With the shifts in technologies, web design is likely to change too. What is more surprising about this is to know that the web designers have evolved in the same way, by keeping pace with the technical challenges. Whenever the trend has changed, designers have brought a better thing to the table. Something which is new and understandable, convenient, compatible as per the corporate manner, easy for use and soothing to eyes.
Talking about the past decade, there has been a period when designing was all about uncontrolled creativity – disowning stock photos and grids for asymmetrical layouts, bold color schemes, and illustrations. Then, there were some years when designers adopted trends that can match with the technological advancements that have transformed websites in a smarter way.
Below we have gathered some anticipated web designing trends which can be dominating in the coming year:
- Speed: A good looking website is always inviting but humans are impatient. Studies say that half of the users want the website to open in two or fewer seconds. They switch to another option if the site takes more than that to load. Moreover, Google’s Speed update that came in effect from July 2018 has prioritized those websites in SERP which load faster compared to others. In this same way, web designers need to put their major focus on speed during the design process. Say ‘No’ to heavy data like huge photos, uncompressed videos, CSS and Javascript, etc.
- Mobile first: We know that mobile searches have overtaken desktop searches. Also, Google has decided to index mobile sites before those which aren’t mobile friendly. This led to the ‘Mobile first’ design trend. Rather than designing a website for desktop and then making it mobile responsive, Mobile first encourages creating the design for mobile users that will also work for the desktop users.
- Micro-animations: Micro-animations is a strong tool to serve visitors with a spontaneous and valuable experience while they browse your website. These are tiny animations which make the website content understandable and guide the user whenever they hover the mouse or click an element. For example, change in color of a button when the cursor is placed on it or menu expansion when the hamburger is clicked. Micro-animations are going to be a noticeable web design trend in 2019.
- Black-and-white will rule: Color matters a lot to a websites design. It maintains the emotions as well as consolidates the brand. Black-and-white is being chosen broadly to deliver this. Black is powerful and firm while white is by itself bright and silent. When combined together they make an astonishing look.
- Serifs on screen: It is said that serifs are meant for prints and sans serifs are perfect for screens. But this what the designs do, they bring a little vibration to the traditions. For clean readability and decorative appearance, the series is being used in, not just website copies, but in many areas of website design such as a call to actions and headers.
- Use of organic shapes: Though the use of squares, triangles, and rectangles is considerable, designers have now chosen the path of natural structures and smooth strokes. Organic shapes add to the depth of the web design which results in outstanding page elements. Also, they come with a feeling of connectivity and comfort which give them edge over the stability of sharp corners.
- Advanced Chatbots: Chatbots have been there but they will transform in a greater way than we witnessed this year. This has happened as a result of advanced AI including machine learning and natural language processing which ultimately made Chatbots more intelligent and productive. With higher standards of customizations, they are going to be more compelling in 2019.
- Thumb-friendliness: Designs are getting more thumb-friendly day by day as the mobile search has almost replaced desktop browsing. It is helpful to study how users hold the device and how the movements are occurred, explicitly of their thumb. Designers are now coming up with designs in which navigation is tailored to the user's thumb.
- Prioritize video content: Earlier, web design was limited to images and texts, but not now. Today, video content is best optimized to not only diversify your web page but also to take care of the rushing audience that has no time to go through the long text. Google’s mixed search page result has pushed towards producing more video content and making it shareable.
- Micro-interactions: This is a way to make your audience completely absorbed in the website. In simple words, micro-interaction is an automated response that a website or application returns when you make an action on it. In 2019, we will see them being used heavily across the web. These are being utilized greatly in a micro website or more commonly known as a microsite.