The future of web systems design, an attempt to forecast

Preamble

This text does not introduce anything fundamentally new. All the solutions that are mentioned here already exist and are used, but not as widely as we would like.

The text offers several paradigms that should radically improve the perception and work with websites, as well as improve the quality of information in the network.

Well, yes, at the moment - exemplary design: Zen Yandex search . Joke.

Prologue

Currently, there is a rapid development of the Internet, which can already be written with a small letter, because it is not a network of networks, but quite an object of civilization.
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One of the elements of this system is the technology of the World Wide Web - the World Wide Web.

Many have already come to the point that the Internet in their head is equal to WWW, which is actually not true, because the Internet is transport, and WWW is one of the types of traffic.

Postulate one: everything is OBJECT

However, alas, WWW has become the dominant technology for the vast majority of users and is used wherever possible, and often where it is impossible.

What is WWW? WWW is a system built on a client-server architecture. A server is a program that gives data, and a client is a program that shows this data to the user. This system is based on two basic HTTP protocols — for transferring data between the server to the client and HTML to indicate to the client program what to show the user and how. This, if briefly, does not matter to understand the following.

What is HTML? HTML is nothing more than a language intended to represent the so-called “hypertext,” that is, enriched text. What is it enriched with? And it is enriched with just links. That is, the difference between hypertext and text is that it has “live” links, activating which, you can go to another document associated with this link.

Accordingly, the purpose of this language is not to make rich and interactive websites, but to enable non-professionals to quickly rivet information systems in order to familiarize the broad masses of people with their content.

As an example of a concise layout, that is, what exactly was meant by the creators of the WWW are the pages of the WWW Consorcium itself, that is, an organization that standardizes the Web: here is a typical example .

So let's continue. Literally several years later, after the Web had grown and gained strength, its creators began to promote the idea of ​​the so-called Semantic Web.

What is this about? First ask yourself a question: is it easy for you to find information on the Internet? Can you find a link that you have not saved before? What about site search? Very nontrivial tasks. And all because HTML is the language of hypertext, and not the language of databases or structured ideas.

As soon as Web technologies began to receive widespread distribution, it immediately became clear that the situation was getting out of control. It is impossible to find anything on the net. Yes, of course there are search engines. But this is nothing but a KOSTYL. In fact, search engines do the work of blacks who shovel all those billions of accumulated tons of manure in search of rare pearls of thought and relevant information. The funny thing is that to whom, if not the creator of the site, to know, and what does he want to bring to the attention of the world! But he does not have any special standard technical means to do this. Moreover, in fact, no one requires it. That's all and felled everything in a heap. Felled in the hope that search engines will be able to figure out and somehow bring this bunch into at least some order so that you can navigate it.

Duck, realizing this sad problem, the fathers of the Internet (that is, the Web) started a project of the Semantic Web. That is, not a hypertext, but a network of OBJECTS that have TYPE and certain ATTRIBUTES, and thus can tell about themselves. But since it was difficult to understand ordinary webmasters, as well as corporate herds, the idea was simply ignored. And in vain. Of course, the fathers of the Web dug in too deeply: they immediately seized upon the immensity — they tried to describe ONTOLOGY, that is, to build a typical network of objects and connections between them. This, of course, is impossible even for large teams, and even for a short time.

But the very idea of ​​OBJECTS is good and should be applied.

Thus, the first postulate : on any site everything is an OBJECT. The property has TYPE and ATTRIBUTES.

Well, the type, in fact, one of the attributes.

So, any site is essentially a collection of objects of different types. A news site is a collection of objects such as an article, an online store is a collection of objects such as a product, a basket type object and a client type object, and a social network is a collection of objects such as user, status, comment, and so on.

Getting up on the platform of this paradigm, we immediately get the possibility of structured site design in the form of objects and their properties and methods. That is, who sends what to someone, what he answers to and how he should be displayed. All this is immediately ideally placed on a variety of methods of structured object-oriented programming, up to the semi-automatic generation of the prototype / site framework from the object model, which, in fact, will immediately be the self-documenting specification of the project.

Since the site design process itself is beyond the scope of this document, it will be described in a separate text.

Yes, of course, everyone will say that there is MVC. I know what MVC is - this idea had a place to be, but she died without really being born.

