Responsive Web Design – Evaluation of Techniques to Optimize Load Time

Abstract: Responsive Web Design has, in short time, become a common method to create websites that automatically adapt the layout to different screen sizes. However, critique has been raised about poor performance due to large page size and high number of requests to the web server. The aim of this study is to evaluate techniques to optimize the load time of a responsive website. This is done by creating a prototype in the form of a responsive website, which is used as a base for the optimization. Tests are performed by measuring the page size and the number of requests when using four different optimization techniques. The results show that combining optimization techniques can dramatically reduce the page size and the number of requests. Consequently, this has a positive impact on the load time of the website. Furthermore, the Mobile First approach is important in responsive web design as it prioritizes the use of mobile devices and as a result highlights the significance of web performance. It is also suggested to set a Performance Budget early in web development projects in order to avoid slow websites and spread awareness about the importance of performance.