Technologies like progressive web apps, artificial intelligence, and augmented/virtual reality are expected to continue evolving in 2020.
Every business requires some sort of online portal to build credibility for their business.
According to Internet Live Stats, there are over 1.5 billion websites and approximately 200 million active websites. And the numbers continue to grow.
Over the years, new trends and technologies have emerged in the marketplace. To stay ahead of the competition, businesses need to focus on rising custom web development trends, techniques, and approaches.
Likewise, web developers will inevitably have to keep ongoing trends in mind when developing an enterprise-grade website.
Here are the best 2020 trends as identified from our dedicated and experienced web developers at Signity Solutions.
Top 10 Web Development Trends for 2020
- Progressive web applications
- Artificial intelligence and chatbots
- WebAssembly
- Single-page applications
- Push notifications
- Augmented reality and virtual reality
- Response animation idle load
- Motion user interface
- Browser extensions
- Cybersecurity
1. Progressive Web Applications (PWA)
PWAs are websites that function like native mobile apps. By leveraging emerging tech and adapting HTML 5, businesses can achieve the best of both worlds: a website’s wide reach and a mobile app’s accessibility.
The image above highlights 4 key technologies that distinguishes PWAs from traditional web apps. That includes the app shell architecture, transport layer security, service worker, and web app manifest file.
Many big brands have already made the switch from using websites to progressive web apps and have experienced significant increases in user engagement.
After the introduction of progressive web applications, e-commerce leader Flipkart experienced a 70% rise in conversions.
Another case study for Twitter Lite highlights the benefits of switching to a PWA model. The lite version of the native app rivals in performance but requires less than 3% of the device storage space.
Other companies that have adopted PWAs include:
- Uber
- Smashing Magazine
- Forbes
PWAs outshine native apps in different ways and are changing the way we use the web. Not only are they fast and load instantly, they allow users to work offline while still performing all the functions of a native app.
You should find a reliable and experienced custom web development company that offers impeccable PWAs.
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Chatbots
Gartner predicts more than 85% of customer interactions will take place without humans by 2020.
Just as the image above implies, AI mimics human intelligence and enhances a solution’s cognitive functions like learning, data collection/analysis, and multi-tasking automation. We can expect AI technology, like chatbots, to become more prevalent in 2020.
Chatbots address customer support requirements effectively, and you can rely on bots for 24/7 assistance. They are an efficient way to strengthen the relationship with your customer base by organizing order history and customer service inquiries.
Chatbots also engage new leads and can help establish a business reputation by putting customers first.
Key benefits include:
- Offering greater customer satisfaction
- Increasing your customer base
- Reducing human errors
- Saving time, money, and effort
- Focusing on user experience
About 48% of customers prefer to ask questions regarding products and services to a company representative. Chatbots are perfect for this exact reason. Roughly 95% of people feel that a chatbots’ main benefit is customer support.
Chatbots have remained mainstream since 2017 and will continue to gain steam in the coming years as they evolve to provide a personalized touch.
3. WebAssembly
When developing a web application, the performance should never be compromised. JavaScript makes big calculations slow, which directly affects user performance. This is why many renowned games and powerful applications are available as a native desktop app.
WebAssembly is a game-changer in the web development world. It’s an open standard that defines a portable binary code format for executable programs.
With the help of WebAssembly, you can compile programming language code into bytecode that runs in a browser.
WebAssembly is built with high-level goals:
- Harness hardware capabilities to be portable and efficient
- Build modular binaries utilizing imports and exports in a particular way
- Support non-browser embedding
- Integrate the existing web platform
Consider investing in WebAssembly to boost your web apps.
4. Single-Page Applications
Single-page application reduces reloading requirements for web pages by using JavaScript to load content. These applications don’t require additional waiting time and render web pages in the user’s browser.
Google, Gmail, and GitHub are the best examples of single-page application.
Single-page applications are also popular because all relevant information is displayed on a single page — after all, people don’t like to run around pages to search for information. This allows us to think about the concept of single-page sites and how it affects the user’s experience.
Within a few years, readers might even glare at a screen and nod to indicate which products to buy.
5. Push Notifications
Today customers engage with brands across more touch points than ever before. Websites and mobile apps that have push notifications reach a wider audience while leveraging the benefits of online marketing.
Push notifications are one of the most powerful solutions for visitors, having the potential to transform remarketing effectiveness based on how timely, relevant, and precise the notifications are.
Push notifications pose a direct communication link between you and your customers. Reasons to use push notifications include:
- Targeting a specific userbase based on age, gender, location, and purchase history
- Avoiding spam filters to get your message across
- Keeping your brand on top of the customer’s mind.
- Marketing your business without having the customer incur a cost
But companies should not overuse them. You should try to keep customers updated regarding special discounts, events, customer-centric activities with push notifications.
6. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)
AR and VR have come a long way from the science fiction concepts of the past. With the popularity of Google Earth and Pokemon Go, 2017 showed remarkable growth and awareness of AR and VR technologies.
These technologies are transforming industries in their own ways. From 2017–2018, both AR and VR crossed the limits of mobile apps. It is estimated that their collective market size to be around $215 billion by 2021.
The upcoming years are fully packed with many surprises waiting to show up with the increase in the current quality, efficiency, and productivity of AR/VR apps. Examples include Alibaba’s WayRay and Nvidia’s DriveAR.
7. Responsive Animation Idle Load (RAIL)
RAIL was initially from the year 2015 but has thrived again in 2019. The concept involves faster load times and excellent website performance.
Here is a brief overview of each area’s performance goal:
- Response: There is a quick response with every input. The feedback is provided in less than 100 milliseconds.
- Animation: Visual animation includes scrolling and dragging. The goal is to complete every frame within 16 milliseconds.
- Idle: This entails that work done in the background, especially work not needed during the initial load. The work is grouped in blocks in less than 100 milliseconds.
- Load: The paint gets under 1 second. Once the paint is accepted, the goal is to keep the app responsive to the user.
The performance priorities may change depending on the project type. But the RAIL model is helpful in most circumstances as it is considered the range of metrics that matters most.
8. Motion User Interface (UI)
Web users are looking for simple yet intuitive things. Motion UI is all about making things bounce around on the screen. Common elements include animated charts, hovers, background graphics, and exquisite headers.
Not only is motion UI becoming important to interface design approaches, but it also drives the entire UI. During custom web development, it increases the device’s computing capabilities to smoothly execute complex animations.
It can also differentiate between a complete design and the minimalistic website, leaving behind an elegant and useful interface. This certainly works wonders for increasing the conversion rate on websites.
9. Browser Extensions
Browser extensions are plug-ins that extend web browser functionality in different ways like blocking ads or swapping web images. Extensions offer utility and novelty, which are the key ingredients in the digital marketing world.
10. Cybersecurity
Cyber threats, website hacking, and information theft are terrible menaces lurking in the darkest shadow of technological advancement and scientific progression. This year is no exception.
Cybersecurity Ventures Report states that cybercrime is likely to cost the world $6 trillion per year by 2021, which is two times the cost in 2015.
Cybersecurity, or information security, is a computer protection system against theft, service disruption, or misdirection. Cybercriminals and intruders will keep looking for vulnerabilities and victims.
Keeping that in mind, companies should strengthen their security system while protecting their confidential information, servers, and databases.
Keep Up-To-Date With These Top 10 Web Dev Trends
All of these trends will continue to rise in 2020, especially AI and blockchain use cases. On the whole, next year will be another exciting time for new technologies in the world of custom web development.
If you want to have a competitive edge in 2020, consider the aforementioned trends and apply the technology suitably.