Alex around the World

I just landed on an article about webdesign and its future role.The web is an ever changing world. A few years ago, we had a clear definition of the different people involved in website creation: for example an HTML coder, a JavaScript developer, a graphic designer and a project manager acting as a link between the client and the development team. Sometimes you just had one single person wearing all these hats.This was when you only had websites with static web pages, easy to maintain and update.Then came Content Management Systems (CMS), with the possibility to create thousands of pages in a click, all looking the same. And along came the separation between content and layout or design. New roles had to be defined: ASP or PHP programmers, SQL or MySQL database administrators, content managers, information architects, user experience experts, and web-oriented graphic designers.This is what the current situation is, at least how I see it from my (own little) experience. In the past few months, since the appearance of blogs and wikis, things are a bit different (again…).In their article about Web 2.0, Richard MacManus and Joshua Porter explain that we moved from sites containing their own information (cnn.com, adobe.com or microsoft.com) to a new type of websites, “a new set of tools to aggregate and remix microcontent in new and useful ways”. (I recommend you to read their article, because it also describes six trends that characterize Web 2.0 for designers.)

The Web of documents has morphed into a Web of data. We are no longer just looking to the same old sources for information. Now we’re looking to a new set of tools to aggregate and remix microcontent in new and useful ways.

I am quite new in the web design - web development profession. In fact, I don’t know how I really fit in this ever changing world. Let me explain why.I don’t work in the private sector, but in an international organization, so everything goes a little bit slower than in private companies as far as web development is concerned. In my organization, we recently moved to a content management system (since November 2002), and we’re just starting to implement complex workflows and procedures to help users to post their content. It’s not an easy task, believe me. There’s a huge gap between developers, information architects, or simply web literates and content providers, with little or no knowledge of what the web can be used for. Because of that, it is almost impossible to follow the latest developments in web design and how people interact on the Internet or disseminate their content through this media.I’m not saying that we should slow down this Web 2.0 evolution, I’m just trying to point out the fact that some industries or sectors have a slower pace. The web is an ever changing world, and each of us has its own pace.

I was checking Nielsen Norman Group’s website, where they talk about the forthcoming “User Experience 2005 Conference” to be held in Boston and London.The topics will be amazingly interesting: Information architecture, usability, user experience, web content management.Everything seemed great. I was ready to register … until I saw the prices … And these do not even include the hotel room, plane ticket and extras.Now, can anyone explain why these conferences are always that expensive?