How to Tell the Difference Between a Web Site and an Application

Sholom Sandalow, Saturday, March 31, 2007 @ 11:12 pm

The World Wide Web is not just for informational, or marketing based web sites anymore.  These days it’s hard not to run into web sites that behave more like the applications you are used to seeing on your desktop--dynamic, super-responsive, transactional, task based, tool oriented.  And as the web becomes more saturated with destinations that offer app-like functionality, the line between web sites and applications are blurring.  It’s become increasingly difficult to tell the difference between those web site that are simply sites, and those that are really applications in web site clothing. 

It may very well be that distinguishing between the two is an outdated concept, relying on an arbitrary line in the sand.  But that doesn’t mean I can’t take my best shot at listing some of the things that web applications have in common, so that I can draw a more clear line separating them from their ancestors.  If a web site has 10 or more of these, I would call it a web app:

It requires users to Log in.

It requires  user input (i.e. filling out forms)

It performs tasks, rather than just providing information

It remembers you

It is dynamic (That is, it doesn’t need a page refresh to respond to user input)

It communicates to other software (such as a calendar sending email or text
messages)

It allows users to save information to a web server

It saves information on the users hard drive

It contains drag and drop functionality

It doesn’t contain  ads, and…

It costs money to use

It contains more buttons than links

It contains more drop down menus than images

It contains no links to outside websites

It is secure (it uses HTTPS to send and receive information)

It isn’t real pretty

It frequently displays alert messages

user experience design

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