The beauty of web technology is that there is always something new being developed. It’s almost as if the very nature of web design is continual change and upgrading. That’s good news for tech enthusiasts who spend a lot of time searching for fresh design ideas. While trends like on-screen serifs and similar aesthetic upgrades aren’t nearly as complex as .NET logging intricacies, they’re still just as valuable from a user’s perspective.
Many of the latest web design trends are certainly in the low-tech category, but they’re all extremely popular with designers and anyone who cares about the final look of a given page.
Here are a few of the trends that are already catching on this year and will likely become full-blown hits by 2020.
Nostalgia for Black and White
Here’s a web design trend that mimics something that took place in the photography field just a few years ago. The human eye seems to enjoy variety, but too many designers overdid the splash and wild hues when creating pages. Particularly for retailers who are willing to do anything for healthier profits, black and white design is back. Why? Maybe consumers just got tired of their eyes being bombarded, but black and white retail pages are the hottest thing going right now.
Serifs on Screen
See “Nostalgia for Black and White,” above, and you’ll get the concept behind another trend that is based on a return to basics. There was a time when serif print was reserved solely for the printed page. Web pages demanded a cleaner, less ornamental look. Not anymore. Some of the most influential designers are boldly using serif text with abandon. Retail clients are, again, the driving force behind this old-new idea. If screen resolution is high enough, why not open the toolbox and use serif styles when they’re appropriate.
Micro Interactions
Web designers have been in love with these small, clever features for year. Now, creating a page can include hundreds, rather than a half-dozen or so, micro interactions. For example, some retail sites now attempt to give users visual or audible feedback for scrolling, inputting data, clicking on anything or spending more than x number of seconds without moving their mouse.
There’s already a danger here: consumers often get turned off by too much oversight, and trying to alert them and interact with them every few seconds could go wrong. Designers who specialize in creating various types of micro interactions caution others that there’s a “right amount” for every page. In this case, more is not always better.
The Humanization of Chat-Bots
As machine learning science and AI-for-everything continues to dominate the web design landscape, look for chat-bots to evolve into more human forms than ever before. What was once a low-tech way to communicate with users and customers is now a highly sophisticated form of interaction. Bots with faces, inviting voices and onscreen “bodies” are already making their way into the retail and educational fields. Some are able to adapt their voices and forms to match the perceived preferences of site users.