First, this must be said—it's really hard to predict what's going to occur five years down the road for websites and web design. In the short history of the Web, there have been waves of change as something new gets built or discovered. Right now, it seems we're in a visual discovery era, when multimedia sites like YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest are gaining in popularity, which means that your website needs to be visual, too.

All I can really guarantee is this: in five years, the Web will already have shifted. It will undoubtedly look different from today's Web. By then, something else will be getting popular—either the next Facebook, or a new way to do Web. So the following discussion of what's on our horizon is more what we're looking at doing next, and not a prediction of long-term Web behaviors.

With that in mind, let's examine three areas: website innovation, mobile innovation, and community innovation.

Let's look at innovation on websites first, since design and usability are vital to a digital branch. What's going to be important for libraries to look at in the next three years as far as web design is concerned?

Mobile is huge. In fact, many web designers are currently suggesting that designers design for two screens: desktop and mobile. Why is mobile so important? In July 2011, Pew Internet said that 35 percent of American adults owned a smartphone.⁴ But by March 2012, here's what Pew said: “Nearly half (46%) of American adults are smartphone owners as of February 2012, an increase of 11 percentage points over the 35% of Americans who owned a smartphone last May… . Two in five adults (41%) own a cell phone that is not a smartphone, meaning that smartphone owners are now more prevalent within the overall population than owners of more basic mobile phones.”⁵

By 2013 (in fact, probably by later this year), a majority of American adults—your customers—will own a smartphone. Sure, some of them will still install a ringtone that sounds like an old rotary dial phone and mainly use the device as a phone. But we are quickly turning into a mobile-based society. People carry the Web in their pockets for more hours than they're sitting in front of a screen. You need to respond accordingly.

Your mobile website is growing in importance! Design your mobile site first. Focus on the things that people really need in a mobile setting and design those for a smartphone. Then work out from that point, adding the bells and whistles that a full desktop-based web experience can provide.

Focusing on mobile-first web design will help you focus on content, on your customers who own smartphones, and on making and keeping things simple.

The final thing I suggest that you focus on is interacting with your community. We are designing a branch library; we want people to come visit our digital branch. So we need to figure out how to provide the experience and services they want.

If you were designing a physical branch, what might you do? You would talk to the community as you were designing the building and the services. You'd set up focus groups, send out surveys, and ask people—your customers—what they wanted at your branch. You would find out what they liked and what services they wanted that weren't currently available. Then you'd try to incorporate their input into the design of the branch. You might even hire staff to be in charge of specific services or areas.

You need to do the same thing for your digital branch. Ask people what they want. Find your online customers (perhaps via Facebook and Twitter friends) and ask for input. Ask how they want to interact with the library on their phones, on desktops, and on tablets. What services do they want? What's missing? Then build with your community in mind.

Another aspect of community innovation is simply to invite people to the party. Use a call to action on your website and in your content. A call to action is simply a message—in this case, a Tweet, a video, or a Facebook status update—that asks or invites the reader or viewer to do something after reading, like click a link, sign up for a program, or share the message with friends. Your call to action invites your reader to take an action. In fact, you shouldn't build anything, be it a page, a blog post, or a video, without a call to action as part of the content. Otherwise, it's a waste of time.

When you are building a new page or writing a new blog post, think about these types of questions: Why should I click? What's in it for me? What do I do next? Incorporate those answers into the content, the graphics, and the design of the digital branch.

Remember to ask for a response. Invite people to click, to fill out, to read, to comment, to like, to respond. If you ask, they most likely will.

Work on constantly improving: incorporate popular tools, increase interaction, make your customers happy. In the process, you will achieve engagement and interaction.

On with the building, interaction, and innovation!

• Jake Rocheleau, “Web Design Trends in 2012,” Web Design Ledger, December 13, 2011, http://webdesignledger.com/tips/web-design-trends-in-2012.
• Jake Rocheleau, “15 Web Design Trends to Watch Out For in 2012,” Hongkiat.com (blog), undated, www.hongkiat.com/blog/web-design-trend-2012.
• Nicole Capelo, “Top Website Design Trends for 2012,” Marqui Solutions website, March 15, 2012, www.marqui.com/blog/top-website-design-trends-for-2012.aspx.
• Craig Grannell, “15 Top Web Design and Development Trends for 2012,” .net Magazine website, January 9, 2012, www.netmagazine.com/features/15-top-web-design-and-development-trends-2012.
• Ian Yates, “The State of Web Design Trends: 2012 Annual Edition,” Webdesigntuts+ (blog), January 12, 2012, http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/industry-trends/the-state-of-web-design-trends-2012-annual-edition.