The lone Web designer of the early 1990s, hand coding a Web site in HMTL, probably did not see himself or herself as a product designer and thought little about the threat of litigation. In those days, managing the technology was a primary concern because software tools were quite primitive. With site development software such as Front Page® and Dream Weaver® yet to be invented, the software designers of yesteryear invested a lot more time and energy in producing minimally functional Web sites than they do today in producing very sophisticated Web sites. Likewise, e-commerce was not yet a reality, little was known about the potential online consumer, and the concept of “reverse auction” was not even a pipe dream.
Today, e-commerce has become a reality and lawsuits of the last decade have altered the Web design landscape. Now, like designers of cars, refrigerators, and toys, the Web site designer cannot afford to design in a vacuum, free from knowledge of government regulation and the possibility of litigation. Whole areas of law, such as product liability, patent infringement, and antitrust, which were promulgated to protect the consumer and the public, also impact the product design process, even for software designers.
The goal of the Web site designer is to provide an interface that best meets the needs of the consumer and the vendor. However, the threat of litigation related to Web design may hamper these efforts and diminish innovation, as companies patent Web-based business methods and assert these patents against infringing Web sites. In a worst-case scenario, designers of the future may become subject to an involuntary template, forged by litigation, which severely limits the functionality and aesthetics a Web site can offer. The behavior of the online consumer will be similarly circumscribed, and this would have profound effects upon the future potential of Web-based e-commerce.