1. Large Background Images
Photographs play a major role in digital communication, whether it’s an eCommerce store, portfolio or blog. People use images to engage more with users and illustrate the message they are trying to send.
The Nielsen Norman Group studies have shown that people generally ignore cheesy and artificial looking photos. However, 2015 is the year of genuine imagery and you should take advantage of using real photos to connect with your audience in a genuine way.
Natural and real photography resonates with people, instead of using cheesy stock photos. Grain & Mortar used an informal shot of their team that connects with the visitors very well.
2. Video Backgrounds
Websites generally are storytelling tools and storytelling can be more effective when visuals and motion are involved so the ideas and emotions can be transferred to the visitor easier. We’ve seen businesses implementing video in their websites. In 2015, this trend will grow even more with the endless possibilities of 3D graphics and HD quality videos to build that impression of real life experience.
Users prefer content in a visual format, which explains why online content video views have finally topped 50 billion views each month.
3. Personal Branding
Personal branding exists whether you focus on it or not. Your identity and your image (how you are perceived by other people) are very different. The main focus of personal branding is to align vision and mission so you are perceived as you’d like to be instead of people speculating and having different opinions about you.
4. Mobile First Websites
Web usage patterns are changing and statistics cannot be ignored if you want to succeed in today’s market. Every third website visitor now uses a mobile device and websites that do not offer mobile optimised versions are causing an unpleasant experience and eventually losses money as users tend to abandon the website if it doesn’t render well on mobile device.
The number of people using mobile devices outstripped people on desktop computers in 2014. Adopt a mobile first approach when designing or redesigning your website to ensure that you maximize your potential and reach more of your target audience. This means you have to be brief, focused on the content and performance which takes advantage of advanced features, like mobility, GPS, touch screen and more, that desktops aren’t able to offer. In 2015, we’ll be seeing the continuous growth of mobile web design development and spectacular innovations based on the ever changing market behavior.
5. Modular Design (Grid Based)
Modular or grid based design, also known as cards/tiles design approach, is not new in the web design scene, but it started to get more traction as it is reusable and very responsive-friendly with the tiles stack nicely on different screens and form a flexible layout that looks nice and clean on any screen size.
One of the best known examples of modular design is the Microsoft Metro style which doesn’t seem to be very successful, though. However, many web apps like Pinterest, Instagram, Designspiration are utilizing the grid based design very successfully.
6. One Page (Single Page)
It simply makes more sense as users love scrolling (nearly 90% of visitors will scroll until the bottom.) Scrolling is winning over clicking due to the changing web browsing patterns. Mobile device usage growth has influenced the way websites are designed. People prefer to scroll around instead of clicking on the links and waiting for the content to appear.
7. Material/Flat Design
Flat design was quickly adopted by designers and big tech companies. Some of the advantages of using the new paradigm are that flat design forces designers to focus more on content, pick the right colors to help users navigate through designs, and use white space with care.
The popularity of Google Material Design philosophy is being embraced by many designers and developers that lead to cleaner and more organized digital products which can be used without the users having to learn the complex curve. Research conducted by Usabilla shows that web designers are in favor of the flat design movement.
