Web development and design trends keep on changing with time. Thanks to the advancements in technology, the web design industry has brought forth cutting edge web design trends of which some are extremely overwhelming and are here to stay.

Here, we list out the best trends in web design and development that boost the look and functionality of the website for your clients to have a pleasing experience while they visit your website.

Grid Design

Grid Design

The grid design layouts serve as a visual narrative where information is displayed evenly and the visitor can have a 360-degree view of the page allowing him to easily navigate and browse data as much as possible. Such designs pull viewers to your site because it creates an impression on them and makes browsing much faster.

Material Design

Material Design

Google has launched an innovative style language for millions of website developers around the world. Material Design focuses on creating more clean and modern images that centre around the UX and is also lightweight when it comes to code. It incorporates shadow effects which make the images appear more realistic to the user. This design style comes close to another growing trend – flat design, though with the difference that Material design makes use of depth and shadow which ensures more depth to the image as compared to flat design images.

However, Google additionally also launched Material Design Lite exclusively for websites as the previous design more suited for app designing. This includes vanilla CSS, HTML and JavaScript to add the Material design look and feel and is suitable for any framework for building websites using different front-end tools.

Parallax Scrolling

Parallax Scrolling

Parallax scrolling has redefined how people scroll your pages for viewing. This is a technique where background images move slower than the foreground images creating a 2D illusion. This creates a deep impression on the viewer and lends depth and interest to the site. Also, makes the scrolling an easier process for them.

Rich Animations

Rich Animations

Including rich animations can make your website more appealing and interactive. Animations are generally categorised into two groups:

  • Large scale Animations: Creates a better impact and includes parallax scrolling and pop-up notifications.
  • Small scale Animations: Includes spinners, hover tools and loading bars with no inputs.

Responsive Design

Responsive Design

This trend is going to stay on top especially with the rise of mobile internet users. Every user today prefers mobile devices for their shopping needs as it is relatively simple and accessible faster. So businesses rely on developing a mobile version of the website too just to target the relevant audience and garner profits thereby. But designing a responsive website does come up with certain issues, the first being for performance. These can be avoided if developers take the following steps mentioned below while designing the website for better results.

  • No JavaScript and CSS images using display: none tag. Even if they are mentioned with this tag, the image can still be downloaded and passes excessive weight to a page.
  • Include responsive images defined using a percentage.
  • Implement a performance testing on the development process to ensure the website is completely responsive and optimised.
  • Analyse the third party scripts and how does it impact the performance.

Innovative Infographics

Innovative Infographics

Infographics convey a lot to your readers rather than text-based content. Such images are aesthetically pleasing and give out a lot of information which is easy to understand. These infographics can be further made interactive using links or small animations that let them interact with the data and make visitors want to learn more.

The Hamburger Menu

The Hamburger Menu

Some designers swear by it while some are critical about implementing it on their websites. Hamburger menus are an easy way to clean your page as they help avoid clutter in navigations and make room for more valuable content.

Ghost Buttons

Ghost Buttons

Ghost buttons are transparent buttons outlined with a simple line and which are placed on the page while its inner text is a link text that is printed in light. They are either rectangle or square in shape and are impressive enough to be clicked and give an appealing look to the entire website. Additionally, it also lets the user focus more on the other important aspects of the page.

Hero Images

Hero Images

Hero images are HD images placed usually on the top and used to grab the attention of the visitors and explain them in a more specific way what the website is all about. Because they are high definition, big and bold images or graphics, it uses much of the resources and makes site load slower. But with the use of advanced data bandwidth and data compression features, the loading process can be improved and used in a better way to make a bigger impact on the audience.

Microinteractions

Microinteractions

Microinteractions are small interactions that we indulge in while we engage with a user interface for a single moment. Like switching off an alarm to using Twitter’s pull-to-refresh for latest updates, all are small interactions which we hardly notice until something goes wrong. Such microinteractions make website browsing a lot more fun and interesting if done well.

Including them are vital for website design today because they help in initiating a conversation with a user where you get a feedback or suggestion from them instantly. But dealing them with care is important as the interaction should feel human-like rather than robotic which can be a huge turnoff to the viewer.

Guidelines on following Design Trends

Following these hot web development trends will give your end user an enriching experience and will lift your business image from an ordinary website to one which people will be talking about and sharing with others.

For more information on how Synotive can help you leverage this emerging web design trends for your online business, contact us today.