Twenty fifteen has brought many new web design trends, some worth looking at, and some to run away from. Web designers are using these trends, along with strong web design strategies, to make top notch sites. If you want your site to hold its own among the competition, staying knowledgeable about the newest designs and best user experience strategies for your website is key. Here are a few new features to watch out for as we finish out the year.
Bigger, Bolder Text
The heading or title is the first thing a user reads when they land on your homepage, so an easy to read, large font should immediately convey your brand name. Notice below how our brand name, Webspec Design, is displayed in a large bolded sans serif font, a piece of our logo that we chose to display, front and center, on our homepage. This is followed by what we’re known for (web design, development and marketing) in a smaller, scripted font.
Tip to Remember: Using the same few fonts consistently throughout your website design gives you a clean, stylized look, and helps build cohesion between your homepage and subpages.
Ghost Buttons
This trend gets its name from the transparent or empty look of the button. They are often placed over large image or video backgrounds (the one to the right is over our homepage video) and will light up or change color on hover. Ghost buttons provide a sleek-looking design that still allows you to showcase your background image or slideshow. Similar to normal buttons, ghost buttons are basically call to action buttons that intrigue the user to click. They have high user engagement and click through rates because of their different style.
Tip to Remember: While Ghost Buttons give your site a modern look, use them sparingly to maintain their effectiveness.
Fixed Navigation Bar
A fixed navbar or “sticky header” is an important design feature that increases a user’s experience on a website. Instead of scrolling back to the top of the page every time you want to navigate to a different page, the fixed sliding navbar moves with you, always remaining at the top of your viewing screen. An even simpler menu option is known as a hamburger menu or nav drawer. This menu remains in the top corner (often left) of your site and functions as a drop down menu to display all the pages and subpages on the site. Users have become accustomed to clicking the hamburger menus to display menu options because many mobile apps on phones and tablets use this menu style.
Tip to Remember: There is some controversy about the navigation experience of the hamburger menu and belief that it decreases user experience by hiding content behind the menu. While there are definitely advantages to each type of menu, it ultimately depends on the needs of your target audience and what they’re comfortable using.
Long Scrolling Sites
The popularity of fixed scrolling navbars has encouraged web designers to experiment with long, scrolling sites. The layout of these sites often make it easier for a user to quickly get more information than if they had to navigate from page to page. Interactive text, icons and animations encourage the user to continue scrolling through the length of the website.
Tip to Remember: A scrolling layout needs special search engine optimization (SEO) considerations. If you’re considering this layout, make sure you’re working with a firm that has these interests in mind.
Engaging Visuals
High quality images are essential, but new visuals, such as icons, are an evolving trend that will help attract users to click through your website. Pairing an icon with a header will enrich your content and can be very effective on pages that are long and wordy. Readers are more likely to read text that is broken up into shorter paragraphs, and the same goes for text that aligns with icons. When icons are used, readers visually know what the content will be about.
Interactive icons take this whole idea a step further. Not only are interactive icons helpful for the user, but they are engaging. A site with interactive icons provides a memorable user experience and increases the amount of time users spend browsing your site. An example of interactive icons can be seen on our services page.
Tip to Remember: Keep the style and design of your icons consistent throughout your entire site.
Video Slideshows
A popular new trend in web design is the use of large, home page video backgrounds. Videos provide an interesting way to tell a story about your brand without relying on text alone, and can provide a face to your company while displaying the services you provide in a visual format. Webspec uses video on our homepage for just that reason – we want you to get to know us from the minute you land on our site.
Tip to Remember: If you chose to have a video auto-play in the background, carefully consider if there should be sound associated with it. Some audiences may be turned-off by this sudden intrusion into their day.
Final Thoughts
Aside from using what is trending and popular, your website design should first and foremost appeal to your audience and industry goals. When crafting original, inspirational web design, the use of basic web design strategy and new trends in the right balance is essential. Combine the latest and greatest trends with original concepts, and your website will have a stylish look, appeal to your audience, and be easily navigable for your user to find the content they need.
