Emerging UI Design Trends: Opening the Door to Engaging User Experiences
With rampant technological advancement in the 21st century, everything is about consumers nowadays. Many website and app holders see disheartening statistics of users abandoning them in a matter of seconds and are left questioning their efforts. The most straightforward reason for this is that the best technology does not demand users to spend too much of their time and exhaust 
their already busy brains. The problem seems to lie with poor UX/UI design failing to create an instant attraction to your app.
Indeed, these two aspects form the pillars to prevent your users from experiencing the gentlest nudge in knocking down their attention. Hence, setting the UX/UI design strategy has the potential to make or break your brand. Well, is that all? Not really! UI design and the expectations of the users are ever-changing. You are not done with an effective UI/UX technology lest you are well-informed of current trends and leverage them whenever possible. Significantly, the Covid-19 pandemic has immensely changed the way we “internet.” There has been a shift in behavioral patterns, with the virus outbreak pushing us in front of the screens for work, play, and entertainment, making way to an entirely new set of UI design trends. Without much delay, here we go!
Aesthetic Minimalism:
The easiest way to encourage user engagement is by making your product stand out. And what’s more aesthetically pleasing than a minimal and straightforward, readable UI with no fancy additions? With minimalism under preference, it’s safer to shun gaudy and flashy colors but use vivid ones with a softer gradation so that users remember and differentiate your products.
The point is to limit the contrast and promote smoother color transitions to guide the users in the right way. As opposed to using “screaming” colors, complementary and softer colors are the trends that give depth to your product. Users are also more likely to relate your brand to the wise choice of color combinations you mix. The Instagram logo is a typical example of such an intelligent choice of gradients topping it with minimalism.
Mixed Typography
An effective UI and positive UX is also the result of what is written on the screen just as much it is about the colors and gradients. But it’s so much more than just choosing a font – this year, you get to mix your interests and break the conventional way of using typography in your websites. Huge and sophisticated text is in fashion, and you need not shy away from using them anymore. Users tend to get attracted to the unlikely combination of fonts (not in a sentence) in different parts of the website. As long as this promotes readability, relevance, and brand value, mixed typography is an excellent technique to catch the user’s eye.
Immersive 3D Elements
3D doesn’t sound like something revolutionary, isn’t it? Well, it’s true, but 3D Visual elements integrated with AR and VR technologies are here to stay. Hyper-realistic 3D visuals are the new norm and are likely to stretch the boundaries that lay between real life and the digital realm. Users remain curious and engaged giving them depth, shadows, lighting, and textures that draw them into the screens making the final product look astounding. Although you need a website that performs exceptionally well under heavy 3D content, this has become a trend to keep check of in case you wish your business to progress in leaps and bounds. VR/AR is not leaving any soon and with the pandemic, people have stopped perceiving them as being only for entertainment’s sake.
Glassmorphism
The newest addition to the UI family or the latest craze that users can’t get over? You may see it either way. But glassmorphism is eye-catching as it can get. Just as the name suggests, it is a UI design that creates a background blur for objects allowing colorful backgrounds to shine through leaving an impression of transparent frosted glass.
It closely resembles milky glass surfaces where the objects placed on them seem to float in space. The effect is the result of multiple elements that create the illusion of glass-like panels floating over a background. Although glassmorphism is not a brand new idea, its popular usage in web and app design, the user’s love for pleasing glossy surfaces has brought it to the mainstream. You may have noticed a similar look and feel when Apple introduced iOS 7 in 2013. The notification bar popping up with a blurred glass surface in the background gave rise to a refreshing and stylish user interface. Despite taking a backseat for a while, it re-emerged in November 2020 with MAC OS Big Sur. The transparency, multi-layered approach, and vivid colors complete the look of glassmorphism. Moreover, it’s important to not overuse it keeping it constrained to one element or two.
Touchless Interactions
The pandemic has made screen fatigue an all-time high. And users prefer interacting with websites without actually touching them. In other words, they would love to take some time off-screen shifting from visual to voice and gestures. Therefore, it’s high time that your brand incorporates voice search or interaction features to reach a wide variety of audiences. When technologies like voice chatbots and virtual assistants talk to users it seems more human-like and convenient.
Similarly, touchless interfaces give way to gesture control mechanisms where users can make things work merely with movements in the air.
Motion UI
This is a trend that never becomes a thing of the past. As long as there are users who love watching engaging and animated stories, your brand needs to keep them alive and attracted. A motion UI is far effective in helping users comprehend and remember a brand ideology and message. 2021 is going to be the year of animations and micro-interactions that will bring a delightful user experience to their table.
Microinteractions entice users with simple animation or motion that arises while pressing a button or while the website loads. It can appear in different forms throughout the user’s interaction with the brand. Although it has no particular utility, micro-interactions generate positive feedback in terms of the overall experience.
Full-Screen Performance
Screens come in all sizes and it’s important that your website looks superb even on giant monitors and tiny mobile surfaces. Ensuring that your content or message takes a full-screen display can remove the distractions that might take your visitors away. All the attention is captured on to the story you wish to tell quickly, clearly and in a beautiful and engaging way. Immersive full-screen capability works magic when you club it with the previous trend of minimalist design. After all, you need to make sure that people stick to your website, then why not use the whole screen to strike a deal? With foldable devices rising into popularity, 2021 is certainly going to be the year of full-screen immersive design.
Dark Mode
UX/UI designers are shifting their focus to the dark mode. Increased screen time and exposure to bright light have emphasized the importance of dark mode in 2020 and will carry on in 2021 too. Without compromising on elegance, style, and modern look, you can switch from black to white making your websites trendy. Users tend to prefer browsing through apps and websites that reduce screen fatigue and cause less strain to their eyes. Additionally, dark mode draws attention to things that matter on a page and also saves the user’s device battery too.
Strike Business Goals with Pattem’s User Experience Design Services!
Everything experienced by the end-user is part of the design process. And we at Pattem Digital work together with your brand to shape every digital interaction of your users into a delightful experience. As a leading UI development company, we are committed to finding solutions in a way that the users can easily accomplish a task every time they encounter your web design. Our innovative research first-design process empowers both web and mobile UI UX design offering both style and substance. Let’s work together every step of the way towards an intuitive, expandable, and friendly user interface. Contact us right away!
