As the web expands to include an increasing number of new types of media and information, web design will naturally need to evolve as well.
In recent years, we’ve seen this evolution in areas like social media, e-commerce, and online gaming. This shift doesn’t only affect how we use the web; it also involves changes in design techniques and user behavior that will have significant effects on your website’s success.
To truly understand how your business website should look and function, you need to keep up with current trends in new media design.
New Media vs Old Media
A web design Toronto or web development company‘s first challenge when entering a new space or market isn’t necessarily to figure out how to sell into it.
Instead, they need to figure out what’s going on there, and how that connects with their existing business. New Media Designers often bring a unique perspective to bear in their approach, drawing from disciplines like social science, cultural studies, and communications theory.
In many cases, understanding those are far more valuable than understanding the technology itself; developers who understand users are far more likely to build successful products than those who think solely in terms of code.
New Media Websites
Gone are the days when web companies focused solely on a website’s aesthetics. Today, web developers have to think beyond a simple homepage and capture users’ attention with attention-grabbing websites.
Rather than simply copying and pasting old-school web designs, these days it’s all about building an entire ecosystem of integrated services, providing businesses with a 360-degree view of their customers.
These include creating apps, mobile sites, and responsive websites that can be accessed by multiple devices.
Web development companies also concentrate on streamlining and optimizing digital marketing efforts through analytics programs so they can offer customers more personalized experiences as well as provide them with information tailored to their needs.
The Rise of mobile websites
If you’ve ever been on a desktop computer and picked up your phone to check it, then you know what I’m talking about.
People are increasingly using their phones as their first point of contact with any web property—not just because they want to save battery life on a laptop but because it’s just more convenient.
According to recent research from Nielsen Norman Group, 58% of people in developed countries hold their phones while watching TV. Just 30% use a tablet.
Responsive Web Design
One huge challenge of web design today is creating websites that display perfectly on all devices, and that’s where responsive web design (RWD) comes in.
RWD allows you to use one website that scales up or down depending on screen size—this means a single codebase will run on a desktop, tablet, and smartphone.
The key takeaway here? If you want your audience to be able to access your content at any time, consider making your site RWD-friendly.
3 Ways New Media Makes Money
New media requires a different business model, or in other words, a different way of generating revenue. In many cases, old-school advertising and affiliate programs don’t apply to new-style websites and apps.
To get money to pay your staff and yourself, you need to be more creative than that. Here are three ways you can bring money into your web development service or application—methods that should bring in enough cash to keep you afloat while you figure out how to really make bank with your website.
New Media Trends to Watch in 2022
The Web in 2022 isn’t going to be significantly different from 2018 or 2017, it will be more of a refinement of what we have seen before. That being said, there are trends worth watching that will continue to affect our online experiences throughout the next year and beyond. Here are some we think you should be paying attention to over 2019.