Maintaining effective websites means not only making them look good but also ensuring they function in ways that support a brand’s marketing and sales goal. That goal is often achieved by incorporating new web design and development technologies as they are developed to boost website capabilities.
Four leading-edge technologies are impacting the present and future of web design and development — virtual and augmented reality, cybersecurity, blockchain and motion UI. Here’s a brief overview of each, including why they are relevant, best practices and future predictions.
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4 Leading-Edge Technologies Impacting Web Design and Development
These futuristic technologies are capable of changing the way websites interact. VR (virtual reality) provides a complete immersion experience that shuts out the physical world. AR (augmented reality) adds digital elements to live views, often by using a smartphone camera. MR (mixed reality) combines elements of both, allowing real-world and digital objects to interact.
There are a few key ways these technologies add value:
Leveraging these technologies opens up new opportunities, in particular for enhanced user experiences:
While still in their infancy, the immersive environments created with these three technologies have companies thinking about the future. Facebook, Microsoft, Google and others have deeply invested in the development. It won’t be long before both the hardware and software become available for mainstream use.
The more information you collect from users, the better you can tailor customer experiences. But the data must be collected in an ethical way and then protected from breach risks. As a result, cybersecurity is poised to remain a dominant trend in web development.
Data security and privacy concerns have filtered into every facet of the site-building process, from design to development. Websites are now obligated to build consumer privacy principles into all projects and to document the processes along the way. The goal must be to determine how to collect and use data to provide the most personal experiences to prospects and customers, while also protecting their data. By building data security into a website’s foundation, organizations can create sites that are both practical and secure.
When deciding on the most effective way to collect and use customer data in a privacy-conscious manner, web designers and developers should consider the following fundamental principles:
Adopting an open, transparent and integrated approach to data security in web design and development will not only improve a website’s effectiveness and help companies avoid the risks of noncompliance with privacy regulations, but also help organizations move toward healthier digital cultures that deliver consumer trust and mutual respect.
Blockchain is a leading-edge technology that, simply stated, is a set of blocks (public computing powers) used to process efficient, secured and fast peer-to-peer transactions in ways that eliminate the need for intermediaries. It has surpassed its original purpose of processing cryptocurrency transactions to improving transaction processing in any industry.
Blockchain technology offers website design and development numerous benefits including:
The opportunities blockchain brings to web development are endless, and include these examples:
The success of blockchain in keeping data safe and processing faster transactions will make the technology popular with website designers and developers. Along with security and efficiency, faster transactions can help businesses eliminate unneeded bureaucracies and paperwork that add to transaction costs and risks.
Motion UI is used to build fully responsive web designs and mobile applications, providing designers and developers with the ability to create animation and movement within websites and apps. Motion UI provides the ability to instill life in a website in a variety of ways, including page header transitions, hovers, animated charts, background animations and modular scrolling.
Motion UI delivers several advantages, including these:
Here are a few ideas on how to incorporate motion UI:
Although motion UI is still evolving, many front-end developers are already excited about what it means to the future of web application development. The growing preference among web users for intuitive motion UI will drive the popularity of motion UI in the coming year
Keeping websites performing optimally means staying on top of the latest and greatest design and development opportunities. And this means getting a heads-up on web trends. These four technologies are among today’s leading innovations changing how brands attract, nurture and convert consumers. Implementing them and other leading-edge tactics are easier when brands partner with web design and development experts who know how to get the most out of each technology.