Web Design in 2011
The New Year is a perfect time to look forward to all the exciting opportunities in store. As a web designer I need to keep an eye ahead, so here are a few of the big events we should expect in 2011 and beyond regarding web design and development.
Browsers and standards
2011 will see the launch of Internet Explorer 9. A beta version of IE9 has been available to developers since September and the new browser shows significance advances in web standards support. This brings it closer to the likes of Firefox and Chrome. We should expect more adoption of rich media and interactive design across the web (more on this later).
Firefox 4 and Chrome 10 will also appear this year. One of the big features both browsers will bring is WebGL, a technology that brings 3D graphics into the browser. While WebGL won't be mature enough for commercial sites I expect to see an explosion in experimental work.
Web accessible devices
The big technology winners of 2010 were undoubtedly the smart phones and tablets. A successful website in today’s world needs to consider design variations for all sizes of device. We can no longer get away with the same fixed website design and expect it too look great from mobile to desktop. Investment in mobile design is critical.
A continuing evolution
Web design is becoming more interactive and 2011 will be a year where the paradigm of page-based design is considered more archaic than ever. This logical inheritance from traditional print design no longer suits the modern web. A new interactive and responsive format is maturing where websites change in reaction to size, touch, location and user profiles.
We should consider a website design as something that can morph to suit its environment. For this reason consideration of content and features is more important than before. Simplicity and focus will go a long way.
We have already seen a lot of these changes over the last year in experimental and tech oriented websites. 2011 will see vastly increasing usage of new web design possibilities and concepts in the mass consumer market.
Don’t let your website get left behind!
iPhone photo by Yutaka Tsutano used under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.