NAQ Technology
 

Web2 Style and Examples

Web technology has enjoyed a rapid evolutionary process over the past 10 years. Initially websites were simple, static pages designed to promote particular companies, products or services. They were costly to develop and required specialised skills, significant time and effort to maintain.

Over the years technology advanced and integration between traditional legacy systems and web based systems became possible, opening doors to a range of new interactive solutions available through the web. The finance and travel industries embraced these developments and incorporated online transaction and booking and functionality into their sites. This functionality has now extended into the mass market and eCommerce has become the norm.

Technology has continued to advance, directly leading to structural changes in many industries and the rapid growth of the global business market. Business has become more efficient, costs have reduced and traditional marketing concepts are being replaced.

However, there are still some inefficiencies in the architectures used to build internet based systems, which are only now becoming being overcome. We are at the forefront of these new techniques that are pushing the Internet into the next stage of its lifecycle. There are referred to as AJAX, Web 2 graphical design and Web 2 development.

AJAX

Ajax is a combination of a number of different technologies and architecture that significantly improves the usability of websites. Traditional websites incorporate a start stop workflow, where every command or action triggered by a user sends a command back to the remote web server where it is processed and then returned to the users screen. This start-stop process causes pages to be refreshed each time a new screen is displayed, an inefficient and time consuming process. This is very frustrating for users who are used to more interactive Windows style applications. AJAX does away with many of the commands having to be sent back to the remote server for processing, thereby creating a much richer, more streamlined, easier and more user friendly experience.

Web 2 Graphical Design

Web 2 sites are evolving in a new look and feel. The key elements of the new style incorporate:

  1. Clean, simple layout with lots of white space, providing an easier reading experience for the user.
  2. Cool, neutral soft background colours on which stronger colours are used sparingly to draw attention.
  3. Colourful icons are used to identify and highlight topics.
  4. Large text and font sizes make reading even easier.

Whilst this new design concept is appropriate in some applications, it is not relevant in others. We have the skills to develop a website in either the new Web 2 look (this section), a finely crafted combination of Web 2 with the best of traditional (remainder of this site) or wholly traditional. The most appropriate design is based upon a number of criteria which are discussed during project specification.

Web 2

An essential part of Web 2 is harnessing collective intelligence from web users around the world and turning the web into a kind of global brain. Sites incorporating the Web 2 philosophy include www.wikipedia.com, www.flickr.com and www.del.ico.us. For a comprehensive understanding of Web 2, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web 2.

We are at the leading edge of website development. Whether it's a low cost promotional website or a complex Web 2 application,we will recommend the most appropriate options to achieve your objectives.