Technology goes through trends like any other medium, and design is no different. Just as different shoes are described as “last season” by those in the know, certain elements of design are less evergreen than others, and change rapidly with the times.
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With website design, the fact that the product is continually uploaded to a place where everyone can access it at the same time means that trends change even more quickly than those in fashion, where those who want to know the current trends have to visit a certain city at a certain time, or wait for photographs to leak to the Internet.
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Because of this, mobile design trends change at a rapid pace, and any designer that doesn’t keep up-to-date can find him or herself woefully behind.
Device-Specific Design
One of the biggest new changes in web design is the fact that more and more responsive templates are being created for full-size websites. However, this is only the beginning in mobile web responsive design. While it is accepted that a website now must have a mobile version, many websites are taking it even further.
The new trend in mobile responsive design is device-specific design. The reason for this new change is the fact that with iPads and other tablets on the rise, the same small mobile website that works well for one device (like an iPhone or iPod touch) may not work nearly as well with another resolution. Therefore, many websites now offer design that changes to the resolution of whichever device is currently browsing that website.
Integrated Video
For many web designers, creating a mobile website design is hampered by the traditional restrictions of what the typical web user can load. For years, this has meant that as impressive as video and image-heavy posts and pages can be, it was best for most designers to avoid them. The relative Internet speeds of their customers would make the websites load so slowly that it would not be worth impressing customers by trying to force them to load impressive videos.
Fortunately, the trend towards higher Internet speeds almost everywhere is making designers reconsider how much video integration is workable. This is especially prevalent in the designers of more visually-focused websites, such as those who design fashion website templates and interior design website templates.
Interactive Page Design
A stodgy website that does nothing but sit on the page and provide links to relevant content is a thing of the past. The pages of the future, according to current website trends, are those that interact with the customers at every angle and opportunity. When a customer hovers over a text link, a drop-down menu should appear, rather than waiting for the customer to actually click on the link.
Following the cursor with other images or effects is another effect that is taking off in popularity. The reason for this, once again, is the fact that Internet connections have only recently become able to handle this kind of design. Before, websites were limited to as few megabytes of data as they could manage.
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With the way that new Internet service providers are able to secure larger bandwidth for their customers, interactive website design is far more tenable for most website designers. Not only is interactive website design a better way to make customers feel that your website is interesting, it also helps them navigate your site without getting lost along the way.
When your drop-down menus are clear and responsive, you don’t have to worry that your customers will accidentally click on the wrong links and become frustrated with the model of your website design, driving them to other websites.
