Websites have completely revolutionized themselves over the years – and 2015 promises to be another year of transformation. Here are my five predictions for changes in website technology we’ll see in 2015:
- Exclusively Responsive:
- Responsive website design has ceased to be a trend and can now be considered the new normal. Companies who do not adapt to responsiveness next year will look outdated, and more importantly not be mobile-friendly.
- Outdated: bbcamerica.com
- Website design has a static width; content doesn’t reorganize and reflow when the browser window is resized
- The content is difficult to read on mobile device without zooming
- Leader Dogs for the Blind’s website (designed by MCCI) is responsive and mobile-friendly: Leaderdog.org
- Outdated: bbcamerica.com
- Responsive website design has ceased to be a trend and can now be considered the new normal. Companies who do not adapt to responsiveness next year will look outdated, and more importantly not be mobile-friendly.
Material Design:
- Flat design has grown up into material design. Material design, meaning a mostly flat design that uses very subtle gradients, layering and animation to retain a sense of the tangible world (physical space and objects)… Meanwhile still achieving all the advantages of flat design. I think material design will triumph in 2015.
- Outdated: ideator.ca
- Website is designed to look like a real world objects (e.g. background images are made to look like real wood and leather)
- Santa Tracker has great material design: google.com/#
- Outdated: ideator.ca
- Flat design has grown up into material design. Material design, meaning a mostly flat design that uses very subtle gradients, layering and animation to retain a sense of the tangible world (physical space and objects)… Meanwhile still achieving all the advantages of flat design. I think material design will triumph in 2015.
- Large, Beautiful Background Images & Videos
- One of the simplest ways to make a site stand out is by having great content displayed prominently. Using multimedia to accomplish this is a very elegant solution. Organizations who still don’t see the value in photography and vides will really be missing out on getting exposure to additional audiences in ‘15.
- Outdated: ifindit.com
- Website is all text, there are no images or video
- Website has a solid grey colored background
- Ustream displays engaging large imagery: ustream.tv
- Outdated: ifindit.com
- One of the simplest ways to make a site stand out is by having great content displayed prominently. Using multimedia to accomplish this is a very elegant solution. Organizations who still don’t see the value in photography and vides will really be missing out on getting exposure to additional audiences in ‘15.
- Microinteractions
- Microinteractions are experiences or moments within a product (or perhaps a module on a website) that revolve around a single use case. These minor changes humanize websites and will become more commonplace in the New Year.
- Outdated with multiple microinteractions: lingscars.com
- All of the content is forced at the viewer at once with many things happening all over the place
- There are no interactions that are distraction free, engaging and self-contained
- Very little visual cues to give the user information about their interaction with the website.
- See a lot of great examples at onenorth.com
- Outdated with multiple microinteractions: lingscars.com
- Microinteractions are experiences or moments within a product (or perhaps a module on a website) that revolve around a single use case. These minor changes humanize websites and will become more commonplace in the New Year.
- Condensed Content
- Instead of companies telling their story in a paragraph or huge block of text, the focus has turned more into creative, visual storytelling. Text has been dramatically cut to only the bare necessities, while imagery such as icons, info graphics and large images are employed to communicate important information. Concise information will reign in the coming year.
- Outdated: metatech.org/wp
- Website is overall very text heavy
- Website has no use of impactful imagery or video to drive website's message
- Coin is simplistic and sleek: onlycoin.com
- Outdated: metatech.org/wp
- Instead of companies telling their story in a paragraph or huge block of text, the focus has turned more into creative, visual storytelling. Text has been dramatically cut to only the bare necessities, while imagery such as icons, info graphics and large images are employed to communicate important information. Concise information will reign in the coming year.
There is plenty more evolution to come in websites; what do you think 2015 has to hold?
