Webdesign trends in 2021

Zsuzsi · Fri, 03/05/2021 - 10:21

We read the international articles about 2021's design trends and selected those that are in line with our experiences.

We read the international articles about 2021 design trends and selected those that are in line with our experiences. Here are 5 aspects that should be taken into account when developing a website. In 2021 the focus will be on even faster and secure information transfer.

1. Fast page load

On the web we are trying to get more and more information in less time. What was acceptable some years ago is too slow now. Fast page load is now an essential element of SEO and UX. If you want to have a good ranking in SEO and good conversion, the page load should be below 1 sec.

Page load speed is getting more and more important while the webpages get more complex so it is hard to achieve this.

Most studies put the tolerance threshold around 2 seconds. Above 3 seconds it is likely that the site looses some visitors.

Using Google PageSpeed Insights we can measure the site's page load speed and get suggestions which parts of the site or the code should be optimised.

Google PageSpeed Insights: integralvision.hu

Using high resolution photos is a typical issue that can significantly increase the page load speed for our site. It is important to consider whether we are showing the photo on a retina display or on a screen of a mobile. If we use a small photo it may look good on mobile but can be blurry on a wide screen. The solution is to make sure our application can show a different and a display-optimised photo and detect which is needed. For this function there are new solutions like Webp module for Drupal. More info: WebP and Drupal: Performance, the Last Frontier.

The goal is to get the page to load in 1 second. The faster the better. For our site intergralvision.hu we simplified the design in multiple iterations to get a better page speed. Beside other things we deleted embedded fonts that saved us valuable time. Based on the statistics this is a bigger advantage then the beautiful typography we used before.

Recommended reading in this topic: Why Page Speed Matters and How to Improve It

2. Smart page load

It is possible that the user's browser has to download a lot of data to create the unique design of the page and third party integrations can also slow our site down. Today there are multiple solutions to separate data and code the user needs at the moment and only download those. If the user needs more data, it can be downloaded later.

Lazy load and infinite scroll patterns, which social media platforms have been using for years, are becoming more and more important for unique solutions as well. Using these patterns can improve page speed and user experience.

Speakerhub végtelen görgetés

Infinite scroll was first used on mobile and on that platform it is better than using a pager. On desktop view the goal dictates the better solution. On Speakerhub.com we have been using infinite scroll for years and we are satisfied with the results.

Who wants to know more about this topic we recommend: “Pagination vs. Infinite Scroll: What's the Difference?”

3. Personalised content

There are many ways to provide personalised content for a user. For a logged in user we know what role the user has on the site and we can provide personalised the content and the structure based on that.

The website can get information from the IP address about the users geographical location or use the browsers set language for that reason and decide to show the content in the proper language.

It can be important to know if a user visits the site for the first time. For first visitors it is good to show captivating visual content (gallery, video) and for regular users show content that interests them.

The huge amount of information available on the internet makes users seek solutions that help them to find information fast and effective. The goal is to keep the impatient users (who click away fast) on the site and personalised content can do that.

To personalise content it is important to segment the target group and it is an advantage if we can measure user behaviour in multiple ways. We usually use Google Analytics for quantitative and Hotjar for qualitative analysis.

Read more about personalisation: 5 ways to personalize your website content

It is not always enough to ask the client what should be on the main page. Instead try to get to know the target group as well as possible and suggest solution based on that. This is an inspiring collection of UI patterns: 10 Great Sites for UI Design Patterns

4. Flat design

Good design supports the processing of the presented information. On the two dimension screen sometimes we try to replicate the tree dimensional reality or to represent it in some part of it. This idea sometimes gets in the way of making the information easily understandable.

We discussed the technological aspect of speed before. Now let's see the speed of processing information. Users try to get information faster and faster. To be able to do this they need texts that are easy to understand and structure that provides a good overview.

zanza.tv nyitólap

It is recommended that the site's visual language is easy to understand and it should support what we are trying to say. Flat design is a style that gets rid of the visual "noise" that is used to imitate 3D, like shadows, gradients, textures. There are studies already that show that this simpler look can support fast information processing.

For flat design Shopify ore Zanza.tv are two good examples.

We anticipate that 2021 will bring a more minimalist design for webpages with restrained colour usage, basic fonts and 2D icons.

More about this: 5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Ignore Flat Design for Epic Conversions

5. GDPR, SSL certificates

Since the GDPR regulations came to force there are explicit rules and recommendations how to store data in a safe way. Working by those rules means to serve the needs of the users.

More and more articles are about the topic of secure data storage and more people realise the truth in the saying: if you don't pay you are the product.

It could deepen the trust of your users if you adhere to the rules of data storage and transmission and take the GDPR regulations for information storage and deleting seriously.

Some information like credit card data or log in information or other sensitive data has to go through encrypted communication to make sure there is no data leakage.

SSL tanúsítvány

SSL certificates are used to transfer data is securely from the user's browser to the webserver. It is especially important when we store credit card or personal data. The browser gives the user information if the website has an SSL certificate. If there is no certificate it can make the user distrust our service. SSL certificates are part of the basic requirements of websites and every site should be using them.

It is important to keep in mind that the more personalised content we want to provide for the users the more issues can come up about the ethical usage of personal data. In the EU the GDPR regulations are stricter and adhering to these are in everyones interest.

Web­design trends in 2021