Breakpoint
(@media)
for small devices Minor Minor Minor
w/media query Breakpoint Breakpoint Breakpoint
support (@media) (@media) (@media)

360 480 645 732 1024

320 px to 720 px wide 720 px to 1024 px

320 720
< 320 px wide target
and/or unable to target device: nothing is
understand further device: Symbian here...but change in
Symbian some tablets
instructions touch (L) adjust line that’s ok! image
touch (P) most NetBooks
iPhone (P) length alignment many Desktops
some
Android (P) many Android (P)
many S40 (P) many BlackBerry
most S60 (P) S60 QWERTY

OMG... ”
http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/richardmoross/1413692087

Existential question of the day:
Does it make sense to create a breakpoint
if there is no known device with that
screen size?
(...or put more bluntly is it worth setting a breakpoint
just so stuﬀ looks pretty when you resize your
desktop browser?)

Follow-up question:
Does it therefore make sense to create a
breakpoint just because there IS a known
device with that screen size?

Answer: Yes, and yes...
• Be pragmatic. If content looks ‘wrong’ at a given screen
size on the desktop, ﬁx it (there’s probably a device out
there that will match those conditions).

• Anticipate problems. Leave breathing space and don’t
micro-manage the layout.

• If the layout keeps breaking during testing, that’s a sign
that your tolerance for diversity may be too
low...consider changing the design!

example
real-world major and minor breakpoints
primarily content-focussed but with a pragmatic
eye on our project’s target devices

major
breakpoints

Default Major Breakpoint 1
No media query 321 - 720 px

Major Breakpoint 2
721 px onwards

major
breakpoints
background
image omitted to
layout is primarily
reduce page
centered and now includes
weight and
background image
reduce risk on
older devices

Default Major Breakpoint 1
No media query 321 - 720 px

‘desktop’ layout
including ﬂoats

Major Breakpoint 2
721 px onwards

Note: Screenshots
taken on a Mac for minor
demonstration
purposes.
breakpoints

Minor Breakpoint
@360 px (cross-checked for Nokia touch)

Minor Breakpoint
@480 px (cross-checked for Nokia touch)

Minor Breakpoint
@768 px (cross-checked for iPad)

Minor Breakpoint
Note: Screenshots @360 px (cross-checked for Nokia touch)
taken on a Mac for 50% 50%
demonstration
purposes.

background
45% aligned bottom

70% 30%
background aligned top

Minor Breakpoint
50% @480 px (cross-checked for Nokia touch)

55% 45%

custom Nokia font 3em
line background x-position
height adjustment

Minor Breakpoint
30%
@768 px (cross-checked for iPad)

alignment (top/bottom) and x-position
adjusted to suit the content (image)
and context (screen size)

image slides
up and down
revealing
more (or less)
of the content

responsive divider implemented using border-image
(degrades gracefully on all but IE)

Component adapts to suit differing browser environments
e.g. slight differences in layout caused by different viewport implementations,
differing baseline em values, wider/narrower native fonts, padding and
margin variations etc.

...but remember
Media queries are wonderfully versatile but screen
size is only one factor to consider.

Screen size rarely aligns with browser (or device)
capabilities.

PAIN POINT

when queried, these devices will all return a 320 pixel wide viewport
value but each have vastly diﬀerent browsers

• good CSS and • strong CSS and
• very basic CSS JavaScript JavaScript support
and JavaScript
• no touch screen
• no touch screen but using proxy
• advanced CSS • early WebKit browser such as
and JavaScript • XHTML MP
Opera Mini
• touch events
• modern WebKit

Responsive design will only get you half way.
Always pair responsive design with a feature detection
and adaptation strategy.

STEP 1
Media queries detect
screen size and serve
size-appropriate layouts
and basic behaviours

appropriately
layout sized
backgrounds

basic look basic
and feel functionality

STEP 1 STEP 2
Media queries detect Feature detection
screen size and serve clariﬁes actual browser
size-appropriate layouts capabilities and enables
and basic behaviours further enhancements

+
appropriately
enhanced look functionality
layout sized
and feel enhancements
backgrounds

someday we’ll
(even) more
(hopefully) be
appropriate
basic look basic able to detect
graphics or
and feel functionality other useful
media formats
stuﬀ like
(e.g. SVG)
bandwidth

TIP

The more (accurate) information you can
detect, the more intelligently you can adapt.
Client-side feature detection is only one of the tools
you can use.
Others include device databases, user agent strings and
your own (domain and region-speciﬁc) tacit knowledge.

