6 web design trends worth knowing for 2017. From hidden navigation and pop-out menus, to wearables and split screen, these are the web design trends we expect to shape 2017. 01. Hidden Navigation and Pop-out Menus At a time when browsing on mobile devices is more prevalent than on desktop, screen space is a valuable commodity. Hiding features and menus until they’re needed frees up the screen for the more enjoyable elements like images or videos, and creates a sleeker, minimalist design that makes it easier to focus. Choose a website builder: 16 top tools A near-necessity for mobile, hidden navigation also improves the UX for devices with larger screens. Benefits: Conserves screen spaceMore emphasis on navigationMinimalist design makes it easier to concentrateImproves appearance of first screenMore flexibility in overall design structure Best Practices Single-color overlay.
Large, simple typography. Hamburger and X icons (preferably with MENU label). Push or overlay content. 02. Containers and cards. Large, SVG icons. 03. Customize. Fubiz Media. Figma: the collaborative interface design tool. 18 web design trends for 2017 | Webflow Blog. As we look forward to 2017 — a year that hopefully won’t be plagued by the passing of so many of the world’s greatest artists and performers — the big question on every designer’s mind has to be: what will define design in 2017? So with that in mind, I decided to ask Webflow’s own designers what trends they think will dominate the world of digital design in 2017. (And wrote up a little commentary on their thoughts.) First, let’s hear from Webflow’s Chief Design Officer, Sergie Magdalin. 1.
Layouts that let content shine The arrangement of design elements within a given structure should allow the reader to easily focus on the message, without slowing down the speed of his reading –Hermann Zapf The last few years have seen a sea change in how people view design’s role in business. It’s been an amazing evolution to watch. And a fascinating element of that evolution has been the shift back toward a focus on content: the meat on the bones of the web. 2. 3. 4. 5. Grid by Example 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. The Best Feedback Widget For Tracking Bugs - Usersnap. Onboarding: Designing Welcoming First Experiences.
Last May I was given the great privilege to write a sidebar in Christian Crumlish and Erin Malone's fabulous new book, Designing Social Interfaces. The topic I was asked to write about is "onboarding"—designing welcoming experiences for new users by easing them in. You might have seen a couple blog posts that I've previously written about how Plurk and Yahoo! Shine handled the onboarding process. The authors have given me the permission to republish the sidebar here in full. I hope you enjoy it and find it valuable. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. When you're done reading, do yourself a favor and buy a copy of Designing Social Interfaces. What is onboarding, and why is it important? Most companies think that getting people to sign up is the ultimate challenge, but what about getting them oriented to your site and actually using it?
They say you don't get a second chance to make a first impression, and on the Web it's truer than ever. A prime example of great onboarding. Three Ways Brain Science Can Skyrocket Your Conversion Rates. Brain science is all the rage in marketing today. Why? As humans, we're naturally intrigued by the way our minds work. And as marketers, we're always intrigued by ways to better connect with our fellow humans. Brain science can be deployed at several points in the marketing funnel, but it's especially effective when optimizing a call-to-action (CTA). By using what we know about neuroscience, emotion, and human behavior, modern marketers can make small but strategic changes to their CTAs that drive more sales, make new connections, and boost their company's bottom line. Here are three brain-based click boosters that will take your conversion rates to the next level.
Click Booster #1: Pick the right color Human beings are hardwired to be visual creatures: 90% of the information that comes to the brain arrives via our optic nerve, and that visual data is processed 60,000 times faster than what our brain receives in text form. So, what color is right for your CTA button? 4 Value Propositions Worth Re-Thinking. Copywriting is a difficult task. It's one that most marketing and website professionals are required to do, yet few are really good at. Communicating a message in as few words as possible is tough, yet it's one of the most important elements of a good website homepage - especially when it comes to value propositions. Often discussed at great length at Website Magazine, value propositions are a promise of value to be delivered by a product or service. In other words, why someone would buy or subscribe to a product or service. While digital enterprises need to test to see which of their value propositions work best, we've listed four value propositions we feel have missed the mark.
The Missing Value Proposition Despite some value propositions doing more harm than good, the company that doesn't include a value proposition altogether is fairing worse when it comes to motivating users. The One That Relies On A Video The One You Can't Read The One That Is Too Vague oDesk UpTrending OrangeGlad. Form Usability: The Pitfalls of Inline Accordion and Tab Designs. During our e-commerce research studies, particularly on checkout usability, we’ve found that tab-style and inline accordion form layouts can inadvertently confuse users, or even flat out violate their expectations. The issue arises when users can’t figure out which form fields will be submitted – whether it is only the fields in the currently active inline accordion or tab “sheet”, or whether the collapsed “sheets” will be submitted as well.
In this article we’ll dive into the observations from our test sessions, highlight the issues and design affordances that both inline accordion forms and tabbed form layouts produce, and touch upon some design alternatives. During our mobile e-commerce study multiple subjects had issues with inline accordion forms, where other fields were placed above and/or below the accordion element or where the sections could be open and close ad-hoc. Lack of Predictability for Accordion and Tabbed Forms “Do I need to save the changes before I open another tab?” PROTOTYPAGE. Web Sites - How to Master the Balancing Act Between Web Design and Functionality. The technical and aesthetic components of "good" Web design are often presented as two competing forces, or separate entities that must be corralled into grudging cooperation for the sake of producing a functional product. However, by implementing a few best-practice development process strategies, Web designers and developers can work as a unified team to achieve a common set of project goals.
