10 Rising Web Design Trend of 2015

The web world has really changed a lot in the past few years. If you see ten years back, you will notice that a common layout pattern was followed by various websites. The go-to pattern included a footer, header, and content area, which was the expected layout pattern for the website. The introduction of Micromedia Flash gave a new way to the era of alternate layouts that did not stick to this pattern. Though with the inception of Flash this formula faded for some time, it is back with new advanced features.

Today, an average user looks for more than just an aesthetically stunning website. An attractive website, which does not function well can also frustrate its users. Developing a site, which balances function, aesthetics, as well as content, is more likely to engage a large number of online visitors. The biggest trends that dominated in 2014 include flat design, grid layouts, background videos, and rising capabilities of HTML5 APIs. So, do you know what trends and technologies will define the current year 2015? Smart web designers & thinkers have revealed that new trends & technologies are expected to transform the web in 2015. Some of the major predictions and web designs trends of 2015 are discussed below:

1. Responsive Technology Is Here To Stay: This year will see a shift where people will be browsing on their mobile devices instead of desktops and laptops. Users who feel inconvenience in navigating a site on their smartphones are less likely to return to it. It is necessary for the developer to consider user experience while developing a website. This is where responsive design technology comes into play. It allows a specific site to detect the screen size of the device on which it is being viewed and automatically adjusts itself to fit that screen size. Thus, it ensures the best possible user experience, regardless of the size and type of device.

2. Added Elegance With Ghost Buttons: The popularity and use of ghost buttons will continue to increase as the trend of background images increases. This minimal & smart design element adds classic touch and elegance to a website and is a pleasure to use. This sophisticated feature is expected to gain new focus this year. So, be prepared to view more ghost buttons. This stylish and visually appealing button serves as one of the best ways to include a call-to-action on a background image.

3. Page Speed Matters: Speed is one of the major considerations when it comes to offering an optimal experience to your visitors. Users will undoubtedly leave your site if it does not load quickly. Google states that a fast-loading website is likely to gain more customer retention, engagement as well as conversion. Speed matters a lot in the overall success of a website. A website’s download speed is one among the 200 ranking factors that Google uses.

4. Emphasis On Typographic Design: The type-kits that allow the use of beautiful typefaces and fonts have been usually expensive. Therefore the sites that rely on topographic design require large budgets, leaving behind the small companies out of that fun. This is however changing as the type-kits are becoming affordable and allowing theme designers to incorporate typographic flexibility in the themes, making type-centric and stylish design easily attainable for everyone having a WordPress theme.

5. Bootstrap For Responsive Site: Bootstrap is an open-source collection of tools, which is used for building websites & web applications. It consists of CSS and HTML-based templates for navigation, typography, buttons, forms, various other interface components, and JavaScript extensions. Compatibility with all the latest versions of web browsers is one of the best features of Bootstrap. Its 2.0 version supports responsive design. With its version 3.0, the mobile-first design strategy was adopted by Bootstrap, which emphasizes responsive web design by default. As internet usage on mobile phones is increasing rapidly, Bootstrap technology is here to stay.

6. Interactive Navigation For unique experience: Most of the websites include a navigation bar at the home page’s top, but now, it is an outdated idea. Many brands are integrating navigation elements into the pictures of the home page for an intuitive and creative experience. A website with interactive features engages visitors for a long time. Navigation will become simpler in 2015, making websites more user-friendly. Sticky or fixed navigation bars allow fast and convenient browsing. Furthermore, it is beneficial for content-rich websites as it avoids the hassles of scrolling back for navigation.

7. Single Page Design: As mobile usage for internet browsing continues to grow & web design continues to shift towards providing an effective and incredible mobile experience, the single-page design will continue to dominate. This is because scrolling a single page is easier, more intuitive, reduces load time, and offers a dynamic & interactive interface. Due to its potential impact on search engine optimization, a one-page design has its own importance and is a smart choice to go with. So, do not worry about the poorly implemented navigational menus, including drop-down tabs, but prefer a single-page site, which offers an elegant user experience.

8. Coding Automation Will Be Better: Gone are the times when just creating a quality code was enough. Today, there are countless people who can do this. Even, the need to code is declining with the inception of various coding automation tools. Adobe Reflow and Macaw are popular tools that allow designers to do most of the tasks of front-end coders. The tools are expected to become better and more sophisticated. Though these tools may not create better code than manual code, still, it will be good enough and ultimately, will result in more ROI.

9. Microinteractions: The coming years are expected to see more microinteractions for usual tasks. It is one of the popular trends to expect in 2015. They are perhaps contained product moments or modules on the site that revolves around one use case and often have a single main task. An email sign-up box that moves back & forth on the site can be a good example of this. When you sync your data, change a setting, login, choose a password, ‘like’ something, set an alarm, you are engaging with microinteractions.

10. HD & 360° Images For Shopping Portals: Google Shopping 360° Product Images program allow manufacturers to produce and showcase high-quality product images (360°) on Google Product Listing Ads and Google Shopping. Once a manufacturer has created an account on Google Shopping 360° Product Images, they can ship the items for generation of 360° Product Images. These images may incorporate 3D models that are available for various products. If merchants are selling these products on Google Shopping, then the pictures will display with the list of retailers available.

Conclusion

As the year 2014 has already left, there are various web design trends of the previous year that will go on with 2015. Some may be adopted as a standard practice while others may fade away. For instance, a popular trend of single-page design with parallax scrolling has been in practice for the last few years. It involves the use of CSS3 & HTML5 to create an effect of background pictures moving slower in comparison to the foreground elements.

Though parallax sites are visually appealing but do not rank well on search engines. Some are even too heavy to be quickly loaded on mobile devices. So, we need to wait & watch if the trend of parallax scrolling continues in 2015. 360° Images for online shopping portals is another trend, which is likely to gain popularity in the coming years.