Overview of Web Development Today

Introduction

The Web design industry is still relatively young compared with other industries. While it may be considerably more technologically advanced than it was more than a decade ago, the industry still has issues to address, such as browser functionality and consistency, high-bandwidth availability, search-engine compatibility, and site aesthetics. Depending on which designer you ask, the industry will have reached Nirvana either when Web sites for all users are loaded with multimedia functionality or when they are stripped of all “excess” graphics and functionality.
The industry is continually progressing, so it’s hard to know where it will be in the coming years. However, one thing’s certain: The majority of Web designers will still be working more with currently available technologies, rather than those that are experimental or overly progressive. Web designers also will be using various methods of Web design to best communicate the intended information.

Defining Web Design

Web design is an ambiguous term. Web professionals define it differently all the time. While one might define it as programming the back-end functionality of a site, another might define design as the development of the front-end look and feel that gives a sense of the company or individual it represents. The truth of the matter is, both of these definitions are correct.

In the “older” days of graphical Web development (circa 1995), Web design meant creating static HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) pages with linked text and graphics. All content and functionality was hard coded in each page. Today’s environment, however, involves creating dynamic Web sites that use other programming languages, for example, .NET, JSP (JavaServer Pages), PHP, and ColdFusion, to interact with databases and browsers, along with XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language) pages, graphics, and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

A well-rounded Web designer, therefore, needs to understand many of the technical and artistic aspects of Web design, although not necessarily needing to specialize in both. Today’s technical standards, in many instances, involve creating dynamic database-driven sites that are versatile, scalable, efficient, and search-engine friendly. However, if such sites consist only of unformatted pages with black text on white screens, they will not communicate as effectively to the majority of their audiences. On the other hand, if a site uses the latest graphic design methods but consists of static pages that are difficult to update or that do not enhance or simplify the user’s experience, then the site is going to be more inflexible and, depending on the site’s requirements, impractical.

Knowing the Seven Rules of Web Design

There are seven basic rules that, if followed, will help a beginning or intermediate designer become a professional:

1) Just because you can does not mean you should. Web technology offers many options and tools to build Web sites; however, just because the technology is there does not mean a designer should use that technology just for the sake of using it. Many times, adding technology can impede the performance of a site or irritate users into leaving the site. An example of this is using Flash to animate a logo of a site. While the company may want to show off its new logo, the user, most likely, probably does not care or want to see it move every time she hits a page. When using a new technology, the important question a designer should ask is, “Does the technology add value to the site or is it being added strictly as a novelty?”

2) There is almost always an exception. There rarely are absolutes in Web design. A designer should be careful of ruling out a technology or design method simply because it did not work for another site. Take, for example, the rotating logo. While it’s not going to work for 99 percent of the world’s Web sites, a corporation that is running an extremely expensive global rebranding campaign may want to use animation to show off its new logo for a month or two. It may even elect to show the animation on the homepage, which probably is a better approach to showing the new image without forcing it on the user too frequently.

3) Users are the ultimate judges. Opinions are never lacking when a site is in the design process. While an experienced designer may think a site should function or appear a certain way, the designer’s boss may think differently. The bottom line is that the users are the bottom line. The site needs to make sense to them, so the site should be designed with them in mind.

4) Crossover experience is something a designer needs to always strive for. Professional Web design requires an understanding of the user’s needs, regardless of how the designer personally believes the aesthetic and technical aspects of the site should be designed. Whatever the issue may be, a designer benefits from a comprehensive understanding of the many technical aspects of the site’s design. A perfect example is that of forms. While it is important to make a form easy to use and attractive, the designer must also take technical considerations into mind. One pitfall a non-technical designer can fall into is creating a form field that may be layered above a down menu when it is expanded.

5) Humility is the best approach. Because there are so many intricacies of Web design, there are always going to be designers with more attractive sites, newer technology, or who use technology in a more creative way. If a designer does not let pride get in his way, learning from others can strengthen his skills.

6) It is impossible to please everyone. Whether it is the estimated 1.7 billion Web users around the world or three people in the office, a design is never going to make everyone happy. Everyone has an opinion. However, there is a fine line between making the majority happy and attempting to create a site that will actually be effective in properly communicating. A designer sometimes should take a stand to maintain certain functional and aesthetic aspects of a design.

7) Try to stay on top of specifications and standards. Web specifications and standards are constantly changing and will continue to do so. The designer should have a basic understanding of the latest techniques, which will affect future work. CSS-driven Web design is one such example.