From a website's conception to official go-live date, the design and development teams need to have shifted out of their silos and onto the same workbench. 1. Know your audience Obviously, one of the first steps to striking a balance between design and functionality is to understand exactly how your audiences will be using your site. Are they searching for information or trying to make a purchase? A strong website facilitates its audience's goals through both appearance and usability. Bonding both design and development teams behind a common set of goals prevents power struggles later on. 2. 3. 4. 5. 35 Beautiful Progress Bar Designs. Editor’s note: For a newer, updated version of this post, check it out here.
As Internet broadband connections get faster, our internal waiting clocks run on shorter and shorter minutes. But there are times when we still have to be patient, and a nice toolbar design may do wonders to let us know how long we have to wait. One of the key take-aways from the showcase below, is that for best practice web design, attention to detail, especially the smallest of details can make a significant difference to the overall user experience and this can help you create a stand-out experience users will share and recommend. Here are some fantastic examples of beautiful progress bars, ones which we really don’t mind watching as we wait for our downloads. Read Also: 38 "Call To Action" Button Templates Adobe Inspired Bar Chubby Loading Bar Colourful Progress Bars Dark Loading Bar Dark Progress Loaders Circular Progress Loader GUi Loading Bar HUD Progress Bar Minimalist Loading Bar Modern Progress Bar Simple Bar. The Fundamentals of User Experience. The elements for great user experience (UX) boil down to three things: ease of use, efficiency, and structure.
Any marketing, interface and graphical design elements incorporated into your website need to meet these three elements in ways that are complementary, elegant, engaging and, in most cases, simple. Balance is always key – between advertising and content, text and visual media, colours, fonts and backgrounds. Navigation is also of utmost importance, though too often overlooked. Is your menu visible? Is it readable? What about your site map and other links for first-time visitors? Where is your call to action, your form? Although all of these things should be clearly visible and accessible for your user, it is also just as important that they do not get in the way of the main focus points of your website. Know Your Visitors Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon, knows that it’s all about the customers: This is absolutely true when it comes to designing a great website. Consistency. Rosenfeld Media | Interviewing Users. How to Uncover Compelling Insights Published: May 2, 2013 Paperback: 176 pages, ISBN 1-933820-11-X Digital: ISBN 1-933820-81-0 by Steve Portigal Steve's book is based on his extensive expertise with qualitative ethnography, and is a must-read for students of design research.
" —Jon Kolko VP, Design, MyEdu & Director, Austin Center for Design Interviewing is a foundational user research tool that people assume they already possess. Interviewing Users will explain how to succeed with interviewing, including: Embracing how other people see the world Building rapport to create engaging and exciting interactions Listening in order to build rapport. With this book, Steve Portigal uses stories and examples from his 15 years of experience to show how interviewing can be incorporated into the design process, helping you learn the best and right information to inform and inspire your design.
“Interviewing Users” Blog From All This ChittahChattah » User Research Interviewing Steve on Tuesday #TechHour. Create a UI that Converts - ItsMonkie Solutions. At the heart of it all, to achieve conversion is the ultimate goal – and even the point – of all websites, apps and other software applications. It’s the purpose of any business’s online presence to gain a larger audience, to increase its following, its subscribers, its reputation, its sales. It is, or it should be, your goal to try and get every single user who lands on your website to buy in (literally) to your idea and your product. Naturally, no business will ever achieve a 100% conversion rate, and indeed you will be doing exceptionally well to even breach the 10% mark (see Smart Insights for some of last year’s numbers), but these frighteningly low figures should only make you realise just how important those tiny percentages are, and that you can’t afford to lose anybody.
Most users who find your site or app won’t take any action to go beyond the casual content you provide and become paying customers. Efficiency of Information The Smartphone Problem Optimizing User Experience. 5 Tips To A/B Test The Right Way. Do you remember those little lab notebooks you kept when you were a kid at school? You’d run experiments in class and carefully document the entire process. First your professor would ask a question.
Then you’d do a bit of reading and come up with a hypothesis. Finally, you’d test the hypothesis by running an experiment with a control and a variable. Well, guess what, you were A/B testing! That’s right, A/B testing isn’t a recent development. It’s been around for hundreds of years and is more commonly known as the scientific method. Today you’re either not A/B testing, or you are but you’re doing it wrong. Define your success metrics There’s got to be a reason for running an experiment. It’s important to do this right up front. A success metric could be anything. For starters, pick something that directly impacts your business. For example, Content Verve defined their success metric as opt-in rates for their e-book. Pick one variable The same process applies to websites.
Never stop testing. 5 Fantastic Tips for Creating an Intuitive App - Appcase Blog. One of the most challenging aspects of developing a mobile app (or any app for that matter), is making it intuitive. Intuitive meaning that users don’t need a lengthy onboarding or tutorial to understand your app, and that they almost unconsciously deduce what to do, and how to do it. Having an app that is intuitive requires a painstaking amount of research and testing, yet the number of developers who refer to their apps as being intuitive would suggest otherwise. However, intuitiveness is not something that you as a developer should assess, or claim, on your own. Instead, it is a statement that can only be made by your target audience; people who actually use your app regularly, and as intended. User Research and Testing Regardless of your background and expertise, the first step in creating an intuitive app is user research.
A lot of it. The key point in this statement is real customer(s), not friends or family members, but the people who will actually use your app. Conclusion.