responsive-design

Responsive Design

When to use this skill

New website/app: Layout design for combined mobile-desktop use
Legacy improvement: Converting fixed layouts to responsive
Performance optimization: Image optimization per device
Multiple screens: Tablet, desktop, and large screen support

Instructions

Step 1: Mobile-First Approach

Design from small screens and progressively expand.

Example:

/* Default: Mobile (320px~) */ .container { padding: 1rem; font-size: 14px; }

.grid { display: grid; grid-template-columns: 1fr; gap: 1rem; }

/* Tablet (768px~) */ @media (min-width: 768px) { .container { padding: 2rem; font-size: 16px; }

.grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr); gap: 1.5rem; } }

/* Desktop (1024px~) */ @media (min-width: 1024px) { .container { max-width: 1200px; margin: 0 auto; padding: 3rem; }

.grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr); gap: 2rem; } }

/* Large screen (1440px~) */ @media (min-width: 1440px) { .grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(4, 1fr); } }

Step 2: Flexbox/Grid Layout

Leverage modern CSS layout systems.

Flexbox (1-dimensional layout):

/* Navigation bar */ .navbar { display: flex; justify-content: space-between; align-items: center; flex-wrap: wrap; }

/* Card list */ .card-list { display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 1rem; }

@media (min-width: 768px) { .card-list { flex-direction: row; flex-wrap: wrap; }

.card { flex: 1 1 calc(50% - 0.5rem); /* 2 columns */ } }

@media (min-width: 1024px) { .card { flex: 1 1 calc(33.333% - 0.667rem); /* 3 columns */ } }

CSS Grid (2-dimensional layout):

/* Dashboard layout */ .dashboard { display: grid; grid-template-areas: "header" "sidebar" "main" "footer"; gap: 1rem; }

@media (min-width: 768px) { .dashboard { grid-template-areas: "header header" "sidebar main" "footer footer"; grid-template-columns: 250px 1fr; } }

@media (min-width: 1024px) { .dashboard { grid-template-columns: 300px 1fr; } }

.header { grid-area: header; } .sidebar { grid-area: sidebar; } .main { grid-area: main; } .footer { grid-area: footer; }

Step 3: Responsive Images

Provide images suited to the device.

Using srcset:

picture element (Art Direction):

<source media="(max-width: 1023px)" srcset="square.jpg">

<img src="landscape.jpg" alt="Art direction example"> </picture>

CSS background images:

.hero { background-image: url('hero-mobile.jpg'); }

@media (min-width: 768px) { .hero { background-image: url('hero-tablet.jpg'); } }

@media (min-width: 1024px) { .hero { background-image: url('hero-desktop.jpg'); } }

/* Or use image-set() */ .hero { background-image: image-set( url('hero-1x.jpg') 1x, url('hero-2x.jpg') 2x ); }

Step 4: Responsive Typography

Adjust text size based on screen size.

clamp() function (fluid sizing):

:root { /* min, preferred, max */ --font-size-body: clamp(14px, 2.5vw, 18px); --font-size-h1: clamp(24px, 5vw, 48px); --font-size-h2: clamp(20px, 4vw, 36px); }

body { font-size: var(--font-size-body); }

h1 { font-size: var(--font-size-h1); line-height: 1.2; }

h2 { font-size: var(--font-size-h2); line-height: 1.3; }

Media query approach:

body { font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; }

@media (min-width: 768px) { body { font-size: 16px; } }

@media (min-width: 1024px) { body { font-size: 18px; } }

Step 5: Container Queries (New Feature)

Apply styles based on parent container size.

