Is your website becoming outdated? When it comes to the internet, change is the only constant, and it is important to keep on top of current trends. Here are some recent web design and development tips that you can use to increase the user-experience of your website and keep it more up-to-date.
Dynamic Designs
Websites are undergoing creative changes in interactivity and functionality. The days of static design are leaving us! Traditionally, the most common way to do this was using Adobe Flash. However trends in JavaScript, AJAX and JQuery are increasing as they can be more usable and SEO friendly. See www.spritely.net for an example.
All-Browser Performance
As of June 2010, The market share of Internet Explorer is now only around 50% of users, whereas in 2005 nearly it had a market share of nearly 90%. Now, 30% of users now use some version of Mozilla Firefox .Web designers are now much more likely to create designs that conform to all major browsers including Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, and Opera. However, some web designers now only offer a limited amount of support for older Internet Explorer browsers.
Mobile Designs
Large numbers of websites are adopting the use mobile templates following the trend of increasing usage of mobile devices to access the internet. Regular website structures and designs may not cut it on a handheld device. There is a limited amount of screen space on a mobile device, therefore there is a fundamental design difference. Simpler navigation and the effective presentation of priority information is even more important. Customers using mobile devices are much more likely to regularly visit and buy from a website if it is optimised for their equipment.
Print Designs and Solid Typography
Print designs, including layout and print typography, are shifting onto web with a great speed. Online users don't like reading small crammed text and simply scan the page to know what's being said.. Web designers of today seem increasingly interested in print designs which include considerable white space, large fonts, huge headlines, multi-column content...etc.
Development of Interactive Platforms
Popularity in social networks is skyrocketing, web designers are focusing on making highly interactive websites that provide users the opportunity to participate.
Clear Navigation
Users are now expecting more seamless navigations system and more focus is being paid to sites that can be easily browsed by users.
Some other trends:
- Modal/Light boxes - A much better type of pop-up
- Media blocks
- Font replacement
- PNG transparency
- Huge Images
Feel free to post a comment if you think we have left anything out or have any questions. If you would like us to upgrade your current website to incorporate some of these newer trends see our Website Maintenance packages.
Firefly Web Design Galway - Ireland.
