After winning ‘The Next Big Thing’ at The Critters, Naomi Atkinson kindly took some time out to chat to Ubelly about Animatable and what the future holds for the web space. Here’s what she said.
As a designer yourself, where do you think design and UX are headed over the next few years?
For me, it’s about ‘responsive web design’ (a phrase coined by Ethan Marcotte in the well known ‘A List Apart’ article last year) becoming the default approach when designing and building websites.
Ethan’s article and recent book ‘Responsive Web Design’ have really made a mark within our community, with many of us designers never wanting to think about a fixed width site ever again. Unfortunately, I think it will take a good while before we start seeing fluid and adaptive websites as the default. This means that those of us who are now working this way with our clients should really be using this to our full advantage — we stand out from many studios and agencies out there, some of whom will still be charging their clients for separate mobile sites.
If we can make people realise that responsive layouts are the way websites should be built, then we will set the expectation of our clients (and our peers) going forward, making the web a better place.
Another direction for UX is the need to design as much for touch devices as we do the desktop. With mobile browsing and tablet devices (ahem, one specific tablet device in particular) taking off the way they have, it’s irresponsible not to.
Touch devices give us more constraints when designing — things like minimum button sizes, and smaller ‘canvases’, and they give us a whole new realm of interactions to explore. It’s a really exciting time for the web; I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking so.
How about the web, specifically?
Native apps have gone down a storm — especially iOS apps — and I have no doubt this will continue. However I see web apps becoming more and more popular.
We’ve already seen many services such as Spotify, Typekit, and 37 Signal’s products go from strength to strength, and I believe we’ll see the web app market continue to grow. Thanks to the browsers becoming more competitive, stepping up their game, people are really starting to trust browsers — to forget they’re even using one. This creates fantastic opportunities for us.
I think we’ll also see more ‘everyday’ services and brands moving to and depending on the web more — we’ve seen it happen with TV streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu in the US, and the likes of pizza takeaway services going all out on their online ordering. The list of these services already online is of course endless: taxi’s, supermarkets, restaurants, retail, banking; however, I see (and hope for) the more traditional services recognizing public demand, and the benefits they’ll reap by keeping up with the times. For example, what if our gas and water meters were all online? Or our milk was available on demand (a concept I’ve already written about)? Or our local library loaned us books much like Netflix or Love Film?
I also see more partnerships forming. Apple’s recent incorporation of Twitter into their latest OS, along with their longer affiliation with Google Maps, is a great example of where customer demand and expectation of quality speaks volumes. A partnership makes the most sense to them, and their customers. Imagine our banks having better partnerships with our utility services; the Oyster card continuing to extend its boundaries by partnering with train, bus, and tram services up and down the country; or all public Wi-Fi services combining to create one simple, free to the consumer service, covered by the retailers/airports/stations that offer it.
This is where the web — and the APIs it is built upon — is heading.
So what’s Animatable all about?
Animatable is a hosted web application offering the ability to create HTML5/CSS3/JS animations viewable on all modern desktop and mobile devices.
We’re currently hard at work on perfecting Animatable before its public release, which we hope to be later this year.
Why did you go down that route — why Animatable (why do you need an app to do it)?
Without a visual editing environment, anyone wanting to create an animation with CSS or JavaScript requires advanced knowledge of those languages. It’s our aim to create a service that allows anyone to be able to create an animation. We’ll do all of the hard work, allowing customers to concentrate on what’s important to them.
Where do you think CSS3 animations are headed in future?
CSS3 animations are starting to get more popular simply because web browsers are maturing in their capabilities.
The future of CSS animation therefore depends on the support of the browsers — and with the rumours of IE10 including CSS animation support (even if only through transitions), we’re positive that the possibilities and opportunities will continue to expand.
What’s next for you?
I’ve just been nominated as ‘Designer of the Year’ in the .net Awards! I’m completely overwhelmed by it — being included in a list of such talented designers made my eyes water! My mum was with me when I found out, which probably didn’t help the teary eyed situation, but I was so pleased she was.
I’ve just re-launched the studio’s site, Naomi Atkinson Design, to better represent what we’re offering to our clients — note the responsive layout, scaling of images, fall-backs for older browsers, and touch-friendly interactions. We’ve got some exciting projects on the horizon, including another UK cancer charity (many of our projects have been with non-profit organizations — it’s the most rewarding work you can do) and a San Francisco-based start-up, all brilliant people to be working with.
I’m also speaking at a couple of upcoming conferences — Inspire in Leiden, and I’m absolutely honoured to say I’m speaking at Simon Collison’s 2nd New Adventures conference in Nottingham early next year.
Naomi is a designer and illustrator passionate about creating beautiful, intuitive user experiences for the web and mobile. Active in the design industry for almost a decade, she has held senior positions at three leading brand, web, and advertising agencies in London with world renowned clients such as Audi, British Telecom, Macmillan Cancer Support and Aviva. She’s a regular contributor to .net magazine, and been branded as a Rising Star by Design Week, and awarded The Next Big Thing at The Critters. An avid photographer and gallery-goer, Naomi is co-founder of web animation startup Animatable, runs her own design studio in Newcastle upon Tyne, and always wears a coat in winter.