.card-container { container-type: inline-size; container-name: card; }

.card { padding: 1rem; }

.card h2 { font-size: 1.2rem; }

/* When container is 400px or wider */ @container card (min-width: 400px) { .card { display: grid; grid-template-columns: 200px 1fr; padding: 1.5rem; }

.card h2 { font-size: 1.5rem; } }

/* When container is 600px or wider */ @container card (min-width: 600px) { .card { grid-template-columns: 300px 1fr; padding: 2rem; } }

Output format

Standard Breakpoints

/* Mobile (default): 320px ~ 767px / / Tablet: 768px ~ 1023px / / Desktop: 1024px ~ 1439px / / Large: 1440px+ */

:root { --breakpoint-sm: 640px; --breakpoint-md: 768px; --breakpoint-lg: 1024px; --breakpoint-xl: 1280px; --breakpoint-2xl: 1536px; }

/* Usage example / @media (min-width: 768px) { / Tablet / } @media (min-width: 1024px) { / Desktop */ }

Constraints

Mandatory Rules (MUST)

Viewport meta tag: Must be included in HTML

Mobile-First: Mobile default, use min-width media queries

✅ @media (min-width: 768px)
❌ @media (max-width: 767px) (Desktop-first)

Relative units: Use rem, em, %, vw/vh instead of px

font-size: rem
padding/margin: rem or em
width: % or vw

Prohibited (MUST NOT)

Fixed width prohibited: Avoid width: 1200px

Use max-width: 1200px

Duplicate code: Avoid repeating same styles across all breakpoints

Common styles as default, only differences in media queries

Examples

Example 1: Responsive Navigation

function ResponsiveNav() { const [isOpen, setIsOpen] = useState(false);

return ( <nav className="navbar"> {/* Logo */} <a href="/" className="logo">MyApp</a>

  {/* Hamburger button (mobile) */}
  &#x3C;button
    className="menu-toggle"
    onClick={() => setIsOpen(!isOpen)}
    aria-label="Toggle menu"
    aria-expanded={isOpen}
  >
    &#x3C;span>&#x3C;/span>
    &#x3C;span>&#x3C;/span>
    &#x3C;span>&#x3C;/span>
  &#x3C;/button>

  {/* Navigation links */}
  &#x3C;ul className={`nav-links ${isOpen ? 'active' : ''}`}>
    &#x3C;li>&#x3C;a href="/about">About&#x3C;/a>&#x3C;/li>
    &#x3C;li>&#x3C;a href="/services">Services&#x3C;/a>&#x3C;/li>
    &#x3C;li>&#x3C;a href="/contact">Contact&#x3C;/a>&#x3C;/li>
  &#x3C;/ul>
&#x3C;/nav>

); }

.navbar { display: flex; justify-content: space-between; align-items: center; padding: 1rem; }

/* Hamburger button (mobile only) */ .menu-toggle { display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 4px; }

.nav-links { display: none; position: absolute; top: 60px; left: 0; right: 0; background: white; flex-direction: column; }

.nav-links.active { display: flex; }

/* Tablet and above: hide hamburger, always show */ @media (min-width: 768px) { .menu-toggle { display: none; }

.nav-links { display: flex; position: static; flex-direction: row; gap: 2rem; } }

Example 2: Responsive Grid Card

function ProductGrid({ products }) { return ( <div className="product-grid"> {products.map(product => ( <div key={product.id} className="product-card"> <img src={product.image} alt={product.name} /> <h3>{product.name}</h3> <p className="price">${product.price}</p> <button>Add to Cart</button> </div> ))} </div> ); }

.product-grid { display: grid; grid-template-columns: 1fr; /* Mobile: 1 column */ gap: 1rem; padding: 1rem; }

@media (min-width: 640px) { .product-grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr); /* 2 columns */ } }

@media (min-width: 1024px) { .product-grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr); /* 3 columns */ gap: 1.5rem; } }

@media (min-width: 1440px) { .product-grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(4, 1fr); /* 4 columns */ gap: 2rem; } }

.product-card { border: 1px solid #ddd; border-radius: 8px; padding: 1rem; }

.product-card img { width: 100%; height: auto; aspect-ratio: 1 / 1; object-fit: cover; }

Best practices

Container queries first: Use container queries instead of media queries when possible
Flexbox vs Grid: Flexbox for 1-dimensional, Grid for 2-dimensional
Performance: Image lazy loading, use WebP format
Testing: Chrome DevTools Device Mode, BrowserStack

References

MDN Responsive Design
CSS Grid Guide
Flexbox Guide
Container Queries

Metadata

Version

Current Version: 1.0.0
Last Updated: 2025-01-01
Compatible Platforms: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini

Related Skills

ui-component-patterns: Responsive components
web-accessibility: Consider alongside accessibility