The grand shift in the history of HTTP

After 16 years of thorough practice, this year HTTP will take a great step towards becoming a great reality as this year it will become officially finalized and move towards standardization.

HTTP/ 2 is a huge deal and everything, this will be finalized and ready to launch as it is now editorial processes before getting published.

What is HTTP/2:

HTTP/2 is a huge deal; it’s the next big version of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, marking the largest change since 1999 when HTTP 1.1 was launched and adopted. This standard brings great number of benefits to one of the leading technology of web’s core technology, such as longer-lived connections, faster page loads more items arriving sooner and server push.

Here are some great and important design trends which will help web design agencies to design great websites in 2015.

Long scrolling websites:

It is becoming a noticeable trend that websites now days are becoming longer when they are scrolling through the page. With time, the dominance of mobile device is forcing this trend to be practiced more and more because many people like to stay on one page and just want to scroll down rather shifting the pages using content links. Moreover, not only home pages can be linked with scrolling there are other options that can be used for this purpose. These hello-world long scrolling one page websites have lots of benefits for when implemented on other pages such as “About us” and even those product pages on e-commerce websites (where a lot of content needs to be displayed). Apple took this trend to the next level by using long scrolling pages for iPhone 6 showcasing all related products using some animations – this has made a powerful impact on UI design and customer loved it.

Storytelling and interactions:

Content is king, but what if it is not placed correctly and is not relevant to the theme of a website – it will be a huge distraction and obviously turn down the whole project. However, in 2015 content will be used as a story and portray in a story telling manner to keep things highly effective and attractive for customers. For example, a famous space needle website beautifully tells the facts of the space using content and images in a story from so that user can easily interact with the website and understand the message, and it is not boring.

This also shows us that this year websites are becoming more interactive and animated and content is used to do such things (one-liner can also display the right message) that is why now web design agencies in Dubai is working in the market of Dubai using such techniques as they have to deal with multi-cultural market.

With the launch of HTTP/2, many web design analysts are expecting a complete transformation of web design and how websites will interact with customers and other stakeholders. Many of us are seeing the powerful dominance of web design on traditional e-commerce market.

Web Design, Five Gifted Elements of 2014

Quirky videos:

Expectation levels from customers change with the passage of time, so does the trends for the website design in Dubai markets, people want more interactive and quick way to get the desired information and what else can serve them better than a perfectly crafted video. However, it was a time when the only way to add a video on a web was to embed an FLV video, but thanks to HTML 5 and emerging JavaScript libraries ¬– now we can easily add informative videos on our website. It is true that web designers may seek refuge in flash videos, but I see more focus on HTML5 for making informative videos. I found two highly important scripts in HTML5 that can serve the design with better videos – and they are Video.js and MediaElements.js.

The benefit of using MediaElements.js is that it is available with some default skins and greater documentation for building a customized player design. The script also helps in building a music/audio player, as they provide documentation with an API and surely can use your self-hosted videos on any web project.

Flat Design Element:

Modern web design is incomplete without the use of “FLAT UI elements”, so how I can skip the most important element of web design especially when talking about the five gifted elements. With the help of CSS3 designers can design many flat buttons using natural box shadows, rounded corners or text shadows. However, the future is really bright because we are looking forward to seeing Flat icon sets and modified GUI kits for free on dozens of websites.

Personal Portraits:

Portfolio websites a survival guide of a web designer, a handy resume or a valuable asset of a designer, developer or even for a company. However, my all-time favorites are simple portfolio as they can help you in showcasing your work or services. Add a personal touch in it by adding your picture, because people like more of a genuine thing. Moreover, it looks personal and fantastic in a portfolio and gives it a traditional poster like a feel.

A Unique web copy:

“Front face declaration” is one of the coolest new features in web development and design. This allows you to import files hosted locally or externally on another server. These fonts are usually defined within CSS and they can be written into front-family properties to style any web page according to needs. But, these icons are not well designed like regular graphics, but they offer functionality which is comprehensive and simple. However, web designers can add a lot of colors and can easily customized to make a web page stand out the most.

