Ben Hunt - Web Design is Dead

Web Design Is Dead

The professional web design sector is being torn apart. Where there used to be solid ground, a huge rift is splitting open, so web designers need to move quickly in order to survive.

Whats causing the split is actually our own online publishing technology, which recently evolved to the point that it is making the traditional web designer role redundant.

Since I started designing websites professionally in 1994, web design has steadily evolved from a technically challenging, time-consuming, and very costly service into a mature off-the-shelf commodity that anyone can purchase for pennies. The changes have been gradual, but at some point recently they reached a tipping point.

The result is that many familiar methods and roles are going to fall into the abyss. Those of us who have earned a living crafting websites will either evolve fast or we will perish as the market disappears beneath our feet.

The good news is that there will still be plenty of good work for web designers but it will look quite different to the projects were used to. Web designers must dramatically change the way we approach our work.

Theres no doubt that we are going through a period of massive, and accelerating, disruptive technological innovation. As always in times of massive change, there will be winners and there will be losers. The survivors tend to do very well. (In fact, it is said the Great Depression created more millionaires than any other period in US history, source .)

So who survives? Its very simple. The survivors are always those who

• Notice whats changing
• Accept that its changing
• And make the necessary changes to adapt to the new conditions.

Thats why Im writing this book. With Web Design Is Dead Im going to explain why the current seismic shift is happening now, and set out your survival plan.

Today, for the first time in twenty years, were seeing very good web designers suddenly finding their web design work no longer pays the bills.

One of my inner circle group runs a web marketing agency in New Jersey. He has a friend who is also a talented web designer, has years of experience, a strong track record, and some great clients. But, in recent years, her business seemed to slow down.

She didnt think anything of it, until one day disaster struck. Her husband suddenly learned he had lost his job. The real shock came when they realized that the wifes web design income was not enough even to cover their mortgage. Sadly, this couple lost their home, and the reason they lost it because the market evolved, but the web designer didn't.

I don't want anything like that to happen to you. That's why I m going to explain wh ats really happening in the web design sec tor, whats causing it, and most importantly exactly what you should do now to ensure you are one of the survivors.

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To understand what's so different now from any other time in the short history of this industry, we need to see how web design has evolved from an artisan craft service into a commodity product .

To an outside analyst, it should not come as a surprise, because, since the Industrial Revolution, most technology that started as a cottage craft has been systemized and productized.

Take clothes making, for example. Before industrialization, people would prepare and dye fibers, then spin and weave them ready to make clothes for their families. Over time, we invented systems to automate these processes, enabling clothing to be produced far more efficiently. In the Western world today, making clothes by hand is either a high-end luxury or a hobby .

If we step back far enough, we can see the exact same progression playing out in information technology, including web publishing.

Just twenty or so years ago, if a department needed to create a newsletter, they had to engage a professional print shop. Today, every administrator has the tools in the form of standardized software products.

Until quite recently, photography and video recording required expensive specialist equipment and a skilled operator. Today, everyone carries the technology required not only to capture photos and videos but also to publish them for the whole world to see in our pockets!

Likewise, even up to just a few years ago, if someone needed to publish information online, they would have to engage a web designer who had the range of specialist technical skills required. Today, anyone can publish practically any content, write articles, communicate with friends and family and followers worldwide, participate in groups, create graphics, and even sell products or services.

Today, anyone can make a web page...

A good one...

In minutes...

At practically no cost.

And with almost zero technical skills.

Lets be clear. Until quite recently, making websites was a skilled, manual craft. If you wanted to make a website you either needed to master a range of complex skills, or hire someone who had those skills.

But that is not the case anymore. Today, online publishing processes have become standardized and have evolved from the service level into product .

From the earliest platforms like MySpace that enabled the general public to create new content online, publishing content online has grown into a regular activity for many people in the West. Today, folk across most generations are comfortable using the ever-expanding range of blogging and microblogging platforms such as WordPress, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter .

As the market for hand-building services dries up, this means that familiar role of all-round web designer (or webmaster) is also going to disappear.

Of course, this is not the first time we have seen whole industries completely swept away by new technology.

Image from Wikipedia

A few hundred years ago in Europe, the only people who made books were highly educated monks. Their illustrated manuscripts were among the most beautiful examples of devotional art ever made. These early books were carefully and slowly crafted by hand, which meant they were very expensive, and that meant that book production was out of reach for the vast majority of the population.

That all changed swiftly with the arrival of the movable type printing press, credited to Gutenberg. Instead of being a laborious manual process, pages could now be printed quickly in batches. (The new technology had an incredible impact, not least in enabling Luther to publish a translation of the Bible in German, which was key to the Protestant Reformation.)

We are experiencing a revolution of much the same magnitude today, and we must be ready. Just as with the monks and their beautiful illuminated manuscripts, the dominance of the all-round artisan web designer is coming to an end.

I'll show you why w eb design , as we've known it, is dead . There will be no question about that.

The questions we should be asking are ...

• What's coming next?
• And what should web professionals do today to plan for a profitable future?

I have to say now, we shouldnt grieve over the death of web design, but celebrate it. This is progress, and well only be victims if we refuse to evolve. If were smart we can all move on to something thats both easier and more profitable for clients and for web professionals too.

I n retrospect, the twenty-year history of web design has been dominated by ignorance, confusion, and waste .

Let me walk you through how weve come to this point.

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