Web 2.0 for Web Designers:

Welcome to the next generation of web development, delivering measurable business outcomes, automation and marketing functionality driven around building online relationships with clients and customers. "Necessity is the mother of invention" holds true in all action, time and place. Every thing around us is the by product of our needs and desires. An inquisitive mind is always in search of discovering and creating new paths to a more secure and safe life. Continuous development in all fields bear testimony to the fact of men’s relentless endeavor for better living.

advancement. Since the early days, web has been subject to experimentation- a medium witnessing a huge metamorphosis every second.

In the initial days, web designs were created keeping in mind the reading habit of the visitors. The contents were information based with the view to provide knowledge and thereby invite visitor loyalty to name is the CNN website which gives new information. In the late 90’s and the beginning days of the new millennium a drastic transformation took place. The Web emerged as a platform of active participation.

A complete change in orientation, Web 2.0 paradigm laid down the foundation of “Architecture of Participation”. It is a significant approach in defining a new scope of close interaction among the people . Broadly speaking, the new approach had a great impact on the world of designing. Uprising buzz that Web 2.0 is a important step of designing in future has been gaining huge momentum in modern times. It has become imperative for the web designers to know more at length about the 2.0 web design. Knowledge of certain basics are mandatory for website designers to build websites in conformity with the new trend.

The following six trends clearly characterize Web 2.0 design for web designers :

Use of semantic markup language:

HTML and XHTML languages are most widely used markup languages for display purposes. Cascading Style Sheet( CSS) file is used by website designers in designing . There has been a shift in the use of popular markup language to semantic markups. Speaking clearly, there has been a transition with the use of XML format in recent times.

It is necessary to note that web designers are able to describe content only to the level it fits within the (X) HTML tag. Web 2.0 offers a cutting edge over the Web 1.0 as it gives a platform wherein the web designers are given the due ability of accurately describing the content through the use of semantic language. Another most defining characteristic of the XML format which demonstrates clearly the power of semantic markup is the RSS feed. It is less time consuming as the web user may access RSS feed which gives in the updates and recent web contents information from time to time without having to access the site regularly.

Offering web services:

Website designs in the beginning of the last decade of the 20th century were mainly in plain HTML text with content which were information based or flash based websites which were highly interactive with animation using the Java script. Web was introduced as a figure of more or less as a place – online shopping malls or portals.

However, with the introduction of XML technology in the late 90’s and the dawn of the new century there has been a significant shift by defining the Web in a new light. Use of XML format and web services had a great impact on the design element of the websites. Contents are shared and transformed between various computer system. Today, the web services are the main interface to content other than visal design in the past. It is noteworthy to mention that any individual can create an interface all by himself or herself on a domain provided the web developers of the particular site have offered web services.

User control :

One of the most important aspect of the Web 2.0 paradigm is that of user control which is the natural byproduct of the reorganization of the content. During the initial days of website design, content were just information based but there has been a complete shift today.

In fact the most defining characteristic of Web 2.0 design is that the web users contribute their own content through the process of feedback. It is an observed phenomenon that most of the content available to us today are not actually viewed in the original website but come to us through blog links, search engines, content aggregator and so on. However, this trend often pose as hindrance for the web users who are in search of correct information and are confused about the source website. In order to meet this glaring crisis , the content aggregators have set up tool to track out the workings of the people. This new tool has also contributed in assessing the viewing habit of the visitors, which enables to form idea of the user behavior in the present and in near future. It seems that the time has come where the navigation path of websites will be largely determined by user behavior rather than traditional pre- designed navigational paths.

Social information created by communities :

Web today is mainly an “ architecture of participation” .In the past, website designs were simple and offered information based contents. Gradual developments set in more dynamism in the building of websites as contents could be change easily, descriptions have become very clear and so on.

Web 2.0 was the next big thing ,it gave birth to common platform of close interaction among web users .Broadly speaking, web users are able to fix tags of files, images and bookmarks on various social networking sites. Suppose a web user tags images of “ Guidelines of Web 2.0 design”. The web user may accesses the web pages of www.eicrasoft.com and get to see other such photos tagged by others. This has enabled more information and other relevant photographs not available to the web user.

