Skip to content

The Myth of Web 2.0 design

I am never sure where the latest “terminology” comes from. Who coins it? And then who ensures that it becomes a descriptive part of our vernacular. The phrase Web 2.0 really bugs the designer in me, not to mention how it packages a whole industry into a simple phrase. The phrase Web 2.0 extends back in time and is a renaming of the swiss design movement from the 1920’s. The swiss design movement taught simplicity. Simplicity of design and content.

So why does it bug me? Well I suppose the main reason is it has given clients a phrase that they think describes something exactly. ”Just make it Web 2.0.” ”I love that 2.0 thing, can you do that?” Just by stating this phrase at the beginning, or any stage of a project, the client believes it’s almost solved. It’s this kind of packaging that is all the rage in today’s business world, but it really does hurt the ability to get the product developed correctly.

Every year there are new buzzwords, and I know they all have the innocent beginning before they get blown into the stratosphere of business adoption. In fact I know people are already phrasing Web 3.0. Buzzwords will always exist, but know this simplicity in design is what designers are trained to create. Through research, iteration, and application designers strive to create order from chaos.