Creating a responsive UI is no longer optional; it’s a must. With users accessing the internet across diverse devices, UI designers are expected to deliver a smooth experience across all screen sizes. Therefore, understanding how to design responsive UI is crucial to meeting the growing demand.
We’ll dive deeper into the best practices to create responsive UI and the tool you need to use. Stay close!
Key Takeaways:
Also Read: How to Choose Colors for UI Design Using Color Theory
A responsive UI refers to a design approach that allows elements and layouts of a website or app to adapt to the spectrum of the audience’s device, such as mobile, tablet, or desktop. The goal is to provide an optimal viewing experience for users on small or large screens.
Responsive design leads to an 11% higher conversion rate than non-responsive design. This indicates how important responsive UI design is to your website’s performance. There are numerous approaches to crafting responsive UI design.
A breakpoint is a screen width or device dimension where the interface’s layout should change. For example, common breakpoints include 320px-480px for mobile devices, 601px-768px for tablets, and 1025px-1280px for laptops.
Meanwhile, media queries are rules in CSS properties that apply whenever certain conditions are met. These conditions can be based on the user’s device characteristics, orientation, width, and height.
According to Business Dasher, 68% of mobile users are willing to stay engaged with mobile-friendly websites. Thus, using a mobile-first approach enhances your website’s reach and saves time and money by avoiding the need for separate designs for mobile and desktop.
Instead of using fixed layouts, you should apply a more adaptable layout for diverse screen sizes. A flexible layout is a layout that resizes, rearranges, or hides elements according to the screen sizes. On the other hand, a fluid layout is simpler; it adjusts the layout width according to the device’s dimensions.
In how to design responsive UI, organizing content is crucial for seamless navigation. Utilizing features, like hamburger menus, accordions, and tabbed navigation, will improve usability and make the interface more accessible on all devices.
Make sure to utilize responsible images and media. Pay attention to formats, like SVG or PNG, to ensure quality and visual clarity across devices.
Incorporating adaptive typography is important for maintaining legibility in responsive UI. Make sure typography is adaptable and comfortable across diverse device sizes. Moreover, pay attention to font selection, scales, and weight to hinder slow response pages.
Also Read: 25 Best Fonts for UI/UX Design That Enhance Readability
Selecting the appropriate tools is critical for creating an effective responsive UI design. The following tools are good options for better practices.
Figma is a well-known platform for teams to work on how to design responsive UI. It allows you to create adaptable wireframes and prototypes and share your work with teammates or clients.
If you prefer working on a code-free website builder, Elementor should be your choice. This platform works perfectly on WordPress sites. Moreover, it features easy-to-use tools, like drag-and-drop editor tools, and extensive widget libraries.
Bootstrap is a popular framework for building responsive websites using HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. It’s free and open-source, allowing you to access pre-designed elements, including responsive grid systems, components, and layouts.
Also Read: How to Be a Good UI/UX Designer Without a Design Degree
Now that you discovered how to create responsive UI design, check out some examples below to help you learn more.
Airbnb‘s website incorporates large, easy-to-read text, pleasant visuals, consistent content, and intuitive navigation systems. It is still aesthetically beautiful and functional on all device screens.
Etsy’s website is an excellent example of how to design responsive UI effectively. While the desktop and tablet layouts are similar, the mobile version is more simplified, focusing on simplicity and smooth performance.
Although Spotify’s website is complex, it can work seamlessly on different platform sizes. The interface remains consistent, clean, and intuitive, ensuring a familiar user experience.
This website effectively maintains consistency and clarity in delivering content. Designmodo incorporates a responsive interface that scales perfectly on different screen sizes.
Also Read: 10 Free UI Design Tools in 2025 for Beginner and Pro
Mastering how to design responsive UI is indispensable to meeting the growing demand for adaptable designs. By understanding key principles and using the right tools and resources, you can guarantee that your designs are functional across screen sizes.
Creating a responsive UI also requires choosing effective fonts for interface design. If you’re wondering where to find them, Lettersiro is an excellent choice. Here, you’ll discover an immense number of exceptional fonts and a variety of licenses to fit the needs of your project. Still not sure? Try our free fonts as a fun experiment.
