Preparing for the Next Wave

February 24, 2005

As the wave of CSS and xHTML wanes, what will the next big wave be in web development and design? In, fact, this wave has already started emerging, Google has been a big trend setter for it with their google maps, google suggest and gmail. Jesse James Garrett has written up a great essay on what he calls it, “Ajax”. Even here at IDI we have started using some components of it. It is a great model to start using and taking notice of. Garrett concludes his essay with an invitation.

Instead, the challenges are for the designers of these applications: to forget what we think we know about the limitations of the Web, and begin to imagine a wider, richer range of possibilities.

What can we do to prepare?

Simply put we need to study the “Ajax Web Application Model“—in particularly the browser client side. Also become more familiar with javascript. There are many simple javascript scripts you can start using now in your design that will help you start thinking in the “Ajax” mindset. Third, work with people that will support this new technology.

“Ajax” is something new, but don’t be afraid to jump on board and enjoy the ride. It will be fun!

Comments

david gee said:

Gmail existed before Ajax.

Google Maps existed before Ajax.

Remote Scripting existed long, long before Gmail or Google Maps, but I guess Ashley IT's website isn't as cool as Adaptive Path's. Hell, they probably don't even use Macs. Although... Apple does have an article on their developer connection site dating back to 2001 that deals with "Ajax".

From what I've heard, Google Maps doesn't even use XMLHTTPRequest for anything significant, using the older hidden-IFRAME method of remote scripting.

There's nothing a "user-experience guru" loves more than slapping a four-letter label on something that already exists. How long until the thousand-dollar seminars follow?

I guess I shouldn't be bitching. The user-experience gods have finally caught the scripting bug, and that means more work for me :)

PS: Previewing my comment clears the name, email, & url fields, at least in Firefox.

Posted on Feb. 24, 2005 11:52 #

Stu Schaff said:

It's just like anything else, though. You have the early adopters who premiere a technology and then it takes a little bit before it catches on mainstream. It's not like Garrett is claiming that he invented the "Ajax" method. He's just presenting it to a wider audience. And if Adaptive Path makes hundreds of thousands off seminars, who cares? You could, too, if you chose to.

Posted on Feb. 24, 2005 14:36 #

AkaXakA said:

I agree with David. This is just like the whole 'DHTML' thing. A nice simple name to sell the same old html + javascript + css (with xml added for flavour this time).

And Google's GMail doesn't, contrary to popular belief, use XMLHTTPRequest.

And furthermore; pushing a certain technology doesn't do the real issue at hand justice: To create responsive, easy to use web applications. THAT's the big deal about gmail and the like, as it's not as if we haven't seen webmail done before.

Posted on Feb. 24, 2005 16:08 #

david gee said:

Actually, after thinking about this a bit, I agree with Stu. I don't think I'll ever be a fan of the self-styled user-experience guru type, but... if these technologies get more public credibility, it means more work, and more money, for me. Plus, thanks to the hard work of standards advocates like Zeldman, it's now possible to use these technologies on the public-facing web, so perhaps it means more opportunity to build public-facing sites instead of behind-the-firewall corporate droneapps.

Agreed with AkaXakA, though, that the reason Gmail & Gmaps work so well is because of the incredible server-side power they have available to them. The client-side technology is relatively simple, but getting it to scale up to Google traffic requirements is nothing short of amazing.

Posted on Feb. 24, 2005 20:15 #

stylo~ said:

"We've been playing with it for a few months" - with most of it apparently taken up with how to market it. Always give it a name. (Where's the Ajax logo?)

If you want some real info, start here instead: http://jpspan.sourceforge.net/wiki/doku.php?id=javascript:xmlhttprequest

If you want to go nuts with applications and pay for a solution, look at domapi. (I don't use it, but it's all in there and it's relatively cheap.)

Also, for *most* uses, despite what they say at AP, xhtml only complicates your scripting. html is better. And so is NOT importing xml, but simply text/js. I know you lose two Xs that way, so far less cool to market, but that's the way it is in the real world sometimes.

Posted on Feb. 24, 2005 21:26 #

stylo~ said:

Here's the link again, as post doesn't wrap above:

xmlhttprequest info

Posted on Feb. 24, 2005 21:28 #

Blake Scarbrough said:

Great comments. The thing to keep in mind is the user experience with this new technology. Your average site visitor won't care how it is built, they just want it to work quickly and look good. Even though gmail may not be completely "Ajaxized" it certainly feels that way. I think that it what we will see more of, not necessarily the ajax models always but something like it.

David Gee, I will look into that error.

Posted on Feb. 24, 2005 22:04 #

paul haine said:

"Dispatch War Rocket Ajax, to bring back his body!"

Ah, man, Flash Gordon. A classic of our time.

Posted on Feb. 25, 2005 12:04 #

Ryan Nichols said:

Yes the whole point of JJG's article is about what can be done WITH it, not what it is. There also may be other ways to do it (iframe) but that again, is not the real value to the consumer.

The challenge is to start thinking outside the box, and create more robust and useful applications on the web rather than click-wait-click.

Posted on Feb. 27, 2005 13:02 #

Chris Trygstad said:

love the expand function! Considering I have no javascript experience, how do I go about utilizing this function for multiple elements on a page? When I click on the second expandable element, it expands the first...

Posted on Mar. 4, 2005 09:26 #

Blake Scarbrough said:

You just need to use a different ID for each item.

Posted on Mar. 4, 2005 20:04 #