I have been designing and developing websites for around two decades. I started building sites on Geocities/Homestead and eventually ended up with my own web server that hosted my web projects.
It was fun to create for myself, share with others, and participate in various web communities.
It was fun to learn and participate in the creation of the modern web.
Now, the web is wack.
The “Decline”
I started to feel the decline when I was introduced to content marketers who started to fill websites I was building with filler content to trick Google to index the sites we were building. The proto-“content sludge” era was being born.
Then marketers wanted to add modals to increase engagement. Then they got cute with dark pattern modals with corny phrases like, “No, I don’t like saving money,” to dismiss said modals.
Loading…
After Flash died, Javascript took the mantle and created SPAs (single page apps).
Bad internet? Too bad.
No JS? What are you, a neanderthal?
Instead of an animated spinner to show the page was loading, you can now show blocks where the content will be and put animations in there to show content is loading. I remember at one point adding delays because the creative director wanted to show off the loading animations.
Fast internet? Grow up! Enjoy your loading.
Okay, but it’s easier now, right?
We do have better tools. I cannot argue that.
There are so many frameworks to take your idea from zero to working.
It’s easier than ever to get a website running, so whats the problem?
The Problem
The wheel was invented and maybe there are ways to improve it, but for the time being we should be focusing on making sure the vehicle is usable, accessible, efficient, and a comfortable ride to enjoy this journey.