How will web design change in 2023?

How will web design change in 2023?

Are we witnessing a revolution in the world of web design right now?

It may seem so because you no longer need to know how to program to create a fully functional website. Thanks to tools like Wix or Webflow, all you have to do is design the object structure of the page, and the tool will do the coding automatically, all by itself.

Because of this simplicity, the distance between design and coding has significantly decreased. But does this mean that designers will soon replace front-end developers?

The challenging collaboration of developers and designers

In the classic web development process, the designer does a project in Sketch or Figma, then sends it together with all graphic assets to the front-end developer, who encodes what he got.

In principle, this process is simple and pleasant, but in practice, it may raise communication problems between the two, especially if a designer doesn’t know the basics of HTML and CSS. In this case, he designs in separation from what’s actually possible to program, and there’s a good chance he will create a pleasant but impossible-to-replicate design.

It's about the basic properties of visual elements on the page, e.g., the choice of functions between grid and flex or the parameters of scaling photos. If the designer doesn’t understand those, he will never get along with the front-end developer and will always cause trouble in the web development process.

How does this impact business?

This communication clash creates real business challenges.

First, it creates silos in companies because designers’ goals differ from those of programmers. Both departments work in isolation instead of cooperating—kind of like the eternal rivalry between marketing and sales departments, only at the level of design and development.

In addition, due to the lack of a common language, the time to create the website is extended because you need to make more adjustments, have more conversations, and hold more meetings to reach the final agreement.

Consequently, the design process loses its natural flow, reducing the final product’s quality. All parties involved lose out; the web development company, its employees, and the end customer.

Geez.

Webflow to the rescue?

This is where Webflow and other design tools that automate coding come into play.

As a designer, instead of writing code from scratch, you just add graphic objects, and the code underneath happens all by itself like magic.

You work on a straightforward interface, where you just click on the parameters of objects, e.g., their size or form of scaling, and you can see the changes made in real-time, visually.

You don't write anything in the console, and you don't have to flip the view to see the effects of your work. You don't have to write code from your head, nor do you need to know any programming language at all.

You eliminate the design and development glitches because the latter happens without human participation.

Can you create advanced websites in Webflow?

And here we come to the heart of the matter; although Webflow does seem like a golden bullet solution to the design vs. front-end issue, it only is to a certain degree.

Tools like Webflow are enough to create simple landing pages without complicated features; You don't need to know HTML or CSS basics to make a simple website for yourself, friends, or a local pizza place.

However, if you want to create a commercial website with advanced objects and non-standard properties that more than one person will use daily, Webflow alone isn’t enough.

When working commercially, you need to know how the website and objects behave and what dependencies exist between them. You don't necessarily need to know how to program, but you definitely need to understand the basic logic of the code to know what is possible to reproduce when you’re designing.

It's about basic HTML and CSS issues such as knowledge of operators, font styling, or rules for scaling photos in closed containers.

If you learn this, you will save yourself and the programmer time and nerves, and above all, you will stand out from the 95% of designers who don’t understand those issues and are a pain for developers.

And, as a cherry on top, you will grab the most exciting and profitable projects on the market. And trust me on this one because this is exactly what we’re doing in OG. 🙂

Learn front-end, dear designer

In summary, if low-budget projects for friends or B2C small businesses are enough for you, then tools such as Webflow or Wix will do just fine. However, you must consider that your competition will spring up like mushrooms due to the low entry threshold.

But if you want to work on the best industry projects and for the best companies, you need to learn the basics of HTML and CCS, period. No developer will ever want to talk to you if you deliver him an uncodeable design.

At OG, we've started educating our designers on front-end: CSS and HTML for some time now. We also plan to teach them animations and how to do basic interactive things in JavaScript.

A future web designer will know it all, so learn front-end, dear designer, or die trying!