Bursting The Bubble
There’s been some talk lately of us currently being within a ‘bubble’ as far as current online trends go. Paul Boag makes some excellent points in an article about what to focus on in 2008. He definitely sees the end of the Web 2.0 era approaching, maybe not at a rapid pace, but it’s happening all the same.
I for one welcome the end of glossy buttons, distracting badges and more reflections than a mirror. Whilst I think it’s about time we moved on, it must be said that a lot was gained design wise because of what started out as a catchy buzzword. A lot of designers starting paying more attention to details within their layouts. They may have been focusing on the wrong areas but it is an improvement all the same.
The end of ‘Web 2.0’ shouldn’t see the end of attractive designs though, if anything it should be quite the opposite. Now that designers have started paying attention to the finer details, maybe it’s time they started learning some basics? An increase in interest for design is definitely a good thing but only when the interest lies with good design. You don’t need to reflect your logo to have an attractive looking site.
An area in which I don’t particularly agree with Paul would be the decline in job opportunities for web developers. Expectations from clients is definitely likely to increase and therefore I would recommend taking onboard what Paul suggests about learning new things but I think the ‘Web 2.0’ companies and the people working for them are more likely to adapt to new trends rather than fizzling out. Even if they do fade away, I think there is likely to be a whole new market created for developers.
So What Does This Mean For You?
Well that depends on your occupation. If you are a designer, I would suggest looking into web trends for the future, many designers focus on trends already – this is how we ended up in a bubble but picking up on future trends is vital. Pick up on them early enough and you may even end up helping to start one! I also think as demands from clients increase, a designer’s skill set needs to expand with it. A lot of different industries have specialized positions but there tends to be a lot of crossover and this, in my opinion, is going to hold true for web development.
It is important to specialize in a particular field but if you do not go beyond that, you are going to limit yourself and the job opportunities you get. Someone who can only design is going to get less preference over someone that is also a designer but has a basic understanding of coding too. You don’t need to be an expert in everything but getting a grasp on the basics can really give you that little bit extra which may be the difference between getting hired or getting fired.
Can You Do Anything To Help?
Hopefully, but this all depends on what you want for the future of the web. I’m not suggesting that everyone goes away and scraps their ‘Web 2.0’ layouts. If this happened, the web would be a pretty bare place for a while. I would instead, suggest that you simply begin looking beyond the polish and sparkle of your designs and begin thinking of new ways to get your message across.
If you have an invested interest in web design then I think you have no choice but to look beyond the current bubble. If it pops, you don’t want to be blown away with it as it does and if it slowly deflates, you don’t want to be trapped inside.
What Does The Future Hold?
I honestly have no idea. If I did, I wouldn’t be writing this now, I would probably be pioneering some new trend and getting rich.
I see an increase in designs optimized for standards based coding and a decrease in common ‘Web 2.0’ design elements. With the new combination of web/desktop applications and the increase in synchronisation of both, there’s bound to be a lot of new applications springing up out of nowhere.
As demonstrated in my previous entry, people seem to like getting things done these days and I don’t see that going away any time soon. This is likely to tie into the future state of web applications and help close the divide between them and their desktop counterparts.
There are a lot of ideals which I would like to see but I’m not in any position to call the shots and I’m by no means enough of an authority figure to sway decisions and predict the future but hopefully I have given you something to think about. Alone, we may not change anything but together, we can escape the bursting bubble and create a whole new one.
