A while back, Razdog, sent me a blurb about their CloudMotion Swipe Technology.

The goal of the technology is to turn a “regular” website into a swipeable interface [...]]]> I have the privilege of being able to hear from a number of developers and companies who email me about their new software products.

Introducing Swipeable Technology to The Web

A while back, Razdog, sent me a blurb about their CloudMotion Swipe Technology.

The goal of the technology is to turn a “regular” website into a swipeable interface that is similar to using a smartphone.

I wanted to take a moment and introduce you to the concept and then ask a few questions.

You can see the technology used on the Razdog website.

You will notice the cloud icon underneath the main menu:

The magic happens here with the swipeable logo

Left Click and Hold the icon. Now drag to the left or right and Release. Click, Drag, Release all in one motion works best. See my brief video below:

A few thoughts:

Is this similar to using a smartphone interface? yes and no. Yes, in that pages swipe to the side. I can quickly zoom through content without having to wait for pages to load and re-load. No, in that I use a mouse and the action is a little more difficult to perform than using my finger on a smartphone. It definitely takes some getting used to. It is cool that this kind of interface is available without the use of a touchscreen.

Is this the future for websites? I believe there are key challenges that need to be overcome. This technology, while similar to a smartphone interface, is a totally different user experience that most desktop or laptop users are used to. Can users overcome the learning curve? People will have to be trained on using the special icon. I think that step alone could be a killer. People pick up a smartphone and the interface is intuitive (for the most part). People seeing an icon on a website that needs explanation seems to counter basic usability. It makes people think.

What about search engine optimization? Most of the content of the site is viewable within one page of code. Great for coders, but I can’t link to a particular page, only the home page. Not necessarily a bad thing, but neither can you optimize your “page” for particular keywords. You are limited.

Lengthy content creates scroll bars on the web page. I will scroll my browser, not sure I am cool with scrolling within the page. Seems like extra work. It is also visual distracting.

What could they do differently?

I like the swipeable idea. But are we ready for the swipeable web on our desktops? Will it matter when we no longer have a desktop and all have a tablet? It seems the idea is linked to the future of desktops and laptops and tablets.

Leave you comment below and tell me what you think.

Don’t forget to tweet this out to your friends and get their opinion.