UI Trends: 8 Awesome Design Elements to Use in 2018
You can always tell yourself “it’s never too late” in a lot of circumstances. When you want to try again. When you failed and need something to get you back on your feet. When you want to seize an opportunity before it passes.
It’s worth taking note, however, that this statement simply does notapply to first impressions — particularly when referring to UI. You need to create a good UI design or run the very real risk of losing users if they don’t like your app’s UI at first glance. It’s a make or break deal; it’s the first thing that users see before they even interact with your product, so how you design your UI is a determining factor on whether or not they’ll continue using the app.
To put numbers into it, research indicates that 23% of users actually abandon an app after using it only once. That’s a glaring look at just how important UI is, and how it can impact not just your app but your business overall. You don’t get those precious second chances when it comes to first impressions. You have to make your UI work in the first few minutes of having a user look at your app.
Now, if you already have an app, your UI might need a dire makeover. Why bother, you may ask? For one thing, if your design is overloaded with a lot of elements — most of which are not even used — then you seriously need to overhaul your design and go for a minimalist, simple, and clean look. Encourage your users to rate or review your UI so you know what works and what doesn’t — from their perspective.
You also want to have an edge with the competition. With an abundance of apps and websites, your business should strive to constantly innovate and improve, not only on your products or services, but also on your company branding and image. If your app is working slowly or you’ve expanded your business, your UI should match it.
Need inspiration? Here are some UI trends to help you pull off your design project.
01. Aim for seamless user interface.
Having an interface that’s classically assembled in one place makes for a good design. LoveforIceland is a good example. Everything is neatly loaded in one page, and there’s no transition when you click on any of the categories. It’s a simple design that manages to be very modern at the same time. After all, it makes a lot of sense to stay in the main page and have all the information there already — definitely a time saver for the site visitors.
02. Have modern typography.
Fonts play an important role for UI design trends in 2018. Just take a look at Re-Create. They creatively combine big fonts with creative animation, resulting in a website that’s chic and eye-catching without the need for a lot of content. In fact, the site hardly has any.
03. Play with gradient transitions.
Gradient colors have always been a good means to exercise creative design long before the advent of apps, but this year, smooth transition from one shade to another is the way to go. Check out howSpotify literally plays with colors when a user performs an action. It’s a visually catchy way to display amazing UI design.
04. Have your own illustrations.
Sure, it’s easy and very tempting to simply grab a free illustration on the net for your UI. But shooting for your very own custom illustrations are a good investment. Your budget may take a bit of a dent, but doing so allows you to call all the shots — what you want, how you want it done — and this creates a style that’s uniquely yours. Isn’t that much better than being forced to make do with a general design? You don’t have to break the bank and aim for the moon in your illustrations — or even your photos, for that matter. But you do need to make sure they reflect your company brand well.
05. Upload your own videos.
If you haven’t already, now’s a good time to start releasing your own videos. You should know that content doesn’t just refer to text or photos — this year more than ever before, videos are undoubtedly on the rise. It would do you well to ride the tide, so to speak. You don’t need to rent a studio or hire a production team straightaway. But you may want to keep your videos in the same tone as the static content you have on your site. That way, they complement each other nicely.
06. Focus on User Experience (UX).
All the fancy user interface design elements will mean nothing if they don’t help create great user experience. At the end of the day, it boils down to this: a mobile app should be designed both to look beautiful and to be used effectively. Users should be able to easily learn and utilize an app’s features while enjoying its interface.
07. Check the interface’s interaction with users.
User interaction is simple: if a user wants to do an action on the app, he should be able to do it without any glitch or unnecessarily long procedure. This means that while designing the app, take into consideration that each element or feature you include must provide easy feedback to the users without causing interruption to the task at hand.
08. Opt for soothing colors.
Do away with bright colors for the meantime; 2018’s color trend leans more on calm and soothing shades. So if you’re actually aiming for a cool and refined look for your app, pastel colors will accomplish that quite well.
What’s nice about design elements is that you can mix and match them to find out what combination works best for your business. What’s important is that your UI delivers what you intend it to: an amazing design that can easily be navigated by users.
Do share with us the UI design elements you use for your own apps and websites. We’d love to know.
Originally published at flochip.com.
