Trends and Anti-trends in Website Development

We at Digital Agency Portland have prepared a list of almost universal things. Of course, the list of trends can be much longer. However, many tools are situational: in some cases, their use can be successful, in others - very inconvenient. 

1. Integration with messengers. For example, integration with Telegram is now very popular - it has a free open API. There are other options, some of which are paid. Integration with messengers allows you to quickly answer questions and respond to requests collected on the site. The connection process is generally simple: a chat bot is configured that sends notifications that someone on the site wants to order a product, a request for a call back has been left, etc.
2. Mobile-first design. We've heard a lot about Mobile-first in recent years. Nowadays, it is quite common to first create design layouts for phones, and then adapt them for desktop devices. The decision on such a sequence in development is made on the basis of data from Yandex. Metrics ”- if most of the traffic comes from smartphones, then it makes sense to first draw layouts for them. It is important to consider UX (User Experience) here: for example, most phones now have a large screen, and the thumb of the right hand does not reach the top of it. You need to keep this in mind and not place important CTAs (calls to action) in this part of the screen.
3. Protection of personal information. You cannot display automatically active check-boxes of consent to the personal data processing policy or remove this check-box altogether. This is not only a trend, but also a rule.
4. Website availability. Relevant in design and layout. Examples of site requirements: the design should be sufficiently contrasting, the text should be easy to read, the layout should be adapted for screen readers. Even in chrome dev tools, an accessibility parameter has appeared, which determines the level of contrast of an element (button, text, icon), which is important for the perception of content by people with visual impairments. On the websites of medical institutions and government agencies, in accordance with current legislation, a version for the visually impaired must be provided.
5. Images on a transparent background. There is a tendency to cut objects out of photographs and place them in page designs. So they look more harmonious in the overall canvas.
6. Simple shapes. There are more and more forms of two fields - "Name" and "Message text". Form design boils down to making it as easy as possible for the user to leave a request on the site, which means to become not just a user, but a lead.
7. The most convenient navigation. It includes menus (header and footer), site search, filters, sorting, pagination. These are very important elements, which, unfortunately, are not always given sufficient attention. Detailed work with navigation for online stores and catalog sites is especially relevant. It is worth working out the tags in the catalog, constantly keeping them up to date (for example, for an Internet hypermarket in December it will be relevant to display the collections "New Year's Table", "Gifts", "Home Decoration"). Site search should search by category, product name, description. Advanced Search - Consider synonyms, related products and give the user hints. It is worth noting that navigation needs to be kept up to date after development.
8. Simple animation of flat graphics. But the main thing is not to overdo it! You can nicely animate a logo, a preloader, the process of adding a product to the "Cart". The final result depends on the quality of the "chips" invented.
9. 3D design. Very well suited for demonstrating equipment, goods, interactive maps are created with it. Or, for example, a user clicks on some element and receives new information. This gives a greater effect of website engagement. So, in an online store, you can rotate the phone, look at it from different angles. 3D icons are also gaining popularity.

1. Captcha with a check mark (ReCaptcha 2.0). Today, you can put invisible protection against spam, which will make it possible to do without the choice of traffic lights or lanterns in the pictures. Nevertheless, some site customers still think that there must be a check mark, and are outraged if there is none.
2. Pinned site header. It's about securing the entire header as a whole and overlapping some of the precious space on the screen. It is much better to think about what kind of content from the header the user may need when he scrolled down the page, and leave only that. For example, we are used to seeing the logo in a fixed header, but from the point of view of need it can be removed, making room for a more important button. In adaptive for mobile, as an option - make a toolbar at the bottom of the screen, right under the fingers.
3. Lack of prices, contacts and other important information. Regardless of how your pricing is built, site visitors will not want to leave a request and wait for them to be answered or called back. If you do not want to lose most of the leads, then it is better to make sure that the user receives all the necessary information as quickly as possible.
4. Popups, chats, coupons. Anything that can flicker and / or overlap important content that the user came to the site for, annoys users rather than sells. If you are sure that the situation is different in your case, conduct a full-fledged A / B test: evaluate the conversion with and without a pop-up banner. And based on this, make a decision.
5. Complex animation, heavy pictures and videos in design. Now it is better to pay attention not to the aesthetic characteristics of the site (especially since taste is a very subjective concept), but to its convenience. Complex visuals make the site heavier, make it take longer to load. The situation is similar with large, albeit high-quality images and videos posted just for beauty (for example, a background).
6. Stock photos, fake content. The use of other people's pictures, fake reviews on the site is easy to read and often repulsive. If you don't have your own materials yet, then you can post stock images for the first time and think over the details of collecting the necessary content. For example, offer customers bonuses for reviews. But it's much better to arrange a photo shoot or draw your own unique pictures with a graphic designer.
7. Low quality content. Small images with visible pixels are bad manners. Icons in png - too. It is necessary to use svg (flexible vector graphics) and monitor the quality of the pictures. And do not forget about the texts: mistakes and typos also spoil the impression of the site owner.