The landscape of user experience is continuously changing and evolving. Now search engines openly favour mobile-first websites, the majority of website traffic is now generated by mobile search. With mobile design essential, this means both designers and developers need to collaborate and put more emphasis into delivering the ultimate mobile UX design or quickly risk an outdated website with outdated functionality.
In previous articles, we would typically deliver news, reviews and trends on website design, but with mobile playing such a key role in the success of any website, we thought we would investigate mobile design trends to follow in 2019.
From face recognition to layout design, let’s look at some mobile design trends:
BUTTONLESS DESIGN
You might be thinking what on earth am I talking about here, but buttonless website design has become an increasingly popular trend over the last 12 months. As screens continue to get larger, we honestly expect this trend to continue.
Thinking about some of the most popular social media or applications you use. Do you click a button, or do you swipe left to delete a message? Do you click a button, or do you swipe left or right on dating applications? For information or news-based websites, you even pull down on a page to refresh the content. Instead of clicking buttons, UX mobile design is very much shifting; your website or mobile app forces users towards ‘gesture-based interactions’.
By eliminating buttons, you are freeing up valuable screen space where marketers have more opportunities to provide more information on the screen to capture the user’s attention. There are always possibilities where hidden gestures or call-to-actions may not be intuitive for users so it may be best to show your users how particular features on your website or mobile application work such as an animation or video tutorial.
FOOTER NAVIGATION
I’m sure you will agree that the latest mobile phones appear to get bigger and bigger every year. With mobile-design in mind, the larger screens hold more content, increase interactive elements and allow far better multitasking from both a developer and user point-of-view.
However, the larger screens do also present more complications as the design takes away the natural movement of the thumb and the navigation of the website. You will find, it can become almost impossible to scroll back to the top of the screen, so more websites and apps have incorporated a sticky-menu or placed key navigation elements at the bottom of the website to counter this. This reminds the user that they can quickly and easily access the core elements of the website.
As a quick fix, some websites also add the option of implementing a sticky ‘Back to the Top’ button to help users save time and return to the top of the page.
FACE ID
Although face-recognition is more targeted towards unlocking your phone or mobile apps, it further enhances the discussion for eliminating the use of buttons.
Like how smartphone manufactures added touch ID to home buttons, this eliminated the need to push any buttons because users could simply perform authentication functions by using their fingerprints to approve app downloads, with e-commerce websites quickly following suit.
If face-recognition follows the same trends as the touch ID, maybe it could be incorporated into mobile apps and e-commerce stores alike as a way of logging into a website if you are already registered? Again, eliminating the use of buttons and a password-less experience.
CONVERSATIONAL DESIGN
Having recently documented the importance of ‘Live Chat’, artificial intelligence is certainly taking centre stage and has even expanded and being incorporated into mobile design.
Mobile search surpassing desktop is a signal of the user-experience shifting where users want to access instant information very much here and now. If a user is looking to make a purchase right there and then, but wants to ask a question, needing to wait for a response will very likely lose that user as a potential or even returning customer.
This is why ‘Live Chat’ is becoming incorporated and being used in more and more large e-commerce websites. Some UX designers will purposely design the website with the ‘Live Chat’ in mind because it can reduce support costs and offer an improved website experience around the clock.
CHESHIRE WEB DESIGN OPINION
The first being that mobile is very much here and now and the second being that any UX design is focused around delivering the best possible user experience. If you wish to discuss mobile-design or are looking to improve your website, why not contact one of the experts at our Cheshire web agency?
Why not give us a call on 01565 653616 or fill out our send me an email tom@untitledtm.com