Ethan Marcotte avatar Ethan Marcotte

Responsive web design turns ten

Screenshot of “Responsive web design turns ten”

https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/responsive-design-at-10/

I remember being really excited when I read Ethan's Responsive Web Design article on A List Apart and saw the final responsive result.

10 years later, a lot have changed in Web pages layouts thanks to new capabilities in CSS with Flexbox and Grid, allowing us to design responsive sites without any Media Query:

Screenshot of Pack11ty design in multiple devices/viewports

Pack11ty's design is responsive without any Media Query

But the most important part of Ethan's idea of Responsive Web Design is not about the technical implementation, it's about embracing the flexibility of the Web material.

A light went off in my head. Responsive felt right for what I was trying to describe: layouts that would just know the best way to fit on a user’s screen. A user wouldn’t have to tap or click on anything to get the best design for their laptop or smartphone; rather, the design could fluidly adapt to the space available. It’d just respond.