The self-imposed limits of Web 2.0

The professed goal of Web 2.0 is to create a more desktop like interface for the web. So what possibilities and limitations does that impose on interface design using AJAX and web browsers?

The obvious limitations are the standard conventions of the web. We have to have conveniences like obvious submit buttons on forms and usable navigation for what I hope are obvious reasons. The secondary limitations come from the desktop environment that Web 2.0 aims to emulate. The desktop environment that is commonly referred to is what we’ve come to recognize as Windows. It’s the same basic concept between Microsoft and Apple, whether Apple had the idea first or not. And little has changed in the basic concept of the desktop in the last 20 years. We drag windows around, minimize and maximize, double click icons, trash documents, etc. So I presume this is the model for Web 2.0. But is this in itself a limitation?

I think that UI design in general is on the verge of a breakthrough. It won’t happen for Windows users for quite a while, given Microsofts pace when it comes to innovation, but Apple has been filing patents lately that indicate some heavy research into nonstandard interface design. Sun has been experimenting for some time now with Java based, three dimensional desktops. So if the user experience on personal computers drastically changes, will Web 2.0 be left in the dust while it’s still in its infancy?

I think that interface design on the web needs to expand beyond conventional understanding of the desktop and explore the possibilities of nonstandard navigation and ways of improving the user experience beyond what the user has come to expect. There will always be a backlash against change, especially in the web design community where there are firmly held beliefs about what is right and wrong in web design. “It works for Amazon…” I don’t disagree with the sentiment, and am not advocating an unusable navigation interface on a corporate website. But a more usable, more user-friendly navigation system is possible, and could be put forward on less mission-critical websites.

These interfaces were purely the domain of Flash design in the past. Now, with the array of UI/AJAX libraries and increasing browser support for CSS and DOM, more creative navigation systems are possible in a degradable, accessible, standards-compliant fashion. While I would be happy to have the web become as usable as my current OS X interface, I am looking toward the future with great anticipation. As desktop technology progresses, let’s not let the web revolution outdate itself!