With the new year in full swing many of you may have made plans to make updates to your websites or are in the process of assessing what improvements can be made. After viewing user statistics, having a user review session and discussing the the website needs with your team you have decided what can be done to make your website as efficient for users as possible.
I have been going through my own wish list and with the constantly changing technologies on the web it is not always easy to stay up to date. I make it a habit of reading and learning on a daily basis so that I am in the know. The following are upgrade suggestions myself and co-workers have mulled over.
Bootstrap4/Flexbox with LESS
With a good many sites now powered by the bootstrap/flexbox framework it makes sense to incorporate technologies that are widely used and integrated into the web. Bootstrap allows for quick building and maintenance of sites as well as flexbox integrates responsive features to allow your site to be viewed in a wide array of devices and resolutions.
SVG
Most modern browsers now support SVG, making it easier to implement in your designs. They are scalable, which makes them appropriate for responsive design. They are smaller in size up to 5 times compared to a png which reduces page weight and improves performance. Since they are not raster files they can be modified with css and javascript.
Retina Displays
This hasn’t been fully addressed on our websites and we need to be certain that any graphics used can take advantage of high resolutions displays. SVG will help with this but PNG, Jpgs need to be addressed to take full advantage of new devices.
Chat Bot help desks
Although not entirely in the breadth of services offered on the company website, chatbots provide real-time customer engagement.They are relatively easy to install, run 24 hours and are an inexpensive way to provide customer support.
MVP Minimal Viable Product
Is one component of lean software delivery and is better referred to as ‘continuous delivery’. By releasing any new features and functionality as soon as they are ready to realise their value, you create a better experience for end users, more revenue for the business, or both.
HTML 5.3 Payment Request API
The current 3rd party payment system being utilised at my current job is outdated, has a poor UX/UI experience and too many screens to step through. Using an HTML 5 could make payment transactions far easier and reduces risks of user mistakes or unscrupulous hijack attempts. The new feature Content Security Policy protects users and incorporated accessibility standards is more inclusive.
These are just some of the newer technologies I would like to see implemented with my current jobs website. Sure some of them have been around but it is not always easy introducing changes to legacy systems, nor is it easy to convince op level managers that changes are required. However, if you stay up to date on the latest and greatest it’s always best to implement updates on a regular basis.