Top 10 Web Design Trends
Website design is no more is just about looks and attractiveness of web pages at the surface level, it is now increasingly an important criteria in regard to engaging more and more users and correspondingly web design trends tend to evolve with change in technology and user interface. Over the years as the experience of web masters tend to be richer in regard to facing array of challenges in terms of traffic, business deliverables and appreciation, there have been different philosophies of web design that continued to dominate our web design practices. While some still believes in creating hi-funda technical gizmo to create a startling effect to the user, a good majority of business specific sites opt to remain simple and use specific, while there are considerable number of websites that incorporate typical design aspects that go well both in traditional devices and mobiles. As the internet devices are changing at a fast pace largely due to the huge proliferation of mobile devices, web design trends are also becoming tricky in respect of providing better user experience in multiple platforms and devices. Here are our picks on top 10 web design trends of our time.
- Relevant to Content
- Application Style Interface
- Unification of desktop and mobile interfaces
- Making images work for you
- Touch and gesture specific interfaces
- Flat, Simple and User Friendly Design
- Centrally Coordinated and Simple Navigation
- Prominence of social media sharing
- Responsive layouts
- CSS Transparency
Content is king and just demands to be above anything else, after all contents make you rank on search engine and content makes the traffic rush to your web pages. So hottest of the web design trends is to make the design work for elevating the relevance of content and augmenting the user's experience as for their reading or viewing the content. For instance, a blog or article on balanced nutrition or home remedies can be best presented with befitting web environment and images that make the reader see more vividly about the nutrition aspects being told there. The design must be relevant to content, should be absolutely content specific - that is the first principle of today's designers.
A website that is felt like an application can be more preferred than those so called traditional websites. Most of the top rated websites today are increasingly coming with their applications that can be accessed even without being online, though with limited availability of features and content. But in any case, this typical application style interface provides a far enriched web experience and ease, especially across multiple devices apart from the so called desktops or laptops.
At this precise moment internet is most widely accessed through mobile handsets and devices rather than traditional computing devices and it is now evident that within just few years these smaller, smarter handheld devices are going to outpace traditional computers far behind as most popular media of internet connectivity. Website design just cannot overlook this burgeoning big reality and so most of the biggies in web are now focused enough to make their websites look more mobile friendly. Mobile devices are the most popular point of access for internet users in today's scenario and if your website is not looking great on mobile screen, there are chances that you are losing bigger chunks of internet traffic. While internet is mainly mobile specific your web presence just cannot afford to do anything beyond that, that's pretty simple.
Wide open or intriguing or simply mesmerizing on visual merits or just being able to punch mystery with attractive beauty - images, especially full blown and full screen images have an unmatched appeal for the viewers and internet users that cannot be equaled by any other design aspects and no doubt that any list of top 10 web design trends of present time can just take the effects of image lightly. Surprisingly images presented in an appreciating manner can really work for your so called web ambitions, in respect of traffic, page views, traffic retention level and business convertibility. With an intriguing image at the backdrop short contextual text boxes can really make the viewers take a deeper look.
Computing and internet devices are increasingly becoming touch specific and gesture specific rather than being controlled by keypad. The trend is enough to indicate the future of mobile devices and as per the prediction of various validating agencies in the near future keypad driven mobile devices will slowly start to become extinct as traditional computers and laptops are increasingly going to be replaced by mobile devices as prime point of access to internet, every internet website must consider to incorporate touch and gesture based operative features more than ever. When your web pages can be navigated seamlessly with touch and gesture input as with keypad input, it has the edge of being up to date with the huge shifts that our computing and internet experience is going through for few years. Undoubtedly incorporating touch and gesture based operative features is one of the hottest web design trends for some time.
All those websites with complex color schemes and too dazzling design attributes where users generally feel a bit perplexed rather than being properly oriented with the context, have been ultimately seen to deliver poor performance in respect of web traffic and business attributes when compared to websites with simple, straightforward and bold attributes that quickly orient the readers with their searched web content. A flat, simple and user friendly design is something that quickly makes a purposeful and direct approach to the web users. Moreover, in a flatly and simply designed website you are seamlessly guided between pages while content plays the most important role.
Just think of those websites where finding even finding the search option becomes so difficult and even though you know beforehand that the site has a great reserve of articles for which you are there, you simply cannot get to your searched content just because of the poor navigation options. The neat result is depressing enough for both the web users and the site's business deliverables. Navigation is an area that still tops the chart of any web designer. A minimalist landing page with proper guidance to different sections and auto scrolling lists of different blogs and articles can really make a rewarding experience for the web user. Remember finding the desired content is the key to user's satisfaction and basic principle of your web success and that is the precise reason why centrally coordinated navigation from the landing page is one of the preferred web design trends now.
At the end of the day nothing comes as bigger as social media sharing for marketing an article or blog or web content on the web itself and so incorporating social media sharing features are only growing in importance. Though so called social media features as 'like' or 'dislike' tags are already too well known and widespread across websites, the social media sharing are also going to evolve to demand new features for better prominence and coordination. Undoubtedly all web design trends indicate to the growth of this trend. Moreover, as typically 'all-in-one-pool' type of large sites are increasingly being competed by small yet topic specific niche social network sites, in the time to come social media sharing can be very diverse and different sites would be bent on using social media platforms based on their dealt area of expertise. For instance for designer or photography site Pinterest, for typical NGO or environmental sites or for sites with focus in sustainable living Wiser.org can be a good option.
Some sites have a layout and typical user specific presentation of ready features that saves a lot of time and enriches our browsing experience through and through. When automatically you are guided to a window to get fast access to your desired area of transaction while being in an e-shopping page, is really enough rewarding. Opening a web page to browse through your favorite web video clips if the site smartly presents those options based on your previous browsing preferences as recorded by the site, it saves a lot of time and makes ways for a far enriched browsing experience. Without fast responding to the browsers and making the browsing convenient as much as possible you cannot just think of gaining popularity of your web and responsive layout is just one of the hottest web design trends.
CSS transparency attributes let your web pages appear with the same effectiveness on different browser settings and helps a great web visual experience possible. Making background image appear with a tinge of transparency while letting your boxed content or bold center-piece layout to appear with better prominence can just do all wonders to let your users encounter a cool effect and a sharp sense of purposive aspect of your web page and your content. You can make CSS transparency work just to look enough smart and content specific.
Honorable Mention: Infinite Scrolling
For web biggies with great reserve of content infinite scrolling is a design feature that is very popular. As you scroll on searching for your content the site continues to load more and the scrolling becomes infinitely long providing you a sense of really bigger arena to be able to search for great array of content - that is infinite scrolling which is undoubtedly one of the top web design trends for sites with gigantic content reserve.