IFS132 Group Assignment

Group Leaders Surname, Name: Ederies, Farieda

Student Number: 3700588

Tutor: Asongezwa Songz Sitwebile

Period: Part-time
Tutorial Venue: Day: Oct 19, 2017
Tutorial

PLAGIARISM DECLARATION
1. I know that plagiarism is wrong.
2. Plagiarism is the use of anothers work and pretends that it is one's own.
3. I know that plagiarism is a punishable offence because it constitutes theft.
4. I declare therefore, that for each significant contribution to, and quotation in this
assignment, that I have taken from the work(s) of other people has been attributed, has
been cited and referenced.
5. This assignment is my own work.
6. I have not allowed, and will not allow, anyone to copy my work with the intention of
passing it off as his or her own work.

Signed.(leader).................................................Date...............................

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GROUP MEMBERS

Student
# Surname Name Signature % Contribution
Number

1 3713256 Assur Elton 100%

2 3707910 Cassim Zubair 100%

3 3700588 Ederies Farieda 100%

4 3693022 Sambo Fadeel 100%

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Contents
Contents ...................................................................................................................................... 3
1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 4
2. Typography........................................................................................................................... 4
3. Virtual Reality ....................................................................................................................... 5
4. Parallax................................................................................................................................. 5
5. Microinteractions.................................................................................................................. 6
6. Grid Layouts.......................................................................................................................... 6
7. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 7

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 1. Introduction

The use of the internet has become a daily occurrence. People access the internet to
obtain all types of information. Businesses enhance themselves through accessing
information about the industry, its customers, suppliers and other related factors. An
organisations online presence is therefore of vital importance in order for it to achieve a
competitive advantage. History has shown how market leaders in the 80s are no longer
in existence. If Kodak had advanced technologically, then they might have been in
existence today. Organisations that are successful are constantly looking at how best to
exploit the technology available to them.

Well-developed websites can increase potential and current revenues as well as

enhance the brand of an organisation. Websites, in the modern era, serves as a
marketing tool in attracting customers and in promoting an organisation. Importantly, a
website needs to speak to its audience, thereby serving as a consultant for the
organisation. The information therefore needs to be pertinent to the audience in order to
reel in a potential customer or to satisfy an existing customers request. In essence, the
website needs to be designed in such a way that it functions as an interactional tool in
serving the audience needs.

In this report we consider five web design trends which are Typography, Virtual Reality,
Parallax, Microinteractions, and Grid Layouts. which must be incorporated into a website
to ensure that it is content driven, attractive and is responsive to users. In the report
below these five trends will be explained in order to help aid a website.

2. Typography
Typography is a seemingly unimportant part of the website design process. It is the
visual aspect of text, also known as fonts or typefaces. Typography has the ability to
affect an organisations brand, positively or negatively as it is expressive of the brand of
an organisation. Peham noted that Typography is getting bigger and bolder. Brands will
be going bigger, more eye catching, and even full screen. Dynamic colours and textures
will be added to interesting and vibrant fonts to create an overall wow effect. Websites
are utilising the bigger typefaces to utilize space more efficiently as well as enhance a
specific message to users which ultimately enhances the brand of an organisation. The
use of custom fonts have also increased as it allows for flexibility in terms of alignment
with an organisations brand, fonts become a mirror to the brand of an organisation itself.

Textures and colours add an additional dynamic to typography as it presents an artistic

look and feel and allows organisations to connect with users personally. An organisation

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 is able to make use of all the aspects of typography which are in alignment with the goal
of enhancing the user experience through the organisations website. It is clear that
typography enhances user experience but also contributes positively or negatively to the
brand of an organisation and is therefore significant.

3. Virtual Reality

Virtual reality type websites has become a key driver in web design, given the current
development of Virtual reality type technology across industries, most organisations
would opt for this type of website design as this will allow for the companies to gain a
competitive advantage. The virtual reality is an intuitive design. As Carrie states This
includes website designs with 360-degree video and other highly interactive experiences
with three-dimensional effects (Cousins C, 2017), in that it allows the viewer an in depth
access of what the experience would be in the space of products and services, for
example real estate companies can use this type of design to allow potential buyers to
view a property without actually being there, Google has been using this type of design
in google earth and google maps. Microsoft has also taken on a bit of the design on their
website designs as well. Thus, the use of virtual reality website design is something to
watch considering the current focus and developments of virtual reality in the world
today. This will probably turn out to be one of the key drivers in organisations of the
future as the virtual reality space will open up doors to new opportunities in website
design.

