By Joel Black on 06/18/2016
When it comes to web design, you just have five seconds to convince an online visitor if accessing your website is a good idea or not. Additionally, mobile technology is ultimately taking the lead over desktops in the use of the internet, meaning that you have to keep up with the changing web trends, lest you lose nearly half of your potential traffic.
For these reasons, 2015 was a learning year for us. We learned that web design could make or break our traffic, and hence we had to figure out how to make the design as efficient as possible. Here are some of the most notable things we learned in the process:
While many sites had already been adapted for smartphone and tablet users, the Responsive Web Design continued to expand in 2015. Coupled with the ever increasing use of smart TVs and watches, we learnt that it was extremely important to offer a seamless experience across all the available platforms.
We also learnt that Micro-interactions are an excellent way to enhance the User Experience on our website. In fact, creating an enjoyable and unforgettable experience for the users had a significant impact on their emotional involvement with our brand as well as the amount of time they spent browsing sites.
When it comes to web design, here are some of the things that Micro-interactions could do, or help us do:
Something else that we learned from web design in 2015 is that typography not only affects usability, but the overall aesthetics of the website as well. Moreover, it is among the means of conveying the brand message. 2015 saw more of bold fonts, plus responsive typography that provided an enhanced reading experience.
These refer to a minimal and trendy interface feature designed to attract user’s attention in a subtle way. We learnt that with a smart hover animation, this web design feature is a pleasure to use and adds some touch of elegance to any website. Furthermore, ghost buttons pair well with large background images and videos, making them even more popular among web designers.
We may have seen a lot of large-image backgrounds in the past few years, but 2015 took it a notch higher. With an increasing number of movies being released in 3D, users expected 3D in cutting-edge web design. As such, we had to learn how to balance the intricacies of 3D graphics, as it would play an integral role in the evolution of web design. This is the year that we saw many websites adopting the use of fully responsive HD-quality video backgrounds.
Animations are largely used to enhance a website’s storytelling, in order to make the experience more interactive and entertaining. We learned, however, that we just can’t stick animation anywhere. We have to carefully consider whether it adds to the website’s story elements and personality. Furthermore, animations can be broadly categorized into two groups:
These things we learned from web design in 2015 are still as effective when used in web design today, and they are here to stay until the next big thing!