Expert Predictions for Web Development in 2024

As we venture into 2024, the UK’s web development scene, which flourished in 2023, provides a fertile ground for predictions and expectations in the industry. This year, the sector witnessed key developments that are set to influence trends in the upcoming year.
 

Our Experts:

 
Lee Boothroyd, Digital Director, The Bigger Boat
Chelsea Hopkins, Social Media and PR Manager, Fasthosts
Carl Hewitt, CEO & Co-Founder, Hewitt Matthews
Ed Gage, Vice President, Research Group, Seagate Technology
Dan Melville, Head of UKI and MENA, Tricentis
Kim Sneum-Madsen, CEO, Umbraco
 

Lee Boothroyd, Digital Director, The Bigger Boat

 

 
“Looking to the future of web development, there are several key trends that are set to reshape the industry — and that those in the sector must take into consideration to remain relevant.

Firstly, the integration of AI code tools and automation is on the rise. These tools streamline workflows, enhance code quality, and reduce maintenance efforts.

Additionally, serverless architecture, exemplified by platforms like Netlify and Vercel, is gaining traction due to its simplicity and freedom from server management hassles.

And modern frameworks like Astro and Qwik are addressing the challenges posed by traditional single-page application (SPA) frameworks, promoting more efficient and maintainable solutions, particularly in the context of headless architecture.

Another emerging trend is the growing emphasis on accessibility and web standards. The fast-paced evolution of front-end tech has led to a saturation of frameworks, and as such we’ll see a focus on consolidating the best practices into web standards through request for comments (RFCs).

Finally, fully-immersive web applications powered by WebAssembly are gaining momentum. Examples like Figma and StackBlitz demonstrate the benefits of native-like web experiences, hinting at more innovation to come.

These trends promise to enhance the developer experience, and make the web more accessible and user-friendly as we head into 2024.”
 

Chelsea Hopkins, Social Media and PR Manager, Fasthosts

 

 
“One of the big trends we’re going to see with web development in 2024 is the continued use of AI, from writing and proofing code all the way through to design ideation and implementation. We’re already seeing it being used for these purposes now, as the technology has continued to develop and become more accepted by the amount of people using. Naturally – this number is going to exponentially increase.

We’ll likely see more implementation of AI within the websites themselves, where it has countless applications depending on the needs of the site. One such example is chatbots, which while currently run on automated systems and responses, now have the capacity for much more interaction thanks to AI tools, giving the customer a much less frustrating experience and more accurate responses to queries. There’s also the implementation of AI on the promotional and marketing side of things, analysing customer behaviour on the site to send them personalised or relevant offers to encourage further spending.

Finally, we expect to see a continuation of the trend towards cloud-based options over physical servers for hosting and developing sites on. Cloud-based hosting allows for a level of scalability that isn’t present at all with physical servers, as well as being far more cost effective for businesses that won’t be fully utilising a physical servers capacity most of the time. That’s without mentioning the removal of server maintenance, and with the technology rapidly progressing, more and more of the time spent on web development will be spent in the cloud.”
 

Carl Hewitt, CEO & Co-Founder, Hewitt Matthews

AI and Machine Learning Integration:

“The most obvious answer, and probably the most predictable. AI will undoubtedly play a more central role in web development. From enhancing user experiences with personalised content to automating backend processes, AI’s influence will be significant. I expect to see more sophisticated chatbots and AI-driven analytics tools.

Increased Use of Progressive Web Apps (PWAs):

PWAs will continue to blur the lines between web and mobile apps. Their offline capabilities, fast loading times, and app-like experience will make them even more popular, especially for e-commerce platforms. Users can even receive push notifications, when the app is not in use, creating a far more native-app-like experience, for a fraction of the cost. PWAs offer huge potential for both commercial applications and marketing/PR event-focused use cases.

Sustainability in Web Design:

With developers becoming acutely aware of the impact that digital products have on the environment, more dev teams will focus on creating energy-efficient websites. Fortunately, the vast majority of techniques to produce a more sustainable website, coupled with best practices from a user experience and performance perspective anyway. Other choices such as using sustainable or renewable energy powered hosting will also become non-negotiable with time.”

Ed Gage, Vice President, Research Group, Seagate Technology

Greater data integrity and authenticity

“Misinformation is a pervasive and insidious threat, especially with the rise of AI-generated images and vocal recreations that are indistinguishable from their original sources. With Web 2.0, corporations with a positive image can deliver messages that are trusted simply based on the organisation’s reputation. The public often accepts these companies’ findings as is, since large industry reports are hard to verify. When Web 3.0 technologies are more available and accepted, the public will be able to access the actual data companies are discussing, enabling the public to be more judicious consumers of corporate information. It will also allow more businesses to participate in the data economy.

Enhanced data access

Web 3.0 also offers accessibility and low costs for the world’s largest public data sets. Archives that simply could not be hosted on a public cloud without incurring a great expense, like university research data sets, can now be made publicly available at a low cost to organisations. Researchers from institutions around the world will now be able to efficiently share data to advance work on pressing fronts, such as disease research or climate analysis.

More data transparency

There is a business and social need for Web3 to mature, with more time and work needed before it can be a viable mainstream alternative. When it does become widely available, decentralised storage networks will offer organisations and consumers numerous benefits including a unique level of transparency, efficiency, verifiable trust, and equal access to data – all at what is likely to be a competitive cost.”

Dan Melville, Head of UKI and MENA, Tricentis

Propelling AI innovation in line with upcoming legislation

“DevOps teams will address their growing use of AI by allocating more resources to creating frameworks around the technology that ensure compliance with potential regulation. The new AI Executive Order in the US establishes a solid base from which to negotiate this tricky area with the need for independent people and plans to validate new AI-based systems emerging as a key theme. As a result, we expect to see organisations sourcing new tools and technology in 2024 that not only help to appraise the risk associated with new AI systems, but also move innovation forward.

Test automation – the new normal

Test automation is no longer ‘a nice to have’ – it is essential for organisations for the realisation of productivity and efficiency gains across the software delivery pipeline in 2024. AI-powered test automation especially not only helps to augment people and empower exploratory testers to find more bugs and issues upfront, it also offers valuable metrics that help to define decision-making processes. Through real-time tracking of key performance indicators such as network, location, response time, CPU, and more, it’s now possible to address critical UX and performance issues. This means that organisations everywhere can ship faster, more frequently and with greater consistency.”

Kim Sneum-Madsen, CEO, Umbraco

“The G2 State of Software Q4 2023 report’s AI category insights reveal a massive surge in the application of content creation tools to aid with writing, image creation, and more. Synthetic media software adoption has shot up by 222%; use of AI writing assistants has also massively increased by 177%, and Text to Speech has grown by 66%. This exponential growth indicates that the application of generative AI is the next major step in the evolution of web development.

The application of generative AI within web content management systems (CMS) will enable more personalised digital experiences. Drawing from online user behaviour and engagement metrics, intelligent systems can customise content to match individual preferences, to boost user engagement.

In 2024, web content management platforms will make greater use of generative AI to automate content creation, and fine-tune content recommendations. In addition, AI’s predictive analytics can unlock valuable insights into future user behaviour, to empower proactive content strategies that enhance engagement.”