Alex Kehayias's Blog

Appification of Web Design

My awesome web designer friend made a really interesting comment the other day when we were discussing a project. He said that there’s this “appification” of web design that’s going on right now. What he meant is that more and more websites are pushing this trend looking more like an app you might find on the iPhone or Android. Maybe not in the exact UI sense, but in the layout and visual cues that make it look like an interface for content rather than a website. This has it’s pros and cons.

Why interface design thinking is good

When thinking about building an interface you typically work from the ground up. What functionality is present and what is most important and how do I make it obvious that you can use x,y, x. We see more and more websites that are more like applications than static pieces of content. There is more functionality here today than there was yesterday and even more tomorrow. 

Why it’s bad

Not everyone’s website should be approached like their building some masterful intuitive interface. Last time I checked, websites are pretty user friendly. They get me what I want when I want it and I don’t need to learn an interface to get it. While it may be trendy to make your website look like a interface for a spaceship, is that really what your user’s need? Probably not. Not every website needs to be dressed up like that, but I feel that less appropriate websites will take design cues from apps. How many interfaces need to exist before it’s just uncomfortable to navigate the web? How many times will designers reinvent the interface wheel?

L.A.E. (Let’s appify everything)

It’s a trend. Design experiences not interfaces. Work from the ground up not shiny cool interface down.