"Reacting to his clients' requests for an "iPhone version" of their websites, he suggested instead a single experience that could respond to the user's device. Page elements could use a different set of design properties for large screens and small, transforming their form to match the capabilities of the hardware. Crucially, on simpler devices, elements could be hidden entirely if deemed non-essential."
"Instead, by starting with the least capable device, you could boil the product offering down to its essence and present those primitives in the limited screen real estate available. This soon led to an acknowledgment of the irony of responsive design: That the least capable devices often had the most effective user experience, as they were most closely aligned with user needs."
"to realize that responsive design wasn't just about layouts, it was about forcing organizations to confront what actually mattered. But organizations, it turns out, cannot resist the temptation to use available UI space for promotions or expressions of their org chart, all of which almost always get in the way of what users are trying to do. That this still remains true all these years later is astounding; the difference in the UX of apps versus websites for banks, airlines, and ecommerce is stark evidence."
Responsive design reframed web interfaces to adapt to device capabilities, allowing elements to change properties or be hidden on simpler devices. Starting from the least-capable device forces designers to distill the product to essential primitives and present core functionality within constrained screen space. The least-capable devices frequently yield the most effective user experiences because they align closely with user needs. Organizations often misuse available UI space for promotions or internal signaling, which interferes with user goals. The contrast between app and website UX in industries like banking, airlines, and ecommerce demonstrates persistent degradation. Foundation model providers later released coding agents that developers could install and use directly.
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