Web Development moves fast, sometimes too fast – but staying ahead of the curve and knowing what trends to look out for, and which ones to avoid is essential to delivering engaging and efficient digital experiences.
As we head into 2024, the web development sector is poised for some exciting new trends. From enhancing user experience to incorporating cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies, here are some of the key trends that are set to shape the web development landscape in the coming year.
Single Page Applications: Transforming User Experiences
When developing new web experiences, user experience reigns supreme. Single Page Applications (SPAs) have been gaining popularity over the past few years and are revolutionising how we create and interact with websites. SPAs are a departure from the traditional multi-page architecture and offer a more fluid and dynamic browsing experience for users through loading a single web document, with the body content updating as a user interacts. This allows the user to move throughout the site without loading in whole new pages from the server, increasing performance and user experience.
AI in Web Development
2023’s favourite buzzword – Artificial Intelligence. As we look towards 2024, AI will continue to be a transformative force in the field, powering innovative features and further enhancing user experiences. Some AI developments we should look out for:
- Chatbots: With the development of Large Language Models (LLMs) we can soon look to chatbots providing more comprehensive customer support. Chatbots have existed for a while but often struggle with more complex requests, utilising these new technologies we can build out around the clock customer support agents that can answer questions, resolve issues and even process transactions.
- Voice Assistants: Voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant have transcended smartphones and smart speakers and are looking to become integral parts of websites. For example, AirBnB now allows you to make a full booking directly through your smart speaker.
- AI-Powered recommendation systems: This is a game changer for e-commerce sites where artificial intelligence can analyse customer behaviour and past purchases to suggest products that align with individual preferences. It also allows for more comprehensive search functionality, for example if a user searches your site for ‘warm clothing for snowboarding’ it will return appropriate products such as hats, socks, base layers etc.
Embracing these new technologies can give websites a competitive edge and position them for success in an increasingly competitive online marketplace.
Here at Imaginaire we are investing in these technologies so that we can best position your brand online.
JAMstack
In the fast-paced world of web development and e-commerce, delivering a seamless and performant online experience is paramount. The JAMstack architecture which stands for JavaScript, APIs, and Markup is a game changer in this area.
JAMstack emphasises speed, meaning sites built in this way load quickly and provide a quick and snappy user experience – crucial for retaining customers that are accustomed to fast loading mobile apps and websites. This is achieved through pre-rendered content which means pages are served instantly for users – rather than having to wait for a database query on every request. JAMstack also utilises improved caching and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) that serve content from a location nearest to the user – minimising loading times.
JAMstack also enhances security – pivotal when building e-commerce sites that hold customer information. It does this by decoupling the front end (the site that you see) and the back end (where the customer data is stored) meaning that the front end is less susceptible to security vulnerabilities and reducing the risk of data breaches.
Passwordless and SSO (Single Sign-On)
User authentication remains a critical aspect of ensuring a secure and user-friendly experience. Passwordless authentication and SSO are two powerful methods that are gaining traction, simplifying the login process, enhancing security, and improving user convenience.
Passwordless authentication methods include things like email login, SMS-based one time passcodes, biometric authentication (such as fingerprint or facial recognition), and hardware-based security keys. This removes the need to write down all your passwords and make sure you remember them – reducing the risk of breach.
SSO allows you to access multiple applications or websites with a single set of credentials. You have probably seen this with ‘sign in with Google’ or ‘sign in with Apple’ options when creating an account on a website. It may feel like this is a security risk, with a single point of failure. However, SSO enhances an organisation’s security by simplifying authentication and mitigating data breach risks. The token-based authentication and passwordless methods employed by SSO make it much harder for attackers to gain unauthorised access to customer data. It also combats phishing attacks by eliminating the need for users to enter passwords on spoofed sites.
As we enter 2024, the world of web development is rapidly evolving with exciting trends on the horizon. From single-page applications (SPAs) improving user experiences to Artificial Intelligence (AI) driving chatbots, voice assistants, and recommendation systems, the digital landscape is set for transformation. JAMstack architecture prioritizes speed and security, while passwordless authentication and Single Sign-On (SSO) enhance access and security. Embracing these trends positions websites for success in a competitive online marketplace, offering engaging and secure digital experiences. At Imaginaire, we invest in these technologies to empower your brand online.
Web Development services for businesses across the UK
Whether you’re looking for us to build a web application, a bespoke WordPress theme/plugin or a fully-fledged ecommerce, you’ll be able to make use of our development experience and we can even help you plan from the ground up. You get a valuable asset that can be bolted onto your company.
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By
Dylan Brain
