What are the essential design trends to watch in 2016?

Added 08.03.16
by SUKHBIR

Are you planning to have your website re-designed or are you starting a whole new venture and need a web presence to go with it? Zeemo is here who has an expert team of local website designers. Knowing what the essential design trends for 2016 are can go a long way towards ensuring that your website looks a million dollars. In the list below, we have outlined just some of the trends that seem to be popping up more and more often.

  • Return of the Scroll
    The small, vertically oriented screens of our smartphone and tablet devices have seen the scroll make a real come back. This was once something that people wanted to avoid by keeping as much as possible above the fold (as it was believed that users wouldn’t scroll), but it has once more become an integral part of the design process. It can also used to engage users thanks to animations and parallax effects.
     
  • Hidden Navigation
    More and more websites are using hidden navigation. Designers seem to be using one of two options – either a menu that pops out over only part of the screen, or one that pops out over the full screen. The full screen option works almost identically to the slide out style seen regularly in apps. The great thing about these oversized navigation menus is that they’re easy to read and click through – no more wrong clicks!
     
  • Micro-Interactions
    Micro-interactions are anything that helps a user to communicate with the interface, see an action take place or manipulate the interface. They’re so tiny, the user hardly thinks about it (such as swiping to refresh content). In the recent past, micro-interactions were almost exclusively found in apps. With the line between websites and apps becoming increasingly blurred, however, this is changing.
     
  • Wearable Devices
    The next phase of design is already here – as wearable devices increase in popularity, so will the design elements from these smaller screens. The elements that it is believed will most make a difference include: small, status-based animations, even more micro-interactions, and plenty of trackers. These devices also add another layer of gamification to our daily lives, which will likely carry over to design, too.

The next time you’re surfing the internet, consider how many of these essential web design trends are already being implemented into the websites that you commonly browse. Social networks like Facebook, for example, already have micro-interactions down pat, whilst hidden navigation is literally everywhere. Which of these trends can bring your website into 2016?