Why are my eyes so tired?

The currency of the internet is no longer information. It’s become attention and time. Impression-based monetization models and clickbait content often underwhelm users, but it doesn’t create meaningful connections. Instead, those meaningful connections that made the early internet magical are being replaced by manipulative and exploitative algorithms, making modern web design a race to the bottom. 

But before you call me a troglodyte, know I’m a web developer and crypto-enthusiast—new and exciting technologies don’t scare me. 

The slow web isn’t so much about slowing down innovation or technology adoption as it is about slowing down in general. We don’t need to make something people can consume at 2x speed if we have something good to begin with.

 When we increase scale, decrease delivery time, and cut personnel budgets, it impacts quality. There’s no way around it.

Cutting the quality of a product, service, or interaction reduces the quality of the relationship a website (or the organization it represents) has with its audience. 

Serving a high-speed, endless stream of sub-par content or stress-increasing notifications is like finding out someone copied and pasted 15 pages of AI into a document and expected you to read (and enjoy ) it.

The Slow Movement Writ Large

Culturally, the slow movement has been gaining ground across the broader culture. Most of us have encountered some portion of the slow food movement, which aims to refocus how the culture treats food through a regional and organic lens.

But there are slow movements throughout culture, many taking rise in recent decades, conveniently mapping alongside the fast-paced industrial, commercial, and technological advances.

Food and the web aren’t alone. There are movements to slow down the way we create, interact with, and use movies, fashion, marketing, gardening, and even gaming.

But all of these movements are connected by the idea of prioritizing quality, time, connection, and awareness, more specifically:

• Valuing quality over quantity
• Emphasizing the present moment
• Fostering connection
• Consideration of space and environment

The Slow Web Design Movement

So, what does that mean for web design? Are we supposed to curate regional websites using organic content? Honestly, kind of. 

Quality of Quantity

This is much more obvious for web development compared with the other tenets. Rather than producing endless content streams, slow web emphasizes creating meaningful, well-crafted pieces that provide real value to readers.

Present Moment > Rate of Use

Emphasizing the present moment means sending users to the thing most relevant to them rather than bombarding them with infinite possible directions. 

Instead of optimizing for maximum engagement time, slow web focuses on making each interaction meaningful and purposeful. For developers and content creators, curation can be a great tool for honoring the moment. 

Human Connection > Needless Automation

People need people. It’s why we all got so weird coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. So in slow web, we try to put an emphasis on connection rather than enabling isolation. 

This is not to say automation is a problem, but rather that something should not be automated if it doesn’t need to be or if it detracts from the human experience. While automation has its place, slow web prioritizes human interaction and connection over automated processes that might diminish the human experience.

Present Environment > Distraction

For designers of digital spaces, this can be the greatest challenge. How can you emphasize their physical environment if you want someone to interact with your screen? 

At the very least, you can consider your audience as a whole person instead of a username. 

Who are you speaking to? Where will they be? What is their preferred modality for interacting with your information? Does that modality work in their most common environments?

Community-driven development

Because slow web content is developed with intention to be high quality, successful pieces and publishers tend to attract niche communities. Those communities don’t have to be relegated to the audience.

One of our clients has found great success in creating niche minimum viable product software, and then using community feedback to develop and release the products, features, and services his clients are actually looking for or fix the problems they can’t find solutions for.

Slow Web Content

In an era dominated by rapid-fire content consumption, the Slow Web movement waves the banner for a different approach to digital content creation. Here’s the kind of content you can expect to see in the Slow Web space:

Excellent Long-form Content 

Quality long-form content stands at the heart of the Slow Web movement. Rather than churning out endless streams of quick-hit articles, the focus shifts to creating meaningful, well-researched pieces that provide genuine value to readers.

Community and Specialization

The movement emphasizes building niche communities and specialized content that fosters genuine connections. This approach prioritizes human interaction and meaningful engagement over automated processes that might diminish the human experience.

Quality Journalism and Editorial Focus

High-quality journalism and thoughtful editorial content form a cornerstone of the Slow Web approach. This commitment to quality over quantity ensures that each piece contributes meaningful value to the reader’s experience.

Democratic Content Distribution

The Slow Web doesn’t focus on creating another Facebook post or YouTube video. Rather, the movement advocates for open and democratized content distribution.

Often, these feeds and algorithms create feedback loops by rewarding the things that perform best, but that’s just quick and meaningless engagement.

Instead, web developers and content creators should focus on the content they are creating and let their audience decide on delivery, platform, or modality.

Implementation Challenges

While the benefits are clear, implementing a slow web approach comes with several key considerations:

• Finding sustainable monetization models while maintaining content quality
• Striking the right balance between accessibility and depth in content
• Ensuring thoughtful content presentation across different platforms without prioritizing the platform over the content
• Managing the significant time investment required for quality content creation
• Tempering expectations for fast results

The movement’s success ultimately relies on community-driven development and a platform-agnostic approach to content distribution. By focusing on these elements, organizations can create more meaningful and lasting connections with their audiences while maintaining the integrity of their content.

Interested in Creating Intention Websites

Intentional web design isn’t just better to read, it builds trust with your audience. The strategies at Content Workshop help our clients build websites and fill them with content that actually speaks to their customers’ needs. 

Don’t settle for high-speed junk in your marketing messaging. Find out how Content Workshop can help you build a better website and tell a better story, one step at a time.