Websites are often the first interaction a potential customer will have with your business. That’s why having a good user experience (UX) and web design is essential. According to a study by Adobe, 59% of web users prefer browsing beautiful and well-designed sites over simple ones.
What exactly is User Experience (UX)?
User experience or UX in digital design is the process of enhancing a person’s experience and satisfaction when they interact with your website. A good user experience means that beyond aesthetics, your website must also be functional, easy to navigate, provide the answers people need, and work with the customers’ behavior in mind.
Below, we’ve listed the top UX web design trends that have been gaining popularity for a while and, we believe, won’t be going away anytime soon. Tapping into these trends can help you improve your website and eventually get more leads for your business.
1. Dark mode and low light.
The dark mode, night shift, and low light in website design are no longer a new trend. This theme has been around for years, but has now become a favorite of many, especially those working remotely because it’s easier on the eyes.
“Designers have a bias towards dark mode and the minimalistic, visual tone it has to offer. Anything that sits on black looks more elegant,” said Avital Santo, the in-house UX designer of the website building platform, Wix.
“Dark mode is part of an overall attempt to de-stress the user at a time when we spend more time looking at our screens. White screen mode reflects light, black doesn’t, so it’s easier to read things,” Santo added.
The dark mode uses a dark color palette and lighter text colors. If your website has more visual content, dark mode will make it quicker and more seamless for visitors to browse through your site. Darker backgrounds improve page contrast, make images pop, and make texts more readable. Besides that, they can save mobile battery power, too.
2. One-page websites
Are you into simple and minimalistic website designs? You may consider adopting the single-page web design trend. While this layout is not the norm in the web design world, it still brings several advantages, especially if you need a landing page for your business, a site for your portfolio, or if you’re marketing a single product or service.
Single-page websites remove the traditional menus and allow for seamless navigation and scrolling. They display just the necessary information your potential customers need and instantly direct them to a Call to Action. Additionally, these web websites are easier to optimize for mobile users.
Keep in mind, however, that such layouts are not a one-size-fits-all solution. We still suggest you ask help from a professional web design company to see if a one-page website can achieve the goal you want for your business or if it’s better to stick to a multi-page website.
3. Personalized and localized user experience.
If you love the show recommendations on Netflix or the pre-made playlists on Spotify, you’d agree that it’s more convenient when a website instantly displays the content relevant to us without having to search for it.
The personalized experiences trend is here to stay and is an excellent opportunity for your business to flourish. It will help improve your customer loyalty and increase visitors’ time on your website simply because they have a reason to explore.
Localized user experience and content is another great trend to leverage. Not all websites need UX localization, but those serving different markets or cultures can highly benefit from it.
If you’re reaching an international audience, for example, take into account each market’s unique preferences. Do they swipe left or right to go back? Are they used to virtual payments? Do they prefer local payment methods rather than international credit cards?
It’s also best to consider their online-cultural norms. You might want to use the ‘Add to Basket’ button instead of ‘Add to Cart’ for U.K. users. For the login pages, think about integrating an email login process for Western users and then switching to a mobile number sign-in method for Asian users.
4. Responsive design
With the number of mobile users constantly growing and new screen sizes being introduced each year, there’s no doubt that the responsive design trend will continue to dominate the future of website design. According to a survey, 73.1% of website designers believe that not having a responsive design is the top reason why visitors leave a website.
Responsive web design or RWD design is about creating a website that automatically adjusts its content and elements to look good on the screen size or device being used.
By adopting this trend, you can offer a better user experience to your visitors, increase the time they spend on your website, and improve your ranking on search engines because Google prefers mobile-friendly websites.
5. Big and bold fonts.
More and more websites are now using big and bold typography, and it’s easy to see why. Using a font size bigger than the regular makes a visual impact and will capture your visitors’ attention. Besides that, it will make it easier for them to navigate your page and see your message immediately.
Here are some websites that are embracing this trend:
Huge Inc
Mav
Hack Wired
Many website design trends come and go, but these five will undoubtedly stay for long. Consider working with an expert web design company to find out if these UX enhancements will work for you and to help you implement them on your website.
