Responsive Web Design Performance

by August 1, 2013

Over the past few months, conversations about Responsive Web design have shifted from issues of layout to performance. That is, how can responsive sites load quickly -even on constrained mobile networks. I've had the pleasure of learning tips and techniques directly from the people creating and testing them. Here's a compilation of what I've heard:

Optimizing the Critical Rendering Path

Ilya Grigorik explains why mobile Web experiences can be slow and how to optimize your sites for quick rendering.

Responsive and Responsible

Scott Jehl outlines a number of ways to build responsive Web sites that take performance in account.

Rendering Without the Lumpy Bits

Jake Archibald walks through tips and techniques for smooth animation and layout rendering on browsers.

How BBC Fell in Love with Responsive Design

Tom Maslen walks through why the BBC used responsive Web design for their new mobile site and the principles they applied along the way.

Performing Actions Optimistically

I share design techniques to make mobile apps “feel” faster when they actually aren’t.

Page Speed is Only the Beginning

Peter McLachlan explains how pre-fetching Web resources can help speed up performance online.