Mastering Real-World Constraints (A Case Study)

As UI designers, we’re always interested in learning, reading user research, understanding best practices and keeping up to date on all the latest approaches and tactics for building websites and applications. One of the most exciting concepts we’ve started to apply to our thinking is the mobile-first approach, famously pioneered by designer Luke Wroblewski on his blog and then in his subsequent book. Generally, this approach provides a healthy way to gain focus, cut the fat and get to the heart of what’s important — for both content and interaction.

But what happens if you have an existing site or app that was built for desktop without a responsive or mobile strategy in mind? And more specifically, what if you, like us, don’t have the resources, time, or budget to start over from scratch in the near term? Despite being a design shop, we at Fresh Tilled Soil found ourselves in this very position. This is how we addressed it.