Everything You Need to Know About Web Design Agencies in Dubai 

Web design greatly impacts how an audience perceives your business or brand. Sometimes a website can be the first impression a consumer has of a particular company. For this reason and many others, a satisfactory user experience is integral to the success of any business. 

When working with a web design agency in Dubai, consider what they know about current trends, the latest technologies, what will save time and money, and what is important for branding and success. 

Current and Popular Trends in Dubai Web Design

Good designers don't ignore the latest trends but are also aware that current trends should be incorporated to better their work, not take over their work. Current trends for website development companies in Dubai show a visual nod to the early days of the internet with a contemporary twist utilizing the latest technologies.

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‍Here are five of the most exciting web design trends of 2022, going into 2023:

1. Considerate Motion Design 

Movement is an attractive, interactive element of web development and design. When used correctly, it can be user-friendly and intriguing, adding an eye-catching component to the site that users will remember. However, it is possible to take movement over the line and, in doing so, cause users to get motion sickness. 

For some designers, this could be the first they hear of parallax effects or scrolljacking causing motion sickness, but it's a common issue, and designers are starting to listen. Consideration can be as simple as using a prefers-reduced-motion CSS media query. Doing so caters to users with the 'Reduce Motion' OS turned on to see static SVG of any illustrations on the web page instead of the animation. 

2. New Minimalism

Minimalism has been a popular trend for website development companies in Dubai for the past years, not only in web design but in all facets of design, from furniture to clothing. A new ultra-minimalism takes that trend a step further, pushing the boundaries on what is necessary for web design and stripping it down to the bare bones. The benefit of minimalism is geared toward user experience, including accessibility and web page load times. 

3. Micro-animations

Another user-experience trend is micro-animations. Designed to create simple, single-moment engagement with the user, it can be as easy as the ability to like a post on social media. They not only help with interaction but navigation, feedback, and communication. 

A micro-animation consists of four distinct parts: triggers, rules, feedback, and loops and modes. Triggers, whether by the user or the system, initiate the interaction. Once it's been initiated, the rules determine what action will come next as a result. Feedback provides information about user interaction via sight, sound, or touch. Loops and modes determine what will happen, the rules, should circumstances change. 

4. Dynamic Content

Dynamic content is becoming more and more widely utilized for web design in Dubai. This type of content allows for an ever-changing market by cutting down the time it takes to create and update a website. A designer could change the structure of an element on a site and have that change subsequently enacted on all other posts using that element. Gone are the days of manually adjusting each component on a site using that element. 

5. Low Code or No-Code

More and more companies are taking the more efficient route of incorporating low or no code into their workflow. Not only does it increase productivity due to an increase in workflow speed, but it also allows cross-company teams to utilize the no-code tools for their business purposes. 

Without needing coding experience, designers can create a design system that other teams in the company can reference. Human Resources can use these prototypes to craft team directories, learning sites, and information repositories. Low or no code allows for greater independence company-wide and frees design teams to experiment and innovate. 

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What Technologies Are Popular for Building Business Websites?

Technology is an ever-evolving frontier. With so many advances and trends developing, finding what is best for building a business website can be challenging. For a web development company in Dubai, what was cutting edge and popular a few years ago may have shifted dramatically in today's web designing market. 

Keeping up with the latest technology might seem exhausting, but designers, especially at Prototype, are always growing their knowledge to enlighten clients and interested parties on what will be most successful for their business. Here are some current technologies that have grown in popularity:

• Low Code/No Code Tools
• Localization Tools
• AI Tools

Let's look at each tool, its purpose, and how it can be utilized for a website development company or agency in Dubai. 

Low Code/No Code Tools

Cloud-hosted low code tools, like Webflow, streamline the web designing process to make design and development more efficient. In the past, a designer would have to use a different tool for each function; graphics, prototyping, and coding. Low code or no code tools seek to minimize the issues that arise in that process and give designers an all-in-one experience. 

Tools like this allow a designer to tackle the three primary steps of web design: design, build and launch. Each tool will have features that set it apart from its competitors and tutorials that teach its users how to use them. Since these tools make web design more accessible, no matter the experience level, more and more users are adopting them. 

Other tools that make a designer's job ten times easier and faster are ones like Retool, a no-code drag-and-drop editor that includes pre-built components. It allows a designer to build a tool quickly but achieve the same effect as a custom-built app through modularization features. 

Localization Tools 

Weglot is a multilanguage plugin that allows your site to be translated into 110+ languages. This particular localization tool isn't limited to its origin platform, WordPress, but it can be used on various other platforms, from Shopify to Joomla. 

Other localization needs refer to text direction. Many cultures and countries around the world read text from right to left. While there isn't yet an independent tool for bidirectional text support, there are platforms that make this feature accessible, like Figma, which automatically handles the direction of the text based on language detection. 

Inclusivity is a growing trend in all facets of business. Making a website more inclusive by including language translation and bidirectional text will broaden the audience of any website, making businesses international without having to cross borders. 

