Technology is rapidly evolving and that is the reason why UI/UX Trends don’t last long in the digital landscape.
Because of the rapid transitions in the digital landscape, companies must keep their eyes on recent trends in order to stay relevant and to stay ahead of the competition.
If you are a business owner hoping to gain more exposure from your website or a software developer who wants to create a successful app, here are the UI and UX trends to watch out for in 2019.
Design that Works on Multiple Devices
It’s no secret that you need to optimize your business for mobile users. This is because 52% of all website traffic was generated through mobile phones in 2018. If your business is not optimized for mobile, you risk losing customers. Simply put, mobile is the way to go.
However, mobile optimization alone won’t cut it in 2019.
More and more people are using smartwatches and a steadily increasing number of homes are becoming “smarter” with smart technology. This means you need to adapt to this change to create a dynamic multi-device experience for your audience or customers.
A great example of a business that has adapted to this UI/UX Trends change is Uber. Customers can book their ride through the Uber app which they can install in their mobile phone or in their smart speakers like Alexa and Google Home. This is important because speech recognition technology is rapidly evolving and has made a big splash in the mainstream market in recent years. In fact, 43 million Americans own a smart speaker and 50% of them own two or more of these devices.
Putting Attention to Details through Micro-animations
Micro-animations are small, preferably functional animations that support the user by giving visual feedback and displaying changes more clearly. These features are very valuable to designers as they depend heavily on them to bring the user interface to life.
However, the integration of micro-animations in the UI can be quite tricky. They need to be noticeable enough to enhance the user experience yet subtle enough to keep them from being distracting.
“You wouldn’t make every sentence of a document into a heading. The same principle applies to animation,” explains Sophie Paxton in Your UI Isn’t a Disney Movie. “Consider every animated element in your UI to be the equivalent of a heading in a written document. It should be used to signal the importance of an element.”
Improve your UI with micro-animations this year if you still haven’t.
Darkness, Vibrant Colors, and Gradients
Color has a great influence on the success of a business and the same concept applies to UI/UX Trends design. Every color needs to be relevant to the brand and needs to fit together like pieces of a puzzle to create a great experience for its users.
It’s a good thing, then, that our screens are more than capable of picking up a vast ensemble of colors. This means that this is going to be a fantastic year for incorporating gradients and vibrant hues in your UI.
A gradient is the blending and gradual shifting of colors from one color to another, which is commonly used to add depth to a design. For a long time, solid colors were the kings of UI. But in recent years, and especially in 2018, there was a slight resurgence of gradients. When Instagram changed their logo to what it is today, everyone definitely noticed. Now, gradients are slowly becoming a popular choice among creatives.
Another color trend that resurfaced last year the appearance of dark themes, which featured vibrant colors against a dark background. Businesses used to avoid dark themes like the plague. Now, darker themes are a thing as users seek to diminish the amount of blue light to which their eyes are subject. App giants like Facebook Messenger and Twitter now allow their users to switch to dark themes. Other apps have since followed suit as they allow users to view their apps in night mode.
3D Graphics and Deep Flat
Using 3D in UI would definitely make any business stand out because of UI/UX Trends. But not a lot of companies make use of this art style. That is because 3D costs a lot to make and takes a long time to load. And as attention spans grow shorter and the collective patience growing thin, this isn’t a good thing.
Despite all the negative press surrounding 3D graphics, they still managed to reach this year’s trends to watch. This is due to the workaround created by designers that allows them to simulate 3D elements on flat images. This faux-3D style of art is called the “Layered Image Still Effect.”
Deep flat, also known as the “Flat Design 2.0”, is another trend that you need to keep tabs on. It is an emerging favorite among designers because it provides more depth and direction by adding small details and visual cues on the graphic while still focusing on the simplicity of flat design.
To illustrate the difference, here are examples of traditional flat graphics (referred to as Flat Design 1.0 in the graphic) and deep flat (referred to as Flat Design 2.0 in the graphic).
Source: Blue Compass
In 2019, add depth and dimension to your UI by incorporating 3D and deep flat design elements.
Make it Personal
The web is oversaturated with businesses. Consumers see ads no matter where the click and every website seem to be selling them something. In 2019, you can’t create “one-size-fits-all” content and the “create it and they will come” adage now means nothing.
Through artificial intelligence and machine learning, businesses now have to capacity to take a personalized approach in serving their customers. Once you know what your audience or customers are interested in, you can now start creating campaigns that speak to them.
Businesses that run storytelling marketing campaigns have been seen success in the past and this trend will continue this year. This is because, in this highly digitized world, humans crave to feel – well human. Storytelling campaigns make people feel something and the more emotional connection they have on a product, the less skeptical they’ll be towards it.
And once skepticism is stripped away, it is only then that they are ready to buy.
