David Lee King from Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library presented this fun and informative overview of trends in web design as he sees them this year. He first listed the trends, describing them and providing some examples and insight. The trends he sees are:
1. Content First -
“Good web design starts with content” The content that users
want can be lost in the layout. Design in the absence of content is
not design, it's decoration. White space is a key ingredient in
promoting content.
2. Design
Simplicity – Minimalist landing pages, white space (Salt Lake City
public library is a good library example)
3. UX Centered
Design – Think. Draw. Build. Repeat. “Don't make me think.”
4. App Style
Interfaces – The imitation of the mobile space on the desktop.
Might not be the best place to focus.
5. Responsive
Design – Websites that just work on all sizes of devices.
6. No
Skeuomorphism – Use a flat
design – not fancy cute concept (not book spines as navigation)
7. HTML 5/ CSS /
Javascript - David argued that things like Flash and Perl are dated. I don't disagree on Flash at all, but I do disagree on Perl, which although an old web language is an incredibly versatile server-side language and its use is completely transparent and easily adaptable to modern web standards. I made this point later in the Q&A section and he really didn't seem to want to argue, so either he saw my point or was just being polite.
8. Fixed Header
Bars (e.g. Facebook – the blue bar that's always at the top no
matter where you are on the page). Can be handy / can be annoying
9. Large photo in
the background – can work on the right site.
10. CSS
Transparency (background that can been seen through a column
superimposed on it) – In the right setting it can be attractive.
11. Social Media
badges - makes it easy for your users to share on their social media platforms of choice.
12. Infinite
scrolling – David expressed no love for this trend, or even apathy when describing it. I can't say I can really disagree either. This is the behavior (most commonly seen by me when visiting Twitter) where you can never get to the bottom of the page. You get to the bottom of the page and then it automagically loads more page for you to see.
13. Homepage
feature tours (pointing out the navigation on the website – this
might be a useful thing for libraries – do it if there's something
you're “selling”)
14. Sliding Panels
– A pretty feature but perhaps not one that is worth the effort. His suggestion was to hire people with the skills and direct them elsewhere.
15. Parallax
design – seems gimmicky and complicated and I didn't really get it. The example he provided was a website that used images of jiggly bottles that somehow interacted with the mouse cursor.
In summary he found trends 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11 to all be important. He was pretty apathetic about trends 4, 8, and 12. He had conditional respect for trend 6. He thought trends 9 and 13 worth consideration if you had a good use for them. He thought trends 10, 14 and 15 virtuousic excercises wherein leet coders could prove their skills, but not particularly practical.
I liked this session and it was a good way to start the day.
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