Web design in 2021 relies on mobile functionality. As of January 2021, there were 4.32 billion active mobile internet users in the world. Now, mobile functionality isn’t a trend (it’s here to stay) but it is the baseline for all the trends we’re seeing in 2021. This year, brands are focusing on how to make mobile websites even more convenient for users and their habits. Plus, we’re seeing new and exciting uses of color, space, and interactive storytelling. Here at PRIME, we’re exploring these trends for our clients to keep them up-to-date on the latest and greatest.

With fully digital banks like Chime making their way into the top 10 list of banks in the U.S. and 80 percent of Americans preferring online banking to visiting a brick-and-mortar branch, online and mobile banking are top-of-mind. People rely more on their phones and laptops for banking, but that doesn’t mean they’re 100 percent happy with their online banking service. Only 66 percent of customers say they are satisfied with their bank or credit union’s digital services. The bottom line: there’s room for everyone to do better.

Your website's UI (or User Interface, a mix of visual and interaction design) functionality is imperative to a healthy functioning website. It doesn't matter how pretty your graphics are, how great your brand photos turned out, or how on-point your copy is if your functionality is lackluster. It's been a few years since the ideas of UI and its friendly cohort, UX (User Experience, the way the user interacts with the interface), have been regular parts of web design, given their success in product design the last decade. A user-centric model has become the mainstay of design and development. While engineers and graphic designers debate what's more important, function or beauty, less than pretty function regularly beats out beautiful confusion.

When it comes to a website, many companies either tend to either hammer something out themselves, buy one, and then let it sit. But your website isn't a succulent you buy at the market, set on display, and ignore for months only to find it's blossomed beautifully. Think of your website instead as a garden, one that needs constant tending, with different needs and changes arising with the changing seasons. Likewise, if you ignore its existence, it won't bare you much fruit. But hey, we know you're busy. You don't have time to comb through every possible web factor that could require maintenance.

Today we continue our saga into good website practices with PRIME's Director of Digital Development and website guru Ben Fjare. And while this topic is a multifaceted one in which each facet is a critical part of a well-oiled machine, today's topic stands out especially. Perhaps that's because today's topic is one that anyone who has ever tried to whip up a website—from Wix to Wordpress—knows deep down: your site is never really finished.

In this episode of PRIME's Wheelhouse, we will look at reasons why this is true, and more importantly, what you need to do to make sure your website is always the best (for the moment). To make life easier, Ben broke things down into five bitesize chunks for a more straightforward understanding. Let's dig in.

Whether you're a budding freelancer burning the midnight oil in your shared apartment or a well-versed firm of developers, choosing what CMS (content management system) to work with can be daunting. Without a full understanding of what each one offers, and more importantly, requires of its users, you could end up making a decision you regret down the road. Similarly, if you are a business owner, trying to make the best decision about your upcoming web project and are trying to understand what the best platform will be, this is the article for you.

Today we're talking firsthand with a professor, technologist, and all-around website guru, as well as PRIME's Director of Digital Development, Ben Fjare. With countless custom web designs under his belt from clients across the globe, he has more than his fair share of experience in walking clients through the process of upgrading their websites. Upgrading your website is a process that can really only be understood by doing it.

We're kicking off a new series talking with PRIME's Principal and Digital Development Director, Ben Fjare. Ben is a professor, digital experience expert, dev-tech influencer, and all-around website guru. In this week's offering, we will learn about all the ways you can keep your website in its fittest form. As a professor, Ben offers tips and tricks that leave you feeling a little more empowered than overwhelmed.

As we watch the current trends in different design disciplines, we've been looking at the online trends of 2020 and what web designers, marketers, and business owners alike can expect as they set their sights on the new year. While trends often trickle from one year to another, we can safely say that 2021 will be a year of shaking things up. It will also be a year that introduces entirely new concepts into web design that will not only take users by surprise but likely split them into camps for and against.

Around this time of year, there’s a lot of projecting for the year to come. And 2020 is no exception. As a new year, an election year, and the start of a new generation, there’s a lot of forward focus and forecasting surrounding the upcoming 365 days. With all of the speculating going on, web design is no different. While technology has obviously been on a compounded growth path, it seems like it practically blew up in 2019. And with its massive expansion and infiltration, we’ve begun to see how it’s changing what’s possible on the web, what users are drawn to, and what we can expect in 2020.