How Long Do Websites Last and When Is It Time to Redesign
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This document discusses how long websites typically last before needing to be redesigned or rebuilt. It begins by explaining that technology does not last forever and websites, being technological platforms, are subject to becoming outdated as expectations and capabilities change. It then discusses five key factors that influence when a site may need an overhaul: technological changes, design shifts, content updates, changing user expectations, and evolving devices. The document also explores the benefits of a full rebuild versus a lighter "realignment". Overall, it argues that websites must be continually evolved and optimized to avoid becoming obsolete.
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How Long Do Websites Last and When Is It Time to Redesign
- 1. HOW LONG DO WEBSITES LAST? and when is it time to redesign
- 3. ABOUT ME †Dan Moriarty, @minneapolisdan †Creative Director and Founder of Electric Citizen †Working on Strategic Planning and UX Design †Build ïŹrst website in 1998
- 4. ABOUT ELECTRIC CITIZEN †Minneapolis-based digital agency, @elecitizen or http:// www.electriccitizen.com †Strategy, Planning, Design, Development, Support †Specialize in Civic Sector ⚠and Drupal †Clients such as UMN, Century College, Viterbo University, City of Bloomington, American Swedish Institute
- 5. WHAT WEâLL DISCUSS †What to expect for your website's lifespan †Signs that your site is nearing the end †When to rebuild vs realign †Ways to keep your site alive and kicking
- 6. YOUR SITES WONâT SHOULDNâT LAST FOREVER (as-is)
- 8. HOW LONG DO WEBSITES LAST? and when is it time to redesign
- 9. 1. TECH DOESNâT LAST all good things must pass
- 10. CONSIDER THE SMARTPHONE raise your hand if you own one keep your hand up if itâs older than 1 year. 2 years. 3? 4? Any older than 2011?
- 11. TECH DOESNâT LAST (CONT.) †If you do have an older smartphone, what is your experience using it? Why do people bother upgrading over and over again? †Things get slower †Apps start to crash †You want a smaller phone/âš bigger phone. †Better features (e.g. camera resolution) †New features (e.g. ïŹngerprint recognition) †You donât HAVE to upgrade to a new phone. But at some point, you start to get left behind.
- 12. EXPECTATIONS SHIFT †Expectations about your technology change †What was an acceptable before is no longer ok. These include: †UI †Performance †Features †Appearance
- 13. WHAT ABOUT âš YOUR WEBSITE? www.mysite.com, established in 2012
- 14. TECH DOESNâT LAST (CONT.) †What was new 3 years ago can seem dated and slow today. How does that relate to your website? †A website IS technology. But is something more too â content, brand, design, users, devices. This means itâs even easier to fall behind and more work to keep up. †Letâs explore the lifespan of modern website, and how to keep yours from dying, or simply existing like some browser- based zombie. A website is technology. But is something more too â content, brand, design, users, devices, etc.
- 15. IS YOUR SITE LIKE A NEW IPHONE? OR AN OLD FLIP PHONE ? †Think of your companyâs website like a smartphone. Is it like a brand-new iPhone6 or an old ïŹip phone? †Which best serves the needs of your audience? †What oïŹers the better user experience? †Would you hand your customer a mobile phone from 2011 and tell them to buy something online? To browse the web? To use Skype or Twitter or Facebook? Take a video and post it to YouTube? †Would you work with a 5 year old mobile device and expect the same great user experience as a new phone? But how many do this with their websites?
- 16. 2. TIMES ARE (ALWAYS) AâCHANGING âyou better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stoneâ
- 17. Quick Poll: How Old Is Your Site? First, those who build sites for others. Whatâs the oldest, unchanged site that you built still running? Next, for everyone working at an company/organization. When was âš the last redesign of your site? 1 year? 2? 3-4? 5-6? No idea?
- 18. YOU ARE ON THE CLOCK! †From the time your site ïŹrst launches, you are on the clock †What was new is soon old †Cutting edge features and functionality 3-4 years ago may now seem clunky and hard to use †Expectation change, as a customer of your site AND as an editor of your site
- 19. WHATâS CHANGED FOR WEBSITES THE PAST FEW YEARS? †Responsive Design †Mobile ïŹrst †End of Flash †Flat design †Full screen images †Background videos âš and images †Sass and Less †Accessibility †Content written for the web †Usability, trends towards larger type †CMS powered sites †JavaScript Libraries †Search engine algorithms †Social media †Anything else?
- 20. 1) TECH CHANGES †Weâve looked at changes to site code, site builds. How should you respond? †Can you make changes incrementally? Depends on how far behind you are †Just like repairing a car, at some point youâre spending more on repairs than it would be to get a new one †Switching to Drupal, dynamic CSS, mobile-ïŹrst approachâ all may require a full rebuild
- 21. OK, TECH CHANGES. IS THAT ALL? NO! †So far weâre talking mostly development/tech reasons to redesign and rebuild. †But as we said, websites are more than just HTML. What about the UI? design? content? performance? the end users? devices?⚠⚠†There are other changes we need to consider †Tech/code †Design †Content †User †Device
- 22. 2) DESIGN CHANGES †When you think design updates, where does your mind go? †Look and feel, colors, graphics, video, images. Following the latest trends. †Why follow trends? Because your job as an organization is oïŹer goods or services that your customers or clients feel conïŹdent about using. †They need to trust you, and know you are competent. That you care about how you look. That you are professional. And showing up in the equivalent of a pair of parachute pants from 1984 isnât going work.(usually) †Even if a casual or oïŹ-the-wall look and feel is appropriate for your organization, that doesnât mean it doesnât need to change.
