The world of web design is on the brink of a dramatic transformation. Over the past decade, the industry has evolved rapidly, driven by technological advancements, changing user behaviours, and the rise of new tools. Today, we stand at the precipice of another major shift, one that will redefine how websites are created, consumed, and maintained. From the dominance of mobile-first design to the rise of AI-powered platforms, the future of web design is both exciting and unpredictable.

The Mobile-First Movement

The shift to mobile browsing has been one of the most significant drivers of change in web design. According to Statcounter, mobile devices accounted for over 60% of global website traffic in 2024, up from just 31% in 2015. This trend forced designers to rethink their approach, prioritising simplicity and functionality over flashy, feature-heavy designs.

Modern websites are now built with vertical scrolling in mind, optimised for touchscreens rather than mouse clicks. Buttons are larger, menus are streamlined, and content is designed to load quickly on slower mobile networks. The ‘mobile-first’ philosophy has become the gold standard, with designers often starting their process by creating for smaller screens and scaling up to desktop versions.

This approach has also led to the decline of bloated, over-designed websites. As users demand faster load times and smoother experiences, designers are stripping away unnecessary elements, focusing on clean layouts and intuitive navigation. According to Google, 53% of mobile users abandon a site if it takes longer than three seconds to load, underscoring the importance of speed and efficiency in modern web design.

Content Reigns Supreme

While design trends come and go, one thing remains constant: content is king. In fact, it’s more important than ever. With the rise of social media and platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, users have grown accustomed to engaging, visually-driven content. Web designers are taking cues from these platforms, incorporating best practices such as bite-sized information, eye-catching visuals, and interactive elements.

The emphasis on content has also led to the rise of storytelling-driven design. Websites are no longer just a collection of pages; they’re experiences that guide users through a narrative. This shift has been particularly evident in industries like e-commerce, where brands use storytelling to connect with customers on an emotional level.

The AI Revolution in Web Design

If mobile-first design and content-driven strategies have been the defining trends of the past decade, AI is poised to be the game-changer of the next. Artificial intelligence is already making waves in the web design industry, with platforms like Wix ADI, Framer, and Webador offering ‘instant website’ solutions. These tools allow users to create fully functional websites in minutes, simply by answering a few prompts or providing basic information. 

While the results are still relatively simple compared to custom-designed sites, the potential is undeniable. AI-powered design tools can generate layouts, write copy, and even suggest colour schemes based on user input. For small businesses and individuals looking to establish an online presence quickly and affordably, these platforms are a game-changer.

But AI’s impact goes beyond just templated designs. Advanced AI tools are beginning to assist designers with more complex tasks, such as optimizing user experiences, predicting user behavior, and automating repetitive tasks like coding and testing. For example, tools like Figma’s AI-powered features can generate design variations or suggest improvements based on user data.

What Does This Mean for Web Agencies and Designers?

The rise of AI and no-code platforms has sparked concerns about the future of web design as a profession. Will AI replace human designers? The answer is nuanced. While AI can handle simple, straightforward projects, complex, function-heavy websites will still require the expertise of skilled designers and developers.

However, the role of designers is likely to evolve. Rather than focusing on repetitive tasks, designers will increasingly act as strategists and creative directors, leveraging AI tools to bring their visions to life more efficiently. For web agencies, this means adapting to new business models, such as offering AI-enhanced services or specializing in high-end, custom solutions that AI cannot replicate.

The Client Perspective

For clients, the future of web design is both exciting and daunting. On one hand, AI-powered tools make it easier than ever to create a website, often at a fraction of the cost of traditional design services. On the other hand, the sheer number of options can be overwhelming, and not all AI-generated websites will meet the unique needs of every business.

Clients will need to carefully consider their goals and budget when choosing between DIY platforms and professional design services. While AI can deliver quick results, a human touch is still essential for creating truly unique, brand-aligned experiences… for now.

The Road Ahead

The world of web design is changing faster than ever, driven by mobile-first principles, the primacy of content, and the transformative power of AI. Looking to the future, one thing is clear: the industry will continue to evolve, offering new opportunities and challenges for designers, agencies, and clients alike.

For those willing to embrace change and adapt to new technologies, the future of web design is bright. Whether you’re a seasoned designer, a business owner, or simply someone with a passion for the web, one thing is certain: the best is yet to come.

What are your thoughts on the future of web design? Do you think AI will replace human designers, or will it simply enhance their capabilities?

If AI freed up 50% more marketing time, how would you spend that extra resource?

Everybody’s taking a look at AI, so let’s put aside discussions about it taking over the world, or which content creator is best.

Industry projections suggest that small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) can significantly increase their marketing activity by 20 – 50% while maintaining the same level of human resources, by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI).

So imagine if you had that extra resource – how might it impact your business? How would you change your strategies – perhaps launch new products, expand your current range, push into export markets, make your brand more visible?

Your vision for your business probably already has a wish list. What ambitions are sitting on the shelf due to lack of resources? 

