User Experience has grown from being a catchphrase associated with web development to an essential component to prioritize when creating and deploying digital products.
Let us explore some of the top UX Design trends characterizing 2020.
1. Animated illustrations
Visual appeals have characterized the UX Design landscape for years. The transition was from plain text to including pictures and images for a better and more memorable experience. Now developers are moving into subtle animations and illustrations as opposed to having static images. The transition to animated illustration is aimed to add a ‘human touch’ to the overall experience of products. Further, animations are more effective in grabbing the attention of a user compared to static images. This is because they add some element of life to an otherwise inanimate object. You can add extra personality to the products you are rendering and be more effective in converting leads to sales with animated illustrations.
Designers can use customizable design templates to add simple animations to landing pages and add CSS3 animations within the overall design of a digital product.
2. Asymmetry and Split Screen
With today’s devices that have characteristically wide screens, designers have the option to break traditional design rules. There is a shift from the classic block layout. UX Design is now incorporating more of asymmetrical design and split-screen to capitalize on the nature of current devices.
The beauty of the asymmetrical design is one can leverage the extra space to provide a combination of visual and informatics on the same screen. It also will become easier to organize content on websites and apps.
3. Dark Mode
Dark mode is one of the hot trends in UX Design. Apps like Twitter and Instagram have successfully launched this alternative theme for their users and the response has been positive thus far. Also, Apple and Android have incorporated alternative themes, including Dark Mode, to the mix.
Dark Mode is hot for a reason. Not only does it provide a more ultra-modern look, but it also helps in highlighting elements in the overall design. This is good for marketing products over digital platforms. Additionally, dark mode is friendly to user devices as it helps save device battery and reduces eye strains when one is in a dark place.
This trend is picking up with more applications giving users the option to choose between day and dark mode.
4. Immersive 3D elements
3D Design has always been fascinating to many. Now with advanced technologies such as Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, its popularity is expected to rise even further. With these technologies, UX Designers can now prettify websites and apps with hyper-realistic visuals that conform to the screen sizes of users.
When combined with the animated illustrations, immersive 3D elements in digital content create leeway for developers to offer a memorable experience to users while conveying messages more powerfully.
5. Micro-interactions
Interactions have been around for several years. They have been particularly prominent on social media platforms with features like “Like” and “Retweet” or “Share” buttons. These micro-interaction features are always small and naturally integrated into the overall design of the platforms. However, while they can almost seem unnoticeable, these are the features that make the platforms as big as they are.
Micro-interactions are now very present across multiple products. The features are being increasingly integrated into the design of websites and apps, allowing visitors to interact with specific elements of the overall product.
This trend of creating options for users to interact with fragmented elements of a whole product is expected to boom moving forward. The beauty is, with the advancing design of devices, there is more room for new and innovative ways of integrating micro-interaction features into the overall design of products.
6. The increased importance of usability testing
Amazing user experience encompasses creating designs and features that allow users to interact with the products and messages on a digital platform while maintaining their attention. As stated earlier, there has been an increased focus on visual appeals over text appeals. More to this, the trending ideology in 2020 is “More is less.” The idea is to communicate the most with the least.
It is important to go for the bull’s eyes and cut through the clutter. Your users should be able to discern the product and the messages without having to go through large volumes of content. The beauty of this is that it’s also cost-effective and allows you to explore more creative ways of expressing your message to your users.
7. Focus on meaning
For long, the conversation has revolved around, offering value to your visitors. But as time progresses, it is no longer about the emotional and sensational appeal you create. Meaning has to be attached to the overall narrative for the optimum experience.
This speaks to the importance of having a unique personality as a brand. Your uniqueness and identifiable characteristics/values should be reflected in the design and content of your digital product. It is no longer about creating beautiful animations. It is about creating content with tangible meaning.
8. Photography plus amazing graphics equals magic
Another important trend not to overlook is the overlap between photography and graphics. UX designers are leveraging blending these two elements to bring out the personality of products more boldly. It also creates room for developing more creative and catchy designs that hold user attention for longer.
Things become even more impressive when variable fonts are blended into the mix. Amazing product image, creative design and blended fonts can help catch the user’s attention while amplifying the message.
Conclusion
The UX Design landscape is evolving and becoming more exciting. Even with the ever-changing technology and design landscape, some of these designs are going to stick around for several years to come. But if there is a lesson to be learned from the trend, it is the importance of telling a compelling story about a product using more visuals and more texts. If people like what they see, they will stick around.
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