Website design is ever evolving. What started this year as a shift in user experience is now in full swing. Let’s talk about some of the small, but bold trends coming in website design for 2021.
Mobile User Experience
According to statcounter.com, over 50% of users worldwide are accessing the internet via a mobile device. That’s up 20% from just 5 years ago. With that in mind, website designers are focusing on ways to appeal to the user on the go.
Consider what mobile users want in their experience; ultra-fast loading, ease of use, and accessibility. Websites with slow load time rarely retain users. Smart content load should be the first thing to make its way into any new website. Those of you with an online presence need to consider how resource heavy your website is and be sure to take advantage of adding smart content loading. A smart loading API allows information to generate quickly as the user wants it rather than having to wait for an entire page full of multimedia and other content to load. It’s the right choice for attention, and customer, retention.
Accessibility and Ease of Use on Mobile Websites
With audio assistants such as Alexa and Siri being the rule rather than exception, designing for voice search is critical. Luckily this is very easily done and has the added bonus of giving an SEO boost. The three easiest steps to take in optimizing for voice search are:
- Use conversational, long tail keywords, particularly constructed like queries.
- Make sure your website is listed in local directories and claim your My Business Google listing when applicable as most voice searching on mobile is done while on the go.
- Capitalise on alt descriptions for photos and include descriptive audio in video content.
Ease of use for mobile users comes down to 1 important thing; thumb range. Yes, it sounds silly, but think about how you use your mobile phone. Typically, users have their icons arranged in a certain way to easily access them with the thumb of their dominant hand. It stands to reason that you should layout your website in a manner that allows easy scrolling and icon selection within the “thumb zone”.
Website Design Trends for Desktops, Tablets, or Mobile
A few years ago, Apple brought “dark mode” to their products. One reason this new look caught on is the energy saving aspect, allowing mobile and tablet users to go longer between charging. However, designers love how the dark shades play into another trend for 2021, neon glow and futuristic colour combinations.
For the past several years, the focus on colour in design has been bright and saturated. Going into 2021, we are seeing more of an emphasis on fun color gradients. Think about some of the social media posts you see these days. How often on Instagram is the deep purple, deep blue, and hot pink combination popping up? That particular color combo brings together the futuristic color palette while playing well with both the dark theme and the last big thing we’re going to talk about… a return to texture!
Moving away from the smooth, slick looking visuals and towards reach out and touch it realism in graphics is key for 2021. Product photos should provide depth and rich texture. For service driven websites, combine abstract data visualization in 3D graphics or combine a photo with a more traditional graphic overlay to make it stand out. For more on options for service driven business, read up on our latest collaboration. After years of silky smooth geometric website design and artistry, people are craving asymmetry and realism. Don’t be afraid of a daring to redesign! For those of you waiting to update your online presence, now is the time to do it.
