Web Trends 2012

1. Web Trends 2012 Glenn Teneycke

2. Table of Contents • Designing for Multiple Experiences • Responsive Design • Reusable Content • Lean UX: Agile Project Methodology • Data Mining and Predictive Analytics • Mobile Wallets

3. Designing for Multiple Experiences • In the early days of the internet some companies wanted their designers to be versatile, expecting proficiency in both print and web design • Now designers are expected to be able to design for multiple experiences whether it be web, mobile or tablets • This trend will continue to grow in 2012 as the popularity of other platforms such as Smart TV (Connected TV) grows

4. Designing for Multiple Experiences (cont.) • One of the challenges facing developers is the lack of a common standard for mobile development. Often companies are forced to pick and choose which smart phones to develop for first • Several cross-development tools have emerged in the last few years with no one dominating at the moment: http://mashable.com/2010/08/11/cross-platform-mobile-development-tools/

5. Responsive Design • Responsive Design is in simple term is adapting web layouts to work in a variety of screen sizes. • Some UX experts such as Luke Wroblowski have welcomed this design approach: http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1514 • While others such as Jacob Neilsen recommend designing separately for mobile: http://www.netmagazine.com/news/designers-respond-nielsen-mobile-121892

6. Responsive Design (cont.) • A best practice would be to always design for multiple screens. • In his book, Mobile First, Luke Wroblowski recommends the designers begin their design process with mobile as it makes it easier to identify the essential tasks the user needs to perform:http://www.abookapart.com/products/mobile-first • A recent article in Boxes and Arrows provides excellent advice about how to determine when to build a applet vs. designing for different screen resolution: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/bringing-user

7. Reusable Content • As multiple platform use grows the next challenge is to how to manage content change • For example if a company wants to change a product description they need to manage this change in multiple channels from print to web to smart phones • Among the tools that are likely to get more attention will be Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA): http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/library/x-dita1/

8. Lean UX: Agile Project Management • More and more companies are embracing Agile project methodology as a quick way to deliver projects • Agile has always presented a challenge for UX professionals as their role is still being defined • As Agile grows in popularity UX Professionals will need to share best practices such as “Sprint Zero” • Further Reading: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/bringing-user

9. Data Mining and Predictive Analytics • While this is not a new trend it is certainly one to watch out for as it has gotten media attention this year as part of US Presidential race: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77213.html • This can be a powerful way to target content to the user based upon their habits as detailed in recent NY Times article:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?pagewanted=all

10. Mobile Wallets • Recently CIBC and Rogers Communications announced the first joint venture in Canada to turn mobile phones into digital wallets:http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/digital-wallet-opens-new-vistas-for-banks-phone-companies/article4178889/ • It’s only a matter of time before other Canadian banks ink deals with other telecommunication companies