Port80 Web Design Conference
The week before last I attended the Port80 Web Design Conference in Newport. It was a great event – the quality of the content was excellent, with topics stretching from responsive web design to speed optimisation, content strategy and bringing personality to your brand. The speakers did an excellent job.
A few of the talks that resonated with me were:
Speed is essential for a great web experience
This talk by Web Performance Consultant Andy Davies covered website performance, focusing on how critical it is for a good user experience, how that relates to conversion and how in recent years it seems to have taken a backseat over other priorities.
He proposed that with us being in a post-PC age, with an ever-growing portion of web traffic being served to portable devices—in particular devices running on flaky data connections, it’s more important than ever that speed is reborn as a first-class consideration for web development strategies. After all, no degree of elegant design will negate the fact that it took minutes rather than seconds to display it.
Perhaps it’s time to give consideration to how fast your site loads, and to prioritise content so that only which is necessary is displayed on smaller handheld devices.
Personality on the web
Whilst a first-time speaking event for Tom Lloyd and Robert Mills, they did a great job of explaining their approach to bringing personality to brands. They consider personality to be their key differentiator from competitors, and that it should be one of the foremost considerations for both on and offline strategies, from the colours chosen in the design to the type of language used in website content and the approach to social media.
At Wired Media we have been giving greater focus to branding over the last few months, both for ourselves and our clients. Our new digital marketing department specialises in helping guide you through maintaining relationships with your customers and creating a brand which not only fits the personality of your company but is also authentic and consistent.
What does your brand say about you?
Content strategy: the RPG
Relly Annett-Baker took us on a journey through life as a content strategist, including what she does, why it’s important and where it can and should fit within your web strategy. Linking back to ‘your personality on the web,’ content should be the first consideration when establishing a web presence; design should be tailored to content and the context in which it will be consumed.
How does your content reflect your company’s values?
No slides 🙁 .. yet?
In conclusion…
An excellent selection of speakers armed with high-quality content covering a wide range of topics, followed by an after-party with a pleasant and friendly atmosphere; a day well spent.
A huge hat tip to Joel and all of those who helped to execute his first event with such success.
Looking forward to Port80 2013!
If you’re looking for help with web design or development, get in touch today. Our expert team would love to hear from you.
