Greensplash Design News What are the 2020 trends in web design?

What are the 2020 trends in web design?

6th January 2020

As we all know, web design is an ever evolving industry, with new tools and cutting edge visuals being updated all the time. Here we look at 6 of the most popular web design trends predicted for 2020.

Augmented reality

Augmented reality has been, in one form or another, around for a while now, but has never really popped in terms of web design. It has made its name predominantly in mobile games such as Pokemon Go and The Walking Dead. Enemies or creatures available for capture are transplanted over the top of the camera functionality to create the appearance of digital beings in the real world.

There are certain companies who have used this in a more practical way than merely entertainment purposes however, with IKEA offering their IKEA Place option, allowing a customer to project a virtual image of their new sofa into their living room to see how it would look. A sort of ‘try before you buy’ feature to ensure full satisfaction before forking out hard earned cash. Another example of this is Specsavers’ Virtual Try-On feature, which works the same way, allowing you to see how your snazzy new frames look before going down to the store and spending 12 hours of your life trying on every single pair. Augmented reality is on the rise. Usage is expected to skyrocket in the coming months. Keep your eyes peeled for this fantastic feature making an appearance over more and more sites soon!

Micro interactions

These are the subtle touches that bring a site to life, giving it a ‘living organism’ type feel. When you head to your favourite site, click a link and it changes colour? That is a micro interaction. When a call to action is magnified when hovered over? Yep. That’s a micro interaction too! The eagle eyed amongst you will also have noticed that when you react to a Facebook status, there is a brief animation when you do so. These subtle, and often unnoticed touches, are only noticeable when they are not there, but stop our pages becoming soulless. It brings a creative element to web design, rather than the flat, dull 90’s feel of web content. Expect to see even more and more of this throughout 2020!

Accessibility for users with disabilities

This is arguably one of the most important elements! In a society that focuses more and more on inclusion, we naturally want to make our sites easy to navigate for as many different demographics as possible. When we hear the phrase ‘disability accessibility’, we automatically think of wheelchair ramps and lifts, and rails in public restrooms. In the modern day world however, there is so much more to it than these things. With 4.39 billion internet users in 2019, it stands to reason that there are a number of disabilities unaccounted for. It might be as simple as louder audio for the hard of hearing, an option for larger text for those with sight issues, or offering a extra sensory disorder considerate page.

3D models

3D graphics were once a futuristic and unfathomable tool, reserved for the technical geniuses among us. This is no longer the case. The price of 3D models and their associated software is set to drop very soon. This is usually followed by a boom in popularity. Not only do these images look incredibly sophisticated, many have the option to be rotated manually. This gives an interactive element that will leave them smiling and feeling childlike wonder at the features of modern technology!

Voice

Voice is already an integral part of many devices, as we already have Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant and Bixby to name but a few. Many households are already a cacophony of “Alexa, play The Rolling Stones”, or “Ok Google. What’s the weather forecast for today?” There is however a new element to this voice operation functionality which could be just around the corner, and that is the introduction of audio chat bots. Many sites offer the facility to hold a text conversation with a bot, usually as a quick and efficient way to answer any queries held about a particular site or service.

The unveiling of audio chat bots, allowing the user to hold a fully fledged conversation is a mighty exciting prospect! Not only does it become easier to accurately explain the question you might have, but also goes back to our earlier point about accessibility, simplifying things for those who struggle with sight related problems. All in all, a very exciting next step!

White Space

Gone are the days of sites bursting at the seams with an eye-watering explosion of animations and stickers. Many sites and companies are now opting for a simpler, sleeker and more streamlined approach. Aiming for more white space within their pages is a must. This gives a professional and executive feel, yet still leaves plenty of space for a perfectly placed image or video to break up the previously mentioned drab and un-engaging flatness. It’s a fine balance between boring and streamlined. If one can navigate this tightrope correctly, you will leave your users blown away by your professionalism!

In summary, these are just a handful of the many coming trends in 2020! It is an exciting time for the world of web design! It is only going to get better and more advanced! Get in touch with greensplash today, and we can help you stay ahead of the curve!

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