If you want your web design to be current and cutting edge, you need to stay up on the trends that are most popular in any given year.
While there’s no substitute for classic and user-friendly designs, adding in a few bells and whistles allows your site to remain current and modern. This strategy is particularly important if you want to attract a younger crowd.
It takes users a mere 0.05 seconds to decide whether or not they like your site and bounce away. You don't have long to hook them, so any small thing you can do from a design standpoint to grab their attention and make your site stand out is worth it.
Here are nine of the more interesting web design theories you’re likely to see in 2019:
1. Speed Still Matters
When it comes to how fast your website loads, speed still matters. You have around three seconds to make an impression, and if your site doesn’t load and grab your site visitors in that time frame, they’re likely to bounce away to another site.
The very first thing you should look at when designing or redesigning your site is how fast the design loads and if there’s anything you can do to make it load more quickly or seamlessly. Conduct speed tests on several themes until you find the one that loads fastest and works well for your site.
2. Websites Become Personalized
Expect websites to become even more personalized in 2019 and for user experience to reflect this trend. People are tied to their mobile devices these days, and more and more households are using smart systems like Alexa.
This connectivity allows web designers to create sites that personalize the user experience and deliver content based on the person's gender, age, and even personal preferences.
3. Ecommerce Sites Add Features
In recent years, ecommerce has become more sophisticated, and this trend continues in 2019. Not only are businesses now able to personalize experiences based on past orders, but bonus features, such as store locators, are nice additions that allow users to have a more integrated experience.
Expect to see retail locations integrating with websites. Apps allow users to have a multi-channel experience that remains similar across all interactions with a brand.
4. Mobile Comes First
Around 85% of adults state that a website should look just as good when viewed on a mobile device as when viewed on a desktop computer. Some think it should even look better than the desktop version.
If you haven't already jumped on the mobile first bandwagon, now is the time to do so. More and more people get smartphones and access the internet via mobile devices every day.
5. Brutalism Grows
Have you noticed the trend toward brutalism in design?
The term references big, blocky sections of color, lots of white space and default colors that work on any browser or device. It’s a more simplistic approach to web design and has a newsprint feel to it.
If your audience loves to absorb information, this approach is probably a good choice for your web design and will show that you’re up on the trends.
6. Back to Static Websites
For websites that don’t need a lot of bells and whistles, such as a site simply presenting information, going back to a basic HTML design might be the smart choice. This type of site loads at ultra-fast speeds.
Today's designers are using static website generators to test out a variety of concepts. Sites such as Jekyll allow users to try out static designs.
7. Typography Grows in Importance
Typography has always been a vital part of any design, but artistic designs and a closer look at the personality of various types make it more important than ever. Expect bolder typefaces and type to take on more artistic elements, such as being part of a larger image, showing images from cutouts, and featuring art within big block letters.
More and more brands continue to create fonts specific to them so that their logo stands out from the crowd. Expect to see more of this personalized design in 2019.
8. AI Appears More and More Frequently
In the last few years, artificial intelligence (AI) has appeared more and more. Today, there are AI bots that help you create a website on the fly or interact with site visitors without an actual human having to lift a finger.
Expect to see AI implemented in more designs throughout 2019 and beyond. How did we get to this point?
Google Home and Apple's Siri already utilize artificial narrow intelligence to interact with people. Amazon, Spotify, and Netflix use lesser AI to reach consumers. There are smart home devices, such as Amazon's Alexa-powered Echo, and self-driving cars.
As people become more familiar with this technology, expect to see it more frequently and in unexpected places. More than likely, it will show up in the form of chatbots when it comes to web design elements.
9. Websites Feature More Videos
Content shifts to videos more than text as the trend toward online video viewing continues. In 2017, Facebook generated about eight billion video views every day. In 2018, over 500 million hours of video are watched on YouTube every day.
It’s predicted that by 2019, consumer internet traffic around the world will equal about 80% of all traffic. With such an upward trend toward video viewing, expect to see more video content on websites and social media sites going forward.
Upcoming Web Design Trends
These are just a few of the upcoming web design trends likely to take hold in 2019. There are many other unique aspects of design that appear from year to year.
The key to keeping your site current is to study other top designers and stay on top of what big businesses are doing with their websites. Then, you can simply adapt those theories for the specific business website being designed.
Lexie Lu
Lexie Lu is a freelance graphic designer and blogger. She keeps up with the latest design news and always has some coffee in close proximity. She writes on Design Roast and can be followed on Twitter @lexieludesigner.