TIP

Why should we need our own tacit
knowledge when we can detect browser
capabilities using JavaScript or libraries
such as Modernizr?
Because ‘support’ is rarely a binary thing.
Also....some browsers lie.

TIP

More information about feature detection, can be found in Bryan’s
Breaking Development presentation: Adaptation

Part 3: responsive content & media

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/mrs_logic/4548681436

“
Optimize front-end performance ﬁrst,
that's where 80% or more of the end-user
response time is spent.
— Yahoo: The importance of front-end performance

“ Optimize front-end performance ﬁrst,
that's where 80% or more of the end-user
response time is spent.
— Yahoo: The importance of front-end performance

This was written with the desktop in mind...
research suggests performance impact on
mobile is closer to 97%.

Web Performance Today: 97% of mobile end-user response time happens on the client

most responsive image techniques
are primarily client-side

fetching new images =
extra hp requests
and latency

2. request
new image

1. detect 3. done! we
screen have the
size right image

often imposing
a heavy burden on
constrained devices 3. adapt
markup fetching new images =
extra hp requests
and latency

4. request
new image
2. spider
the DOM
5. repaint,
reﬂow as
needed
1. detect
screen
size 6. done! we
have the
right image

TECHNIQUE

Serving more appropriate* images to
constrained devices
A pragmatic approach using both server and client.

*the nature of an “appropriate image” is complicated. To better understand the problem, and
what standards bodies are hoping to do to solve it, we recommend reading A framework for
discussing responsive images by Jason Grigsby

heavy-lifting
STRATEGY server
determine basic device
capabilities then choose/adapt
and conditionally load most
http://domain.org appropriate mark-up...

delivery
server-side pre-processing delivers
the most appropriate markup,
images and scripts on initial load

just-in-time tweaks
clariﬁes device capabilities (using
feature detection) and adapts on the
client ﬂy as needed (e.g. on reorientation,
new data, dynamic components)

to determine necessary
properties such as
screen size UA string
device
database to identify device
and therefore,
screen size

see Bryan’s Adaptation
HEAVY LIFTING presentation for greater
device request detail on this technique

properties such as
screen size UA string to override the
occasional property
device based on real-world
or project-specific
tacit data knowledge
and therefore,
screen size

device request detail on this technique

properties such as
screen size UA string to override the
occasional property
device based on real-world
or project-specific
tacit data knowledge
and therefore,
screen size

data application
video
logic
generate final cookie
markup
images

detail on this technique

final markup

cookie containing
resource bundle device profile
containing references
needed for future
client-side tweaks

device gets the most
appropriate images
on ﬁrst load

(in most cases)
no additional client-side
processing is required
DELIVERY

client-side

TWEAKS
on as-needed basis

on
orientation
change

images etc.

client-side new media is
only fetched if
TWEAKS actually needed
updated device
profile cookie sent
on as-needed basis back to server

JavaScript
swaps images/media

on
orientation
change

@media
changes layout
and other styles

BONUS

uses onResize event
(because onOrientation change
doesn’t work on all devices)

JavaScript also swaps images when
screen is resized. This enables you to
test adaptation on desktop browsers!

TIP

This technique isn’t just good for images...
you can use it to implement other useful
(progressive) enhancements.
These include specifying:
• more appropriate image formats (e.g. SVG)
• mobile-friendly alternates for 3rd party widgets
• alternative functional components (e.g. form elements)
• alternate content representations (e.g. visual
alternatives to complex tabular data)

EXAMPLE

A simple content enhancement
“One Web” is a great ideal, but sometimes, adding or
removing content based on device/user context can
dramatically improve the experience.

Scenario:
Provide each user with customized download
instructions based on detection of their browser version.
Beneﬁts:
• increases likelihood of a download
• reduces the amount of stuﬀ users need to read/
understand

UA string

determine device platform
(e.g. S60 3rd Edition)

device
database

determine device platform determine device model
(in cases where UA string (e.g. Nokia N8-00)
doesn’t provide it) so we can
do this...

choose appropriate device-
speciﬁc message (populated with
device model number)

generate final enhance existing content with
markup device-speciﬁc message

Note: Content was merely enhanced
(not swapped entirely) as we expected
certain people would visit the site from
one device (e.g. a PC) but need to review
download instructions for another

Server-side adaptation pain points
• reliance on cookies
• reliance on external data
• say good-bye to the intelligent default
• CDNs anyone?

