Web Design Trends to Expect in 2017

01/08/2016

Haptic Feedback

Haptic feedback back refers to the tactile feedback received when a user engages with an interface through touch; this informs the user that their interaction has been recognised. With the growth of mobile devices, this technology has become increasingly more sophisticated and will continue to develop as hardware costs fall. As the technology is more accessible, we can innovate new ways to enhance the user experience through touch, such as directing a user to a button with subtle pulses. We can even introduce a sense of texture on the page to delight and engage our users for longer.

Optimized Interstitial Anxiety

Interstitial Anxiety refers to the short delay a user suffers between an action and a response, such as the time between clicking a button on a page and viewing the target page. High latency and page load times result in a period of anxiety where the user is left puzzled and confused. These experiences are frustrating for users and may even discourage them from using your website in the future.

However it is possible to utilise this time with transitional elements and effects. These retain the engagement of the user whilst guiding them to their destination page, reducing any feelings of anxiety.

Age Responsive Design

Today responsive design is concerned with adapting content to fit the screen of the user's device. Age responsive design will consider the competency of the user in order to tailor content to their needs. Advertising companies are already adapting content online to the specific interest of users, and it is not unlikely for similar considerations to be made when designing for websites in the future.

By 2017 age specific adaptations for websites will include:

• Navigation menus will expand and contract based on the competency of the user. Inexperienced users will see stripped-down interfaces, interacting with limited but familiar features.
• Font size and letter-spacing will vary naturally, increasing to accommodate those with impaired vision.
• Colour schemes will adapt, where brighter colours are likely to be more engaging for the younger user.

Material Design to Textile Design

It can be said that 2015 was the year of minimalist design on the web. This trend solved many issues for the user as well as creating new ones. Like all trends, design on the web needs to evolve in order to accommodate the demanding changes in technology. With a shift towards technologies such as VR, where digital environments need to create the illusion of another reality we have to question the longevity of this minimalistic trend.

As we enter into this multi-dimensional future of the web, the fundamentals of the material design language are hugely inadequate for this space alone. We will begin to see the return of skeuomorphic elements (digital elements that resemble their real world counterpart) inclusive of our other visual metaphors. This is being referred to as Textile Design, a mix of numerous design metaphors, aesthetics and technologies.