Fast Loading Animations:

Many websites (especially using Word-Press themes from Theme-Forest) where some elements were animated, but they only animate when you scroll them into view. These elements actually work like lazy-loading images which obviously not a good design idea that is why they should be avoided. To create fast loaded animations, combine JavaScript with CSS3 transitions or even JavaScript to animate different elements.

 

The Evolution Of Dubai Web Design

Web design trends are like photos in fashion magazines, they change in days and especially If we are discussing Dubai market. The competent Dubai web design agency is flexible enough to adapt fast changing web design trends, thus it is vital for designers to have appropriate knowledge of current design trends. 

 

Trends we would like to see LESS of:

1.    UNNECCESSARY SCROLLING

Most of the time we like to scroll around to see “what is inside” and mostly we like scrolling. But sometimes web developers overwhelmed and use unbelievable scrolling effects, so the process loses its practical sense or slow down the user. And this is just not acceptable, especially when everything is so focused around quick content consumption that is why it is advised to avoid unnecessary scrolling.

 

2.    ALWAYS RESPONSIVE

Responsive Design is taking over the web design industry, simply it is a general tendency to have a website responsive across all mobiles, tablets and desktop devices. However, I am not trying to convince you that responsive design is a dreck, in fact, it is a must have for almost every website. But this one reality is not true for many successful websites; in fact, they are not responsive at all and still are very productive. The reason behind such ignorance of trend is that they just do not need a responsive design. 

Does your websites are loaded with heavy background images, or flash animation or dynamic content? Then it is better to divert them to the mobile version of a website or if your website is less complex you can stay away from responsive design. 

 

3.    BROWSER COMPATIBILITY

Unlike a common believe your website doesn’t need to work in all browser versions (Safar, Firefox, Android and so on). It is better to check on Google analytics, which browser is most liked by your client and you can simply develop for such browser only. It will give you more time to focus on your website development and help you in saving some dollars.

 

4.    CAPTCHA FORMS:

“Re-enter the Code”, I hope that 2014 will become the last year of verifications of us through Captcha process ¬– we all know that we are not bots and it should be understood by leading websites too. We want some other plugins to spot spammers, but guys say no to Captcha verifications. Another thing most of us do not want to see is the boxes outside the forms, especially when there is enough space need to be filled. So, it is better to not interrupt the conversation and put superfluous barriers between people and their goals.

 

5.    FLASH WEBSITES AND INTROS:

Flash animations, a good old way to ruin your website, we all understand that their era is ending now. We hope that 2014 will let them RIP at last.

However, there are many other trends we would like to see less of includes content overdose, overly hero image installation, auto-play videos, popups, advertising sidebars and “hello world” blog post.

Common Design Mistakes Web Designers Make

Designing is mostly taken as a confused term and most designers mix print and web design as a same thing which is absolutely different. Traditional design is what it takes with a design that is transferred to paper and it has nothing to do with interactive design. Most of the time print design is an idea that is transferred on paper to represent the brand identity or to achieve some marketing goals. However, web design company Abu Dhabi is absolutely different and is mostly using professional creativity rather than just emotional imagination. Interactive design is what that is the biggest concern when someone starts designing for its website. Interactive design is far more than just emotions that are why it needs someone that has hands-on experience of designing tools as well as can think out of the box to reach the targeted audience. However, web design and interactive design has a close connection, but mostly designers do not bother much about such thing. The purpose of this write-up is to share some major mistakes which must be avoided by a web design company.

Avoid large block of content

Have you ever visited a website and get a creepy feeling because of the ‘big blocks of content’ becomes ‘a big chunk of distraction’? Adding big blocks of content is a very common mistake usually committed by first-time web designers. The reason is they forget the pattern of reading internet readers usually follow (they tend to scan the important information and does not read every single word) and in case they could not find relevant information they instantly leave the place. Large content blocks are a big distraction as they usually are not easy in reading resulting customer loss.

Solution:

To fix the issue, it is really important to share your message effectively so that your visitor will easily get the main theme of your website (may be reading just a few lines). According to experts, it is just a matter of few seconds (not more than five) and if your content is engaging them for long without giving them a clear picture of your business they will leave quickly. So, it is a must to write your content in a clear and concise manner, and always in small chunks.

