Website Design: Where Do We Go From Here?
In the mid 1990's, few people even knew what a website was. In the mid 1990's through roughly 2006, the quantity and quality of website design and content exploded, consisting mainly of internet storefronts and information portals. Websites developed during this era (dubbed Web 1.0 sites) were mainly conceived as an alternative to 'mainstream' communications media. Web sites contained copies of content that already existed in either a printed, audio, or video medium.
A modern website is much more than a magazine ever was or ever could be. You aren't simply reading content any more. Now you can interact and feel like you are part of the whole experience. The internet is a whole new medium of communication, not just another way to view a newspaper or read a book. So what are the new techniques of website design that has made the field so interesting?
When developing a new website, the most important thing to remember is CONTENT IS KING! The new generation of website must have interesting content - without it, it won't attract many visitors. Whether it is updated information, interesting products, or interesting applications, a website needs to have something to pull people in and keep them coming back. Website design should focus on this rather than flashy graphics or other gimmicks. No matter how pretty a site is, visitors won't stick around without good content. Setting up an on-site blog is an easy mechanism to keep the site updated. A blog can change frequently, and can do many things, from showcasing or discussing items for sale to providing commentary on site content.
Another step that developers may consider in regard to website design is to let the site visitors interact with the site. Clearly, website surfers like to give comments on the sites that they have been to. Blogs frequently have hundreds of such comments on articles, newspapers frequently let the visitors comment on the articles, and many online stores let customers review products bought on the site. Encouraging this sort of interaction will serve a number of purposes, from adding useful content to the site (product reviews, for instance) to giving the site visitors a sense of ownership of the site. Such interactivity will improve any website.
Modern website designers can use tools that allow the viewer to interact with the site. Gone are the days when you simply looked at a page and the most you could do then was click a hyper link that would take you to another page. Now a website can have applications that seem to make it come alive. We can't get into all the details here, but applications such as JAVA scripting, AJAX, Flash players, and CSS design techniques make web pages look like a complete desktop application.
Website design used to consist of selecting a color palate, font suite, set of core images, and general page layout. The days of such static-thinking in this discipline are rapidly coming to a close. The techniques touched on above are core elements in modern design, and should be incorporated in all sites that wish to be successful.
Websites sure have grown from the 1990's, when people barely knew of them. From stale and stagnant web 1.0 sites, they grew into mainstream attractions by the early 2000's. They've evolved and transformed greatly since their early days. Today, websites are expected to be dynamic, interactive, and cutting edge. If not, they are seen as boring, stale, and unprofessional. To achieve these results, website design is clearly very important. Today's sites consist of many different advanced scripts and methods to make them attractive and functional. It's a long way from the days of limited colors and templates. The web game is changing - make sure you keep up!
Published November 27th, 2008