4. Parallax

Parallax designed websites have become very popular in 2017. These type of website
designs allow for the user to experience the different effects of a particular product or
service offered by companies. as Carrie states Look for parallax effects that move up,
rather than down, and movements that capture a much more layered design Cousins.C
(2017, January 02). These layer designs provide a unique experience for the users to a
get a feel of different contexts and transitions whilst browsing a website. For example,
Samsung uses this design to show off the picture quality of their cameras and television
sets. Companies like doomsday entertainment use this design to show off new products
on the market as well as news pertaining to these new products. The motor car industry
has also used this design, specifically Lexus to show off their motor cars. This does
allow us to understand that the parallax design is being actively used in 2017 allowing
companies showcase their products and services by means of various layered designs

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 ensuring that the audience is captivated and allows the browsing to be more customised
and unique to the respective companies look and feel.

5. Microinteractions

The functionality of microinteractions has become more and more important in web
design. According to Lee (2017) microinteractions are single, specific moments when a
user is interacting with your website. Almost all websites make use of microinteractions,
when searching for something on google you type in the text box and then click on the
search icon which yields results based on your search. Another example would be
clicking/touching the like button Facebook, whether on a status update, comment or
picture one is interacting with the website to perform a certain function. Popular social
media websites Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn make use of microinteractions. There
are several benefits of using microinteractions however, the most notable one is
enhanced user experience. Users prefer responsiveness in a website and
microinteractions is able to deliver this through its effective structure. A microinteraction
is made up of four parts; the trigger which starts the action, rules which regulates the
action, the feedback which clarifies the action and lastly the loops and modes which
control the meta-rules of the action. Nowadays, almost all websites make use of
microinteractions, it is the functionality we miss only when its not there.

6. Grid Layouts

The use of grid layout in web design accentuates a satisfying content experience. Grid
layouts provide a schematic design element to web design, making use of horizontal
and vertical lines to arrange content. Shillcock (2013) states that grids enable you to
build solid structure and form into your designs. This grid layout design element is not
only easy for developers in a sense that it enables coding in a structured modular way
but also enhances the user experience as this type of layout is easy to understand and
navigate. The structured grid layout enables developers to arrange and organise content
and data in a non-complex manner which further facilitates ease of use for both the
developer and end user. In addition is allows for adaptable layout functionality across
computer based and mobile based platforms. Laurinavicius (2017) notes that this design
element will become more popular in web design in this year. Leading social media
websites such as Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter make use of the grid layout design
and it is expected that other websites follow suit as this design element has become
expected. Social media websites are often content heavy and present an abundance of

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 information the grid layout has made engagement with these websites much simpler.
The grid layout enables end users a pleasant and engaging experience with a website.

7. Conclusion

Organisations need to keep abreast with the latest trends in web design. More
importantly, they need to know what trends will enhance their business and the website.
Most organisations have websites as it serves as the voice and face of the organisation,
whenever someone enters their webpage. For organisations to remain competitive, they
need to provide their audience with a pleasant experience, creating a furore for others to
desire.

We have proposed that for an organisation to remain competitive, increase customer

base and enhance the user experience, it should incorporate the five trends that have
been mentioned when creating or improving the organisations website. Typography,
virtual reality, parallax, micorinteractions and grid layout are trends which affect the
visual and interactive aspect of web design. The application of these five trends will help
improve the overall website and will provide users with a pleasant and interactive
experience. These five trends clearly have the ability to improve the brand of the
organisation.

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9. References
Cousins.C 10. (2017, January 02) Web designs to try in 2017.
Retrieved from https://designmodo.com/web-design-trends-2017/
Dooms day Entertainment (2017).
Retrieved from http://www.doomsdayent.com/
Hannemann,A.(2017,October 13).Smashing Magazine.
Retrieved from https://www.smashingmagazine.com/
Jessie (2017, September 25). Typography Trends in Web Design 2017.
Retrieved from: https://hackernoon.com/typography-trends-in-web-design-2017-
11cf71f82341
Laurinavicius, T. (2017, January 25). Top Web Design Trends To Watch In 2017.
Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomaslaurinavicius/2017/01/25/web-design-
trends-2017/#120abb30402d
Lee. D (2017, August 18). 10 Hottest Web Design Trends You Gotta Know for 2017
Retrieved from: https://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/web-design-trends-2017/
Shillcock, R. (2013, August 22). All About Grid Systems.
Retrieved from: https://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/all-about-grid-systems--webdesign-
14471
Lexus (2017).
Retrieved from http://www.lexusls.asia/
Microsoft healthcare digital transformation (2017).
Retrieved from https://www.healthdigitaltransformation.com/pillar/
Peham. T (n.d.). 10 Web Design Trends for 2017
Retrieved from: https://usersnap.com/blog/web-design-trends-2017/
Samsung (2017).
Retrieved from https://www.samsung.com/us/explore/qled-tv/

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