AJAX for AJAX’s Sake

I came across a site recently where the creators of the site decided to use AJAX. Kudos to them. AJAX makes the Internet even more interactive by allowing web sites to present users with dynamic information without loading new pages in their browser. Popular implementations of AJAX include Google Earth and 37 Signals applications like BaseCamp. My concern is that people are getting a little ahead of themselves and instead of using AJAX in ways that benefit their bottom lines, they’re putting AJAX on production sites that don’t make true use of the technology.

The site I saw was essentially a static site that used AJAX to load new content instead of having users load new HTML pages on clicking a link. On this particular site, when you clicked a link, AJAX loaded to respective content and immediately displayed it in the user’s browser. That sounds nice, but there’s a cost associated with that. Implementing AJAX requires different and more expensive human resources than creating simple HTML pages. Additionally, AJAX requests can be more system-intensive because they require additional processing on the server that loading HTML pages does not. Those considerations, along with some others like the challenge of acquiring AJAX measurement data, make it necessary that we really think about AJAX from a Marketnology perspective before using it. We have to ask ourselves how will this implementation of AJAX improve our ability to interact with and build relationships with our customers. From a metrics perspective, the question becomes does using AJAX alter the user experience enough to deliver positive ROI in the face of potentially higher implementation costs.

I like AJAX. I think that it has the potential to be almost as great as sliced bread and wheel. We even use it in our Advertising News Portal (www.adnewsportal.com). That being said, every new site doesn’t need to implement it. Some real analysis has to be done to determine how it will benefit your company. Then, if you decide to do it, be sure to hire information architects to help ensure that your implementation actually benefits your customers.