Mobile-forward design: An emerging trend for global brand websites

Abstract

Innovative brands like WhatsApp, now owned by Facebook, grew up with ‘mobile-first’ development and responsive web design (RWD). The emerging trend exemplified by digital champions — called mobile-forward design (MFD) — assumes an app-like approach for brand.com customer experiences. It affirms mobile-first development but takes that notion further by eliminating everything else, using RWD. It puts the mobile experience ‘forward’ as the only experience, available across PC, tablet and mobile platforms. Mobile-forward design delivers one customer experience on all screen widths, with no device-specific interfaces. It also puts that same experience forward for all markets, in all languages. The content and features delivered may vary by market and audience, but the differences are plug-and-play within the design, based on country, language and other personalisation logic. Based on an analysis of the customer experience, rather than on any underlying code, CSA Research has arrived at an initial set of criteria for evaluating whether a website meets the test of mobile-forward design. This paper shares why mobile-forward design should be considered the best practice for global brand websites.