I've been using this 'downtime' to enjoy some interesting
web design podcasts, including those that purport to be
related to the Web 2.0 'phenomenon', if indeed it is one.
Something I'd been wholly ignoring because I'm frankly too
busy to be doing with pretending that I'm sat on the 'bleeding'
edge of technology when I know that there is nothing new here
at all. In fact the debate seems to be ongoing as to whether
web 2.0 exists at all with Tim Berners-Lee, the supposed
'father of the internet' believing that it doesn't really,
notably because it doesn't actually hinge on any new technology
at all.

When I first heard of Web 2.0 I had been wondering if it
was something incredible that had happened while I was
asleep or filling the car up. But no, apparently not.

It's just new terminology, coined by O'Reilly, which has
finally seeped around industry through management meetings,
business lunches and other assorted pissing contests and
now people are starting to ask me.

So what you want to know is if web 2.0 is something you
should be asking about.

Will it benefit your business, what is it, how is it, is
it at all?

My take on it is this. Web 2.0 describes

· Ways in which old technology is now being used properly
(web standards.. ahem, yes web standards, ignore them at your peril)
· The addition of more community-connecting features, e.g.
blogging, tag clouds, syndicated content
· Different design concepts. User friendliness, sweeping curves,
easy on the eye, not too much info. Favouring Sans Serif, pastel
colours, large fonts and generally nothing that actually makes
the site more potentially useful as mush as easier to use. ...
Basically as Fisher Price web design. Chunky buttons for little
fingers.

Frankly, I think sites are heading this way anyway and have
been for a long time. With or without O'Reilly press.

But in terms of layout designs, despite all the propeller-head
debates that we could have about Web 2.0, I think my area of
interest with it lies in the concept of HOW it can be applied
appropriately, to be of benefit.

I can't help but think that maybe one of the areas of opportunity
is the potential use of the design to create more appealing
promotional material.

I dont think web site design itself needs to be dumbed down at
all, especially as they all tend to be heading more towards the
ultra useful portal description anyway (the other side of Web
2.0?). However, like may other people I have built up an immunity
to online advertising, be them banner adverts, emails, syndications.
I automatically switch off.

I am sure if there was a more engaging way of getting information
about products I WANT to know about to me in a way which doesn't
automatically place me in a coma then that would actually be a
good thing for the user as well as business.

So I'm going to ponder on this for a while and ask some of my
direct marketing expert type colleagues to see what can be done.

I'll have a hard job convincing them that despite the fact that
black Times New Roman text on red and yellow backgrounds might
have worked quite well in the past, that there could be more to
be gained encouraging users to read the mails a little more.



Article written by Keith Trigwell.