The design of a website is the first thing people notice upon visiting it and it is often the deciding factor when it comes to staying or leaving. Therefore, any web design project needs to be done according to the latest trends and best practices.
However, it is difficult to stay current with the latest trends when they are changing so quickly. So it is important to stop thinking about the current trends and start making predictions about the future of web design. Of course, nobody can foresee the future but we can make good guesses based on what we are seeing today. Here are some predictions about the future of web design and what we can expect:
Responsive design
Let’s face it – responsive design is awesome. Gone are the days when you had to have two different versions of one website – one for mobile devices and one for laptops and desktop computers. Even though responsive design is clearly the better option, some people still think that wasting time on maintaining two websites instead of one is a good idea.
Having two different versions of a website is also a problem when it comes to marketing campaigns and basically any changes you need to implement. It also doesn’t seem like future Google updates will tolerate websites with two versions over websites with responsive design.
HTML 5 videos
Implementing videos in web design is becoming increasingly popular. This is not about embedding YouTube videos on your website but using a video as a background of a slider or a section of your page. Ask yourself this question: “If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many pictures is a video worth”? This is one of the latest trends and it seems like it’s here to stay. Using a video will help you get your message across quickly. It is also great for saving space by not using many images and a lot of text.
Scrolling
The notion that scrolling is better than clicking is becoming increasingly popular. A typical website has a contact, about and a home page along with various pages for services. But all of this requires a lot of clicking. People nowadays prefer to scroll mainly because that’s what they do on their mobile devices. One page websites display all the information from various pages on the home page and all that users have to do is scroll. This seems like something that will be used more and more in the future.
Flat design
In the past, businesses preferred to have a website with 3D elements, flashing icons and spinning things which supposedly attracted the attention of visitors better. Nowadays, however, flat design is here to stay. It is safe to say that we can expect to see major evolutionary changes in flat design in the near future.
Minimal design
You probably know the popular saying that less is more. This is very true when it comes to web design. Minimal web design is something that seems to be prevailing this year and it’s likely to stay that way in the future. Keep in mind that there is a difference between complicated and sophisticated. You should aim to make your web design more sophisticated but less complicated at the same time.
These predictions will most likely come true but we can never know for sure. They are based on current trends but we should also stay on the lookout for new trends and implement them accordingly. Your web design should be always evolving if you want to keep the attention of visitors, decrease bounce rate and stand out from the competition.
Images used From ShutterStock
Linda Dell is a web designer with more than 5 years of experience. She is now part of the OMC Web Design team which is a part of the Online Marketing College where she learnt the basics of what she knows today. She enjoys working with WordPress but is also interested in other types of CMS.
