It is no secret that the online space is competitive and changes quickly. With customers in nearly three dozen different countries, nobody knows that better than our talented team of web designers. Whether your focus is on UX or UI, the end goal of designing any online platform is to attract more users, keep those users on your platform longer, and motivate them to take meaningful action. If you want to remain competitive, have a look at this list of 10 of the biggest web design trends you can expect to see in 2015. 1. Large Background Images Full-width background images and videos have emerged recently, and their popularity does not show any signs of slowing. Paired with large, bold, and rich typography and parallax effects, these background images create a visually impressive experience. 2. Responsive Designs Responsive design most certainly is not a new trend. In fact, designing websites to load beautifully on devices of every size has been happening for several years now. What you can expect to see are new iterations of responsive designs, with a mobile-first approach to all web layouts. It is important for branding purposes for any web-based platform to provide a consistent experience regardless of device type. 3. Vibrant Colors Colors that make a bold, vibrant and often unexpected statement are rising in popularity. This is especially true when contrasted against muted background colors. This type of bright color usage is very effective when combined with significant transitions, animations, and large typography. 4. SVG Elements Scalable vector graphics, often shorted to SVG, allow images to look sharp on any screen size. They...
Over the past 12 years, our professional team of 150+ individuals has had the pleasure of delivering more than 1000 projects in nearly three dozen countries. Unfortunately, we have also worked with a number of clients who fell for false promises and unrealistic claims made by other so-called web development companies. In this short article, we hope to help you avoid disappointment, frustration, and lost earnings by offering guidance in the selection process. When it comes to choosing a web development company, who do you trust? How do you know who to work with? Elance, oDesk, Guru & More Thanks to the unprecedented global reach of the internet, numerous freelancing platforms have emerged in recent years. Virtually anybody can create a profile on a website like Elance, oDesk, Guru, and several others – and in turn proclaim him or herself to be an expert of any variety. While there are some freelancers online who can deliver a high quality development project, we would caution that most cannot compete with the results of an established web development company. Freelancers do not have the reputation of an established brand to maintain or protect. Freelancers will often favor rapid turnaround over client satisfaction. Attaining authentically verified credentials for a freelancer is next to impossible. In most cases, revisions, changes, and iterations will result in an additional expense. Of course, these generalizations are not true in every instance – but they certainly do present enough risk to make sourcing a credible web development company a good idea. How to Choose a Web Development Company Choosing the right web development company will vary significantly based...
Agile development is a common methodology used to approach development projects. It takes a flexible, teamwork-based approach to development that has proven to be very successful. But what about startups? Can a startup firm in the technology sector benefit from the application of Agile methodology? To answer this question, we will first need to explore the unique challenges facing startups. The Nature of Startup Life A startup firm is often loosely defined as a new business that is not profitable, and the business owners are okay with that – it is a time to innovate, grow, and develop. It is worth noting that being part of a startup can be very exciting. For instance: Things are constantly changing each day. Everything moves along quickly. You are working on ‘the next big thing.’ You are surrounded by creativity and passion. Unfortunately, because of the excitement, rapid growth, and abundance of creative ideas, challenges are likely to arise as well. The business does not have a defined roadmap. Approaches to development are disorganized and chaotic. Early market reactions do not provide sufficient data to adjust long-term strategies. And these are just to name a few. An infographic published by Clarity offers a very comprehensive list of struggles faced by many new startups: The missing key to successful growth for most startups is to have an action plan for development – one that is flexible and dynamic. At first glance, it appears that Agile development methodology may be an effective solution. What Makes Agile Development Methodology Effective Agile development allows for flexibility, especially if immediate change is required. The core concepts of...
The web has changed over the past few years – the amount of things we can now do online, as well as the way we construct our day-to-day lives around the web and communication, has meant that different software development techniques in the digital sphere have risen to prominence in recent years. Let’s explore a blend of two different types of development techniques – Outsourcing along with Agile Development Where does outsourcing agile development fit in for me? A distributed environment, one where not all work is completed in the same space, has become commonplace within today’s businesses, and for agile development as a process to work efficiently has to be able to work well in this environment. Fortunately, with the right lines of communication in place, distributed agile development adds a huge amount of value when outsourcing work, no matter where you are. The collaboration and relationship of a distributed team adds up a great deal – and it can fit right in to your team as long as you follow some essential guidelines on how to make distributed agile development work for you. Created ‘rich’ lines of communication to counteract the relatively small amount of quality face-to-face time with distributed work Create frequent deliverables within a distributed agile environment Get clear, well-written guidelines and objectives so everyone knows what to expect. Faster and more flexible delivery There are many key features of agile development that mean many major companies in the software development and IT industries are adopting this way of thinking. The table below indicates some features and benefits of agile development – as well as...
As a business owner who is always aiming to excel, you are constantly working towards making your presence appealing to your customers. A considerable amount of time, effort and money goes into marketing your business, its products and services. Just like your marketing material, your web applications or website must also be designed to appeal to your potential customers. The more professional your web presence is, the more credible your business will appear to your customers. When considering creating a new web application or a website, businesses are faced with a dilemma. Whether to go for simple web development or get a bespoke web application or website developed that meets to your business needs perfectly. But before deciding which approach one should go for, remember that it all depends on the requirements of your business and what you want to accomplish with your website. A good web development agency can help you take the decision. Web Development There are many platforms available for developing websites. There are numerous generic, pre-built website templates and themes available easily for purchase. WordPress themes are the most popular in the market right now with over 60 million people using it. Even most of the web development agencies recommend it. The reason behind such a success of the WordPress platform is that you can use only what is required for your business. It comes with a set of features that suit simple as well as complex requirements of businesses. There are so many plug-ins available that you can even build an eCommerce website on WordPress. Building your website on a web development platform is...
