A common belief in the Internet world is that the profession of web design and development is dying. Due to the rapid evolution of the internet, there are now a myriad of easier and cheaper options people who want websites can choose from instead of hiring someone to make it for them. However, web designers have been around since 1993. If the occupation can last for almost three decades, the chances of it dying out are slim. Though there are plenty of cases of jobs going extinct in the wake of more advanced technology (paperboy, milkman, video store clerk), web design has been around since websites have been around. It’s unlikely that this will change.
Now when asking “is web design dead”, we don’t mean a literal death, more a figurative one. There’s no need for web designers to start looking for insurance coverage for death malaysia, though having insurance is always a good idea. But will web designers be out of work soon? Will they have to start looking for a new career path? Here are the main reasons why most people believe this to be true.
Web Templates
Web builders or sometimes referred to as web templates are the number one culprit behind the question of whether or not web design is dying. A web template enables an individual to build a website without any knowledge of technical stuff such as coding. The need for expert web designers and their knowledge of coding becomes moot when this service exists. Squarespace, Wix and Weebly are some of the current popular choices for web templates. Selecting these alternatives to web designers saves both money and time, not to mention effort as it is much easier to use a template instead of starting from scratch.
Using website templates also provides certain functions that web designers simply don’t such as quick content post, online support and more choices. When utilizing web builders, you can post your content much quicker as you don’t have to wait for the designer to finish and green light the posting. Online web templates also provide online support through customer service calls or text in case you experience any technical issues with your website. Lastly, sites such as Squarespace and Weebly also allow you to customize your designs according to your preferences while still allowing for peak performance.
Artificial Intelligence
In addition to web templates and builders, the advancement of AI has also made hiring web designers obsolete. Nowadays, sites like The Grid utilizes artificial intelligence to make design decisions that best fits the content of your website. Images, layouts, fonts, colors, text; all of these website elements are chosen by a knowledge engineering software. Since these artificial intelligences use a ton of pre-programmed data to make these design choices, it’s safe to say that the software could definitely come up with a website that looks and even functions better than what the average web designer can create. So why hire one when you have this advanced alternative?
So does the creation of these services mean that web design is officially dead and gone? Will web designers find themselves out of a job in 5 or 10 years? Here are some reasons why that is most likely not the case.
User Satisfaction
One factor that web designers are professionally skilled in is making sure that the website they create is positively received by users. It’s important that people who visit a website do not feel put off or annoyed by the experience as this significantly lowers the chances of them returning to said website. They might even choose to visit your competition’s site instead. The rate of repeat visitors is crucial to a website’s visibility; the more people revisit your website, the more traffic your site receives. Web designers are pros at figuring out how to design a website to best cater to the users and ensure that they find it as user friendly as possible. This is something that can’t be replicated with web templates, builders and artificial intelligence. Sometimes you just need good old fashioned human labor.
Lack of Variety
Even though, as stated, web builders and templates allow users to make their own customizations and choices, they still have to make decisions from a set of ready-made templates. Your website isn’t the only one out there, there are literally millions of sites on the internet, if not more. If everyone is utilizing these templates, then won’t all websites look the same? This lack of uniqueness leads to websites blending into the background as they all seem synonymous with each other. In other words, you don’t stand out. There’s nothing about your site that grabs the attention of users as they’ve seen it all before. That’s the precise reason why web designers are still relevant and will most likely always be. They provide variety to their client’s sites that templates and AI simply can’t. If you want to get ahead of your competitors, then outsourcing web design is the best choice for you.
Conclusion
The truth of the matter is, some professions simply can’t be replaced with technology. No matter how advanced a software is, it still lacks the awareness of how human beings operate as artificial intelligence can’t think for itself (yet?). It takes nothing short of a human to make decisions in order to create websites that are best suited for other humans to visit. It might be easier now for the average joe to create a website without any outside help but web designers can rest easy knowing that their creation will always stand out.