Top 10 Web Design Trends To Watch Out For In 2016

Web design is a quickly changing industry where trends come and go. Websites today look quite different than they used to just a few years ago. They have evolved in almost every aspects: tools and technologies, performance and speed, workflow, best practices, interface, user experience and whatnot.

The web, as a whole, has evolved quite a lot in a few decades; technologies have changed rapidly and with that, changed people's pattern of web usage. So it's not really a surprise that web design sees a lot of changes in trends as the web community makes a constant effort to make the process of building websites easier and reliable.

As in any volatile industry, keeping up with these trends certainly means staying ahead of the competition. Here below, we have presented you the list of top 10 web design trends to watch in 2016 to help understand where the trend is going.

1. Vertical patterns and scrolling remains in the trend.

Since the explosion of mobile devices in the market, the number of internet users on mobile devices has long exceeded the number of desktop users to browse the internet. Along with that shift of trend, web design also saw the trend of vertical patterns and scrolling.

To fit to the smaller screens of mobile devices, designers adopt the vertical patterns and scrolling has won over clicking. People were debating the end of the scroll in web design a few years ago. Now, since everyone is touch scrolling up and down on their smartphones these days, scrolling has become an important interaction tool for mobile devices and desktops alike.

This trend seems to continue well into 2016 and beyond and it doesn't seem like it is leaving the trend town anytime soon. Recently the top website builders have also started to climb on this bandwagon.

2. More card-style interfaces are seen on the web

Lately the card-style interface has started to get more traction as they represent information on card/tiles making them organized for content heavy web pages. It was first popularized by Pinterest but it's not a new thing on the web design scene.

Drawn from the concept of modular design, it's reusable, user-friendly and has clean-looking flexible layouts for any screen size. It's safe to say cards are likely to crowd the web design scene this year.

3. Responsive design reigns as a best practice

Responsive web design has been the greatest trend in the web design for quite some time now, thanks to the swell in mobile internet usage and it is there to remain not just as a trend but as a best practice. Offering a rich mobile experience has become mandatory for websites to not lose the perspective users.

4. Flat design continues to rule

Flat design was embraced in web design to acquire better user interface, performance and speed, cutting down on heavy stylistic elements and emphasizing the minimalistic use of simple elements for usability, without compromising on user experience.

Being compatible with other trends like responsive web design, material design and minimalism, flat design delivers what it promises- allows interface designs to be more streamlined and efficient.

Flat design continues to dominate the web design trends to get websites to perform smoothly and deliver content effectively to viewers across different devices. So web designers aren't likely to be swayed away from it anytime soon.

5. Material design emerges as the game changer

Material design has now moved beyond mobile apps into the world of web design. Although the adaptation of material design seemed slow, web designers seem to be joining the material design movement now.

It has a lot in common with flat design trend with the same minimalistic approach. However, it makes use of depth and shadows to provide great UI and UX across different devices. It is for sure a richer alternative to flat design that will set a new standard in 2016.

6. Rich animations keep the users engaged

Animations are great tools to attract the user's attention and the web designers know it well that animated UI elements help engage the users. The trend of animation has continued to grow in popularity with dozens of libraries in the industry dedicated just for the purpose.

The use of tiny motion animations, background animation, hover animation, they have set a trend that is there to stay as long as the bandwidth keeps on getting wider.

7. Typography keeps on improving

Responsive design, flat design, material design- they have made it possible for typography to improve and set the trend of beautiful fonts in web design. Serifs and handwritings are making maximum use of different devices with increased resolutions, adding a special touch to websites. Experimenting with fonts continues to make them work well with other trendy elements.

8. UX design continues to be fine-tuned

UX has always been a major trend changer in the field of web design. Web designers have always kept the focus on UX design with the single goal of delivering a great user experience.

UI patterns have changed a lot from the cluttered arrangement of menu to the trend of cleaner
hamburger menus. Storytelling on websites has changed too from multipage approach to one-page long scroll vertical patterns.

Designers will keep on putting greater focus on UX design principles that can be applied to all digital interfaces in 2016 and beyond.

9. New designer tools rise on the web design scene

Different interesting designing tools are now in the marketplace to help designers do their thing. Photoshop was the name of the trend until recently but Sketch is quickly replacing it on the Mac for all UI design tasks. Sketch App on Mac is specially targeted for web and mobile designers to craft elements of UI. Although it has not been released for Windows yet, it has become a popular choice for design tool.

Adobe too has come out with Adobe Project Comet, a design and prototyping tool for web developers, to give Sketch a fair competition. These will be the developer tools in 2016 to watch for.

10. Background videos and large images become effective tools for quick communication

Higher speed connection and better video plugin integrations have made it easier to include videos in the websites. Custom explainer videos on the background have become an effective way to communicate with users to promote businesses.

Visuals attract attention quickly and easily. So, large sharp crisp high definition images on the background, relevant to the products, are being used in web designs. The trend is likely to continue in 2016 and beyond.