10 UX design trends to follow in 2016

It is important to have a good-looking, top quality website as it attracts audience. But it is equally essential to have a a user experience design so that people are able to interact with the site or app conveniently and comfortably. The audience should enjoy while interacting with your site, applications, products etc.

In simple words, make sure that the methods used to design a website is according to the need and taste of your target audience. A site should appeal to it’s users for instance, it should be well organized, easy to navigate, and offer the audience some benefit in order to succeed. According to an article published on blog.invisionapp.com, 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience.

Therefore, if your are startup or have a small business then having a user experience design is key for growing your company. Your site is the first thing users see and therefore a good user experience will only increase the traffic on your site and make them come back to your site.

Now, as the technology changes so fast, so does the user experience design trends. Let’s have a look at the top 10 UX design trends & predictions for this year.

1. Anticipatory design will become common

Anticipatory design is a way of simplifying the processes as much as possible for the audience, reducing difficulty by taking decisions on their behalf. Some basic features of anticipatory design that are being used for long include pop-up boxes, in-app notifications, recommendations and geolocation. These days, there are other tools as well that act as a personal assistant for the users. For instance, Google Now provides information to the user based on the search results. If you have a restaurant reservation, it suggests you about traffic conditions on that route.

2. User-centered design will rule

User-centred design (UCD) refers to creation of a design after talking to and taking views of the users so that what they see and experience is their taste and preferences. There will be more emphasis on how a user would like using the product than how you want the user to use it. At every level, business owners should consult people before developing the site or product further. According to Growthhackers, ESPN.com revenues jumped 35% after they listened to their community and incorporated suggestions into their homepage redesign.

3. Being persuasive is a must

Having an easy-to-use interface of your website or product is not enough. Being persuasive is a must these days. It is important that the designers know about how to use psychology techniques so that people are encouraged enough to take actions. I mean, if you understand the working of a human mind, it will be easier for you to grab their attention and retain it. For instance, by giving a free shipping offer can persuade your customers to buy from your site.

4. Wearable devices are in

Wearable devices are the latest things, especially after the launch of Apple Watch and Google Glass. An article published in Forbes reveals that 245 million wearable devices will be sold in 2019. Therefore, marketers should also keep in mind these devices while developing designs for their apps or site. The content should be optimized in such a way that it takes only a few seconds to open it. Also, colour, texture and font are crucial to people visiting your site or app.

5. Embrace interactive prototyping

It has become essential for all small businesses and startups to create interactive prototypes for validating user experience. An interactive prototype helps designers to set up the final designs with minimal efforts without any further help of developers. It will let you know where a user might face a problem.

For instance, companies such as Invisionapp, Marvelapp, Flinto and CanvasFlip create interactive prototypes in minutes. Your prototype will display what you think about user experience.

6. Power of swipe

This is an era of touchscreen. There is not even a single youth who has not experienced touchscreen. In fact understanding a smartphone comes very naturally to them. This itself shows that these types of gesture interactions make working on mobile devices quite easy and fun. Such interactions add value to the user experience as they are intuitive. With a ‘swiping’ interface, you can offer best possible experience to your users. So, don’t shy away from doing an experiment.

7. The potential of layered flat design

These days, designers and users prefer flat designs because of their simplicity and user-friendliness. An article published in webinsation.com states that every designer is adopting the trend of “flat design” and applying it to their work. There are no added features such as 3D effects or shadows but just a flat design which is simple yet elegant. If you haven’t embraced flat as yet, do it NOW! For instance, the website Space Needle has truly captured the flat design trend. However, make sure that important design elements such as your custom logo design and contact details aren’t buried under the fold.

8. UX for smart TVs

With smart TVs being taking a place in our houses, marketers are thinking to launch apps that will connect consumers to TV. However, it is quite visible that TVs are not such big buzzwords as smartwatches were. But you should not commit this mistake as TVs can help you reach a large part of audience and sell more products.

9. Enigma of design animations

Design animations make user experience better in a way that it helps in concentrating on one item, it can guide the user of the further action and it will help you manage time efficiently by giving a message (your friend is writing). Animations let you interact with your customers and not let them get bored. For instance, you are urged to wait at the interface when you see a message that your friend is typing a response whether on Facebook, Whatsapp or Slack.

10. The rise of storytelling

Having good quality, authentic content is not enough. Content in the form of a story will add x factor to your business as users find it easy and fun to consume content that way. And this, let us tell you in advance, won’t be an easy task. You will need to tell the information about your product or service in the form of a story. For the content to be effective, you need to make users a character in the story, make all your visuals react, gamify your product, decide on the beginning, middle and the end. For instance, check out an amazing example of photo-storytelling by Housing.com in their app. After using the storytelling technique, conversions and engagement on Housing.com’s new App doubled.

Conclusion

So, there you have it! We are sure that after reading these 10 UX design trends and predictions, you must have been convinced to design your site according to the taste and preferences of your consumer. This will be the key priority for many companies in 2016 and it will be better if you embrace it too! Read more here.