What’s in store for 2011 for us web designers? The first thing to consider is the huge array of devices that content can be viewed on. The screen size of the user’s PC used to be the only consideration (oh, how I miss the simplicity of those days sometimes!), but now we also have tablets, notebooks and smartphones (with vastly different screen resolutions and methods of interacting) and so creating content that looks good and is easily accessible across all these devices is truly a big challenge.
But what about design? I think we will see more big-background sites, with massive photography. Extra-large video content too. CSS3 and jQuery animation will be more widely used, replacing Flash, and as mentioned above these sites will have to function on all matter of devices. I expect to see people pushing the boundaries of social media too.
What do you think we will see this year?
More versatile and more user-driven; that’s where the web is heading. The focus is no longer on the website, it’s on the users themselves. It’s not about what you’ve got to say, it’s all about what they want to know. And they don’t want to wait for it. They want it now and on whatever device they happen to be using – iPhones, iPads, you name it. What’s more, people expect websites to work perfectly on these devices. A few years ago, they didn’t. Now they do.
And it’s not only about written content – video rules. In 2009, YouTube racked up over 1 billion views per day. In 2010, that doubled to 2 billion, over 250 times the number it was getting six years ago. By 2013, Cisco believe 90% of web traffic will be video.
So what now for enterprise? The majority are following the consumer trend and gearing up to deliver video on the web in the shape of product demos and presentations. We’ll see more video, with higher production values and higher-bandwidth. There’ll be more interactivity too, with branching video content that gives users seamless access to the information they need.
That’s what is coming up. What’s your plan?
Darren and Lisa are our latest experts to express their point of view – and it just so happens they’re on opposing sides of the aisle. Darren believes that ideas are everything, Lisa believes it’s all in the data.
Watch Darren and Lisa go head to head as they discuss the relative merits of creativity and science. Then cast your vote in our online poll and join the debate.
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I think we will, and have to see a big push in web design towards progressive enhancement. There is a lot of buzz in the industry at the moment about best practices for delivering content to all devices, but the simple fact is, not all devices will be able to render/ deliver content with the same look, feel and user engagement. Enter progressive web design, by focusing on a layered approach to design we will be able to allow any user to access the basic content and functionality no matter what device/ browser they are using, while at the same time serving users with larger bandwidth’s or better browser software an enhanced experience.