Historically, most web designers and their clients have approached the desktop side of any project first, while leaving the mobile part as a secondary goal that gets accomplished later. Even with the rise of responsive design, many of us begin with the "full size" site and work our way down.

There's a growing trend in the industry though to flip this workflow on its head and actually begin with mobile considerations and then work up to a larger desktop version. Why would you ever approach a project this way? What are some of the pros and cons of this strategy? Read on to find out!

This article is part of our series on "looking beyond desktop design", brought to you in partnership with Heart Internet VPS.

Mobile Web Design Isn't a Niche

If you still have it in your head that mobile web design and application development is a niche industry, you need to change your way of thinking. Mobile isn't a trend, nor is it even the future, it's the present. Don't believe me? Here are some crazy statistics to consider from Mobithinking from last month.

There are over 1.2 billion mobile web users worldwide

mobile web users worldwide In the U.S., 25% of mobile Web users are mobile-only (they rarely use a desktop to access the web)

Mobile apps have been downloaded 10.9 billion times

Mobile device sales are increasing across the board with over 85 percent of new handsets able to access the mobile Web

One of the most potent facts here is the second item, which brings to light that many users will likely only ever see the mobile version of your site. That's an astounding revelation isn't it?

More than ever before the web is something that we carry in our pockets, not something that merely hangs out near our desk or even in our homes. This is a global trend that will only continue to see growth in the coming years. Are you ready for this? Does your professional skill set include web development for all important platforms or just the desktop arena?

Why Mobile First?

Odds are none of the people reading this have learned anything new up to this point. The $200+ phones in the pockets of everyone you know are all the indication you need that the web has broken out of its computer shaped box.

However, the fact that mobile web access is popular does almost nothing to convince me that I need to pursue a strategy that actually puts mobile first. The flip side of 25% of mobile users being mobile-only is that 75% of them aren't! Obviously, the desktop is still an important medium, not to be forgotten or pushed to the back burner quite yet. So why are we even considering taking the mobile first route?

One of the major catalysts for the rise of mobile first web design was the announcement from Eric Schmidt in 2010 that Google was going to be taking this approach from now on, going so far as to say "I think it's now the joint project of all of us to make mobile the answer to pretty much everything" (source). Why this drastic change in approach?

Graceful Degradation vs. Progressive Enhancement

These are some major buzz words from a few years ago that can still lend a lot of insight into the notion of mobile first web design and why it's an important concept to consider.

Graceful degradation arose out of a need to have a design function on as many browsers and platforms as possible. Designers and developers wanted to take advantage of new technology without excluding users with setups that didn't have support. The general conclusion was to create and serve up the best experience possible, and then account for each possible degradation and ensure that despite any shortcomings, the site would remain functional.

In terms of mobile web design, this meant that a full, standard website would scale back and gradually remove content and features as the viewport became smaller and the system simpler (no Flash support, etc.).

Out of this trend arose a powerful new idea: progressive enhancement. In this version of the tale, you put your best foot forward on the mobile platform, providing the users with minimal screen real estate, processing power and third party plugins an amazing experience that both looks great and functions perfectly. As the need arises, the site can gradually be "enhanced" and even completely rethought for larger platforms with fewer constraints.

Why Progressive Enhancement Wins

At a glance, these two methodologies seem roughly equivalent. Who cares where you begin the design process as long as it gets done, right?

The reality of the situation is a little more complex though. When you start with the desktop platform, you tend want to take advantage of everything that platform has to offer. You build an amazing product that leverages lots of great technology, only to realize that none of it scales well down to mobile. This can and does lead to severely watered down mobile products that feel more like an afterthought than a polished, finished