Since the 1990s (and really, for a select few people, even before that) website design was something that developed very very quickly and changed rapidly over time. Website companies across the board have taken time and care to make sure that they are innovative and pushing boundaries, while also providing for viewers, visitors, and customers everything that they could possibly need to get the most out of their respective websites and other uses.
Today, HTML5 looks poised to be one of the website designs of the future, but how exactly did we get here to where we are? And where have we come from with web design theory and practice, to reach 2023?
1991’s HTML… To today
Back in the early 1990s, HTML (the first iteration) was considered major website technology and innovation. Since then, CSS 1 and CSS 2, Javasrcipt, Flash, XHTML1, and even AJAX more recently have all come under as the hottest new thing in web design, some lasting mere months before something better innovated across the board. To get to where you are, though, you must know where you’ve come from – and with web design, that process is as intricate as it is innovative.
Websites and features today
Whether HTML5 or a separate web design theory in today’s day and age, users are more keen to exploring sites in a social, sophisticated manner. Whether it’s enabling real time comments on blogs and news sites, or providing social share buttons and links to company and product sites, the web is more interactive today than it has ever been before. And that is really, truly saying something – after all, the web as a design was made to be interactive in the first place; that it’s overly interactive now speaks volumes of its ability to bring together people and the need for focused, effective web design to do so.
Beware the mobile revolution!
Make no mistake, though – the web is still constantly and consistently innovating, and with it, website design will be consistently changing. Nowadays, there are more tablets, smart phones, and smaller mobile devices that can access the Internet than ever before around the globe, and website design has had to plan accordingly. With native mobile sites, and even tablet apps and specific mobile apps and sites for various products, website companies have recognized the immense value in providing tool-specific and product-specific designs that can work for any sort of mobile device or tablet.
All in all, the evolution of web design has been both a fascinating and daunting innovation to observe over time. While the last twenty years have certainly been unique and noteworthy, the next twenty will no doubt leave even more to be innovated and achieved, as web design is only getting more and more intuitive and worthwhile. From here on out, it will be fascinating to see just where web design innovations can truly lead, and what people can do and achieve when it comes to effective and worthwhile web design in their own work and across the board. From here moving forward, website design will only grow in importance and impact as more and more people enjoy and use the Internet for business and social purposes.