We may not be psychologically ready for the new year yet, but it’s time to take a look at the prevailing web trends for 2015 to make sure we aren’t missing a beat as we move forward into the new year.
Here is a list of the features you should already have or be seriously considering for your website in the new year:
- Responsive sites are now mandatory. A new challenge includes designing for the small displays on smart watches.
- Minimalistic buttons. Simple, clear buttons with colorful outlines and text that fill in to a solid color on the hover state.
- Typography has come of age. Services like Google Fonts and Adobe’s Typekit have helped to breathe new life into websites and mobile devices. Just keep an eye on load times and the number of font families to two or three at the most.
- Full-screen beautiful background images and videos. Blur and color filter overlays allow text to be readable when it’s on top of these large images.
- The long, scrolling page is here to stay. Fewer and longer pages are the new norm, so scrolling haters will need to make peace with this trend.
- Pinterest-style card design enhancements. More details are now possible to add visual interest to the layout we all love.
- The flat design trend continues. Subtle patterns and gradients are just fine to add visual interest when needed.
- Watch for more microinteractions. These include popup signup forms and more subtle to not-so-subtle movements on a page for the calls-to-action.
- Interactive storytelling will live happily ever after. Use an overall story, data and interactions to help get your message across.
http://thinkgreenmeeting.com
http://www.inception-explained.com
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/spc/new-older-workers/chapter-1-rethinking-retirement - A personalized user experience. For example, Netflix shows you what you just watched and offers suggested movies and shows for you to watch.
- Parallax scrolling effects. This dynamic 3-D motion is a beautiful and fun way to improve engagement by up to 70%.
- The infographic is evolving. A webgraphic is an infographic that is broken down into smaller pieces to allow for parallax and responsive design, in addition to user interactions with multiple links.
http://futureofcarsharing.com
Health, happiness and hipness in the new year. Cheers!