Ritzie WilliamsUX & Product Design Leader | Data‑Driven, User‑Centered, and Focused on Business Growth | Strategy, Research & Scalable Systems

Start where your users start. Not all screens are created equal.

Name: Start where your users start. Not all screens are created equal.
Uploaded: 2025-05-21T18:52:00+00:00
Duration: 50 s
Channel: Ritzie Williams
Description: In this instructional monologue, the speaker emphasizes that the choice of device size and whether to adopt a responsive or native approach must be…

21 May 2025 · 1 min

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In this instructional monologue, the speaker emphasizes that the choice of device size and whether to adopt a responsive or native approach must be driven by the product’s primary user context. For SaaS platforms primarily accessed via web browsers on computers, the recommended workflow is to start design with desktop (or extended desktop) breakpoints, then progressively address tablet and mobile screens. Conversely, for products whose core experience is a native mobile app, designers should begin with phone‑first designs and avoid unnecessary desktop considerations. The overarching message is to avoid defaulting to mobile‑first or desktop‑first strategies without first assessing where users actually engage with the product.

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I think which device— device size you should start with, even whether it's responsive or native, is really going to depend on your product. If your users are primarily using it as on the web, like you're a SaaS platform where most of your users are using it on a computer, I think you should start web and at least figure out lowest breakpoint to largest. It might be desktop to extended desktop. And then go back and do tablet and mobile, or mobile and tablet, depending on the order, before you, uh, go mobile first, right? Because just like there, you design it, it wouldn't even get built, and you'd be thinking about an experience that people don't use. Unless, like I said, your primary product is mobile first, right? If you're designing a native app, you shouldn't design it for the computer if it's only going to be on the phone. So it really depends on your product.