Technology is changing faster than ever, and website design trends are no different. The design elements that were once modern may have become outdated. You don’t want any visitors to leave your website because you’re using an old design or one that does not meet the standards for user experience (UX) that people expect today.
Our web design team has compiled a list of the latest website design and development to-dos to generate highly-functional, easy-to-use websites that are well-performing and look great. In this blog, we want to share some of the latest things you need to know about website design in 2022.
Vital Website Design Tips
Here are 25 tips that you should focus on to understand better how to create an impactful and successful web design.
1. Website Load Time and Page Speed
One of the most crucial web design standards is ultra-fast load time. Quick loading times have been a factor in UX and SEO for years, with studies saying that more than half of internet browsers expect websites to be quick enough – so if your site takes longer than three seconds to load one of your web pages, there’s a slim chance that visitors will stay (or take your offer).
Website performance is an important factor in the success of any company. A study done by Pinterest showed that reducing wait times can result in more traffic and sign-ups for your business, while slow browsing leads to you losing customers! The average person online has a very short attention span.
Mack Media focuses on conversions – how fast users get their content delivered has always been one of our top metrics when looking at website speed because good UX can possibly mean converting browsers to “buyers”.
2. Bold Color
What better way to stand out from the crowd than by being bold, color-wise? The internet is full of soft neutrals, so why not do something different and start using some bolder, more noticeable colors for your site design?
Many graphic design experts prefer something bolder, because it helps users associate certain emotions or feelings with each brand.
3. Chatbots
Chatbots are a popular feature that has been around for a few years and will continue to be relevant in 2022. With artificial intelligence getting more sophisticated, we expect chat bots to become the norm when answering simple customer service requests or helping with personal requests.
The chatbot can help your customers by giving them the option of getting in touch with a phone support representative. This is beneficial for both parties because it saves you money on hiring live people to answer calls. Plus, you can be sure that your customer service people only handle issues that require their skills. I mean, hiring someone just to answer queries like, “When is your sale gonna happen?” is not productive at all.
4. Voice-Activated Interface
Voice interfaces are becoming increasingly popular as more people demand access to information through their voices instead of typing out search queries on keyboards. This means web design needs updating for sites to keep up with this new trend, but it won’t go away anytime soon because there’s too much demand from customers!
5. Virtual Reality
Virtual reality is another trend that has been around for a few years, and it’s here to stay. While not all businesses will need to implement VR into their web design, those in certain industries can use it to give their customers a more immersive experience.
6. Micro Interactions
Micro interactions are tiny details that don’t seem like they would have a big impact on the user experience, but they do. Things such as hover effects, loading animations, and feedback icons all help to improve the overall UX of your website.
7. Micro Animation
Micro animations are small, yet incredibly helpful when it comes to guiding users through their interactions with your website. These little guys can make all the difference between an uninterested user quickly leaving or someone staying on your webpage longer than they had planned.
In 2022, we’ll start seeing micro-animations in use for more than just trendy websites. As our UI/ Production Designer explained, it’s because they are able to make things move fluidly on a curved or wheeled surface instead of flat plane, which gives an impression that these products have life and movement when really there isn’t much going inside other than pictures getting refreshed every second.
8. Minimalism (Flat Design)
Minimalism is not a new trend in web design. It’s typically associated with white space, but now we expect people will be experimenting with colorful minimalistic sites like those on Shopify, a company that does well at implementing minimalism. It has simple page layouts and bold backgrounds and colors in each webpage. Their pages branch out into various products or services offered online without being too overwhelmed.
9. Thumb-Friendly Mobile Navigation
In 2022, we will continue to focus on creating websites that work well for people using their phones as tablets. In other words: if you’re reading this message with your phone in hand and holding it vertically like an iPad or tablet device, you’re probably not doing so hot! Your fingers should be wrapping around the front side of any smartphone instead (or some other grip).
10. Smart Video
Video is the most effective way to get people onto your site. It’s engaging, and it can make videos feel more personal than text ever could! But you needn’t just use YouTube anymore. You have tons of other options like Vimeo or LinkedIn Video portals where you’re sure to find high quality content without having to deal with pesky copyright strikes from competitors trying to fit their own advertisements into yours.
11. Full Height Homepage Hero
Your homepage’s hero section is your own personal billboard. This space can serve as distraction-free messaging and help focus users’ attention on what really matters to you. Think of full screen designs as an opportunity for great storytelling with images that crop perfectly based on browser dimensions so they don’t fit snugly around content but instead leave room below or beside it without sacrificing quality shots.