AI Tools

AI tools use algorithms and other computer technology to carry out certain functions for a designer. Uizard is an example of an AI tool used for taking your wireframes and turning them into prototypes. Designers can take hand-drawn wireframes and export them as Sketch files. They can also download frontend code generated from the wireframes. It even allows for the customization of components via a built-in style guide system. 

Like low code/no code tools and platforms, AI is making workflow for designers more efficient. These tools make the design process more intuitive and frees designers to focus on innovation in their design. The more time and access designers are given to experiment and create within the workflow parameters, the more likely it will be that the work will result in a unique product. 

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The Importance of a Design System

The workplace is like an ecosystem; every team is an integral part of the community. Teams within web design interact heavily with one another to produce a cohesive finished product for the customer base. A design system allows for harmony and, more importantly, consistency between teams, especially designers and UI engineers. 

Definition of a Design System 

By definition, a design system is a set of standards that uses reusable patterns and components to lead design at scale. With the sheer volume of applications in the millions and websites in the billions, it became crucial for companies to streamline the design workflow. 

For a more thorough breakdown of design systems and their benefits, please visit https://prototype.net/blog/benefit-design-system

Why Utilize a Design System?

There are far more reasons to use a design system than not to use one. Companies that utilize a design system will see an increase in productivity and innovation, workflow efficiency, maintenance costs reduction, and overall cost efficiency. 

Using a design system will bring about the following benefits:

• Ability to replicate speedily and at scale design and development work by utilizing pre-made elements and components. 
• Design resources will be left to tackle more complex problems. Less focus on visual appearance and constant tweaking of minor elements and more on management, information prioritization, and optimizing workflow.
• Creates visual consistency across channels, products, and departments. Eliminates team confusion and avoids any visual appearance or brand experience snags. 
• Creates a unified language across departments and teams. A unified language seriously reduces the potential for wasted designs and wasted time clarifying miscommunications by eliminating the need for a debate on the appearance or functionality of any component or element when it is already defined. 

For all these reasons stated above, a design system will help reduce overall management costs across a couple of different levels. Companies will save money on paying designers time worked with more efficient workflow, costs for product completion, and shipping products. Companies will save on tech debt when attempting to implement large-scale cascading changes across a product because the design system will make those changes centrally. 

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Budget Costs for Building a Website

When mapping out the budget for building a website, it's necessary to know specifically where the money is going and how much to allot for each phase of the process. So, where does the budget for building a website go, design, content, SEO, or building?

The answer is all of the above. Each phase of the process will cost, but in terms of ranking from highest to lowest, just in terms of salary alone, the order would read building, design, content, and SEO. 

All these costs are ongoing, and where they fall in the budget, in the long run, will depend on the type of site being built. For example, if the site is product-based, the highest costs may be engineering or building and content. The platform used for building the site will also determine where the budget is allocated. 

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The Importance of Content and SEO

Content and SEO go hand in hand. High-quality content that engages the intended audience will ensure this target demographic returns to the website and engages the products and services. However, if the content is not optimized for SEO or if there is no strategy for SEO and content, search engines will fail to drive traffic to the site. In other words, the content will not be found. 

The Benefits of High-Quality Content for SEO

Search engines want to deliver relevant and beneficial content to users looking for information on the internet. Algorithms look for the most up-to-date and pertinent information matching the search inquiry. Knowing how search engines sort and rank content and utilizing that information will ensure a website is seen. 

Here are some benefits of content for SEO:

• Visibility increases
• Click-through rate (CTR) increases
• Generates backlinks
• Uses target keywords
• Increases satisfaction in user experience

Planning Content Strategy and SEO

When planning out the creation of website content, optimization for the target audience, user experience, and keywords is critical. Planning should include learning about the target audience. What is their problem, and what is the solution being provided? Another key component of planning is keyword research. Find out what customers are searching for and what their questions are when it comes to products and services. 

Once research has been performed, content needs to be concise and readable. It also needs to be credible, so backlinks are a necessity. Bombarding the content with too many topics or keywords will have a counterproductive effect, so simplicity is key. 

Prototype offers specialized content development and search engine optimization that follows the information architecture created by their UX designers. Additionally, their content team will create an SEO-optimized content matrix. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the top web design agencies in Dubai?

Dubai's top web design agencies include Prototype, Addicta, TekRevol, Hellenic Technologies, and Home of Performance.

How much does a website build cost in Dubai?

The average cost to build a website in Dubai is 50,000AED. However, prices depend on the services provided, how many people will work on your project and the overall complexity of the website.

Are there any web awards in Dubai?

Yes, there are web awards in Dubai. Some of the most include the Pan Arab Web Awards (PAWA), the UAE Web Awards, and the Stevie Awards. 

Are there web events in Dubai?

Yes, there are web events in Dubai, including conferences and expos. The most popular events throughout the year include the E-Commerce Web and App Developer conference, UX NXT, 38th GITEX Technology Week, and GITEX Future Stars Dubai.

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