Responsive Design
Definition.
Responsive Design: An approach to web design that makes web pages render well on a variety of devices and window or screen sizes.
In More Detail
Responsive design means one layout that adapts, rather than separate mobile and desktop sites. That matters for maintenance — two codebases drift, and the mobile one usually loses.
Starting from the small viewport tends to produce better results than shrinking a desktop design, because it forces a decision about what is essential. It also matters for search: Google indexes with a mobile crawler, so if content is missing on mobile it is effectively missing.
In Practice
Every web project I ship is built mobile-first with Tailwind's responsive utilities — designed for a small screen first, then expanded up to desktop, which tends to produce a cleaner layout than the reverse.
Related Terms
Browse the full software development glossary, or see the frequently asked questions.
If you are working out whether this applies to your own project, the case studies show where it turned up in real builds, services lists what I take on, and pricing gives the starting figures.
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