What I’m suggesting is to avoid getting lost in the arguments of which AI tools to use, but returning to your marketing strategy and assume a magic wand has been waved, and you now have 50% more effort to spend on marketing – with no increase staff costs 

Imagine you have that resource right now, and make your plans, because it won’t be long coming!

Here’s some thoughts on areas to focus with that increased resource

If your business can increase marketing output by 50%, here are some areas where you could concentrate extra effort:

1. Deepen Customer Relationships:
   • Personalised Marketing: Use AI to create highly targeted campaigns based on individual preferences and behaviours.
   • Enhanced Customer Support: Implement AI-powered chatbots to provide 24/7 assistance and improve response times.
   • Loyalty Programs: Develop more sophisticated loyalty programs that reward repeat customers and encourage referrals.
2. Expand Market Reach:
   • New Channels: Explore new marketing channels, such as podcasts, influencer marketing, or emerging social media platforms.
   • Geographic Expansion: Target new geographic markets where there is potential for growth.
   • Internationalisation: Consider expanding into foreign markets to reach a wider audience.
3. Innovate Product Offerings:
   • Product Development: Use market research and customer feedback to develop new products or improve existing ones.
   • Product Positioning: Reposition existing products to target new customer segments or address evolving needs.
4. Strengthen Brand Awareness:
   • Content Marketing: Create high-quality content that educates, entertains, and inspires your target audience.
   • Public Relations: Build relationships with media outlets to generate positive coverage.
   • Brand Partnerships: Collaborate with complementary brands to reach a wider audience.

Strategically allocating your increased marketing resources, can bring significant opportunities for growth and long-term success.

Where will you start?

How AI surprises caught me out.

I’m a big fan of AI, and use it in some form, most days. But recently I found myself in a situation where it resulted in my wasting a lot of time.

A client had asked me to be involved in a recruitment exercise to interview for a new marketing assistant. All the preliminary stages were completed and we were down to the short list. The CVs had been checked, and we were about to start online interviews to triage the list down to two or three for face-to-face interviews.

My role was to observe and assess the candidates technical marketing skills.

My client had created a great pre-interview questionnaire. Candidates were asked to comment on the client’s current marketing strategy, media choices and collateral – and were also asked how they would approach the same issues if they were appointed.

All candidates put in really good responses so I was looking forward to some great interviews.

The first candidate started off strongly as my client asked some general questions, but as we started to probe the answers to the questionnaire, it was obvious that something was wrong. They answered with a string of buzzwords – often inappropriately. I jumped in and asked for some explanations and it was clear the candidate actually had only a sketchy understanding of what marketing actually is.

As we moved through the interviews similar patterns were repeated. One candidate used a lot of acronyms, which they pronounced wrongly, and when challenged, could not say what they stood for. Another had suggested using certain metrics, but could not explain how they could be used.

As we discussed the interview afterwards, it became apparent where we had gone wrong. Using the questionnaire had been a mistake. It was too good and too explicit. The candidates had obviously put it straight into ChatGPT (and who could blame them?), and it had generated some very sensible (and similar) responses. Of course, the argument is that they should have used the AI results to prepare better for the interview –  except that foolishly, we had set the tripwires for ourselves. 

We’d wasted the best part of a day. Had we not provided the questionnaire and gone straight to the face-to-face interviews, we could have achieved better results, faster.

So, what have I learned from this experience? It’s to be aware that we now live in an AI world now. Others will use AI, in fact I would be disappointed if they didn’t. But we must prepare for the behaviour of other players. To ensure our own efficiency, we must consider what AI responses might be to our business actions, and plan accordingly.

to employ a new marketing assistant for them. All the preliminary stages were completed and we were down to the short list. The CVs had been checked, and we were about to start online interviews to triage the list down to two or three for face-to-face interviews.

My role was to observe and assess the candidates technical marketing skills.

My client had created a great pre-interview questionnaire. Candidates were asked to comment on the client’s current marketing strategy, media choices and collateral – and were also asked how they would approach the same issues if they were appointed.

All candidates put in really good responses so I was looking forward to some great interviews.

We should have seen it coming

The first candidate started off strongly as my client asked some general questions, but as we started to probe the answers to the questionnaire, it was obvious that something was wrong.

They answered some questions with a string of buzzwords – often inappropriately. I jumped in and asked for some explanations, and it was clear the candidate actually had only a sketchy understanding of what marketing actually is.

As we moved through the interviews similar patterns were repeated. One candidate used acronyms that they pronounced wrongly, and when challenged, could not say what they stood for. Another had suggested using certain metrics, but could not explain how they could be used.

As we discussed the interview afterwards, it became apparent where we had gone wrong. The questionnaire we used had been a mistake. It was too good and too explicit.

The candidates had put the document into ChatGPT (and who could blame them?), and it had generated some very sensible (and similar) responses. Of course, the argument is that they should have used the AI results to prepare better for the interview –  but no excuses, we had to admit we had set the tripwires for ourselves. 

