The future of web design, an attempt to forecast

    Preamble


    This text does not introduce anything fundamentally new. All the solutions mentioned here already exist and are used, but not as widely as we would like.

    The text offers several paradigms that should radically improve the perception and work with websites, as well as improve the quality of information on the network.

    Well and yes, at the moment - exemplary design: Zen search Yandex . Joke.

    Introduction


    Currently, there is a rapid development of the Internet, which can already be written with a small letter, because it is not a network of networks, but quite an object of civilization.

    One of the elements of this system is the technology WWW - World Wide Web - World Wide Web.

    Many have already gotten to the point that the Internet in my head is equal to WWW, which in fact is not true, because the Internet is transport, and WWW is one of the types of traffic.

    First postulate: everything is an OBJECT


    However, alas, the WWW has become the dominant technology for the vast majority of users and is used wherever possible, and often where not.

    What is WWW? WWW is a system built on a client-server architecture. The server is a program that sends data, and the client is a program that shows this data to the user. This system is based on two basic HTTP protocols - for transferring data between the client server and HTML, for indicating to the client program what and how to show the user. In short, this does not matter for understanding the following.

    What is HTML? HTML is nothing more than a language intended to represent the so-called "hypertext", that is, rich text. What is it enriched with? And it is enriched only with links. That is, the difference between hypertext and text is that it has “live” links, activating which, you can go to another document associated with this link.

    Accordingly, the purpose of this language is not to create rich design and interactive sites, but to enable non-professionals to quickly rivet information systems in order to familiarize the masses of people with their content.

    As an example of a concise layout, that is, what the creators understood by the WWW, you can cite the pages of the WWW Consorcium itself, that is, the organization that standardizes the Web: here is a typical example .

    So, let's continue. Just a few years after the Web grew and gained strength, its creators began to promote the idea of ​​the so-called Semantic Web.

    What is it about? To start, ask yourself: is it easy for you to find information on the Internet? Can you find a link that you did not save earlier? What about a site search? Very non-trivial tasks. And all because HTML is a hypertext language, but not a database language or structured ideas.

    As soon as Web technologies became widespread, it immediately became clear that the situation was getting out of control. Nothing can be found on the net. Yes, of course there are search engines. But this is nothing like CRUPS. In fact, search engines do the work of blacks who dig all the billions of accumulated tons of manure in search of rare pearls of thought and relevant information. The funny thing is that who else but the creator of the site should know, and what does he want to convey to the attention of the world! But he has NO special standard technical means to do this. Moreover, in fact, this is not required by anyone. That's all and heap everything in a heap. Fell in the hope that the search engines will be able to figure it out and somehow bring this bunch into at least some order so that you can navigate it.

    Duck, realizing this sad problem, the fathers of the Internet (that is, the Web) started a project of the Semantic Web. That is, not hypertext, but a network of OBJECTS that have a TYPE and certain ATTRIBUTES, and thus can tell themselves about themselves. But since it was difficult for ordinary webmasters to understand, as well as the corporate herd, the idea was simply ignored. But in vain. Of course, the fathers of the Web dug too deeply: they immediately grabbed the immensity - they tried to describe ONTOLOGY, that is, to build a typical network of objects and the links between them. This, of course, cannot be done even by large groups, and even in a short time.

    But the very idea of ​​OBJECTS is good and should be applied.

    Thus, the first postulate : on any site everything is an OBJECT. The object has a TYPE and ATTRIBUTES.

    Well, type, in fact, is one of the attributes.

    So, any site is essentially a collection of objects of various types. A news site is a set of objects of type article, an online store is a set of objects of type goods, an object of type basket and objects of type client, and a social network is a set of objects of type user, status, comment, and so on.

    By embarking on the platform of this paradigm, we immediately get the opportunity to structured design sites in the form of objects and their properties and methods. That is, who sends what to whom, what he answers and how it should be displayed. All this immediately fits perfectly on a variety of methods of structural object-oriented programming, up to the semi-automatic generation of a prototype / site frame from the object model, which, in fact, will immediately be a self-documenting TK for the project.

    Since the site design process itself is beyond the scope of this document, it will be described in a separate text.

    Yes, of course, everyone will say that there is MVC. I know what MVC is - this idea had a place to be, but she died plainly without being born.

