The Evolution of Web Design

The Internet and discipline of Web Design has come a long way in a very short time. Just 17 years ago the Internet was just a simple text based communication method mostly between intellectuals and technology geeks. Today it houses incomprehensible amounts of information and is an integral part of nearly all business. But whats next? Many experts believe that we will soon see another revolution in the capabilities of the web – namely new possibilities in artificial intelligence. Sounds pretty Hollywood, like something out of the Matrix or i-Robot. Is that really where we are headed?

The following is a short summary of the past, present and potential future of the web:

• “The Dawn of Web”
• 1991-92: Primarily text for the purpose of exchange of information.
• 1993-94: Mosaic = some images.
• First Generation: Enter Sales & Marketing
• “Hey we can market and sell stuff!”
• 1995 Netscape Navigator – 1997 Internet Explorer.
• Sites mostly built by the creative and visionary people.
• Beautiful and Innovative.
• No info on how site was performing from the customers perspective.
• No info on sites impact on business’ bottom line.
• Second Generation: The Bubble
• The .com bubble: 1995-2001
• Companies put large amounts of money into drawing visitors to their websites.
• For the first time businesses were building interactive computer interfaces to their products and services.
• Proved to be difficult to execute well, especially if done quickly.
• Third Generation: Customer-Centered Design
• 2002-2005
• Sites built to provide real value and positive customer experience.
• Focus on content, ease of use, and feedback of overall satisfaction.
• Fourth Generation: Web 2.0 – Today
• The term gained currency following the first O’Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004.
• According to Tim O’Reilly, “Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.”
• “Web 2.0 is a knowledge-oriented environment where human interactions generate contents that are published, managed and used through network applications in a service-oriented architecture.”
• AJAX, Mobile Web, ‘Web Services’, etc.
• Allows more user feedback and self publishing: blogs, ebay feedback, yahoo answers, amazon reviews, etc.
• Allows features that are more compelling, powerful and easier to use (desktop application in the browser).
• Requires a skill set that is more specialized and harder than ever to acquire.
• Web 3.0?
• Who knows where we will go.
• Vector Graphics to Semantic Web & Artificial Intelligence.

We can let our minds reel and speculate on where things are headed, but for today’s business here are the key points to take away from this:

• The WWW is no longer a novelty.
• Most often it is an integral part or the foundation of business.
• To be successful focus must be on the end user / customer.
• Web Development requires a ever growing range of skills to execute effectively: design, usability, marketing, communications, research, scripting, programming & server administration to name a few.

Sources:
CIW Series: Design Methodology and Technology
The Design of Sites: Second Edition
wikipedia.org: Web 3.0
wikipedia.org: Web 2.0
wikipedia.org: Semantic Web