The problem was not that the candidates had used AI, but that we had not been prepared for the result and not thought the scenario through.

We’d wasted the best part of a day. Had we not provided the questionnaire and gone straight to the face-to-face interviews, we could have achieved better results, faster. 

So, what have I learned from this experience?

It’s to be aware that we now live in an AI world now. It’s not enough to have our own developed strategies in place. Others will use AI. Clients, suppliers and the public – in fact I would be disappointed if they didn’t. But we must prepare for the behaviour of other players. We must consider how AI responses to our output might look, and structure our activities accordingly.

What will be the Most Important Skill in an AI World?

As AI continues to revolutionise industries and take over more day-to-day tasks, one question looms large: What’s the most important skill in an AI world? The answer, surprisingly, is a very human one: creativity.

Why Creativity Matters

In a world where machines can handle data processing, routine decision-making, and even complex problem-solving, the unique ability to generate new, unique, and original solutions to problems remains distinctly human.

Creativity allows us to see beyond the data, to imagine possibilities that don’t yet exist, and to innovate in ways that machines cannot. It’s this spark of originality that will be in high demand as we move further into the age of AI.

The Human Edge

AI is incredibly powerful, but it’s fundamentally constrained by the data it has been trained on and the algorithms it follows. While AI can optimize and enhance, it can’t truly create something novel out of nothing.

This is where humans have the edge. Our ability to think outside the box, to connect seemingly unrelated ideas, and to dream up entirely new concepts is irreplaceable.

Can Creativity Be Taught?

Absolutely, creativity can be taught and nurtured. Just like any other skill, it requires practice, patience, and the right environment to flourish. Here are a few ways to develop creative skills:

1. Expose Yourself to New Experiences
2. Embrace Curiosity
3. Create Without Fear
4. Collaborate with Others
5. Practice Problem-Solving
6. Learn from the Best

Not only are these great tactics for individuals, but essentials activities for building a creative culture within teams or companies.

Creativity courses and help

There’s plenty of help to make progress in the creative world. Online courses, group learning, one-to-one lessons or creative mentoring. Choose what best suits your learning style – but invest a little time in enhancing your creative thinking

Preparing for the Future

As AI continues to advance, the need for creative thinkers will only grow. Companies will look for individuals who can drive innovation, lead creative projects, and envision the next big thing. By developing your creative skills now, you’ll be positioning yourself for success in an AI-driven world.

So, start nurturing your creativity today. Experiment, explore, and most importantly, embrace the uniquely human ability to create. The future is bright for those who can think beyond the algorithms and bring fresh, original ideas to the table.

In the end, while AI may handle the routine, it’s creativity that will shape the future.

Let’s get creative and be ready to lead the way.

In my early days in publishing I was approached by an academic who had a brief from a government department to create some board games to introduce and explain how various businesses worked. (This may not seem to be about AI, but please bear with me.)

It was really interesting viewing a business as a game. I spent a lot of time working with him and explaining the concept and operation of book publishing. Together we created a game structure.

We covered editorial, production, marketing, advertising, sales, export, subsidiary rights, distribution…  in fact, all the facets of the publishing business. These we then turned into a working demo of our finished game.

However, there was one thing that was bugging him. He asked,  “How do we build in the special factor that makes one book a bestseller? – how does an editor know it will be a success?” 

The truth is that we could not quantify that component.

Of course, there are aspects that might mitigate levels of risk, such as the author’s track record, or the popularity of particular genres, but to predict which new title would be a certain bestseller, there was no measurable factor. In the real world, it’s down to the intuition of the editor, based upon their experience and instinct.

Advertising, creativity and thoughts about AI

Later, in my career, I found myself with the task of gamifying the world of advertising (a subject closer to my heart), and I hit the same stumbling block. How do you quantify the quality of creative work and predict its contribution to the success of a future campaign? It seemed demeaning to leave it to a throw of the dice.

Again, success is down to the genius, instinct and experience of the creative director. You can build all the structure, create analytic processes that mimic real life business operations – but you are still left wrestling with how to predict the outcome,  when it depends to a major extent on the slippery business of creative genius.

Reflecting on these experiences, I realise how close is the parallel with grasping the place of intuition within AI.

The truth is we are still some way from experiencing true AI. The majority of what we see is really automation and machine learning, rather than real artificial intelligence.

What is missing in AI today (as it was in my gamifying experience), is the ability to use that learning to reason and predict. And reasoning and prediction are key to decision making. That will be the earth-shaking, leap forward for artificial intelligence.

Still only around 30% of our decision making comes from information and data that we can process, and the remainder is based upon intuition and experience. But consider the rate and volume of data processing leapt over the last few years. If we are to truly harness that data monster to support decision making, the answer looks like being about AI. 

It’s still difficult to believe that artificial intelligence is close to matching the predictive intelligence of human ability – but watch this space. Let me know what you think.