However, in many ways, restaurant web design does not greatly differ from barristers’ chambers web design, B2B web design or luxury brand web design.
We all want roughly the same things from our organisations’ websites, not least a timelessness that will enable our own site to serve us well for many years to come without the urgent need for another redesign.
Is that possible to achieve? It is possible to achieve, and here’s an interesting way to approach the ‘future proofing’ of your website.
Fuss over virtual reality indicates where you need to ‘follow the money’
As paradoxical as it may sound, to get a sense of where your website’s design and functionality needs to head if it is to be as close to timeless as possible, it helps to observe the recent technology investments of some of the Internet’s leading figures.
Just consider Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s recent declaration in The New York Times that the social network could end up spending more than $3 billion on virtual reality (VR) over the next decade.
One might question the wisdom of such a plan right now, given that VR hasn’t exactly caught on with the public in a big way yet. However, with virtual or augmented reality having also captured the interest of such big players as Google, Microsoft and Samsung, you might be tempted to ask yourself what this could mean for the design and development of your website.
The importance of providing website visitors with a ‘real’ experience
No, we aren’t suggesting that you should design a site that requires your visitors to put on a virtual reality headset, but we are advising you to consider how you can make the browsing of your website feel as close as possible to a ‘real life’ experience.
After all, just think of how business used to, and in some cases still is done – face to face. It’s all about seeing the expressions, emotions and body language of the person with whom you are talking.
That experience can never be emulated by flat graphics, and it can’t even be entirely matched by more ‘realistic’ web design elements, such as a ‘live chat’ feature, video or even quizzes or assessments. However, the latter components can certainly take you closer to making your site an engaging ‘live’ experience.
We could go on and on, but we’ll give you this ‘take away’ message: the closer you can align your company website to a true ‘live’ experience in the coming years, the greater the success that you can expect to achieve with it. This will help you to ‘future proof’ your site, regardless of whether it is barristers’ chambers web design, restaurant web design or hedge fund web design in which you have an interest – so why not contact Futura about the services we can offer for these sectors?