    The second postulate: nothing more


    One of the annoying factors of modern website design is the complexity of their perception. What causes it? And it is caused by one simple consideration, which with tenacity worthy of a better application, site designers repeat over and over again. Website designers, possibly at the request of the customer, are guided by the desire to cram the inadvertent, namely, try to stick a maximum of content on the page. Here and the main unit, and navigation, and advertising, and announcements, and data about the site, and various "affiliate programs."

    That is, the page turns into a hellish quilt, which cannot be apprehended adequately, and which, moreover, distracts from the main action that you are trying to do on this site.

    I'm not talking about the terrible creatures of the designer genius in the form of dropping menus and buttons from different sides.

    So what is offered. It is proposed to kill everything completely. AT ALL EVERYTHING. The page should contain ONLY BASIC CONTENT.

    What am I talking about? Example one: Reader mode in Safari. What does this mode do? He takes out the trash. The browser tries to isolate the largest structural block on the page and shows ONLY IT.

    In fact, this mode is also not news, because long before that Zen editors came up with the Apple ecosystem. What it is? These are text editors that allow you to concentrate on work. The editor window occupies the entire screen, it does not have any menus and buttons that constantly stick out before your eyes. Only you and the text. Text and you. And nothing distracts you. As an example, we can cite the iconic editor WriteRoom .

    Thus, the second postulate : nothing more, just what is needed here and now.

    This includes navigation and other attributes. How to replace it - in the next section.

    The third postulate: the command line is a universal way of control


    One of the main problems that causes a mess on web pages is the navigation and input of information. Numerous menus, input lines, buttons and checkmarks dot any page, turning it into a hash that is hard to read and not easy to use.

    Meanwhile, options for input interfaces that eliminate these shortcomings have long been invented. Alas, the mouse-window interface paradigm is embedded in the heads of software manufacturers of any kind so firmly that for ten years now the information technology industry has not been able to get rid of this horror.

    Just think, this interface was proposed in the early 80s! That is, for more than 30 years, NOTHING CHANGES. Since then, computers from exotic weak products have turned into hellish monsters equipped with multi-core processors with wild clock speeds and huge memory. And all this splendor goes to the hoot.

    So what is offered. It is proposed to return to the good old command line. Attempts to do this are undertaken regularly. In particular, one of the adherents of this approach was the late Jeff Ruskin , who was at the forefront of Apple. His work is continued by the son of Aiza Ruskin , who is promoting his project of a similar interface called Ubiquity .

    But it makes sense to take a more mature Unity HUD (Head-Up Display) system as the basis for ideas for the command line interface . Unity is the latest-generation Ubuntu graphical shell. Since Ubuntu works on many different devices, from computers, to televisions with integrated Linux to the upcoming mobile phone with this OS, the desire to return an updated text interface can at least be considered a trend.

    What is Unity HUD? This is nothing more than an intelligent command line. It can issue commands to both the current application and other applications in the background. She can also control the operating system itself.

    The main advantage of this command line is that it is intelligent. That is, it not only makes it possible to type commands, which does not look convenient enough, it tries to predict user actions and help him enter the command as quickly as possible.

    At the same time, it replaces the menu, numerous windows with input lines and other garbage that clutters the screen of an ordinary user.

    But that is not all. Text input itself is not bad on a regular computer. But on a tablet, and even more so on any Google glasses, it is already quite uncomfortable, to say the least - unacceptable. And the solution here is voice input. That is, such an intelligent command line is a direct path to voice input.

    Thus, we clear the screen space, reduce distractions, and also prepare our interfaces for the transition to new types of devices and ways of perceiving information.

    Thus, the third postulate : the command line is a replacement of the entire control system and partly of input forms.

    How should this command line be called? Yes, by clicking on any special button. For example, most people do not know how to use the Windows button, which is located on all keyboards of "ordinary" computers. You can use the Tab or Caps Lock button, which are also idle.

    Addition: Advertising


    In connection with such radical clearing of the interface, there is one problem. And what about advertising? It is necessary to somehow earn the poor owners.

    Actually, I am against advertising. Therefore, it is better if the site will earn on something else, a subscription or advertising articles or something else. But if without advertising in any way, then it remains to embed a small block of TEXT advertising, for example, down the page, so as not to annoy users. Of course, advertising should be contextual, that is, match the content of the page.

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