The Future of Website Design in 2024 - A Brief Visualization

Steve Jobs once said, "Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."

Website design is a unique form of art that requires a combination of creativity and technical skills. The web design process includes many aspects, such as user experience (UX), user interface (UI), and information architecture.

How a website looks and feels is important, but how it works is vital to its success. Being the most visually appealing website on the internet won't matter if users can't find what they're looking for or have trouble navigating through your content.

Why is it essential to stay up-to-date with the latest web development trends?

According to the Nielsen Norman Group, "users spend 80% of their time on a website looking for information, and 20% interacting with it." It means that the design is not only important from an aesthetic point of view but also from a functional perspective.

A well-designed website can make visitors feel comfortable and engaged with your content. On the other hand, a poorly designed site can shy away from users before they even have the chance to interact with your page.

Luckily, web developers and designers have come a long way in making websites more functional and user-friendly. To help you with your projects, let's have a brief visualization of the future of web development with these 2024 top trends in web design;

1. Responsive Web Design

Responsive web design (RWD) is a technique that allows users to view websites across all types of devices, from desktop computers to smartphones. Developers consider it one of the most important trends in web design today because it has made websites more accessible and interactive.

In the past, website developers created separate versions of their websites for different types of devices. It can be very costly and time-consuming. This issue is resolved through responsive website design, which enables sites to adjust to different screen sizes with the help of CSS3 media queries, adaptive visuals, and fluid grids.

Three Elements of a Responsive Website Design

A. CSS3 Media Queries

Media queries are one of the most critical elements of responsive web design. They allow you to create different CSS stylesheets based on device screen size, orientation, and resolution.

You can utilize media queries in your HTML code or the CSS file. For example, you can create a media query that only applies when the browser window is narrower than 480 pixels. Depending on the current device size, you can also use media queries to change background colors, font sizes, and more.

B. Adaptive Visuals

Adaptive visuals are images with different versions of the same visual depending on the screen size or orientation of your audience's device. For example, you may have a large and landscape image for desktop computers, a smaller and square version for mobile devices, and a horizontal version for tablet devices.

With adaptive visuals, you can be sure that your website displays the best version of an image for each device. It helps to avoid the pixelation or stretching of photos on different devices. This function, in turn, can improve your website user experience and reduce your bounce rate.

C. Fluid Grids

Fluid grids are similar to adaptive visuals in that they use a set of rules that determine the size and position of various elements on your website. However, fluid grids do not use media queries or other coding techniques to alter the visual layout; instead, they rely on CSS classes defined in your code.

In other words, fluid grids are more flexible than adaptive visuals. Having the ability to specify guidelines for how elements should be positioned on different devices, you can also use them to add or remove elements from the page.

Research has proven that responsive websites have higher engagement rates than non-responsive ones. A study by Google found that 47% of mobile users leave a site if it doesn't load properly on their smartphones or tablets.

The same study also found that more than 75% of mobile users prefer a website with a responsive design. In the end, if you want to increase your organic traffic, you should consider using a responsive web design framework.

Internet of Things

Internet of Things (IoT) is an embedded system of physically connected devices that can exchange data via the World Wide Web. Kevin Ashton devised the term in 1999, but it gained popularity only in the last few years. Experts expect the IoT market to boost from $478.36 billion in 2022 to an estimated $2465.26 billion worldwide by 2029.

Voice Search

The IoT is a massive opportunity for web developers, and many web development companies have already used it to their advantage. For example, smart home devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home use the IoT to connect users to the internet. This way, they can search for trending news worldwide, play music and podcasts, control other connected devices in the home (like lights or heating), etc.

Real-Time Monitoring

Another excellent example of IoT-based marketing is Garmin. The company has created an app that lets users track their fitness data and share it with friends. This way, Garmin can collect valuable user data and use it for targeted advertising.

There is no doubt that IoT is a critical part of website design and marketing. It helps businesses connect with their customers and build relationships with them. By using IoT, marketers can personalize websites and tailor them to each customer's needs.