Recreating new way of presentation of web content :

In early days of Web1.0 design, more stress was laid on building a platform for putting up contents. Today content is not longer restricted within the walls of parent website. One of the significant breakthrough of web design in recent times is the RSS feed. Web users can subscribe to the content of the website and read in his or her aggregator anywhere anytime.

There are also ways wherein web searches are made using the RSS so that web users can avail the content through topic and tag RSS feeds. This trend of flowing of web content through RSS feed has set new challenge for the web designers to take up a new approach in designing to make it more content centric.

Categorization of structure and style :

Web designing in Web 1.0 was confined to usage of animated GIFs files. Then came the Cascading Style Sheet which clearly categorized the structure and style giving certain guidelines of styles. Till then more stress was emphasized on visual design.

Web 2.0 completely metamorphosed the prevalent trend. Today, XML format is the good choice which gives more importance on words other than visual presentation. Web designers need to adapt themselves with newer means of web services and work like programmers.

The new trend had powerful influence on the world of web. Both web programmers as well as web designers had to adapt themselves with the new ideas of working out things based on content centric – a defining move in the cyber world.

What is Web 2.0

Web 2.0 means unprecedented on-line visitor participation, interest, and buy-in. The power and glory of Web 2.0 comes from collaboration and information sharing among users, facilitated by Web technologies and features that were not available, or not effective, as little as five years ago.

Coupled with raw innovation, it was improvements in the technologies facilitating Web content delivery and collaboration that enabled Web 2.0 to make such an impact.

A recent article Web 2.0 how to design style guide illustrated some very good examples of design elements that form Web 2.0 design trends. The following article discusses the of elements and examples of their application within EicraSoft’s client projects.

It is important to note when creating Web 2.0 web designs that it requires a unique balance of elements and features in order to create a successful design. Simply putting all the discussed elements that make up a Web 2.0 web design together doesn’t necessarily create a successful website.

Clean and Clutter free

One of the key things you would notice with Web 2.0 web designs are its simplicity, clean look and feel.

The purpose of a Web 2.0 web design is to guide the user through the website in a straight forward and intuitive manner.

To achieve a Web 2.0 web design that is clean and clutter free requires designers to think about their designs and only include the necessary elements relevant to the user.

Layout

To achieve an elegant, clean and clutter free web design that reflects a Web 2.0 website requires consideration for the layout of the website.

Trends has shown that Web 2.0 web designs are straight forward and relevant. So how does the layout achieve this? Most Web 2.0 designs are centrally aligned meaning it appears in the centre and takes full advantage of the width of the screen.

The number of columns within a website should be kept to a minimal. Within the design industry 3 columns is industry maximum. The reason is Web 2.0 web design is all about simplicity, clean and elegance. The less columns the easier it is to direct the users attention to the relevant information.

Navigation

Web 2.0 web designs are all about usability, and navigation is closely link to usability. Another article written earlier on this year 3 click rule suggest that in order to create highly usable designs, users shouldn’t have to make more than 3 clicks to reach their desired destination.

Therefore it is importing when creating web designs to ensure that your global navigation is always easily accessible and the user is always aware of their position within their website.

Rich Surfaces, Reflections and Bold Logos :

Rich surfaces are subtle 3D effects in certain elements of a website. It is appealing to the users because it makes visual objects feel more real and finished.

As with all design elements it is important to use such effects sparingly and avoid overdoing your design with too many 3D effects which confuses the eye.

The trends of reflections could possibly have spawn from Apple designs. Reflections provides a professional, innovative and cutting edge finish to designs and are quite commonly used in Web 2.0 designs.

Last but not least a strong, bold and effective logo defines a Web 2.0 website. It clarifies to users who they are, what they do and why they are different. Just like any logo a Web 2.0 logo should be distinctive and easily recognizable.

Web 2.0 websites are effective at attracting users and encouraging interaction. We have only briefly discussed the 4 key design elements and it must be noted that further more features combine to create a successful web design.