Avoid Contrasting Color Combinations

Color scheming plays very important role in designing an eye-catching website, but what most web designers forgets is contrasting colors are not eye-catching. Contrasting bright colors may look good in clothing store, but they cannot be eye-catching on a web portal.

Solution:

Use soothing colors that make website content easy to read, one of the most famous color scheme is using a blue palette on a white background.

Never Use Fancy Fonts

There are Fonts that are swirly and are dotted, but wait a minute if you are using them on your website; websites with such Fonts are hard to retain the attention of a customer. Avoid using fancy fonts instead design readable yet elegant fonts that are attractive enough to grab the attention of a customer.

Why should you prefer local web development company?

When you need an online platform for your business, you either choose a local web development company or look for an offshore service provider. However, offshore companies offer several advantages specially reduced cost, many businesses are still preferring the services of local developers over them. There are a number of reasons for this preference and we are covering in this article.

Trust:

There are several benefits a local web development company can offer you and the best thing is trust. It is really easy to trust someone that you can physically meet and talk for several hours about your project than the one who is sitting at a remote location and interacting with you using the internet. Honestly, on the internet, there are many cowboys, and in case you want to verify the legitimacy of a company you need to see them physically which is not possible in case of an offshore company.

Same time zone: Another benefit working with a local web development company is that they also work in the same time zone – this will help you in sharing your concerns timely and you do not need to wait hours for them to come back to the job. Your emails will be replied quickly and you can easily call them during their working hours. However, many offshore companies work in a different time zone that will make them difficult to approach, for instance, for a design concept they usually call and make discussions which is obviously not a beneficial approach.

Understand the market:

If you are a business owner who wants to target the local audience then it is important to select a local web development companies in Dubai. The reason is that they understand your traditions better and know how to respond to the current market trends. The local company will tailor your websites according to your needs to make your customers feel familiar with the product or services. For example, a local web design company can provide local downtown street photos, such as downtown photos (an expression of your local market), it will engage your customers in a better way. While, in the case of offshore companies it is a rare case as they follow a standard pattern and are unable to provide such customized skill.

Targeted traffic:

For a successful business website, a huge amount of traffic is vital. People use different expressions to search on the internet which is obviously different in each region and only local development company can understand this. They understand the market trend and work accordingly to get your websites at the top ranks. Another benefit a local company can give to its clients is that they are available anytime. Their designers are ready to listen to you anytime, thus, you will expect your desired results always. Language can become a big barrier, especially for offshore companies while local companies understand the local trends and language.

Top 5 Characteristics Of A Good Design Agency

Website design and development agency are someone who will give you a strong shoulder when you need to conquer the digital world.  They will deliver you a perfect website solution on time and with all the features you want in your business website. Also, they take care of your budget concerns and deliver you timely.
 

However, it must be kept in mind that web design takes time as it is a complex process and mostly require extensive client involvement. The client is taken as a serious entity and most of the time is considered part of the development team.In order to find a great solution that can satisfy your customer five must follow characteristics are listed below;
 

Friendly:

To develop a complete web solution a website development agency may need several months, which means many interactive sessions with the client and too many questions that need to be answered by the client. In order to complete the target, a friendly attitude with the client can help you in a lot of ways, for instance, make you more productive.
 

Listen:

A good web design agency may need several sessions with a client and to get the most from your client, you need to become a really good listener. You need to listen to your client even if they do not have any clear idea about what they actually want, show them some samples and hear what they say about. This will eventually build a strong client-company relationship.
 

Use Proactive approach:

Most of the time, customers who consult to a web development agency comes with no clue what they actually want. You need to be proactive; you need to ask them different questions about their business, their business objectives and why they want to have a website. It will help you in determining what you can actually deliver them, ask them about their budget thresholds and proceed with some visionary website samples. This will help you in identifying all objectives that your developed web development project must deliver. The most important thing you must ask to your client is their future business objectives too. It will surely help in determining the right technology and other development tools and objectives.
 

Plan for deadlines:

Time is money, and for a business it is more precious than diamonds. Setting achievable deadlines is something very important. These deadlines must be met in order to retain the customers and earn their trust. It is also very important that the deadlines of deliverables must be shared with the customer. They must know when they will be able to see their website.