Responsive Design
Updated 2026-08-16
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Responsive design is the practice of building a single interface that adapts its layout to the device it is rendered on, using a fluid grid that rescales, flexible images that fit their container, and breakpoints where the layout switches between configurations. Its core proposition is that one designed experience serves every screen, which raises the multi-device quality of the product without multiplying the codebases. The key qualification is that adaptation must reorganize the information hierarchy and not merely rescale it.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Use mobile first: design the narrowest screen, since its constraints force the real priorities. - Use breakpoint plan: fix the widths where the layout changes and what changes at each. - Use grid flow: let columns and images flex with the container instead of fixing them.
Anchor fast decisions
A fixed layout breaks on any screen it was not drawn for, which means a separate version for each device and a constant drift between them. A fluid grid removes the fixed width so the same structure survives any container, and breakpoints fold in the reorganization at the points where the layout would otherwise fail. The single codebase is what keeps the versions from diverging, because there is only one version.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsive_web_designverified
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