In 2010 web developer Ethan Marcotte was responsible for coining the term Responsive Web Design. He proposed that web content adjust how it lays out its content based on pre-defined browser widths, also known as breakpoints.  It was common for publishers to have desktop and mobile versions of their sites. Responsive Web Design meant that this was no longer necessary! I wondered if I could apply the principle of Responsive Web Design to ad formats. In digital advertising, ad agencies would have to create multiple versions of the same ad to reflect the multitude of ad sizes they need to support. What if we had one set of assets that could render itself to any pre-defined format? I sought to answer this by prototype my responsive ad format during a Yahoo hackathon. Not only did I win the hackathon, but I was also eventually granted a patent for responsive ads. The principles of asset reuse are what my team uses today for native advertising.

Yahoo Hackday Winner - First Responsive Ads Prototype

Design prototype of responsive ads across different screens