Second postulate: nothing superfluous

One of the annoying factors of modern site design is the complexity of their perception. What is it caused by? And it is caused by one simple consideration, which, with a persistence worthy of a better use, is repeated by site designers over and over again. Website designers, perhaps with the filing of the customer, are guided by the desire to cram in the unwappable, namely, try to stick to the page a maximum of content. Here and the main unit, and navigation, and advertising, and announcements, and data on the site, and various "affiliate".

That is, the page turns into a hellish quilt that cannot be perceived adequately, yes, which, moreover, also distracts from the main action that you are trying to do on this site.

I'm not talking about the terrible creatures of a designer genius in the form of traveling menus and buttons from different sides.

So what is offered. It is proposed to kill everything completely. EVERYTHING AT ALL. The page should be ONLY BASIC CONTENT.

What am I talking about? Example one: Reader mode in Safari. What does this mode do? He takes away the trash. The browser tries to isolate the largest structural block on the page and shows ONLY IT.

In fact, this mode is also not news, because Zen editors invented the Apple ecosystem long before that. What it is? These are text editors that allow you to CONCENTRATE at work. The editor window occupies the entire screen, it does not have any menus and buttons that constantly stick out before your eyes. Only you and the text. Text and you. And nothing distracts you. As an example, the cult editor WriteRoom can be cited.

Thus, the second postulate : nothing superfluous, just what is needed here and now.

This includes navigation and other attributes. How to replace it - in the next section.

Third postulate: command line - a universal way to control

One of the main problems that creates a mess on web pages is navigation and information entry. Numerous menus, lines of input, buttons and checkmarks dot any page, turning it into a jumble that is difficult to perceive and difficult to use.

Meanwhile, input interface options that eliminate these drawbacks have long been invented. Alas, the paradigm of the mouse-window interface is stuck in the minds of software manufacturers of any kind so strong that the information technology industry cannot get rid of this horror for a decade.

Just think, this interface was proposed in the early 80s! That is, for more than 30 years nothing has changed. Since then, computers have evolved from exotic low-end products into hellish monsters equipped with multi-core processors with wild clock speeds and huge memory. And all this magnificence goes to the horn.

So what is offered. It is proposed to return to the good old command line. Attempts to do this are undertaken regularly. In particular, one of the adherents of this approach was the late Jeff Raskin , who stood at the origins of Apple. His business is continued by the son of Aiza Raskin , who is promoting his project of a similar interface called Ubiquity .

But as a basis for ideas for the command line interface, it makes sense to take a more mature Unity HUD (Head-Up Display) system. Unity is the latest Ubuntu GUI. Since Ubuntu works on many different devices, starting with computers, continuing with TVs with built-in Linux and ending with an upcoming mobile phone with this OS, the desire to return the updated text interface can at least be considered a trend.

What is a Unity HUD? This is nothing more than an intelligent command line. It can give commands to both the current application and other applications that are in the background. It can also manage the operating system itself.

The main advantage of this command line is that it is intelligent. That is, it does not just give the opportunity to type commands that does not look comfortable enough, she tries to predict user actions and help him enter the command as quickly as possible.

At the same time, it replaces the menu, numerous windows with input lines and other garbage, which clutters the screen of a regular user.

But that is not all. By itself, text input is not bad on a regular computer. But on the tablet, and even more so on some Google glasses, it is already quite inconvenient, if not to say more - unacceptable. And the solution here is voice input. That is, such an intelligent command line is a direct path to voice input.

Thus, we clear the screen space, reduce distractions, as well as prepare our interfaces for the transition to new types of devices and ways of perceiving information.

Thus, the third postulate : the command line is the replacement of the entire control system and in part of the entry forms

How should this command line be called? Yes, by pressing any special button. For example, most people do not know how to use the Windows button, which is located on all keyboards of "ordinary" computers. You can use the Tab or Caps Lock button, which is also idle.

Addition: Advertising

In connection with such a radical clearing of the interface, there is one problem. And what to do with advertising? It is necessary to somehow earn the poor owners.

Actually, I'm against advertising. Therefore, it is better if the site will earn something else, a subscription or advertising articles or something else. But if there is no advertising at all, it remains to embed a small block of TEXT advertising, for example, down the page, so as not to annoy users. Of course, advertising should be contextual, that is, correspond to the content of the page.