The web is ever-evolving. The same is just as true today as it was in its infancy. With that, new advances in web development continue to come thick and fast. Few people know this better than veteran web developer Luke Robert Flinn. The Warrnambool, Australia-based developer has had his finger firmly on the web’s pulse for over 20 years from his office in Warrnambool.
Accordingly, the expert is in a perfect position to predict future trends in web development. He has anticipated many of the web’s most significant trends of the past decade, including responsive design and dark mode standardisation. Now, he’s looking to the future once more. It’s a look toward the rest of 2023 and beyond that kicks off with so-called PWAs.
Progressive Web Apps
Flinn’s first trend, predicted to explode soon within web development, is PWAs. PWAs or progressive web apps are websites that look, feel, and behave like native smartphone apps. They’re a widely touted future trend among many web developers. However, Warrnambool-based developer Flinn first highlighted the likelihood of PWAs taking off as long ago as 2015.
Fast-forward eight years, and most major web browsers now support progressive web apps, including Safari from Apple, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Edge. With that, PWAs are only likely to become more pervasive from here on out, according to the expert.
Website Voice Interfaces
Next, Flinn turns to website voice interfaces, also known as voice user interfaces or VUIs. VUIs are a trend born from the ongoing popularity and rise of smart speakers like Amazon’s Echo and Alexa devices and voice assistants, such as Google Assistant. Voice interfaces are already common on, for example, search engines and within native apps.
However, Flinn predicts they’ll soon become much more widespread as built-in aspects of standalone websites. Indeed, he sees VUIs becoming a crucial aspect of website development in the future. It’s a move that aligns with the expert’s further suggestion that accessibility will remain a key focus for website developers in 2023 and beyond.
Motion User Interfaces for Web
Luke Robert Flinn Warrnambool Australia-based web developer‘s third predicted trend involves what’s known as motion user interfaces or UIs. Perhaps slightly less revolutionary than progressive web apps and website voice interfaces, Flinn still anticipates big things for the motion-specific, user-focused technology.
The future of motion UI within web development will reportedly centre around visually appealing on-page elements, animations, and cues. Furthermore, motion UI will likely combine with more practical accessibility features, according to the expert, where the goal is to engage and support website visitors simultaneously.
AI and Machine Learning
Lastly, leading Warrnambool web developer Luke Robert Flinn touches briefly on the meteoric rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning. He suggests that between now and the end of 2024, AI-powered features and those employing one or more forms of machine learning will become a staple online.
While AI is used most widely to power chatbots and similar features right now, Flinn sees it expanding rapidly into other areas. Aided by machine learning, he says genuinely personalised product recommendations for web users are just one of the many ways he and his fellow developers will likely employ the technology in the coming months and years.