Is web development dying? Yes? No? Perhaps?
All those who have been dealing with the topic of web design professionally for a long time will probably have heard the statement “Web design is dead” or “Web design will die” at least once. But what’s the truth about this gloomy forecast for a currently very popular and often healthy industry?In this article we will discuss about “Is web development dying?”
What is the main problem ? Lack of creativity?
One of the two main arguments that claims that web design is dying out is that a lack of creativity and innovative design leads to similar, generic designs in other words: the modern website always looks the same anyway.
Now it may certainly be true that a large number of pages that you can currently find are similar in their structure and design language and that generic web layouts dominate the web landscape in many places. Is web development dying?
However, this does not mean that this is necessarily a problem and results in poor quality design. Is web development dying?
Jonathan Ive, ex-lead designer of the global corporation Apple, once said: “It’s very easy to be different, but very difficult to be better.”.
Hardly any sentence is as appropriate in this context as this one. The use of websites is shaped by conventions and learned behavior on the part of the user.
Conventions lead to improved usability because they enable users to orient themselves quickly and without much thought on a website and to use the functions of a website breaking with these conventions therefore requires a good reason.
However, if this is the case, a break with convention is more than legitimate and can lead to exciting results with a “special touch”.
A good example of such a convention is the hamburger icon, which usually hides a hidden menu. What has long seemed self-evident to experienced users of the modern web is in fact by no means self-explanatory on the contrary! In contrast to many other icons, in the case of the “Hamburger Icon” there is no visual similarity to the representation of a page navigation or the degree of abstraction means that no similarity can be recognized.
However, due to the constant confrontation of users with this usage pattern, the icon quickly established itself as a “quasi-standard” and can now be used universally it has become a convention.
It is therefore important to consider whether conventions are being deliberately broken and whether another design solution represents a better alternative. At the same time, however, it is also important to always keep the strength of these design conventions in mind.
Apparently innovative design that causes misunderstandings when used is not innovative, but simply of inferior quality. Design should always pursue the purpose of optimized content presentation and not that of artistic self-expression.
Web builders do not replace web developers but web developers must bow to the dynamic ecosystem in which they operate
In addition to the threat posed by generic web designs, web builders also represent a real danger to the industry in the eyes of some web designers. I would like to clear up this misjudgment at this point.
Similar to Sketch, Adobe XD or Photoshop (the list could probably go on at this point), web builders are another tool for generating web layouts.
The construction kits are ultimately just tools that, as one must certainly admit, are getting better and better and do make it possible to achieve visually appealing results.
However, the mere availability of a tool and free access to it does not mean that the user knows how to use it. If someone gave me a plane, I wouldn’t know how to fly it to my well-deserved vacation in the Caribbean and would probably fail to start the engine. The best tools don’t help if the basic knowledge is not sufficient to use them sensibly.
However, this also means that knowledge of the classic disciplines of typography, proportions, etc. will continue to be the basis for good (web) design. If these are not present, the result of the design will probably be mediocre at best. Is web development dying?
For small businesses and the “bakery on the corner”, a semi-professional design may still be sufficient, but not for professional companies.
As a web developer, we should by no means close ourselves off to modular systems or be afraid of them, as they could one day become the tool of choice for creating websites or other digital applications.
If you think about this scenario further, given the rapid development in the areas of artificial intelligence and big data, there will probably be tools in just a few years that automatically create websites both the content and the visual presentation.
But this is not a problem that will threaten the existence of a good web designer in the future. First, however, for the sake of clarity, I would like to state two theses about the future of web designer work:
- The tools that web designers work with will change (and it will probably be easier to develop suitable tools yourself)
- Web designers must be able to constantly question familiar and usual workflows and, if necessary, replace them with new ones.
The world doesn’t just consist of numbers
Sometimes the result is more than the sum of its parts. If you will, in the face of ever more mature artificial intelligence and the possibilities for automation, this is exactly the life insurance for the web designer industry and designers in general.Is web development dying?
In his model of the “pyramid of needs”, the American psychologist Abraham Maslow describes the structuring of basic human needs and describes them as levels of needs that build on one another.
He describes the most basic needs as physiological ones: For example, humans need food to survive. The physiological needs are followed by security needs, which in turn are followed by social needs. At the top of the pyramid there are needs for recognition and the need for self-realization.
The minimum requirement for websites or products is that they are functional and can be used although no statement is made at this point about the ease of use.
In addition, a website should be trustworthy because only then will users be willing to take advantage of an offer. The third level of needs is good usability, which makes it easy to use the functions of the product (in this case the website).
The following two levels are those of fun and enthusiasm, whereby these only differ in the quality of enjoyment during use and whether users are intrinsically motivated to tell others about the product because the product is so convincing.
These two stages are exactly what we as web designers should focus on in the future. This is where experiences are created that stay in people’s memories and put a smile on their faces. This is where products and our work really start to get fun.
Thanks to the automation of processes and the resulting time savings, we finally have the time we need to devote ourselves in depth to meeting these needs. At this point we create feelings of happiness what could be better?
In contrast, the lower three levels only form the framework for a modern website, which can be achieved automatically in this form in the very near future. So at this point the market will shrink and eventually fade into insignificance. So there will no longer be any money to be had here in the future.
However, this is by no means a problem, but rather an opportunity. An opportunity that, through appropriate positioning, can lead to an improved economic situation on the one hand and, on the other hand, to a more exciting and diverse field of work in which a large number of disciplines come together.
Are the machines as good as people?
Now one can argue that the top two levels of the hierarchy of needs can also be mapped and designed by more sophisticated artificial intelligence. At this point, however, I would like to interject and present a romantic view of the situation.
No matter how well human feelings such as empathy, humor or compassion can be simulated by artificial intelligence in the future, these feelings will never be real feelings. They always remain the result of a sophisticated algorithm.
However, it is this small but subtle difference that will be of crucial importance in the design process and will distinguish a good product from a very good one.
For the sake of clarity, let us also note three short theses here:
- One day will not come when the machine will replace the designer.
- Web design as a mass business will die and will remain irreplaceable in personal strategic direction
- Digital design is becoming more detailed, more emotional and more personal
A future outlook
As many challenges as web designers will face in the future, these challenges will also face many opportunities.
It is certainly true that the mass business of web design, with which a large proportion of web designers generate a significant proportion of their sales, will slowly but surely die out. But I would also like to reassure you at this point. The need for this will still remain.
Much more exciting, however, is the fact that the term web designer is somewhat misleading; after all, web designers do not design the Internet but rather user interfaces that enable communication between humans and machines. The skill already mentioned is not limited to the design of websites.
At the same time, the disciplines of user experience design and service design are becoming an increasingly fundamental part of the web designer’s daily work, while classic screen design/graphic design will become less and less common.
A more holistic approach is becoming more common – project volumes are larger and the tasks more diverse.
Conclusion
Web developers usually have a certain technical affinity and are able to grasp more complex technical processes more quickly. Web developers are predestined to help shape emerging technical innovations. Hope you’ve understood about is web development dying?
However, you have to be aware of these processes and always monitor the latest developments in the web ecosystem. It’s important to be open to new things and find a niche for yourself.