12. Blending Photos with Graphical Elements
Companies are using a creative new technique to make their content more interesting and engaging. The trend, called “overlapping graphics” or mixing photography with other elements like text on images in social media posts has caught on fast because of how it adds an extra layer for viewers who may not be able read the accompanying post all too well without assistance from context clues about what they’re looking at. Which can help build trust if you’re advertising something relevant!
13. Gradients
Gradients are an underappreciated design element that can be used to add depth, serve as a striking background or subtlety and texture. They’re also perfect for adding dimension in louder typefaces because they help soften hard lines without taking up too much room themselves. We see this trend evolving constantly with new variations coming out all the time.
14. Design Should Be Mobile-Friendly
To get ahead in the competitive world wide web, you need a website that can be easily viewed on mobile devices. Google also honors websites with good responsive design – meaning they will look great no matter what size screen your visitor has!
15. Consider Easy Navigation
It is important to have a user-friendly website so people can navigate and stay on your site for longer periods of time. This will allow you more opportunities during their visit, which could result in an increased conversion rate.
16. Smart Content Load
Lazy Load is a clever way to make sure your site doesn’t waste any valuable server time or bandwidth. When you use lazy loading, the web browser will only download what’s visible on screen without downloading off-screen content that might never be seen by visitors – saving both precious resources.
17. Personalized Content
Personalized content is crucial for e-commerce website owners. By displaying recently viewed, saved or liked products on the site and highlighting abandoned cart contents of returning customers, it can help increase conversions exponentially.
Personalized website content will continue to be a dominant focus for a successful web presence.
18. Accessibility and Availability
Inclusivity and accessibility are not just a trend; they’re essential to the way we live our lives today. You can’t be inclusive if your site doesn’t work for everyone; it’s no good having an excellent customer service experience or reaching new audiences when some of those people won’t have access to what you offer because of their disability.
A website that is fully accessible will often see higher conversion rates than one without these features – which means more sales in general (not only among users with disabilities). Plus, Google has announced dramatic changes around how sites should strive towards including all its visitors across every device possible—so making certain everything works smoothly everywhere at any time really matters now.
19. Interactivity
Adding interactive sections to your website is a great way not only to provide value for visitors, but also to get them engaged with the site. Interactive features allow you increased insight into who these people are and what they care about by asking questions that help shape content based on their needs.
20. Organic Shapes
Geometric shapes were a big website design trend in 2020, but by 2022 it’s all about organic shapes. Organic or fluid shapes aren’t straight lines and they’re also great for breaking up sections on your site without harsh angles that won’t leave you feeling comfortable looking at them too long.
21. Color to Express Moods
In 2022, we expect color to be bolder and more impactful than ever. In anticipation of this trend’s continued growth in coming years, and because it has proven successful for marketers throughout time-we predict that using colors mindfully will continue to be a significant strategy at brands across industries through 2020s!
The way people interpret colors varies depending on their personal preferences, but there are some general feelings associated with them: Green signifies nature/natural products while red stands for energy & passion.
22. Material Design
Let’s be honest, in 2022 we’re still going to be using Material Design. Introduced by Google in 2014, it’s a design language that uses tactile surfaces, realistic lighting and shadows, and eased animations to create user interfaces that feel like real-world objects.
23. Text-Only Hero Images
It’s no surprise that newspapers have been using eye-catching headlines and hero sections to increase sales. The internet equivalent of this is at the top of a webpage, which we call “above the fold.” A trend in recent years has been drawing attention by removing typical background images from webpages so they can be replaced with fonts designed for quick recognition. Think bold or unusual typefaces like those seen on social media feeds today.
24. Hidden Navigation
Hidden or off-screen navigation is a great way to declutter a website and make it more user-friendly. This design trend has been around for a few years, but we think it’s still going strong in 2022. By hiding navigation behind a hamburger icon or other button, you can give visitors a cleaner experience that’s less overwhelming.
25. Oversized Elements
Oversized elements are a great way to make a statement on your website. They can be used for headlines, call-to-actions, or even just to add some visual interest. This trend is especially popular on landing pages where you want to grab the visitor’s attention and guide them towards acting.
Key Takeaways
These are the 25 things you need to know about website design in 2022! Website design is always changing and evolving, so it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and best practices. By keeping these trends in mind, you can create a website that’s not only stylish and modern, but also user-friendly and functional.
Get in touch with us today. Contact Mack Media!
