Web development is extremely time-sensitive. As time progresses and technology evolves, the end users’ expectations increase as well. Failing to meet their expectation leads to an increased bounce rate and negative impressions. Therefore, it’s important to prepare beforehand with emerging trends. As we approach the last quarter of 2021, it’s time to consider which trends may dominate in 2022 and beyond. This blog will explore it all. Keep reading to the end.
Web Development Trends to Look Out for in 2022
Interactive Design
According to an expert at a reputed website design company, if a website fails to attract, it may fail to convert as well. Animation plays a crucial role in turning a boring site interactive and engaging. UI animations will emerge as a major trend in the coming years.
Here is yet another reason for using animation in your website design. Adobe Flash is no more responsible for showing animations on browsers. HTML5 and CSS3 have replaced Flash. And these work seamlessly in all browsers.
Here are few quick ways to make your site interactive:
- Incorporate quizzes and poles
- Incentivize with gamification
- Leverage visual storytelling and encourage user participation
- Post user-generated content
Seamless Communication
Communication lies at the heart of modern website design. Even a few years back, a website used to play the role of a platform that informed people about a business. Nowadays, it is a medium of communication, not simply a hub of information.
Conversational User Interface (CUI) is gradually obtaining the centre stage. Such an interface uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to interact with people and create real-life communication. Two common CUIs have gained immense popularity among web designers:
Chatbots: To facilitate seamless communication and streamline business processes, chatbots are heavily utilized. AI-enabled chatbots can mimic human representatives and enable visitors to find answers to their concerns. If required, they can escalate complaints to live agents.
Voice Recognition System: Unlike chatbots, voice recognition systems operate through voice assistance. With the rising popularity of smart voice assistance, this is a predictable trend for 2022.
While chatbots are heavily in use, a conversational user interface takes a step further to deliver a hyper-personalized user experience. Here is a quick example of how CUI can be used in healthcare. It can facilitate health monitoring of patients, self-service scheduling, public awareness announcements, etc.
From eCommerce to the construction sector, healthcare to banking - CUI is entering the mainstream and streamlining the business procedure while cutting operational costs and increasing productivity.
High-Value Experience
Even to this day, you can find some disparities between a website and its presence on Google Knowledge Panel. Let’s take an example of a restaurant. A knowledge panel of a restaurant may provide details like a clickable map, phone number with a click-to-call feature, operational hours, menu link, reviews & ratings, and so on.
On entering the site, you may note that it features less information and utility. For instance, the phone number may be displayed on an image, internal links may take a long time to load, and so on.
As you can understand, the former provides high value and as the search engines evolve, this disparity will continue to grow. That’s because search engines seek to offer an enhanced user experience and all the fields are chosen carefully.
Therefore, the competition is no longer with other competitors in the market but with the search engine itself! Hence, these “shallow” sites need an instant facelift and offer value to the visitors. For that, it’s better to engage professional website development services instead of trying amateurish hands.
API-First Approach
As time progresses, web developers and business owners alike prefer an approach that ensures fast and easy development and maintenance. This is leading to the increasing demand for API-based approaches.
Based on microservice architecture, an API-first approach involves building APIs that are consistent and reusable. The interface based on microservices is easily testable, loosely coupled, independently deployable, and highly maintainable.
Here are some of the proven benefits of the API-first approach:
- Multiple development teams can work in parallel. This ensures that the entire web development process is fast.
- APIs and codes can be reused for different projects. Therefore, the developers need not build all the APIs from scratch every time. They can reuse it for other projects which reduces hassles.
- Since each API can be individually tested, the risk of failure is nominal. The APIs are reliable, consistent, and easy to work with.
Smart Website
A smart website adapts to the users’ requirements. From the layout to accessibility - everything needs to be flexible. Here are a few elements of a smart website:
- Location-based features: The visitors can select their location on the website and the site shall feature the products/services available for that location.
- Personalization: The website should collect and store browser cookies to create a personalized user experience.
- Device compatibility: The website should be accessible from different devices - not only desktop, laptop, or mobile. From smart TV to smartwatches - people are accessing a website from different devices. The site should be compatible with them.
Following these trends will keep you ahead of the competitors and reflect a modern vibe on your website. Let us know your thoughts on this.