- 23. 3) CONTENT CHANGES †Is your content written for mobile users? †Chunking content, keeping it short and to the point. †Can your users ïŹnd the content they are looking for? †Look at analytics, do user testing, adjust site navigation, search †Is your copy eïŹective?
- 24. 4) USER CHANGES †Both consumers and editors have expectations changed over time, for what a website should do AND how it should managed †Not requiring knowledge of HTML (WYSIWYG) †Loading and editing images online †Editing website content online †Editing website content on a mobile device †Editing content inline, right on the page, with no page refresh †Personalization of site content
- 25. 5) DEVICE CHANGES †Monitors come in many diïŹerent sizes †Mobile devices of diïŹerent widths mean content needs to work at any size. Media needs to work at any size. †Speed of connections and devices †Location aware devices †Touch sensitive devices
- 26. HAVE YOU KEPT UP WITH ALL THESE CHANGES? Tech âą Design âą Content âą Users âą Devices
- 27. 3. TIME TO REBUILD? Is it a tear-down or âš ïŹxer-upper?
- 28. YOU NEED TO REBUILD EVERY⊠†2 years? †3 years? †4 years?
- 29. TRENDS IN SITE REBUILDING †Many people are saying you should do this every 2-3 years †http://blog.hubspot.com/ marketing/website-redesign- timelines †Some say every 18-24 months. Think of all the changes in past 2 years. Mobile users jumped from 10% to 25% of all Web traïŹc. †But there is no magic number!
- 30. WHEN IS IT TIME? †Donât redesign just because itâs been a while †When you replace it depends on how we'll youâve cared for it and what youâre trying to achieve †If your site is no longer serving your audience the best it could, and the path is improvement is long, itâs time to redesign. †Remember user expectations shift, tech changes, design trends change, devices change
- 31. EXPECTATIONS SHIFT †What was an acceptable before is no longer ok. These include: †UI †Performance †Features †Appearance †Content
- 32. WHEN IS IT TIME? âDonât redesign just to do something new, redesign because you have a better answer to the question.â â Paul Scrivens
- 33. WHEN TO REDESIGN? †Obvious problems with site functionality †Not responsive, mobile-ïŹrst †Site loads slowly †Canât easily add new functionality †Editors canât easily manage site content †TraïŹc is down †Pages are getting cluttered †Compares poorly to your competitors †Rebranding, or your purpose has changed †Bad User Experience †The Tech/UX âDebtâ List Is Long* (more on this)
- 34. âOver the course of building a product or website, an organization begins to accrue tech and UX debt. This debt is made up of all the things you should have done during the initial build but either didnât get around to or had to cut corners on in order to ship the product on time. Each subsequent iteration inevitably adds more debt to the list. Your website gets to the point where starting over would be cheaper than ïŹxing all of the items on your debt list â JeïŹ Gothelf https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/12/clear-indications-time-to-redesign/ TECHNICAL DEBT
- 35. PLANNING YOUR REDESIGN †DeïŹne the purpose of your site †Study analytics †Website audit - both pages and content †Study comparable †Sitemap †Wireframe †Surveys †User Testing
- 36. NY TIMES REDESIGN †Full redesigned site in 2014, with the hope to never do so again (on the same scale) †"We have completely replatformed the whole back- end technology system so that we can get out of the business of doing redesigns" âš â Denise Warren New York Times †You can learn about it at http://www.nytimes.com/ redesign
- 37. NY TIMES REDESIGN (CONT.) †Changes included: †New CMS †Cleaner pages, no sidebars or headers †No pagination on articles †Optimized for smartphones and tablets †Options to view larger media †New approach to browsing †Ribbon featuring stories based on how the reader clicked into the story †Related content widget next to story †Arrow to the right of the page is a 3rd option to move from story to story
- 38. NY TIMES REDESIGN (CONT.) †They couldnât have introduced these changes without a full redesign. †The changes they did were to provided a great user experience, taking into account new patterns of UX/UI that didnât exist before. †related content †no sidebars †full screen media †sliding, oïŹscreen content †collapsed menus
- 39. âAt its core, a website is a communication tool. If itâs diïŹcult for users to communicate with your brand digitally, youâre going to lose sales. â Gabriel Shaoolian http://www.huïŹngtonpost.com/gabriel-shaoolian/5-reasons-why-you-should-_12_b_9460374.html
- 40. 4. HOW ABOUT WE âREALIGNâ INSTEAD? Take the easier road
- 41. WHY NOT FULL REBUILD? †Completely rebuilding a site is a disruptive experience †People donât always like change. They may react negatively. As Jakob Nielsen says, âUsers hate change, so it's usually best to stay with a familiar design and evolve it gradually.â †Users don't care about design for its own sake; they just want to get things done and get out. †Other reasons include: †Search engine rank can suïŹer †Users canât ïŹnd what they need †Itâs expensive and a lot of f***ing work
- 42. BENEFITS OF REALIGNING †You just donât know what works until you try it. †Iterate on site, adjusting to feedback and analytics, A/B test †You canât always predict what design, headline, or copy will perform best. †Small simple ïŹxes can (sometimes) accomplish far more than expensive redesigns. Faster to rollout. †amazon.com is an example of iterating. Same basic design, endlessly tweaked over time
- 43. TRY FINE TUNING †Most website owners donât know how to diagnose, much less solve, the problems of a large complex website. †âWithout proper diagnosticsâŠany resulting improvements to the user experience will be almost accidental.â âš â Louis Rosenfeld, Smashing Magazine †You donât have to solve everything! †Content: A small portion of your websiteâs content does all the work. The rest has little or no value at all. Focus on the stuïŹ that people actually use and need. †Audiences: one or two matter far more than the others. Focus on those. †Prioritize: focus your eïŹorts on a few key problems
- 44. NEW DESIGN FOR NEW USERS APPROACH †Current users are accustomed âš to the old site design but new users havenât had the chance to learn it yet. †What if your redesign was only for new users, while keeping the old site up for older users? †37signals did this with a new Basecamp release. A rewrite from the ground up, it has an entirely new interface. They didnât force their existing users to switch. They just put the new version out for new customers.
