3 Web Trends Digital Agencies Should Expect in 2020

Recently I presented at StripeCon Europe 2015 where I looked back at how it all began for SilverStripe, its current state and the direction it is heading in the next 5 years. To plan for SilverStripe CMS and Platform development, we are always anticipating what is coming next and these predictions help us meet the needs of users today and tomorrow.

Predictions for 2020 Web Trends

1. More complex problems to solve

We will have more channels to communicate through.
So far we've got used to mobile phones, tablets, computers, watches and other wearable devices. While we won’t always know what new device is coming next, we do know that this will keep changing rapidly.

According to the World Economic Forum the number of devices connected to the Internet is growing exponentially from 5 billion in 2009 to 15 billion in 2015, and then to 50 billion in 2020. Although we can’t agree what devices consumers are going to adopt most, it is clear that there are going to be more kinds of devices and they are going to vary from person to person.

We will have more data to bring together.
We see volumes of data getting bigger every day and companies will have great challenges deciding what to do with all the data they have. According to the consultancy IDC, the amount of global data created  reached 2.8 zettabytes in 2012 and that number is expected to increase by 2,000% by 2020.

Retrieved from http://www.technologyreview.com/news/514351/has-big-data-made-anonymity-impossible/

2. Higher visitor expectations

More personalised.
Visitors will expect that information presented to them will be tailored. We’ve already seen news sites today that only show articles of interest to you, and you can expect this to proliferate much wider in the coming 5 years. Personalisation will be about “what adjustments can I make to give you the right answers?”. Expect visitors to have a low threshold for sites that present generic messaging that lacks relevance.  

E-commerce sites have been fast to adopt personalisation and the effects on ROI are striking. Digital Velocity states nearly three quarters (74%) of online consumers cite frustration when websites produce content such as offers, ads and promotions which have nothing to do with their interest. According to their research, businesses that provide fully personalised web experiences are able to quantify the improvement and see up to a 19% increase in overall sales on average. Personalisation represents a very real opportunity to both improve users' experiences and our clients' market shares and customer retention.  

Better visualisation/interpretation data.
People will expect data to be brought together in a way that is meaningful to them. The sites they visit will not only visualise data well but also help them interpret it.

Real-time.
Google Docs has changed how we collaborate by letting multiple users make changes and share information in real-time. Google has also adopted real-time search for site visitors to get real-time information from such sources as Twitter or Facebook. We predict visitors will start expecting all sites to provide real-time updates, and respond to their input in real-time.

3. Higher CMS author expectations

More intuitive tools.
We have seen a general trend of the web making it more and more straightforward for people to complete a given task, via more intuitive interfaces and a greater emphasis on UX design. People will, therefore, have a lower threshold for being able to figure out what an interface is supposed to do. Expect that UX design continues to grow in importance as people expect to be able to use products immediately, and not have to “learn”.  

Adaptive content.
With the explosion of devices we expect adaptive content will help authors create meaningful, personalised interactions across all channels. Adaptive content is conceived, planned and developed around the customer and their goals, without being constrained to devices. This allows content to be more flexible as devices and use cases change. Think of this as content catching up to responsive design.

Both data- and content-based communication.
People will want to communicate with not just data but also content. Over time, authors won’t expect to have a data scientist or a front-end developer to interpret data for them. We expect that CMS should provide more tools for authors to be able to do it themselves.

Real-time.
Like visitors, authors will also expect things to happen in real-time and given tools that provide real-time information. According to eMarketer, 53% of marketers worldwide said they planned to make greater use of real-time data in 2013. This trend will see site authors expecting real-time analytics and functionality.

How these trends guide our product development.
At SilverStripe, looking into the future is critical to shaping our future products and services, especially SilverStripe 4 and SilverStripe Platform. To see how these predicted trends will be reflected in SilverStripe 4, you can watch my full StripeCon Europe Keynote here.

Just as important as looking into the future is being able to respond quickly to changes as they happen. If you want to see how SilverStripe Platform can help you keep your sites adapting quickly, both now and in 2020, please request a demo today.