PAIN POINT

Reliance on cookies
• what happens if cookies are disabled?
• what do we do about the EU Cookie Directive?

PAIN POINT

What about unknown devices?
• what happens to new devices that are not yet in a
device database or your collection of tacit knowledge?
(...the reality is, no method is perfect, combining server-side and
client-side detection helps plug the gaps)

TIP - don’t panic

an 80/20 approach will get you quite far
• on many site, 80% of traﬃc seems to come
from about 20% of devices
• of the other 20%, most are known devices
• regularly reviewing your logs can help catch
whatever is left

PAIN POINT

Say goodbye to the ‘intelligent default’
• how do we create intelligent default content or
behaviours when there is no longer a ‘normal/
average/typical’ screen size or even a ‘typical’ device?

mobile ﬁrst?

<something-or-other> just-in-time

desktop ﬁrst?

PAIN POINT

CDNs anyone?
• CDNs currently couldn’t care less about changes in
device context. A URL is presumed to represent a single,
cacheable resource.
• Will aggressive caching turn into a problem?

(Would we even have created CDNs, or have designed them
quite diﬀerently if content had been variable, based on
device context from the very start?)

Part 4: design workﬂows

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/jurvetson/5201796697

Some key goals when designing multi-
context image-sets
• visual consistency in the given context
• message clarity & thematic consistency across contexts
• appropriate image weight for each context

visual consistency (in the given context)

not so
much here

alignment
of graphical
elements
maers
here

message clarity & thematic consistency
across contexts

largest

larger

small

we began with
a “normal” workﬂow

each graphic designed
in one context

Adobe
Fireworks
enables you to
design and
export diﬀerent
sizes from one
single artboard

but rapidly switched to
a more context-sensitive
approach
approach

Beneﬁts

Designing graphics together provides
a more global and contextual view.
• Helped eliminate alignment errors, continuity issues etc.
• Helped maintain thematic consistency. Images don’t
have to be identical but the overall message should
not be lost.

• Tip: Don’t forget that you can also vary ﬁle types
(e.g. PNG, JPG) to increase performance at certain sizes.

PAIN POINT

It’s still not ﬂexible enough...
Graphical design tools enabling the use of variables,
conditionals etc. would be really nice right about now.

Part 5: embrace opportunities

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/ganesha_isis/4439563089

We realised half way through the project that
with only minor changes, we could support
another 80-100 Nokia feature phones.
Many of these older, low-end devices would also be
eligible to update to the new (proxy-based) Nokia
Browser for mobile phones.

UA string
Goal:
get information out
device
database to more people
determine device
platform

everyone older S40
else devices
change doctype from
no change required HTML5 to XHTML MP
to mobile ﬁrst
responsive approach serve a lightweight
CSS MP style sheet

generate final generate final
markup markup

Reminder

User agent strings are not evil.
User agent strings can be incredibly useful so long
as you understand their limitations and use them
to enhance rather than exclude.

So how did it go?
Within ﬁve days of our (soft) launch...

the site had been visited by people from

133 countries

on 51 diﬀerent
Nokia devices
(and of course many non-
Nokia devices)

oldest smallest

Nokia N70 Nokia 1680
XHTML MP XHTML MP
176 x 208 px 128 x 160 px
2005 2008

3 of these users including the odd
were in the US!
unexpected ones

So far...the most popular page
(just behind the home page) is the page with
instructions to update your browser :-)

a few ﬁnal words...

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/dwonderwall/3341419492

on being pragmatic

Perform a cost-beneﬁt analysis
for every technique you use.

on being pragmatic

Old doesn’t mean bad and new
doesn’t mean good.
If a technique does more good than
bad it’s fair game.
(Until a signiﬁcantly better one comes along.)

on being pragmatic

...develop your mobile strategy
but in the meantime...there are
useful things you can do today

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3
Review your traﬃc Test your site on those Develop an action plan
logs and determine devices and determine to address common issues
what mobile devices where the experience such as these:
are accessing your breaks down
site today • key content that is only
accessible on hover
• key controls that are too
small to manipulate on
touch screens
• modal windows that
become unusable on small
screens
• unnecessary http requests
• unnecessarily heavy
graphics and media

repeat...

@yiibu

s
contact u
at
hello@yiibu.com thank you

many thanks to the
amazing photographers
on

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http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/tinou/453593446

Pragmatic responsive design

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