VR and AR Websites

Websites can also be designed using virtual and augmented reality technologies. It allows businesses to create more immersive experiences for their customers, making selling products or services more accessible. Both VR and AR can be utilized as innovative technologies for events, livestreams, and hybrid conferences.

Virtual reality utilizes the advantages of WebVR and WebGL APIs to create 3D experiences that users can view on any device. These websites allow businesses to present their products in total 360-degree views, which makes it easier for customers to get a sense of what they are buying before making a purchase.

While many businesses have already incorporated VR into their marketing strategies, there are still a lot of opportunities for companies to explore this technology.

A similar technology, Augmented Reality (AR), overlays digital images onto real-world scenes. It allows businesses to create interactive experiences for their customers by integrating AR into websites and mobile applications.

For example, the furniture retailer IKEA has developed an AR app that allows customers to virtually "try out" its products in their homes by placing 3D models of items on tables, beds, and other surfaces.

Progressive Web App

Like responsive website design and native app development, progressive web apps (PWA) are a new type of solution that combines the best features. PWA is a site that works like a native mobile application. It's fast, responsive, and can be accessed from anywhere without downloading anything from an app store.

In 2018, Magento, a popular open-source e-commerce platform, added support for PWA to its latest version. The platform's update allows developers and Magento PWA development companies to build a progressive web app using their existing Magento 2 store.

As a result, E-commerce websites could leverage some of the best Magento PWA studio solution providers to create a fast, mobile-friendly, and engaging shopping experience for their customers. Complimented with effective Magento 2 extensions and plugin development, Magento PWA boosted E-commerce businesses' ranking on search engines and increased conversion rates.

Technical Components of a PWA

Service Worker: 

It is a script that runs in the background and manages your app's data. Service Worker stores your offline data, including images, files, and JSON APIs. If you are browsing without internet connectivity, Service Workers will allow you to access these files instead of going through an internet connection.

App Shell: 

It is the core of a PWA, which makes it fast. The app shell is a minimal HTML file that contains only the markup required to display the home screen of your mobile application. When a visitor stays on your website, it loads this shell to allow users to interact with your site before loading everything

Manifest: 

A JSON file called the manifest contains all of your application's metadata. It includes information such as your app's name, description, and icons. It also allows you to control how your app will behave when a user launches it.

Micro-interactions

Micro-interactions are another interactive technology businesses can use to engage with their customers. They are small, hidden interactions when a user performs a particular action on a website.

For instance, when you hover over an icon or button on Facebook, it will change color or size to indicate that clicking it will perform some action. You can think of micro-interactions as "micro-moments": the brief interactions you have with a website that create an overall impression of its quality and usefulness.

Micro-interactions may include loading screens, error messages, and feedback forms — all of which are opportunities for businesses to communicate their mission statements through design choices.

There are two types of micro-interactions: User Triggered and System triggered

• User Triggered
  
  The visitor is the one who initiates the micro-interaction. It could be as simple as clicking a button, but it can also include more complex interactions like typing into a search box or pressing play on a video.
• System triggered
  
  System-triggered is the one that happen automatically, without the user having to do anything. These include things like welcome messages and pop-ups.

Cloud-native Technology

Cloud-native technology is a way of building applications and services that take advantage of the cloud's unique features. It's an approach that allows developers to create portable, scalable, and flexible applications.

It scales horizontally over numerous servers in the cloud rather than being made to function on a single server. These services can be deployed anywhere, from on-premise servers to the public cloud.

Cloud-native technologies use containers, microservices, serverless computing, and other techniques to maximize portability, resilience, and flexibility. They can be deployed quickly without requiring existing infrastructure or application code base changes.

Web development teams and developers can roll out new features quickly and easily through cloud-native technologies. It also makes it easier to deploy code changes without worrying about breaking other application parts, such as when one component depends on another.

Overall

The future of web development is promising. From responsive web design, IoT, and AR-VR websites to progressive web apps, micro-interaction, and cloud-native technologies, website development is set to alter the way we work and live.

There's no denying that web development is in constant flux. But there are means to stay ahead of the curve and keep up with the latest trends without sacrificing quality or efficiency.

This article offers insight into the vital web development trends to keep your eye on in 2022 and beyond.