It’s an essential part of staying competitive in the current market – keeping up to date with trends. Regardless of industry, any company, brand or organization who is interested in remaining relevant must stay current and aware of web design trends, news, and solutions in the quickly changing digital landscape. While web design is known for having quickly changing lists of trends, it’s important to note that much of web design evolves, meaning techniques may remain fundamentally the same, but their technology and/or ease of implementation may change.`
AI & Conversational Interfaces
For many, AI may seem complicated, but with technology advancing at such a quick pace – its has become an essential part of doing business online. Particularly for eCommerce – chatbots have gained ground becoming more sophisticated, allowing businesses to manage and streamline their customer service front-lines. Allowing businesses to lower their overhead, today’s AI features include smoother conversations that locate appropriate responses in record time and can be implemented easily through frequently used apps. While a solely automated chatbot will work for some companies, brands committed to a more personalized experience are choosing hybrid AI optimizations. This combination of human interaction and chatbot convenience can provide a greater level of service at a lower cost for the business.
Prototyping Resources
It’s no secret that prototyping tools help the process of problem-solving. By helping bring ideas to life before they are further developed, both designer and client can interact with a design, understanding where movements need to be made and making the refinements before a design is finalized and well before code is written. Understandably, clients are eager to jump into the design phase of a project, and prototyping is the ideal channel to facilitate this aspect of managing expectations. Allowing for quick sharing of iterations and deeper collaboration prototyping tools can deepen the relationship between client and designer/agency.
Custom Illustration
Gone are the days where overused common imagery will prove effective for a winning engagement strategy. Brands are now trading stock photography and iconography for custom illustrations, curated imagery and custom photography. Shifting more to a brand-centric approach, websites and marketing assets are reflecting imagery that is tailored to the brand, resulting in a design that stands out from competitors and tells a compelling, relevant story. While custom imagery, including custom photo shoots, can be more costly, the result is far-reaching with conversion opportunities throughout a company’s operations.
Semi-Flat Design
Similar in style to its predecessor, ‘semi-flat design – also referred to as ‘almost flat’ or ‘flat 2.0’ is a new interpretation of the ‘flat design’ trend characterized by a two-dimensional style that uses simple, minimalist elements giving the illusion of three dimensions with the use of drop shadows, gradients and textures. The semi-flat design takes these basic elements a step further with shadows, highlights and layers to create an environment that contains more depth.
Design is an organic process, and web design trends should be looked at as opportunities to build new skills and test out implementations that may work for a client. With an existing set of tools and knowledge, designers and developers can accumulate their base of expertise, growing with each trend forecast, refining ideal strategies for clients as their businesses evolve for continuous improvement.