Keeping up with stuff

During 2011, it was proved to me once again that the Web is evolving at such fast pace that one of the biggest challenges is to keep up with things; new technologies, Social Media, SEO, different mobile platforms, new design paradigms and many more. It is clear to me that one person cannot keep up with everything, it’s simply impossible. One-man online projects are over. Successful online projects need teams of many specialized professionals.

The Mobile world is now directly affecting the Web world

The days when the Mobile Internet was something that Web professionals also did on the side, are over. Not only is the Mobile world a huge industry on its own, but it directly affects the Web world. Mobile sites and mobile native applications are now changing how we build websites, how we architecture APIs, how we promote products and services and how we measure success.

We are not building websites

We are not simply building websites anymore. We are building businesses. We are helping businesses to expand. We are helping products and services to gain greater audiences. We are engaging audiences. The most important thing is that everything we do has measurable ROI. It’s measurable to as much detail as no other communication medium known to us today.

Social Media is not a game anymore

Seriously, Social Media is not a game. It’s not easy. It might sound easy to many people, but it is not. The fact that people have seen a Google Analytics screen, they understand (do they really?) what a LIKE button does and what a twitter account is, does not make them Social Media ninjas. There is a lot more behind that. Marketing concepts, creative designs, original copy, website APIs, advanced development, complex metrics. The list goes on and on. So if you really want to do Social Media, ask an expert.

We must embed our personality into what we build

One thing that I learned during 2011 is that in order to achieve top class results we need to embed our personality in our work, especially when building products and services. Make products and services unique and harder for others to copy. The thing is that it is so easy for others to copy your designs and your code, but it’s virtually impossible το copy your personality.

Responsive designs

A few decades ago Nicolas Negroponte stated that responsive architecture is the natural product of the integration of computing power into built spaces and structures, and that better performing and more rational buildings are the result. This has now reached our industry, the Web and Mobile world. Due to the diversity in screen sizes and interface paradigms (mouse and keyboard, touch pads and touch screens), the way we design UIs is changing.

Responsive web design is the concept of developing a website design in a way that allows the User Interface to change according to the user’s device screen resolution and input interface.

Responsive designing is a completely new concept that differs a lot from the traditional Web designing process. If your plans are to target audiences on many platforms, it’s time to seriously consider Responsive Design.

Prediction: A new breed of Web designers.

Web designers will evolve. A new breed of them will be born in the near future and I will name them “Interactive designers”. Interactive designers have to understand HTML 5 and CCS3. They need to know what these technologies are capable of in order to achieve top class results. They need to understand the capabilities and restrictions for each different platform, device form factors and different screen sizes. It’s going to be a huge challenge for them. Interactive designers will have to design well, understand basic scripting and markup concepts, and have an understanding of different device form factors and platforms.

These are my thoughts on 2011 and the Web/Mobile world. What are yours?