- 45. WHEN REDESIGN > REALIGN †Jacob Nielsen lists two cases where a full redesign makes more sense than a realign: †âIf you have almost no current users and expect a major design improvement to dramatically expand the user base. In this case, the business loss from punishing your current customers is small enough to be worth taking. Of course, it's still a gamble that you'll actually be able to attract a vastly bigger audience. Remember the old adage: a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush. Unless you're sure that there are millions of users in that bush, you might not want to go there.â †âIf your old design has incrementally evolved for so many years that the overall user experience has become overly convoluted and lost any sense of a uniïŹed conceptual structureâ. (e.g. Microsoft OïŹce 2003) †https://www.nngroup.com/articles/fresh-vs- familiar-aggressive-redesign/
- 46. NOT AN EITHER-OR †Despite the clear beneïŹts of a realign strategy, itâs never an either/or, between Redesign and Realign. †Knowing when to redesign or realign often comes down to: †Cost (is it cheaper to simply start over?) †Inability to change or adapt within current codebase †Technical Debt is too large
- 47. WEBSITES ARE NEVER âDONEâ At launch time, no one knows for certain what the best approach is. We carefully estimate and try. We need to iterateâ observe, adjust, and try again.
- 48. 4. HOW TO STAY ALIVE escape the walking dead
- 49. SIGNS YOUR SITE IS DYING †TraïŹc is down †Audience participation is down †Lack of updates to dynamic content (blog, news, events) †Fails to work on new devices, or adapt to new features †Software is out-of-date, security patches havenât been applied. CMS is no longer supported †Fails to meet changing expectations
- 50. GET BUSY LIVING OR GET BUSY DYING †Websites that arenât continually updated and maintained are dead or dying †It doesnât matter if itâs âtimeless contentâ or a âtimeless designâ â something will change and you need to react to it †This does NOT simply mean a diïŹerent news story or slider on the homepage. It means carefully planned, carefully executed, regular updates.
- 51. YOUR WORK IS NEVER DONE. :( †âYour website should be a living, breathing, changing being. Edit and improve constantly.â â Mike Volpe, Hubspot †Redesigns are not the same as maintenance. Routine updating is something all websites require. You need to plan for both.
- 52. LIVING THE GOOD LIFE †Budget time to your site for content updates †Pay attention to users and analytics; pay attention to competitors †Keep up with trends in technology, design,how people consume the web †Keep your code up to date †Continuous Improvement †User testing, feedback
- 53. BUDGET FOR NOW AND FUTURE †Budget time/money for continuous improvement to your website †Budget for analytics (traïŹc, site speed, site security, content eïŹectiveness) †Budget for periodic redesigns. Preferably to speciïŹc areas of your site rather than a whole âscrap and rebuild.â But sometimes thatâs the only way.
- 54. CONCLUSION †Expectations are constantly shifting †Your website will need continuous attention. Budget for it and plan to continuously test, improve and update. †Realign early and often †Keep track of whatâs working and whatâs not through periodic checkups. Just like going to the doctor or getting your oil changed. †Decide if a full rebuild would be more eïŹective than realignment. Is this car worth repairing or should you just get a new one? †Keep your site alive and plan to eventually replace it. When you replace it depends on how we'll youâve cared for it and what youâre trying to achieve.
- 56. REFERENCED †https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/12/clear- indications-time-to-redesign/ †http://uxmyths.com/post/712537920/myth-you-need-to- redesign-your-website-periodically †https://blog.kissmetrics.com/dont-do-a-redesign/ †https://articles.uie.com/radical_redesign/ †https://www.nngroup.com/articles/fresh-vs-familiar- aggressive-redesign/